Mr. Art Harris. A Modern Day Lord Haw-Haw

* Since our last guest column was so well received, it’s my pleasure to be able to present an even more interesting and controversial article from Kerry and Einstein. The comments of guest authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the site or its owners. Thank you. ~QV~

Mr. Art Harris A Modern Day Lord Haw-Haw

“The task of propaganda, Hitler argued, was to bring certain subjects to the attention of the masses. Propaganda should be simple, concentrating on a few essentials, which then had to be repeated many times, with emphasis on such emotional elements as love and hatred. Through the continuity and uniformity of its application, propaganda, Hitler concluded, would lead to results “that are almost beyond our understanding.” (http://science.jrank.org/pages/8004/Propaganda.html)

I hate to invoke Godwin’s Law so early, but seeing as Mr. Harris had no such reservations when he responded to one of his readers with the following,

“That’s why you’ve been recruited and brainwashed, and sent into the digital domain to brainwash others, create the illusion of a grassroots stampede. It actually worked in Germany once, but that was then, and this is now.”

Why not begin this exercise in the true spirit of the much vaunted Art Harris journalistic tradition?

A recent visit to the Internet site “The Bald Truth” by Mr. Art Harris revealed the following responses written by Mr. Harris to two comments by readers of his site.

RESPONSE # 1

Leon? Or is it Wilma?

Afraid to use your real name like your friends, pal?

Hiding behind a new fake moniker, as usual?

Still writing on the bathroom stall?

This is all so…high school… and you’re about to go to the principal’s office, or juvenile.

Come out, come out, wherever you are.

Coward.

We’re on to you…spinning hate, telling lies…the only one you’re fooling is yourself.

I’m not hiding, so why are you?

You don’t know … what you think you know…

But I do.

I know you can’t wait to see what was in Wilma’s trash…

When does the truth hurt?

Happy New Year.

Art

RESPONSE # 2

Hey, Leon, or is it Wilma?

No, you only think you know.

I don’t discuss sources, and because of people like the mafia and Big Bidness, journalists are protected by state shield laws, and whistleblowers are protected by federal law. Ever heard of Sarbanes Oxley? Look it up.

Understand the terms, obstruction of justice? Witness tampering?

Everyday people who witness egregious things and want to do the right thing by coming forward are often intimidated and threatened into silence.

Not in this case. We have your number, and your people may have to get more creative now that the judge has your MO.

Oh, in case you were busying having your diaper changed, that’s why he issued the first order, against messing with witnesses, horrified after reading the transcript of Rita’s secretly taped audio in the Bahamas, chasing nannies for affidavits, checkbook in hand.

The Judge wants witnesses protected from being leaned on, whether on the web, phone calls, dead fish on windshields, money, promises of magazine spreads, whatever may be tried.

“Wait, Lincoln,” Rita Cosby was heard imploring the Nannies PR man, Lincoln Bain, after he caught her taping him while his tape was rolling. “You haven’t heard what we’re prepared to offer you.”

Say what?

Yep, caught on tape, too.

So, give it up, Leon, or Wilma, or Ego Buster, or Justice4 Daniel…

Why not stop fighting the truth, pass the Koolaid antidote to your friends, and let those so moved to do the right thing, come forward.

The judge has yet to hear the rest of the story, but he will soon.

Art

These responses were written by a gentleman who claims to be a “journalist”. Incredible I know, and if he didn’t taken himself so seriously one could almost believe that Mr. Harris was simply engaging in a parody of “real journalism”, something akin to an ironic “Saturday Night Live Skit” with “Baghdad Bob” playing the role of the “journalist”. Some folks might find this type of self-parody funny (I admit upfront that I don’t find him the least bit amusing) in an “it makes me a little queasy to my stomach” kind of way.

Since the date and time stamp indicate that these were written on New Year’s Eve or shortly there after, I at first assumed that Mr. Harris, after a night of revelry decided that it would be constructive to post responses before toddling off to bed to sleep it off.

