The First Annual Liberty Internet Awards

March 16, 2007

"In many ways, what we in journalism need is a spine transplant." ~ Dan Rather

The first Oscar ceremony (1927-28) was a modest affair. Now look at it. Hollywood spends far more time and money lavishing praise on itself than making good movies. That gold-plated statuette is as coveted as the crown jewels.

The same thing for the Pulitzers. A once worthy award for superior journalism is now mostly a fraud. Same sense of self-congratulation. Same self-important people (not the political cartoonists, however) receiving pats on the back for anemic reportage and pallid commentary. God, I hope I never write that badly. Thank God, none of my heroes do.

Not surprisingly, my heroes all write, almost exclusively, for the Internet. Probably their words would burn a hole in the page of newsprint.

Having waited in vain for some prestigious university, the Columbia School of Journalism, for example, to create an award for Internet writing and editing, I decided to create my own. The First Annual Liberty Internet Award, or the LIA, presented to those writers who make a profound impact in this, the last bastion of free speech.

Admittedly, this year's awards are VERY modest. Much like the first Oscar ceremony. I apologize for that now. And as the sole judge and jury, "the decider," my choices reflect a certain personal bias. By the middle of the century, I assure you, the LIA ceremony will be BIG. Stretch limousines and live TV. Tuxedos, red carpet and cleavage.

If you are like me, you are addicted to the Internet. So much so that newspapers, and newspaper reporters, editors and columnists have become boring, the 'opinions' tepid, the reportage trite, the editorial slant almost propaganda. I feel sorry for the trees that gave their lives for newspapers nowadays.

What are the criteria for a LIA?

Criterion Number One: Does the writer kick ass on a regular basis? Criterion Number Two: Does the writer pick important topics the mainstream media mostly ignores? Criterion Number Three: Does the writer write well, entertainingly, outrageously, effectively, and mostly on target?

So, envelopes please.

Kurt Nimmo: For His Body of Work.

Nimmo fits the three criteria. Plus lots of people detest him. Labeled an anti-Semite (Who isn't these days?) on a brief Wiki bio, Nimmo writes a blog called Another Day in the Empire. One critic said of him: 'Who exactly is Kurt Nimmo? . . . . rather than Stanford or Harvard, his intellectual base seems to be a New Mexico WalMart.' Who cares where a blogger works? We certainly can't (or refuse to) get highly paid jobs whoring for the controlled media.

A typical Nimmo: 'Collin Powell, who will go down in history as the fool who presented a passel of Neocon lies and fairy tales in dog and pony show format before the United Nations, thus providing a transparent pretext to invade Iraq and systematically slaughter more than 650,000 of its citizens . . . . Powell's evidence was little more than Brothers Grimm nonsense designed to scare small children and witless American adults who invariably believe everything the government tells them, no matter the inexhaustible track record of lies and deception stretching far back into history, not that history interests the average American.'

Paul Craig Roberts: For His Body of Work.

This guy, Roberts, used to be a top Reaganite and editor for The Wall Street Journal. Now, due to his apostasy, he is restricted by the MSM to the Internet. Roberts rants up a shitstorm, like a jilted lover, about how Criminals Control the Executive Branch and how Fanatics Control US Foreign Policy. Seems Paul had his Road to Damascus moment some time ago and since then has been kicking ass and naming names.

Paul Joseph Watson: For His Body of Work.

Twenty-four year old British editor/writer of Prisonplanet.com, Watson writes daily, sometimes several items per day, about conspiracies and other New World Order-inspired crimes. Curiously, Watson spreads the word on My Space, that billion dollar acquisition of the Duke of Darkness, Rupert Murdoch. (Wonder if Murdoch knows?) Watson's site is blog.myspace.com/pauljosephwatson. Watson keeps me informed of that other evil twin, Tony Blair, and those other false flag terrorist operations, like the London bombings of 7/7.

Daniel Hopsicker: For His Body of Work.

Hopsicker has a lot of cojones. He lives in south Florida and tries to do what the highly paid presstitutes (a Sherman Skolnick description)--reporters who work for the huge dailies--should be doing but don't. Hopsicker delves into stuff that is unbelievable even to me, and I believe just about any government shenanigans (mistakenly called conspiracies). Daniel blogs for his site, www.madcowprod.com and fingered the US government early for their close connection to the 19 alleged Islamic hijackers and revealing the name of that G-string jihadist, Mohamed Atta's stripper girlfriend. Hopsicker served as the namesake of my fictional newsman (Daniel Pilgrim) in my novel The Guns of Dallas. I admire Hopsicker for digging up the dirt and delving into the shifty characters behind the 911 plot. And he does this from his parent's home. Here is a link: Chapter One of "Welcome To Terrorland"

Scarlet Pumpernickel: For His Body of Work.

The nom de plume of the Freewayblogger, that daring character who single-handedly keeps southern California amused and enlightened with his signage to counteract the Neocon crime family. Due to his one man efforts, SP has inspired many emulators, all over the country. You may see examples of his work at www.freewayblogger.com. My favorite is the image of that black-clad Abu Gharaib prisoner with the bold sign: The War Is Over (we lost). I imagine several hundred thousand people see his work every day, and it counters the highly paid propaganda shills on FOX, MSNBC or the syndicated columnists. I chose the Freewayblogger because he is just a regular guy who puts himself out there, risking arrest or a punch in the nose. Taking to the streets to take back this country.

Now: The Prize.

Since I could not afford to design and produce gold-plated statuettes, I decide the next best thing was to award the winners of the Liberty Internet Awards a Liberty. So after talking with the creator of the Liberty Dollar, one Bernard von Nothaus, I bought five brilliant Liberties at cost and will present them to the winners. Next year the LIA will come with thick silver chain, so the winners may wear them, around their necks, like hip hop stars. Maybe in five or ten years, I'll create a facsimile of the Oscar statuette.

I apologize to the THOUSANDS of equally DEDICATED Internet writers, editors and researchers who man the barricades of the last bastion of free speech. I wish that I could afford a thousand Liberties. I would award them all to you. Now, to the barricades: the sword, keyboard and the street.

Viva Liberty!

0
Your rating: None
Douglas Herman's picture
Columns on STR: 149

Award winning artist, photographer and freelance journalist, Douglas Herman can be found wandering the back roads of America. Doug authored the political crime thriller, The Guns of Dallas  and wrote and directed the Independent feature film,Throwing Caution to the Windnaturally a "road movie," and credits STR for giving him the impetus to write well, both provocatively and entertainingly. A longtime gypsy, Doug completed a 10,000 mile circumnavigation of North America, by bicycle, at the age of 35, and still wanders between Bullhead City, Arizona and Kodiak, Alaska with forays frequently into the so-called civilized world of Greater LA. Write him at Roadmovie2 @ Gmail.com