Tavis Smiley schools Bill Maher on the profundity of MLK's message and the possibility that "They" killed him

On friday, Tavis Smiley schooled Bill Maher and guests on the depth and harder truth-telling nature of Martin Luther King Jr.'s messages. He reminded the panel that King spoke about God's judgment on America, American arrogance and also made the claim that his own government was the "greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." He finished up his train of thought by saying that "part of being a patriot means to stand as a truthteller and say what needs to be said." Amen Tavis!

Bill Maher, who apparently has never heard of William Pepper and the jury that, less than a decade ago, found elements of the US government guilty of a conspiracy to murder MLK, couldn't believe that Smiley was actually saying that "they" killed him.

Bill: "Just so you don't get into trouble, the "they" that disinvited him from the White House is a little different from the "they" who shot him dead?

Tavis: "I could debate you on that."

Bill: "No?"

Tavis: "I could debate you on that."

Bill: "You're a nut."

At least Bill didn't tell him to take his medication. Bill's "you're a nut" comments feel almost like knee-jerk responses, because he knows nothing else, and likely, can't handle anything besides his Bush-bashing, "middle America is stupid," cynical and empty, false liberalism.

I think we should reach out to Tavis Smiley and his producers and ask them to have on David Ray Griffin. A few weeks ago, I asked a panel of people in the world of books and media (i.e. LA Times book reviewer, NPR producer etc.) whether there was ever social or political pressure to not feature any books or topics that might be considered too incendiary, bringing up the example of David Ray Griffin and the truth of 9-11. And the only one of them who gave an actual response to the question was Carole Chouinard, currently one of Smiley's producers and formerly one of Maher's producers. This segment on Maher has me convinced that Tavis is open to the harder truths and, at times, a very articulate defender of them. Among Charlie Rose, Bill Moyers and Tavis Smiley, our best bet for getting 9-11 truth on PBS is Smiley.

from http://www.tavistalks.com/contact
rest of the email contacts are there

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Bill Maher is an ignorant asshole. I don't know why intelligent

people go on a show to debate a host who does not even know what Section 8 housing is.

Moron.

I agree.

It's sad that Bill Maher can flat out call Tavis Smiley a NUT and no one backs him up or defends him. Just like Rosie. Call her a fat such and such and that ends the discussion. Move on to something funny and everyone ignores the claim made in the first place. What is wrong in this country.

their only defense at this point

ad ho·mi·nem –adjective
1. appealing to one's prejudices, emotions, or special interests rather than to one's intellect or reason.
2. attacking an opponent's character rather than answering his argument.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ad%20hominem

Exactly, he made himself

Exactly, he made himself look like a moron though with that cheap "YOU’RE A NUT" comment. What an assclown.

Media - William Pepper (Act of State)

Radio
San Francisco's TUC Radio's "Who Killed Martin Luther King?" (March 2008) - Part 1

In 1977 the family of Martin Luther King engaged an attorney and friend, Dr. William Pepper, to investigate a suspicion they had. They no longer believed that James Earl Ray was the killer. For their peace of mind, for an accurate record of history, and out of a sense of justice they conducted a two decade long investigation. The evidence they uncovered was put before a jury in Memphis, TN, in November 1999. 70 witnesses testified under oath, 4,000 pages of transcripts described that evidence, much of it new. It took the jury 59 minutes to come back with their decision that exonerated James Earl Ray, who had already died in prison. The jury found that Lloyd Jowers, owner of Jim’s Grill, had participated in a conspiracy to kill King. The evidence showed that the conspiracy included J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI, Richard Helms and the CIA, the military, the Memphis police department, and organized crime.

(29:02 Min - 8.31 Meg)

San Francisco's TUC Radio's "Who Killed Martin Luther King?" (March 2008) - Part 2

(29:00 Min - 8.32 Meg)

* source = http://www.tucradio.org/new.html

KPFA's Guns and Butter with Bonnie Faulkner (May 31, 2006) - Part 1

An Act of State with William Pepper, author of "An Act of State: The Assassination of Martin Luther King", his second book on the King case. William Pepper was a close political associate of Dr. King's in the last year of his life. Pepper represented James Earl Ray on appeal of his conviction for the murder of Dr. King. This presentation was given in Long Beach, California in January 2003, after the publication of the book. Part Two continues Pepper's presentation, and concludes with a 45 minute question and answer session.

(57:59 Min - 16 Meg)

KPFA's Guns and Butter with Bonnie Faulkner (June 6, 2006) - Part 2

(56:29 Min - 16 Meg)

* source = http://www.gunsandbutter.net

Video
Dr. William Pepper (introduced by Cynthia McKinney)
Book
An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King, New and Updated Edition
By William F. Pepper

Product Description

The definitive account of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, published on the 40th anniversary of his death.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was the most powerful and eloquent champion of the poor and oppressed in US history, and at the height of his fame in the mid-sixties seemed to offer the real possibility of a new and radical beginning for liberal politics in the USA. In 1968, he was assassinated; the movement for social and economic change has never recovered.

