Gary Webb was a journalist with the San Jose Mercury news
who made national news by breaking a story about the C.I.A.’s involvement with
drug cartels to fund a war to stop Communism. Yes, a tiny paper in 1996 made
ripples all the way to the White House. When people still cared to read a
newspaper. Those days are gone.
In the 80’s and into the 90’s crack cocaine was an epidemic.
It took hold of mostly the inner city. What was mentioned in “Boys N’ The Hood”
was that black folk don’t own planes, nor do they have the logistics to haul in
that much crack cocaine. They only had the manpower to deal with it once it got
broken up. Little did they know, it was specifically targeted at South Central
Los Angeles.
This is true. Cocaine was being shipped into the U.S. from
Nicaragua during the Nixon administration which carried into the Clinton years
. This was partially integrated by the C.I.A. But it was to fund the Contras
and their defense against the Russians. The U.S. couldn’t just hand over a ton
of cash without accountability, especially to an illegal war. Drug dealers can.
So the U.S. government funded the cocaine entering the country.
Then crack blew up. Cheap enough for the streets, and highly
addictive. Enough to keep money pouring to the Contras. As the C.I.A. looked
the other way.
Two things come to mind. 1) That is an AMAZING idea. Simple
as it sounds, getting Peter to pay Paul and have the money coming from Mary is
perfect. First you’re getting money from addicts to fund your secret war 2) who
the fuck trusts a crackhead.
So anyway, my real point. Crack was introduced to the
streets. However, last time I checked doing drugs is optional. Not government
funded TAXED shit. I mean the recreational shit. What they figured was that the
inner city was too dumb to care. All they wanted was to get high. And they were
right. See, in the 80’s cocaine was everywhere. It was as available as booze.
The Wall Street crowd snorted coke. The inner city smoked crack. Money just
falling from the sky. So what changed?
Crack killed people. And it made people kill people for more
crack. The product was so good, it turned a community into a block of zombies.
There is a choice NOT to smoke it, but they didn’t realize how addictive it
was. Had junkies decided crack was whack, the Contras would’ve been shit out of
luck and we wouldn’t have more people who hate us. That’s all history though.
When was the last time you heard of anyone die of crack? Yeah, what happened
there? Because they put the kibosh on that shit. They buried it, and like
cocaine in Park Avenue, it simply disappeared. It’s all bargain basement now.
Cocaine is cheaper than a cup of coffee. It’s no longer glamorous. Neither is
crack. I’m certain we’d all self destruct had the war in South America actually
mattered. The C.I.A. thanks you for your support.
What bothers me about this movie, is the micro-focused
diligence in which a report needs to get their story read. The counter to that
was to have other reporters tear down their story. To gut them and their
sources to a point where that reporter becomes to story. Simple solution, let
that story go. People have nowhere to go if they know you’re done with it. Why?
What is that driven mode that a journalist needs to risk career, life and
family. Which is roughly stated…to reveal the truth and let Americans handle
the resolution. That’s chickenshit. In fact there is a moment in the movie
where his life starts to be dissected by the press and discovers how invasive
it is. Little does he see the hypocrisy. This is frustrating because he has
such a solid family. Risking it all for that, doesn’t endear you to him, it
makes him the monster. Anyway, because I felt something, I’d say it was a solid
flick. Surprise Renner didn’t get some buzz on this role. He’s really good.
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