Unfortunately after going back to previous responses penned by Mr. Harris one would have to conclude that he always responds while stupefied by some mind-altering substance. Now I have no first hand knowledge that Mr. Harris sits maybe with his mind numbed by pain meds at his computer late at night slinging verbal excrement at his readers, so perhaps there is another explanation for this seemingly peculiar behavior.

It may be old-fashioned on my part (we are called biddies, after all) but I was raised and educated during the “Post Watergate” period. I was taught that there is a concurrent moral responsibility when you refer to yourself as a journalist and use your journalistic skills to communicate a message to an audience. Mr. Harris obviously eschews such moral responsibility and simply believes that he should print any nonsense that his “source” (let’s just call this “source” Howard K. Stern for the sake of argument) tells him in order to maintain his close, intimate relationship. (No “gay” reference intended) We’ll assume he does this in order to keep obtaining the “exculsive” inside information or in journalistic parlance, the “big scoop”. Perhaps I am a being too “hard” on Mr. Harris’ journalistic ethics. Heck, it’s not as if his false reporting of information from “inside sources” that he never bothers to verify, (wouldn’t want the truth to get in the way of the scoop, now would we?) resulted in a war being waged on foreign soil and young men and women coming home in body bags. Nope, that accomplishment was left up to other even more respectable journalists.

Should anyone have any remaining doubt about the collusion between Howard K. Stern and Art Harris, I would like to take this opportunity and remind you of the recent “Leon’s Desktop debacle.” It was this little booboo that incurred the wrath of Mr. Harris on New Year’s Eve. This happened when Team Stern’s motion was published on Art Harris’ site with the words “documents/desktop/Leon/Stern. Now Art had that taken down as fast as his little feet could move but it was too late. So, what does Art do, why he just calls the person who points it out to him a “diaper wearer”.

Perhaps Mr. Harris has simply lost his way over the recent months and has somehow wandered ingenuously from the field of “journalism” and into the field of “propaganda”. It would seem that this is an easy enough mistake when a “writer” becomes too invested in the outcome of the story that he or she is covering. History’s rubbish heap is replete with the remains of talented men and women who, for whatever reason(s), traveled this twisted fork in the road of journalistic integrity. Mr. Harris suggests that his reader(s) look up Sarbanes Oxley, fair enough.

While his readers google this name, I would suggest that Mr. Harris google the following names: Francis Stuart, Jean Hérold-Paquis, Tokyo Rose, Axis Sally, Mother Night, Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf, Wolf Mitler, Norman Baillie-Stewart, Eduard Dietze, William Joyce, Mildred Gillars, Hanoi Hannah, Seoul City Sue, Azzam the American, Jihad Johnny, Stuttgart traitor. Now I know that this appears to be an inordinate amount of research to assign Mr. Harris so near the beginning of the New Year (and obviously Mr. Harris does not like to research facts before he puts pen to paper or fingers to keyboard), but perhaps this would be a wonderful Resolution for Mr. Harris to adopt in 2008: I promise to research facts before I print them.

Or something along those lines. After all it’s not the wording of the resolution that counts in the end, but the implementation that matters most. One wouldn’t want to overburden Mr. Harris with homework, especially after celebratory nights of merry-making and ringing in the new. Although he did misrepresent his presence at the O’Quinn Law Firm’s Holiday Celebration, I would hope that someone invited him somewhere to celebrate something during the past holiday season. So in the spirit of giving, let’s provide Mr. Harris with a few common definitions of words that he may find useful as he attempts to honor this resolution while having his “diaper changed”.

Journalism The occupation of reporting, writing, editing, photographing, or broadcasting news or of conducting any news organization as a business.

Writing that reflects superficial thought and research, a popular slant, and hurried composition, conceived of as exemplifying topical newspaper or popular magazine writing as distinguished from scholarly writing (See Art, all is not lost)

Apologist A person who argues in defense or justification of something

Propagandist of relating to or characterized by propaganda.
A person who disseminates messages calculated to assist some cause or some government

Mr. Harris, while trying to undermine Ms. Cosby’s right to protect her sources (another word that Mr. Harris may want to google is Hypocrite) states that,

“journalists are protected by state shield laws”.

So while Mr. Harris has written countless articles excoriating Rita Cosby and leaking sealed information to expose her “sources” he hides behind the state shield laws, and then calls other people cowards.

