Tony Brasunas

Old-school book reviewer Kirkus has published a review of Red White & Blind. Over the years, this venerable publication has grown famous for savaging otherwise well-received books, so it was with some trepidation that I opened my browser to read its review. I was anxious moreover because RW&B is an independent critique of the mainstream media establishment.

Drum roll…

To my pleasant surprise, the review begins with an accurate account of my path to writing the book. From there, the reviewer quite fairly describes the book’s thrust and thesis. The Kirkus appraiser even highlights the book’s political and thematic balance as well as the depth of the research it presents.

The reviewer describes the book positively as

a detailed history of media manipulation throughout US history, from World War I propaganda to deliberate CIA misinformation campaigns.

The review goes on to praise the book as “convincing” and “impressive.” In particularly, the reviewer highlights its balance:

I’m delighted to announce the release of a new investigative video on the new RW&B video channel. Just my second investigative piece, please let me know your thoughts.

This new episode delves into evidence that the crisis of media deception we endure as Americans is deepening. For absolutely no legitimate reasons, the origin of the coronavirus were censored for three years, and I uncover why.

Watch the new episode now:

YouTube >

---

Rumble >

Tracking for a year and a half

Longtime readers of this blog will know that I first wrote about the origin of the world’s least favorite virus way back in June 2021. I was reading a balanced media diet and noticed that the evidence was increasingly pointing to a lab origin. Nonetheless the very notion that the virus might have come from anywhere other than an open-air food market was still routinely called a conspiracy theory in mainstream corporate media.

Did CIA Director William Casey really say, “We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false?”

This is the provocative quote I use for the Introduction to my new book, Red White & Blind. It appears right at the outset of the book. Despite the quote appearing in countless memes and webpages, I should have provided a clear source for it in the text. I somehow overlooked it when I was compiling the book’s exhaustive sources and footnotes. Yes, despite compiling 50 pages of citations, I missed this one.

So, let’s provide it here. There is a useful Quora page where this quote is discussed. The page has been edited a bit, but a man named Greg Smith produces an email with former White House campaign staffer Barabara Honegger, who was in the meeting at which Casey expressed this troubling intention. I’m posting this email here in the event it is removed from the Quora page:

Ex-DCI Bill Casey's quote was attributed online as reported only by Mae Brussell, and so I bounced it off Barbara Honegger because I knew she worked for Mae B back in the day. Here's what I got from her in [an email] response:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Barbara Honegger
Date: Sun, Sep 21, 2014 at 11:19 PM
Subject: Re: Conference on THE WARREN REPORT AND THE
JFK ASSASSINATION : FIVE DECADES OF SIGNIFICANT DISCLOSURES
To: Greg Smith
I told Mae about it when we worked together ...
On Sun, Sep 21, 2014 at 10:32 PM, Greg Smith wrote:

Thanks Barbara! That's priceless. The web attributes it to Mae B only, and therefore, it's discounted in chat and group conversations on social media. You might want to give it better street cred? Your call!

On Sep 21, 2014, at 8:59 PM, Barbara Honegger wrote:

>     Seriously -- I personally was the Source 
>     for that William Casey quote.  He said it 
>     at an early Feb. 1981 meeting in the
>     Roosevelt Room in the West Wing of 
>     the White House which I attended, and 
>     I immediately told my close friend and 
>     political godmother Senior White House 
>     Correspondent Sarah McClendon, who 
>     then went public with it without naming 
>     the source ...  
>     On Sat, Sep 20, 2014 at 2:49 PM, Greg Smith wrote:
>
>         Love to, but can't break away. I'll definitely get the DVD for future very intense scrutiny! On that note, in the words of the infamous William J. Casey, "We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." 

>
>         On Sep 17, 2014, at 1:25 AM, Barbara Honegger wrote:
>>         I'm going to try to go to the historic conference.  
>>         Please try to as well... 
>>         Barbara  
>>         On Tue, Sep 16, 2014 at 8:34 PM, Jerry Policoff wrote:  
>>         Re: Conference on THE WARREN REPORT AND THE
>>            JFK ASSASSINATION : FIVE DECADES OF 
>>            SIGNIFICANT DISCLOSURES

The pilot episode of RW&B is here.

The book is done. The online book release is just a week away. I’m excited and a bit nervous now to turn to the other part of this endeavor: the show.

