In March 2007 video blogger / independent journalist Josh Wolf will become the longest-jailed journalist in history. Here's what I have to say about the matter in audio form.
Frankly, what happened to Josh - in jail for contempt of Grand Jury since September 2006 - scared the shit out of me. So much so that I've not been as supportive of his cause as I might have been.
Forgive me, I'm a recovering pussy.
Beyond the fear of government scrutiny and reprisal, what made me reluctant to support Josh (though I did contribute a small sum to his defense fund) was that the summer 2005 anti-world-trade protest included violence, not only on the part of the police but on the part of protesters.
I do not condone violence.
Now, this has gone too far, too long. I cannot remain silent. I'm not afraid. I've nothing to lose. Nothing is more import than to live free.
Chris Peck's article in the Memphis Commercial Appeal explains Mr. Wolf's situation in clear detail. That Josh Wolf is a journalist is not up for debate. He was paid by a television station for his footage. It aired. Is payment not the definition of a professional?
A few things are certain:
- We must have a Federal Shield Law for journalists.
- Josh Wolf should not be in jail.
- The press corps needs to grow some balls and ask and answer the hardest questions regardless of consequences.
What's happening to the Constitution is a nightmare. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. We're in a media-induced coma, drugged by television and horrid food created with addiction to salt, sugar and shelf-life in mind.
Tune out corporate media. I'm begging you.
God help us. God Bless America. Let us prove that freedom is not an illusion created to mollify but rather, created to lift we - the people - up to the highest rather than the lowest expressions of our humanity.
Sundays @ Noon: a Proposal for World-Wide Action in Support of Freedom I propose that folks everywhere devote one hour a week to peaceful protest for freedom. Sundays at noon. Go out of your house, plant yourself at the side of your street and stand in support of freedom for an hour. Carry a simple sign, make a hat or tee-shirt and say on those things you make what you love about freedom. As you stand there, imagine yourself free.
At the moment, I'm going to work on having the balls to do this. I live on a busy street near an active Roman Catholic church. Lots of people will see me. Oh, what shall my sign say?
* * *
He or she who runs for President with defending the Constitution as the #1 plank of his or her platform will get my vote. He or she who has the balls to say that empire is morally wrong as the #2 platform gets my vote and for the first time in my life, real money given to a politician.
I've been deeply disappointed in this my country for a while now. Currency is often a canvas upon which I "paint". The best "fuck you" I know is to give an adversary something they think you should at all costs hold onto. It is said that I should value and hold onto money above all things. To that I say a definitive, "No." Take it. Take it all. In the meantime, I shall give it to you even if it hurts. And believe me, there have been times in the last 5 years when I've been hurting financially. Because I do not file income tax returns, I am ineligible for unemployment insurance benefits.
One long-term currency performance involves becoming a non-filer. That's right, I have not for the last 4 or 5 years filed income tax returns. I do not wish to be that conscious of money. It hurts me as a human being to have money / taxes in my consciousness every time I spend. Do I need to keep this receipt? Is it a writeoff? It takes time and money-consciousness to maintain the required files and stay informed of changes in tax law. I refuse to give the government that part of me that is free from the ideas of value and beancounting. Value and beancounting make my head and heart hurt. Not thinking about money is the greatest freedom imaginable. I love it.
Take as much of my money as you wish, Uncle Sam, really. Just don't make me think about you and taxes every fuckin' day.
I'm prepared to go to jail for this non-filing. There are both criminal and civil penalties for such a thing. But if and when Uncle Sam comes after me, I shall have my say. In court. For the record. And getting the ideas published is what counts. I only want to be 'published' indirectly, you see. Traditional methods of publication don't interest me much. But that's another kind of 'canvas'.
Since I stopped filing returns, each and every pay check includes a voluntary additional Federal Income Tax deduction in the amount of $50. Whether I work one day or five, every paycheck gives the IRS an additional $50 over and above what they withhold.
Call it a bribe. Yes, I'm trying to bribe the U.S. government to stay out of my head, my body, and my bed. It hurts to pay more, but that pain is the way I know it's the right thing to do as an artist.
A Promise
I will give every dollar of that not-insignificant amount of money now held by the IRS to the presidential candidate who runs on an anti-empire, freedom platform. There are no more important issues at hand.
Well there are these issues, too:
- Bring the troops home from the middle east
- Forgive loans to emerging nations
- Extract ourselves from foreign oil dependency by investing heavily, heavily, heavily in energy alternatives
- Drastically smaller federal government
- Simplify the tax code
- End the racist war on drugs
- Make the teaching profession exactly that, a profession, with professional-quality money
- Unconsolidate the media
- Leave abortion issues to the states. Gay marriage too. In fact, all red-herring morality issues are to be turned over to the states. Period.
- Return the dollar to the gold standard
- Net neutrality
- Election reform
- Campaign reform
- Governmental transparency
- Legislate hearts into corporations. Fuck Walmart - pay more.
To implement these ideas will require huge sacrifice as we change energy and corporate infrastructure, but only for a few years as we straighten this shit out. Thereafter, I predict things will get much better all around.
Is there such a candidate? This person must come from neither the Republican nor Democratic stables. Both parties have lost all credibility. We need someone powerful and fresh, untainted by corporate ownership. That means WE have to find someone outside the system to run and give that person millions upon millions of small fiscal expressions of support and our time. A truly grass-roots presidential candidate.
In the meantime, support Josh Wolf (
from his website):
Legal Defense FundDon't want to use Paypal?You can send a check
to Josh's Mom instead:
Liz Wolf
SpadaP.O. Box 2235
Wrightwood, CA 92397
Write to JoshAll correspondence may be reviewed by anonymous authorities. All letters must have a return address.
Joshua Wolf 98005-111
Dublin
FDC5675 8
th St. Camp-Parks, Unit J2
Dublin, CA 94568
Books may be sent in to Josh, but only through a bookseller. There is a
book list on his wiki which has nothing listed at the moment, but the wiki says to address books to him here:
Joshua Selassie Wolf 98005-111
Federal Detention Center, Unit J2
5675 8
th Street
Dublin CA 94568
E-mail Josh's Support TeamIf you would like to get a message to Josh's support team please send mail to
freejosh(at)joshwolf.net and it will be sent on to the appropriate person.
Tags: Faux Press Freedom of the Press Josh Wolf