Which is why it is important for the “unwashed masses” (that’s us folks) to recognize the difference between journalism and propaganda. While a journalist does indeed have the protection of the State, a propagandist should have no such immunity; not from the laws of the state, the practices of common decency, the judgment of society or the perspective of history.

“Journalistic theory generally holds that news items should be objective, giving the reader an accurate background and analysis of the subject at hand. While Propaganda can be defined as the deliberate attempt to influence public opinion through the transmission of ideas and values for reasons consciously thought out, and designed to serve the interest of the propagandist, either directly or indirectly.” (http://science.jrank.org/pages/10872/Propaganda-Defining-Propaganda.html)

In the case of Mr. Harris and his recent Jihad against anything Not Stern (see how easy it is in the post 9/11 world to throw those little terrorist word bombs out there), I would proffer an even more narrowly defined explanation of Propaganda as being…

“…deliberately false or misleading information…. The propagandist seeks to change the way people understand an issue or situation for the purpose of changing their actions and expectations in ways that are desirable to the interest group. Propaganda, in this sense, serves as a corollary to censorship in which the same purpose is achieved… What sets propaganda apart from other forms of advocacy is the willingness of the propagandist to change people’s understanding through deception and confusion rather than persuasion and understanding.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propagandist)

So what is Mr. Harris’ desired goals, besides prancing around on a stage designed by him and stacked with an audience that responds to “please applaud now” signs every time he steps out from behind the curtain? Well, I certainly hope that it isn’t anything so mundane as money, or a book deal, or being able to pretend to be King for a day, not Larry King (well maybe) because that would really be a shock……………….to faithful canines everywhere..dogs adore their masters!

Well as one of Mr. Harris’ faithful followers wrote, “Thanks Art, for feeding our addiction to this story – yes I was “jonesing” for a fix”. And feed the addiction he does, gleefully without hesitation. (Hey would that be a form of “enabling”?) The saddest part of this whole sordid bastardization of journalism is that Mr. Harris is not even very good at his current occupational choice. He relies on his crop of fawning followers to stroke his ego on a daily basis as they constantly remind him of just how “great” he really is and repeatedly thank him for his fantastic investigative skills (gag me with a spoon as my teenage daughter likes to say). I can almost hear him purring as he reads comments like, “Art,
You are the Man! (Well next to Howard, haha).”

His fan base is limited to those gushing groupies and members of the S&M bondage brigade that were directed to his site by their leader at the – ah-hum… other blog. Now I don’t know about the rest of you and hey I am all for “alternative lifestyles” between consenting adults, but I don’t believe I would choose a known purveyor of pornography to be my official “legal liaison”.

Frances Cornford once wrote that “PROPAGANDA is that branch of the art of lying which consists in nearly deceiving your friends without quite deceiving your enemies.” I often wonder who is deceiving who over there in Bald Truth Land. Does Mr. Harris actually believe the ridiculous nonsense that he spews? I have actually seen numerous posts by these lovely ladies that state something along the lines of, “I’ll wait to see what Art has to say about this before I decide.” WOW! I would hate for any of Art’s harem to actually hold an independent point of view without prior approval of the Minister of Propaganda. Are there consequences to dissent in Bald Truth country?

What do you think about Michel Bryant from Court TV. Is he pretty reputable???? Will he speak the truth???

Come on Oh Great Wizard please tell us who to believe. It might be enlightening to some to know that Art didn’t bother to answer this question. Because in “Bald Truth” land, Art and only Art can be believed, well except Howard (‘cause he never, ever lies).

Even those of us who don’t profess to be “journalist”, can none-the-less be aware of the lessons of history and the famous quote by Joseph Goebbles,

“A lie repeated a thousand times becomes a truth.”

