David Fisher > Quotes

“Dotcom believes one of the reasons he was targeted was his support for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. He says he was compelled to reach out to the site after US soldier Bradley Manning leaked documents to it. The infamous video recording of the Apache gunship gunning down a group of Iraqis (some of whom, despite widespread belief to the contrary, were later revealed to have been armed), including two Reuters journalists, was the trigger.

“Wow, this is really crazy,” Dotcom recalls thinking, watching the black-and-white footage and hearing the operators of the helicopter chat about firing on the group. He made a €20,000 donation to Wikileaks through Megaupload’s UK account. “That was one of the largest donations they got,” he says. According to Dotcom, the US, at the time, was monitoring Wikileaks and trying better to understand its support base. “My name must have popped right up.”

The combination of a leaking culture and a website dedicated to producing leaked material would horrify the US government, he says. A willing leaker and a platform on which to do it was “their biggest enemy and their biggest fear . . . If you are in a corrupt government and you know how much fishy stuff is going on in the background, to you, that is the biggest threat — to have a site where people can anonymously submit documents.”

Neil MacBride was appointed to the Wikileaks case, meaning Dotcom shares prosecutors with Assange. “I think the Wikileaks connection got me on the radar.”

Dotcom believes the US was most scared of the threat of inspiration Wikileaks posed. He also believes it shows just how many secrets the US has hidden from the public and the rest of the world. “That’s why they are going after that so hard. Only a full transparent government will have no corruption and no back door deals or secret organisations or secret agreements. The US is the complete opposite of that. It is really difficult to get any information in the US, so whistleblowing is the one way you can get to information and provide information to the public.”
― David Fisher, The Secret Life of Kim Dotcom: Spies, Lies and the War for the Internet

“While Callender practiced the most salacious form of journalism, his explanation for it remained valid, pointing out: “The more that a nation knows about the mode of conducting its business, the better chance has that business of being properly conducted.”
― David Fisher, Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Patriots

“He had learned so much in the desert. Real magic did exist in the world, he was sure of that now. But it had nothing to do with elaborate productions or crafty legerdemain. It was the simple wonder of love and loss and renewal and even death.”
― David Fisher, The War Magician: The man who conjured victory in the desert

“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence: nor is the law less stable than the fact; if an assault was made to endanger their lives, the law is clear, they had a right to kill in their own defense.” It was”
― David Fisher, Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Patriots

“Among many other slurs, the Republicans attacked the president as a “hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.” The Federalists were no better, calling Jefferson “a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father.” Even”
― David Fisher, Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Patriots

“the Sedition Act was a direct challenge to the Bill of Rights. It specifically made it illegal for people to assemble “with intent to oppose any measure … of the government” or “print, utter, or publish … any false, scandalous and malicious writing … against the government.” Incredibly,”
― David Fisher, Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Patriots

“Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often the real loser—in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man.”
― David Fisher, Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Civil War

“Custer simply did not appreciate the determination of the tribes camped on the banks of the Little Bighorn River. This was not only a battle for their sacred land, but their last chance to protect their way of life. Freedom to roam the plains was being taken from them. They weren’t fighting for something; they were fighting for everything. Sitting Bull was their great chief, which meant he was in charge of the civil affairs, including all negotiations with the United States government, but when the fighting began, Crazy Horse was in command. Crazy Horse was himself a great warrior, a veteran of many indigenous battles, and an excellent tactician. He is credited with devising some of the basic strategies of guerrilla warfare on which special operations are still based. And in his daring and bravery, he was at least the equal of Custer. Both”
― David Fisher, Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Real West

“If every man would wait till his wife got willing for him to go to war, there would be no fighting done till we all got killed in our own house.”
― David Fisher, Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Real West

“The fatally wounded president was carried across the street to a boardinghouse owned by William Petersen.”
― David Fisher, Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Civil War

“has been almost completely forgotten is that the character of the Lone Ranger was likely based on the life of a real person, whose true story is even more incredible than the fictitious adventures of the masked man. Bass”
― David Fisher, Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Real West

“Davy Crockett did not go to Texas to die at the Alamo but rather to live in a country he described in a letter to his children as “the garden spot of the world. The best land and the best prospects for health I ever saw, and I do believe it is a fortune to any man to come here.”
― David Fisher, Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Real West

“Sugar Act modified an existing but rarely enforced law and added new goods—including sugar, certain wines, coffee, and calico—”
― David Fisher, Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Patriots

“Stripes remained the Union banner throughout the war, the Confederacy had three different flags. The original “stars and bars,” which bore a great resemblance to the United States flag, was replaced after two years of war by a flag bearing a small blue cross in its upper left corner containing white stars against a red background, with a great white field. The flag mistakenly considered the Confederate flag, a blue cross containing white stars stretching from corner to corner against a red background, actually was the Army of Northern Virginia battle flag.”
― David Fisher, Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Civil War