The conviction of James Earl Ray for his murder has never looked even remotely safe, and when William Pepper began to investigate the case it was the start of a twenty-five year campaign for justice. At a civil trial in 1999, supported by the King family, seventy witnesses under oath set out the details of the conspiracy Pepper had unearthed: the jury took just one hour to find that Ray was not responsible for the assassination, that a wide-ranging conspiracy existed, and that government agents were involved.

An Act of State lays out the extraordinary facts of the King story—of the huge groundswell of optimism engendered by his charismatic radicalism, of how plans for his execution were laid at the very heart of government and the military, of the disinformation and media cover-ups that followed every attempt to search out the truth. As shocking as it is tragic, An Act of State remains the most compelling and authoritative account of how King's challenge to the US establishment led inexorably to his murder.

Back Cover:

"For a quarter of a century, Bill Pepper conducted an independent investigation of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. He opened his files to our family, encouraged us to speak with the witnesses, and represented our family in the civil trial against the conspirators. The jury affirmed his findings, providing our family with a long-sought sense of closure and peace, which had been denied by official disinformation and cover-ups. Now the findings of his exhaustive investigation and additional revelations from the trial are presented in the pages of this important book. We recommend it highly to everyone who seeks the truth about Dr. King's assassination."

-Coretta Scott King

"No one has done more than Dr. William F. Pepper to keep alive the quest for the truth concerning the violent death of Martin Luther King who in courageous and important words once said 'The greatest purveyor of violence on earth is my own government.' In An Act of State, Bill Pepper argues that very government violence was turned on America's greatest prophet of non-violent change."

-Ramsey Clark, US Attorney General, 1967-69

Smiley, MLK, Rev. Wright: "God's judgement on America"

Was Atlanta tornado striking CNN perhaps God's punishment for the 9/11 cover-up? Strangely enough, that very weekend at the ANSWER march and rally, ending at CNN in Hollywood, we had to literally hold down our canopy and left early because of the wind. God's judgement ... or chemtrails? I agree, Tavis should be encouraged to have DRG on his show. Good work Shumonik!

Things that make you go hmmm. Ice shelf fails in perfect straight lines:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7310000/newsid_7313200/7313260.s...

If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.

Bill is brought and paid for...

Tavis is on layaway... but at least on this night, he kicked major ass!

Way to go Tavis!

Bill... you still suck!!!!
_______________________
"Cogito ergo sum"

Great blog entry and great idea, Shumonik!

We should definitely contact The Tavis Smiley Show and try to get Dr. William F. Pepper on the show. This will build the necessary bridge to getting Dr. Griffin and/or Peter Dale Scott on his show. We could also encourage him to invite Nafeez Mossadeq Ahmed for a chat.

John Feal would also make a good bridge to 9/11 truth.

I would think that Peter Thottam would be a great lead contact person to approach Tavis Smiley, if he's not already way too busy.

I'll be very curious to see how far Mr. Smiley is willing to go.

Keep up the great work!

I hope that you and yours are well.

The truth shall set us free. Love is the only way forward.

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Good idea

I'll ask Peter about that. Thanks for the well wishes LeftWright. Looking forward to seeing you at the upcoming West Coast 9-11 truth and justice convergence for the weekend of May 11th.

On 2/25/2006...

Tavis Smiley hosted the 7th Annual State Of The Black Union. Harry Belafonte attended. Here's what he had to say about Terrorism. You might like what he says about Osama Bin Laden...


Why isn't Dick Cheney in prison?

Wow. No wonder his daughter is part of the Truth movement

"Let us redefine terrorism. It is not just Bin Laden sitting in Afghanistan, if it is in fact, he who did what they say he did."

Good clip Jon.

“Strange times are these in which we live when old and young are taught in falsehoods school. And the one man that dares to tell the truth is called at once a lunatic and fool.” –Plato

"We must speak the truth about terror." --George W. Bush

Awesome clip!

(and I rarely use that word)

I think the 9/11 truth door is wide open in much, if not most, of black America. It's way past time to build bridges with all our brothers and sisters and throw the oppressors out!

Thanks again, Mr. Gold.

I hope that you and yours are well.

The truth shall set us free. Love is the only way forward.

Who is the most dangerous man in the world today ? ? ?

John A MITCHELL
Herblay FRANCE

Poster : Who is the most dangerous man in the world today ?

BUSH THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN ON EARTH posted the 08/05/2004
A9800_Bush_the_most_dangerous_Man_on_earth_Final.pdf

Yours

John

Contacted Tavis. Done.

very cool!

I do like the idea of Pepper into Griffin.

KING

A Time to Break Silence

Abraham, Martin, John