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The Struggle For America's Soul Begins

      by Michael B. Neff - On Tyranny and Whistleblowers

    "Year of The Rhinoceros" accurately portrays an important period in American political history
    wherein the struggle for democracy took a wrong turn ...

             Thomas Devine
             Chief Counsel, Government Accountability Project

WILL THE DARK SIDE OF AMERICA ALWAYS RULE? Even as Obama's promise of a new Washington appears to many as compromised by an insider club of corporate lobbyists and special interests, we must not forget that the path to this world began not so long ago, during a time when another government came into being, also to the sound of much relief and applause—a time when the politics of power, after much struggle, attained final and enduring mastery over the politics of ideology.

1984. Ronald Reagan's biggest year.

The culture of America had changed. It was more selfish and less fair, and certainly, less tolerant. To be a Democrat meant you were weak and foolish. To espouse political centrism meant you were insane, or at least, twice as foolish as a Democrat. The desire for wealth and power overshadowed America in so many ways while true democracy became even more of a dream. Under Reagan's influence the struggle for America's soul had begun.

The culture of America had changed ... To be a Democrat meant you were weak and foolish. To espouse political centrism meant you were insane, or at least, twice as foolish as a Democrat.
Swept into office by national turmoil and President Carter's considerable troubles, the charismatic corporate pitchman and Hollywood actor, Ronald Reagan, along with a swarm of camp-followers and political zealots, arrived in Washington with a mandate to bury the legacy of John F. Kennedy once and for all, and to prove, by any means necessary, that their version of Republicanism and its values of anti-labor, warhawk fist-pounding, "proper devotion" to God, dangerous budget deficits, and unbridled Ayn Rand capitalism were not only in the ascendant, but fit to form the basis of a privileged ruling elite for many years to come.

As a bonus for the Reagan Republicans, the corporate conquest of the American government had also begun, and of the hundreds of billions in reward that conquest made possible. More public officials in the Reagan administration were accused and/or convicted of corruption and criminal acts than at any other time in American history. Even now, and unbelievably, despite eight years of Bush, Jr., the record has not been surpassed.

My novel Year of The Rhinoceros commemorates the experiences of the whistleblowers of the Reagan era, men and women of common sense and courage trapped in a surreal world of utter dishonesty and denial. Living with them in the novel, we cannot help but endure the world of Reagan's monstrosity, his "shining city on the hill" overrun by corporate lobbyists, corrupt bureaucrats with positive attitudes, and political hit men prepared to "defend the President" at all costs.

My huge thanks to the Government Accountablity Project (GAP) in Washington, D.C., for making this novel possible. Without them the basis for the setting of this novel, The Office of Special Counsel, would not have been possible. Half of all royalties from the sale of YOTR go to GAP to help them in their ongoing task to make democracy work.


The Novel