So the reasoning would go as follows: If I repeat a thousand times that the infamous “clown video” that Howard took of Anna Nicole Smith eight months pregnant and obviously under the influence of drugs was merely edited by some “nefarious gang” to misrepresent the poor, beleaguered Mr. Stern – then regardless of the existence of the actual tape in it’s entirety (which I haven’t seen, but credible journalist have reviewed and stand by the description) then suddenly that becomes “TRUTH” not “THE BALD TRUTH” but MY TRUTH. So, Mr. Harris then substitutes his version of truth with the real truth, (you know like the actual tape itself, all 40 some minutes of it). This technique is called “Argumentum ad nauseam” and Art seems to like it a lot. I guess this comment by one of Art’s frequent guests sums it up better than I ever could.

“By the way, I never listened all the “expert anlysts” (unlike my spouse) regarding the tape: I simply *knew* that Anna was *Clowning Around*. How, some may wonder, would I have known that? Duh, how about… I saw the Clown Make-Up on her face”!

According to the rules of Mr. Harris’ and his followers it appears that the TRUTH is irrelevant if it does not conform to their version of reality. If they are presented with anything so messy as “facts” then Mr. Harris and his “Harris Heads” do what all good little propagandists do, they demonize their perceived enemy. A few examples will suffice.

“But Howard, you should let’s us know cause it’s a pleasure to see all these lowlife going down!”

“Not sordid in the usual sense of the word, but for the stench emanating from a Texas factory of farce as JN’s Team Stupid (Art Harris).”

“SO…when are the conspiring maggots going to be arrested for their dirty little scheme? ex law officer or not, Virgie just seems too dumb to realize she’s up to her snout in trouble”.

“In my opinion, that man is in the same category as the Mafia. Virgie ought to be quartered!”

“HOWARD – Intelligent people, the people that matter, do NOT believe any of the tabloid lies.Virgie & her cling-ons have shown the world what she really is.”

“I am so relieved to hear that Howard has been able to piece together what that scumbag has been doing. I also understand what motivates those vicious, ugly, putrid people who post on TMZ.”

Well, you get the idea. Kind of reminds one of other hate speech groups with initials and swastikas. Now there’s an idea, maybe Harris’ Harem need to adopt some sort of graphic visual identification. I would suggest whips and chains but that may be a bit too obvious.

But nobody does this more effectively than the Master himself. This one is really good and Lord Haw-Haw would be so proud.

“beware of Kool Aid, in any flavor, especially when offered by the unwashed and brainwashed who keep trying to crash the party with blind hatred. I once did a series on terrorism, and spent time in a Gaza Strip jail, interviewing captured suicide bombers. Several explained how they’d swallowed a phony read of the Koran as demanding they carry out revenge by strapping explosives on and blowing up Israelis.”

Brought tears to my eyes when I first chanced upon this piece of perfect propaganda. It’s a beautiful thing that Art manages to do here. He insults everyone who disagrees with him, invokes religious bigotry, compares his dissenters to terrorist suicide bombers, while reminding the reader that he is an important journalist.And he accomplishes all this in fifty words or less. His Duke classmates must be so proud.

Mr. Harris, like many of his notorious predecessor (see list of names above) uses many techniques that may seem convincing but actually contain simple logical fallacies that render them invalid, but hey the means do justify the end in “BALD TRUTH” country.

I have maintained for months that the Sternoid Storm Troopers are missing the gene that detects irony when it walks up a slaps you upside your head. Art constantly refers to dissenters as being “brainwashed” and drinking the kool-aid ala Jonestown, one can presume. But I have actually read posters from his site state that they were not going to believe their eyes or ears, but instead suggest that everyone just what until the Minister of Propaganda Mr. Harris issues a decree. So until Art says it’s true, then it ain’t true. But hey don’t believe me, read what they have to say about any and all media that dares to report something different from the official party line.

“Greta, Nancy Grace, Jaimie Floyd, Katherine Crier and the group at Court TV set out on a mission to try and destroy this man and were almost triumphant. They knew O’Quinn was a drunken liar. That Shelly and Thompson were thieves and liars. The only good thing, what goes around comes around and someday, Greta, Nancy, Geraldo, Guilfoyle and the loudmouths at Court TV will all get theirs. Good luck Howard. There are lots of people who love and support you.”

“What I have yet to understand is how Greta and Geraldo figure in all this. Those two were so viciously cruel toward Howard while parading Shelley, Hattan and other liars before the cameras, while patting themselves on the back for “exposing” THE murderer. Is Fox News being manipulated by the Texas Death Squad?”

