Robert Parry has died

[Alan Ford]

Oliver Stone on Facebook -

Robert Parry's death Saturday night leaves a giant hole in American journalism. To my mind, he exists now alongside I.F. Stone, Drew Pearson, George Seldes, Gary Webb, and others as seekers of truth at the steep price you seem to have to pay to follow your common sense and your integrity when they are in direct opposition to the tyranny of mainstream media conformity. Parry was in that mainstream at the Associated Press and Newsweek, and quit when he recognized how corrupt our reporting on the Pentagon's Central American wars had become. He went after Reagan's Iran-Contra scandal, which was far worse in my opinion than Watergate (and deliberately ignored BTW by Katharine Graham and her Washington Post; note how she's now being lionized in Spielberg's lame-brained "The Post").

Parry then made the connection to the corrupted election of 1980 when Reagan cynically and traitorously used the Iran hostages to get elected. Parry further investigated the Contra crack connection to the CIA in Central America, as well as the real story behind George H. W. Bush's hydra-headed role in this mess.

At Consortiumnews, the website he founded in 1995, he clarified the shoddy reporting on the 2000 election of Bush's son, George W. ('Dubya'), followed by his Administration's Iraq War lies. Parry also provided us with strong counter-narratives in crucial contemporary events such as Ukraine, Syria, the Magnistky Act, and 'Russiagate.'

The truth, as Parry often said, is that without an honest history of our country we are lost in an Alice-in-Wonderland void of poor and uninformed leadership. Obama, who should've known better, believed these false narratives about Reagan and ended up victimized by them. Parry also frequently repeated his reports, which may have driven his enemies crazy, but was crucial, I believe, to understanding their complexity. As audiences, we're inundated with the surface of events but seem unable to interpret them correctly; with intelligent, common-sense repetition (not the continual Russia-bashing of NY Times and WaPo), we learn and remember. There's a critical need for Parry's Consortiumnews to continue as a foundation for progressive, independent journalism. I hope, as the years go, you'll follow and contribute to this legacy and come to appreciate its importance in our present condition.

Thanks for sharing this gem, Mr. Thorne, two thumbs up at @ Oliver Stone's spot on sentiments.