Ten years ago, the biggest public complaint about Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! came from those who questioned the government's 9-11 narrative. From Bluetoohers to so-called Truthers, it was remarked that at her public events (where she sells her copy and paste, clip-job 'books') that Goody would pretend to be fascinated (of course, she wanted people to buy her book) but would never allow the subject to be raised on the show except to ambush David Ray Griffin.
It wasn't smart business because 9-11 is a researchers movement. And you never want to piss off anyone good at research -- they will find where the bodies are buried and they dubbed her the Left Gatekeeper. "
So, before 2005, the first serious criticism of Amy Goodman's talk show came from the 9-11 researchers (such as this one). It broke the damn and the criticism began piling up. Auga Bogado's "Hustling the Left," for example called out Goodman and other so-called lefties who were in bed with Larry Flynt and publishing in Hustler's -- Goody was also fawning over the pedophila-marketer on her show. While Noam Chomsky has repeatedly spoken of the issue and drawn a firm line between the magazine and himself (such as in this video), Amy Goodman's never apologized for her lengthy career as a 'columnist' for the magazine. Since then, it's just piled up. In 2008, she was caught knowingly booking a political campaign worker but refused to note that the 'independent analyst' was connected to a campaign or even supporting any candidate in the Democratic Party primary. That was the year she got in bed with A Problem From Hell Samantha Power and started pimping for Power to be Secretary of State in Feburary 2008 on WBAI while she was supposed to be bringing in pledge money. She's been accused of using the execution of Troy Anthony Davis: "What you saw was spectacle. Amy Goodman used his death like CNN used Desert Storm."
More recently, Gilad Atzmon has joined the growing chorus calling out her revisionary tactics when it comes to covering Israel and the occupied territories. She's also seen as a liar or a dupe with regards to Barack Obama. The Rancid Honeytrap accused her of being in "outright compliance with tyranny." Her refusal to book Cynthia McKinney as a guest to discuss Libya (the former member of Congress made a trip there right before the US military began bombing) and her desire to sell war on Libya earned her even more criticism: Bruce Dixon (Black Agenda Report), Finian Cunningham (Global Research), Scott Creighton (The Coto Report),
She's been called out for egging on war with Syria and in January of last year, Glen Ford (Black Agenda Report) called out the show for lying about the huge turnout for a Harlem protest, "But Democracy Now!, whose politics has undergone a palpable turn to the right during Obama's time in office, told its audience that only 100 people protested, when in reality, the MoveON section of the demonstration alone approached that number. In this sense, Democracy Now! is worse than the police at reporting demonstrations it doesn't support." She's become infamous for giving rape apologist Naomi Wolfe airtime and, more recently, Chris Hedges. And she probably wishes that the biggest criticism of her today was where she gets her funding.
But as her credibility vanishes, several truisms emerge about Goody and her program.
1) Wars are what Republicans wage.
2) Minimizing rape is wrong . . . when Republicans do it.
3) Sexism bothers Goodman . . . if it comes from the right-wing.
4) Homophobia is wrong . . . except when expressed by Bernice King, Evo Morales or Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
5) Hate crimes happen only in the 'great unwashed areas' (every part of the United States south of Brooklyn) unless the hate crime is perpetrated by the NYPD.
That's what she offers on her one-sided program.
CBS News reports that last night, Harlem resident was murdered by an armed assailant who verbally attacked the man (and the man's companion) for being gay. CBS News notes the New York Post counts this as "at least the 22nd anti-gay attack in the city so far this year" But you didn't hear about that or the other NYC hate crimes against gays this month -- which CBS details -- from Goodman.