Aleksandar Macaseo recently gave an interview in which he stated,

”The power of the media is such that people often believe what they are told. That’s the power of media. You cannot see with your own eyes or experience personally every single detail about some news that you have heard or seen. In theory, you can choose to believe in it or not by using your common sense. (http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/propagandizing-propaganda-interview-with-aleksandar-macasev)”

That quote really hit home in regards to the media coverage of this whole sad saga. So when some of us CHOOSE not to accept:

• Mr. Harris’ Bald Truth
• Entertainment Tonight’s Entertaining Truth
• TMZ”s Larry Can Do No Wrong Truth

Mr. Harris and his “Team (fill in the blank)” threaten, they call us liars and they spam web sites with nonsense. And Mr. Harris is not above using a few well placed threats himself. He issues a warning to bloggers that “WE” have obtained your ISP, email and other personal information. I guess even Art decided that any pretense of “journalistic objectivity” was kind of silly or maybe he got promoted to some higher level than Minister of Propaganda in Stern-Can-Do-No-Wrong-Land. I don’t know because I am not a card carrying member of Team We-Stern, I’m just busy researching and making timelines and trying to figure out where the hell the Lorazapam and Chloral Hydrate were when the Seminole Police showed up.

In yet another one of, I am Art Harris and I have no shame posts, he writes about Rita Cosby.

“It’s not the number of sources she may have, it’s how believable they are…did she cross check facts”

This one is a real humdinger. Kind of like “me thinks he dost protest too much”, or as one Sternoid like’s to use as her moniker the “pot calling the kettle black.” Here are two statements from the God of Source Checking, Mr. Harris,

“Sources tell me your Texas bosses flew at least one blogger to the Bahamas to spin on TMZ”

“We hear one will be in the courtroom–or be getting text messages from an insider with orders to spin on TMZ and elsewhere as she did last time. Only this time our sources say anyone who doesn’t identify themselves as a reporter, and is discovered, will be ejected, or worse. A judge was not pleased to learn his orders were ignored, we hear”.

Art, this is directed straight at you buddy. Both those statements are 100% incorrect. For those Christians amongst us, that is called “bearing false witness”. So who ever your source is……………well Mr. Bald Truth, you just might want to cross check your facts. Damn, don’t you hate when that happens, but hey you go right ahead and keep excoriating Rita on your site because when you are the Minister of Propaganda the rules only apply to others and not to yourself.

One more minor detail I would like to address before I finish with Mr. Harris and his pack of bullcrap and that’s his relentless attacks on anyone who dares to go against the “We”. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you stand for, he’ll put you in his sights and fire without a moment’s hesitation. So let’s dissect the anatomy of an Art Harris Smear campaign because again, it’s a beautiful thing to take out of the box and examine up close. Those of you who abhor violence may want to turn the channel. In my un-journalistic opinion some of this seems downright personal Art, like your attacks against Don Clark.

Mr. Clark retired from the F.B.I. after serving as a Special Agent in Miami, New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Newark, San Antonio and Houston. His assignments included foreign counterintelligence, counter-terrorism, violent crimes, organized crime, drugs and other FBI investigative programs. Mr. Clark received the FBI Medal for Meritorious Achievement during law enforcement action, and in July 2000 he also received the U.S. Attorney General’s highest Award for Excellence. During his time at the F.B.I. Mr. Clark was involved in a leadership role in a number of high profile cases including:

• • The 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis where he handled the movement of the Shah of Iran from New York City to San Antonio, TX.
  • The investigation of the terrorist attack aboard the Achille Lauro cruise ship.
  • The investigation of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City.
  • The Freeman crisis in Jordan, Montana.
  • The investigation and prosecution of the dragging death of James Byrd, Jr. in Jasper, Texas.
  • The investigation and coordination to locate FBI’s top-10 fugitive and accused “Railcar Killer” Rafael Resendes Ramirez.

But hey Art, don’t let that stop you from trashing Mr. Clark, and why not go after every F.B.I. agent while you are at it. Because hey, he thinks Howard might not have clean hands so anything goes.

