Why I love the AVA

[gordonzola]

I'd fallen behind in my reading so I just now caught up to the fact that Bruce Anderson of the Anderson Valley Advertiser just stepped up his campaign to convict Judi Bari’s husband of the car bombing that eventually killed her. Anderson’s theory is that her husband tried to kill her, and while he very well may have been (or continue to be) an FBI informant, the bombing was personal, not political. Anderson also views the Redwood Summer Justice Project as a scam, Darryl Cherney as a fraud, and that the case is easily solvable with a few subpoenas for DNA samples.

Anderson just recently published a series of articles bylined to Mike Sweeney, the husband, where he "confesses" all. Because the proper authorities won’t take action, Anderson is hoping to get sued for libel by Sweeney so he can argue truth as a defense in court, call witnesses, and basically put Sweeney on trial. Instead of a libel action, Sweeney responded by complaining to the Post Office about mail fraud because he didn’t write the articles.

Clearly Anderson is willing to risk his livelihood on his belief that Sweeney did it. He’s also threatening to do a citizens arrest if the local DA won’t take action. The whole case has implications for the Left, credibility of activists, and the underbelly of political movements and it’s going to be fascinating how it plays out. The AVA is my favorite newspaper, certainly the best written weekly in the country, but keep in mind that I do not expect to agree with my reading material 100% of the time.

Check out the website and you can read a few articles and even get a free copy.

Comments

[magpiesf.livejournal.com]

oh man. i *really* should subscribe to the ava. its what i say to myself every time i read a copy. if nothing else, its entertainment value is through the roof - and its got more than just that! damn fine paper. the bari stuff is pretty damn serious, but at the same time manages to be hysterical.

smart move by sweeney to go to the usps rather than hit em with the libel, though. that does throw a wrench in the works of andersons plan...

of course, half of anderson valley hates the ava, and thinks hes a nutcase :) mention it in a cafe there and get an earful, or maybe start a huge argument between other patrons!

[brownstargirl.livejournal.com]

just outta my ass, do you think there's any credibility to his claims? I read the IV with the AVA dude in the "Land" issue of Cometbus where he waxes on similarly about Judi Bari, basically dismissed her efforts to get Earth First to not just bash on forestworkers outta middleclass wankerdom. I had this total defensive surge for her; from my very at-a-distance readings of her work I'd really admired the fact that she ID'd as working class as well as an environmentalist and seemed to have much more sense about how to organize than most Efers because of it. But I don't really know jack shit besides what I'd read. What do you think?

[walktheplank.livejournal.com]

Salon ran an article about the Judi Bari conspiracy theories, maybe 2-3 years ago. I always wondered if any new evidence had surfaced.

[walktheplank.livejournal.com]

Try "all of the above".