Yes, Red White & Blind will also be a video channel and podcast. My intention is to create a place where you and me and all of us can work together to uncover disinformation and bias in the media. I plan to host interviews with other journalists that you’d like to hear from and to do my own investigations into the most perplexing media stories of the day. This channel will be a place where we use a Balanced Media Diet to more clearly understand the world around us. The ultimate aim is to break the spells of mainstream news narratives in real time and uncover the stories behind the story.

I hope you’ll join me, show me my blind spots, and work to discern your own. We all have our blind spots. I’ve learned so much in the last three years writing this book, and I aim to learn much more in the next three years. I don’t have all the answers. I don’t even have all the questions yet. This is a journey, not a set of predetermined truths. 

Pilot Episode: Epstein

This first episode looks at the highly informative and highly troubling case of Jeffrey Epstein. How was he able to run an absolutely abominable pedophilia rape ring at the apex of the power structure of the Western World for twenty years?

The launch of Red White & Blind at Aqus Cafe was a peak experience of my life. It was so much more than I’d envisioned.

The rain was coming down in sheets outside, and it was a beautiful respite in the cozy confines of the cafe. I expected 20 people and then 60 showed up. The place was packed. It went silent as I shared my gratitude and read the passages I’d selected. That was wonderful. But it was the discussions that occurred after I read from the book that moved me most. Each question was deeper than the last.

It’s clear that many, many of us have felt stranded or abandoned by the dominant media narratives that purport to tell us what is happening in our world. Even more of us have lost connection with friends or family because of the polarized media landscape.

We talked about the problems, the narratives, and the lies. We talked about the possibilities too, the goals of Red White & Blind: media consciousness, a balanced media diet, and connecting with each other.

I’ve been trying to piece together photos and video to do the event justice and share it with you, but I don’t have the time or expertise to do it.

So I’m going to do something else. I’m going to do it again, this time online. As several of you suggested, I will host an Online Book Release and Conversation. I will share Red White & Blind with those of you who weren’t able to make it to Petaluma.

I would be delighted if you would participate. I would be honored if you might contribute your presence and thoughts to this book release.

Please join the conversation if you feel inspired.

Red White & Blind

Online Book Release
Tuesday, February 7th
Starts 5:30pm PST / 8:30pm EST
5:30pm – Celebratory toast & casual chat with the author
6:00pm – Book release
zoom meeting details >

Please reserve the time now in your personal calendar. I will be thrilled to see and hear from you as I release this book into the world.

Here is the Facebook event and the Zoom invitation.

I’ll see you there on the 7th.

Today is the day.

Red, White & Blind day.

After years of work, I can now announce with much pride, relief, humility, and excitement that my second book is out.

Today, the paperback. Tomorrow, on 1/11/23, the ebook for kindle will be available.

Launch Event!

To get your hands on the book today, please join me for the launch party. I have received tremendous interest and I sense it will be a literary celebration tonight at the fabulous Aqus Cafe in Petaluma, California. The place has a mild Euro vibe, a slightly subversive mood, and features great food, drink, and atmosphere. It has built a wonderful community of artists, writers, and musicians in Petaluma over the last decade, and I’m honored to launch my book there. Please come if you can! It would mean the world to me to see you there.

You’ll also get your book first, at a discount, and signed by yours truly.

Order the Book!

If you’re not able to get to Petaluma tonight, no worries. I’m sure that’s most of you, and I would LOVE for you to order the book right now from the comfort of your home. Not only will you get to embark sooner on what I hope is your great personal journey towards media consciousness, but it will also boost the book’s numbers in its first week so that more other people will organically discover it via online search and discovery.

Order the book today and have it in your hands in no time!

• Publisher. You can it most quickly and with the fewest middlemen at the marketplace of the publisher, BookBaby.
  www.RedWhiteAndBlind.com/buy >
• Barnes & Noble. If you prefer Barnes & Noble, they should ship it quickly too.
  www.RedWhiteAndBlind.com/bn >
• Amazon. And if you prefer Amazon, they have the book in stock too of course.
  www.RedWhiteAndBlind.com/amazon >

This is just the beginning

I’m excited and hopeful that what I’ve uncovered and spent three years putting into print will be of use to you and to many in your life. I’m humbled knowing how much I was able to write and yet how much more I was unable to cover, consider, or investigate. Finally, I’m thrilled to see where the book takes us in the unfolding conversation about the news media, social media, censorship, disinformation, and our longing to be informed about the world.