FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contacts:

Christina Siun O’Connell
Firedoglake
312-731-6762
media.firedoglake@gmail.com

Will Rockafellow
Vaster Books
510-290-2121
will@vasterbooks.com

Anatomy of Deceit – Timely Guide to Libby, Plame and the Media
Drawn from the noted blog coverage of the Plame case --
First title from new Blog-based publishing house

(THE BLOGOSPHERE – JANUARY 16, 2007) As the trial of Scooter Libby begins in Washington, a new book imprint launched by leading bloggers Markos Moulitsas and Jane Hamsher delivers Anatomy of Deceit by Marcy Wheeler. Drawing on Wheeler’s extensive blog coverage of the Plame case, Anatomy of Deceit details in devastating terms how the administration used the media to build a fraudulent case for war, betray CIA agent Valerie Plame, smear Ambassador Joe Wilson, and muddy the waters of a criminal investigation.

“Marcy Wheeler has the deepest understanding of the betrayal of Valerie Plame Wilson’s CIA affiliation of anybody I know, myself included, notes Joseph Wilson, United States Ambassador to Gabon, 1992–95, and author of The Politics Of Truth. “ Anatomy of Deceit is the definitive study of the lengths to which senior Bush administration officials went to destroy a critic and his family. It is a sad tale of abuse of power and treason.”

The Plame case has been a news mainstay since 2003 but the tale is complex and hard to follow. Wheeler’s blogging on the case has provided expert yet highly accessible coverage for readers and she brings this expertise to Anatomy of Deceit. Complete with detailed timeline and source notes, each chapter focuses on one of the key figures in this case making Anatomy of Deceit the go-to guide for the Libby trial. Readers will gain a deep understanding of the players, the legal issues and the broader political context. Wheeler’s well-crafted recounting of this complex tale of intrigue has all the qualities of an unfolding, masterful mystery.

Anatomy of Deceit will be released on January 17 to coincide with the trial of Scooter Libby and will provide readers with an insightful guide to this historic trial. Wheeler will also be blogging throughout the trial with a team of expert colleagues with frequent news, updates and liveblogging available at her blog, www.thenexthurrah.com and www.anatomyofdeceit.com.

About the Author:
Marcy Wheeler blogs under the name "emptywheel" at the blog, The Next Hurrah (http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/). Marcy brings an academic background in citizen journalism to her work. Her research in the literary-journalistic form known as “Feuilleton” led to a PhD at University of Michigan. Feuilleton arose as a response to the political censorship of Napoleon Bonaparte and provides an alternative to the dominant voice approved by the government– most recently in samizdat form during communist Czechoslovakia. Marcy’s research included a deep focus on the uses of propaganda by government and political parties. This background proved remarkably useful in deciphering the spin surrounding the CIA Leak case. Before Marcy left academics, she taught literature and communications at University of Michigan.

Marcy started commenting on blogs in the early days of Daily Kos and started posting at BOPNews in the lead up to the 2004 election. She currently blogs under the name “emptywheel” at The Next Hurrah, the DailyKos, and MichiganLiberal.

Marcy works out of her home as a business consultant, primarily developing and delivering training programs for a manufacturing company's Asian region. Marcy lives in Ann Arbor, MI with her husband and her dog, McCaffrey, who occasionally appears on her blog. She has served as the Vice Chair of her county's Democratic Party.

About the Publisher:
Vaster Media’s mission is to produce books and other media on politics, culture, and technology that will influence debate and promote progressive values. Vaster aims to challenge convention in the political discourse and in the marketplace. Emerging from the success of the netroots, Vaster Media leverages its online megaphone to promote new and established voices in a nimble, quick manner reminiscent of the fast-moving blogosphere.

Vaster founders Markos Moulitsas and Jane Hamsher are well-known leaders of the progressive blogs. Moulitsas is the founder of DailyKos, the most popular site in the blogosphere. Moulitsas’ Crashing the Gate was a critical success and is considered one of the most influential political works the decade. Its success demonstrated the potential for books, films and other media products aimed at progressive readers. Hamsher hosts Firedoglake, the noted, highly trafficked blog which has led the blogosphere in real-time coverage of the Plame case. Hamsher began blogging after a career in the film industry and was the producer of Natural Born Killers.

DailyKos and Firedoglake have an audience of almost1 million unique visitors daily and Vaster will reach this audience with innovative, timely publications beginning with Anatomy of Deceit.

Publication details:
Anatomy of Deceit: How the Bush Administration Used the Media to Sell the War and Out a Spy
Marcy Wheeler
ISBN: 0979176107
ISBN-13: 9780979176104
Format: Paperback, 176pp
Publisher: Vaster Media, Incorporated
$14.95, available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, and independent booksellers

Advance Praise for Anatomy of Deceit
Marcy Wheeler’s work embodies the promise of a new media unrestrained by corporate control and driven only by a desire to seek the truth. No one has better explained how this case is not simply about one covert agent but the coordinated efforts of our most respected media and the Bush administration to lie this country to war.—Sam Seder, host of The Sam Seder Show on Air America and co-author of F.U.B.A.R.

During the Bush presidency, some of the most incisive and tenacious political reporting was done by political bloggers. Marcy Wheeler quickly developed an expertise in the Valerie Plame scandal unrivalled anywhere in the country. Wheeler is a provocative thinker and a lively writer, and she draws on her highly analytical mind to draw some jarring and genuinely important conclusions about what the Plame affair reflects about our national political discourse and our broken journalistic institutions. All at once, Anatomy of Deceit uses the CIA leak case to perform the functions which our newspapers and pundits profundly failed to fulfill. —Glenn Greenwald, blogger at Unclaimed Territory and author of the New York Times Best SellerHow Would a Patriot Act?

In the best traditions of IF Stone, rather than sharing martinis with powerful friends and offering them confidentiality for gossip, blogger Marcy Wheeler sat in front of her computer in Michigan and sifted through every available political document related to the Valerie Plame story --- and with the help of fellow bloggers around the country, uncovered an amazing tale. As she writes in her book, Anatomy of Deceit, "the CIA leak story is a story of how our elected leaders exploited the weaknesses of our media to, first, deceive us into war, and then bully those who tried to do what the press should have done --- call our leaders on their deceptions." Her book reads like a thriller but is actually more of a chiller --- the most powerful people in the United States government used their cozy connections with the press to try to silence a critic. Like all satisfying stories, this one has heroes and villains and characters galore. And it also has a happy ending --- one of the highest placed men in the US government will be standing trial for lying about his actions. That case will be the first (and so far only) official inquiry into what went on in the Bush White House when the facts began to emerge that the government had lied about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. —Digby, blogger at Digby’s Hullabaloo