Take That, Newsweek!

Because from Mexico to Canada, everyone knew but you

December 12, 2007

By Bryan Ervin, Urban Tulsa Weekly

During the past several months, UTW has periodically reported on plans among some Washington elites to bring about a "North American Community" in which the United States, Canada and Mexico would be integrated into a single entity modeled after the European Union. The body would share infrastructure, common regulating agencies and laws, and no actual borders would exist between the three nations.

Well, apparently, none of that's true.

That's according to an article in the Dec. 10 issue of Newsweek magazine, anyway.

In her article entitled "Highway to Hell? Ron Paul's worked up about U.S. sovereignty," reporter Gretel C. Kovach homed-in on and held up to ridicule recent comments by the Republican presidential candidate and Texas congressman at the CNN-YouTube debate about the "conspiracy of ideas" to surrender America's sovereignty, a significant step toward which would be the construction of the highly controversial, highly publicized NAFTA Superhighway.

"Only it's not true," Kovach wrote.

She then commenced to explain that, "like all good conspiracies," the hubbub surrounding the NAFTA Superhighway is "a strange stew of fact and fiction fired by paranoia," listing off a handful of circumstances she deems worthy of the "fact" category comprising said stew.

Presumably, everything else on which "conspiracy theorists" like Paul base their conclusions falls into the "fiction" category.

Well, that's that.

If Newsweek said it's not true, it's simply not true.

Sorry for the mix-up, folks.

Except, as Ken Sellers, vice president of the local Oklahomans for Sovereignty and Free Enterprise (OK-SAFE) pointed out to UTW after reading the article, "Gretel Kovach gives no evidence to support her 'only it isn't true' statement."

Sellers' group is a statewide grassroots organization concerned with, as the name indicates, opposing any threats to the nation's sovereignty and free exercise of capitalism.

State Sen. Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso, noticed the same glaring lack of supporting evidence for her statement, so he attempted to contact her.

"If you'd like to hear both sides of the story, I'd be happy to visit with you," he said in a voicemail message after he'd obtained the journalist's cell phone number.

At the time of this writing, Kovach hadn't responded, he said.

"It's difficult for me to understand how a so-called investigative journalist would pay no attention to the facts," Brogdon said.

"She laid out a very fluff article--there's nothing to back it, no details or facts to support it," he added.

Kovach did include one fact in particular, besides those she mentioned as the supporting seasoning to give the aforementioned "strange stew" its veneer of credibility.

She noted that, through the course of his comments about what "they are planning to do," Paul "didn't say exactly who 'they' are."

While the presidential hopeful might not have been able to list off the names comprising "them" during his sound bite in the crowded debate, some of those individuals are mentioned in the article "TransAmerica" in the June 7-13 issue of UTW, at www.urbantulsa.com (or, just google "TransAmerica Urban Tulsa Weekly").

Kovach also briefly recounted some of the controversy surrounding the planned Trans-Texas Corridor, construction of which has been stalled by suspicions that its 4,000 miles of four-football-fields-wide, multi-modal privately operated toll roads would be the first leg in the dreaded NAFTA Superhighway, which would continue through Oklahoma along Interstate-35, connecting Canada and Mexico.

Noting that one of the contractors to operate the toll roads is the Spanish-Texan consortium Cintra-Zachry, the reporter interestingly wrote, "Critics, even those who don't see a conspiracy, say the state is mortgaging its infrastructure to foreign investors."

Kovach also wrote, "Texas officials are still trying to convince locals their $180 billion idea was not hatched to undermine American sovereignty."

Based on the overall thrust of the article, it's apparent Kovach takes those Texas officials at their word, as readers are expected to take Kovach when she wrote "only it isn't true."

What she didn't mention in her article, though, is the title for the implementation plan calling for the creation of the Trans-Texas Corridor, which was drafted by the Texas Transportation Commission at the direction of Gov. Rick Perry.

"Crossroad of the Americas" is the document's title.

Not "Crossroad of Texas."

Not even "Crossroad of America."

But, "Crossroad of the Americas."

In Kovach's view, though, that tidbit might fall under the "fiction" list of ingredients for the aforementioned "strange stew" stirred by the likes of Paul, Brogdon and others.

In light of such pronouncements by Newsweek that it's simply "not true," are you ready to admit you were wrong, Senator?

"I'm pretty sure I'm right," answered Brogdon.

"That article is certainly not based on any facts," he added.