“Over the years, I’ve covered some big FBI cases and have imminent respect for the bureau, value agents as friends and even know agents who think highly of Clark. But the FBI also brought us WACO, Richard Jewel as the Atlanta Olympic Park bomber, oops, and a D.C. lab that was so shoddy over a decade ago, cases that had testing done there had to be tossed. And there are still questions about how the 9-11 hijackers fooled them all…” (Art Harris)

“I mean, we do not believe in dissing heroes, even if the feds did miss every clue leading to 9-11, and allow the hijackers to slip through their grasp, even take flight lessons right here in my Hotlanta backyard, where I found the gym they were using and was actually confirming one of the pilots had pumped iron there when an FBI agent found the address, too, and waltzed in to tell the manager he was now taking over the investigation. Break a leg, pal. . Not Don’s fault. And we’re not blaming him for Waco either.” (Art Harris)

Wow Art, I am amazed at your investigative skills. I mean did you really locate a gym where one of the hijackers went to pump iron? Who would have thunk it? You’re smarter than the F.B.I., and how dare they just waltz in there and take over your “big find”. I also like how you slipped the Jewel thing in there for Lin Wood (you know, I heard he lost that one recently). Is that something like Internet product placement? Is it a “penis” thing with you Art, because I just don’t get your constant trying to one-up Mr. Clark?

It isn’t enough to trash the F.B.I. in “hairris-envy land” – Nope . You have to try and go after his war record too. You’re the one that likes to keep making the comparison between your record and Mr. Clark’s record so let’s examine them both.

“He’s got that bronze star, and all we earned in the ‘Nam era was a rocket attack in Danang, and a couple of distinguished unit citations with the 6th Fleet earlier, but at least the rockets missed” (Art Harris)

Mr. Clark served nine and a half years as a commissioned Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army, achieving the rank of Captain. His service included a combat tour of duty in South Vietnam and he was later selected by the Chief of Staff of the Army to command an Airborne/Ranger Company in the First Ranger Battalion. For his service to his country Mr. Clark received the U.S. Army Air Medal for Combat Assaults and two, not one Art but who is counting, Bronze Stars for Bravery while serving in Vietnam.

Please don’t despair Harris-Heads. Your hero also served. Here is a summary of his service to his country in his own words.

“At Duke, during ROTC drills, a few anti-Vietnam war classmates hurled tomatoes at me, and a stunning ADPi—my girlfriend!—later spurned me over our different paths, hers briefly to a commune, mine to a job as a public-affairs officer afloat with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. There, as a young ensign, I gave Dan Rather his first tour of the flagship, got “early out” orders as the Vietnam War was winding down, and flew home on a KC-135 full of body bags of kids my age.” (Art Harris)

That must have been hard on a man dodging tomatoes and riding in a plane that was carrying the mortal remains of “real American heroes”. Seems like something that traumatic would scar a young man forever. Although I am sure that your military training as a public affairs officer comes in useful in your current occupation. Just in case anyone thinks that Art is testosteronally challenged, he reminds us that,

“Like many respected FBI agents, I’ve also been to war, shot at and missed, so that makes my job easy.”

And that’s the God’s honest truth because during his brief stint at CNN, Art was embedded with the 2nd Marines during the war in Iraq. I saw the photo myself and they even let Mr. Harris wear the helmet and ride along in their armored vehicle. I don’t think they gave him a gun though, and I would like to remind Mr. Harris that sometimes a “cigar” really is just a cigar.

But hey, it’s not as if Art hasn’t had equally high points in his chosen career. After all he did manage to land “a rare White House tour and interview with First Lady Laura Bush”. You’re the man, Art.

As an aside, I would like to ask Mr. Harris if he has stock in Kool-Aid since he seems intent on encouraging anyone who dissents from his opinion(s) to drink the syrupy concoction. I would hate to think that Mr. Harris is suggesting that the vast majority of society who disagree with his take on this story should deliberately kill themselves with a poisoned drink. Although given how the two people whose deaths are at the center of this controversy met their ends………………well the analogy speaks for itself, doesn’t it?

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