William Rivers Pitt

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William Rivers Pitt (born 1971) is a writer and the current editorial director of Progressive Democrats of America, where he writes a blog titled "We the People."

1 Background
2 Writing career
3 Political activism
4 Controversy
5 Bibliography
6 External links

[edit] Background

Pitt was born in Washington, D.C., and lived several years in Alabama (where his father, Charles Redding Pitt, now chairs the state Democratic Party) before eventually moving to Boston. He was educated in English literature at Holy Cross, a small Jesuit college in New England, and after graduation spent two years in San Francisco doing law-related work. Formerly, Pitt taught English literature, journalism, grammar and history at a small private school outside of Boston.

[edit] Writing career

Pitt had been writing about politics off and on for several years, but became devoted to the practice during the impeachment trial of former President Bill Clinton. Since President George W. Bush took office on January 20, 2001, Pitt has worked to fight what he describes as "the rising tide of conservative fundamentalism in American government".

In 2002, Pitt wrote the book War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know which consisted of an in-depth interview with former United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter. In it, Pitt and Ritter examine the Bush administration's justifications for war with Iraq and call for a diplomatic solution instead of war.

Pitt has worked as the managing editor at the liberal commentary website truthout.org, to which he is still a contributor. He is also a frequent contributor on the Internet forum Democratic Underground under the username "WilliamPitt".

[edit] Political activism

In January 2004, Pitt took over for David Swanson as the Press Secretary for Dennis Kucinich, who was seeking the Democratic Party's nomination in the 2004 presidential election. [1]

Following his involvement in the Kucinich campaign, Pitt decided to push his career in journalism to the side in order to focus on political activism. [2] As a result, he joined the staff of Progressive Democrats of America in 2005 as their Editorial director.[3]

[edit] Controversy

On May 13, 2006, Pitt became embroiled in a controversy over the reports by Jason Leopold, a fellow Truthout.org reporter, that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove had been indicted as part of Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation into the Plame affair. Pitt re-posted Leopold's reports on the Democratic Underground forum and then strongly defended them when they came under fire for being possibly untrue. [4], [5]

On May 19, after almost a week had passed with no announcement of the indictment, Truthout.org Executive Director Marc Ash issued a "partial apology". [6] On June 3, Pitt commented on Democratic Underground, "The truth will out when Fitz is ready to share." [7] On June 12, Rove attorney Robert Luskin stated that "special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald formally advised us that he does not anticipate seeking charges against Karl Rove". [8]

[edit] Bibliography

2004: Our Flag, Too - The Paradox of Patriotism. Context Books. ISBN 1-893956-49-0.
2003: The Greatest Sedition is Silence: Four Years in America. Pluto Press. ISBN 0-7453-2010-4.
2002: War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know, with Scott Ritter, Context Books. ISBN 1-893956-38-5.