[Corp. Watch] The sins of the father

[Corporation Watch]

Front Group King Rick Berman Gets Blasted by his Son

  by Anne Landman

(PRwatch.org, Jan. 30) -- Washington, DC lobbying scourge Richard  
"Rick" Berman is facing steadily increasing push-back these days, and  
some of it is coming from a surprising source -- his own son, musician  
David Berman.
	Berman has long been the frontman through which corporations have  
aggressively attacked their opponents without leaving fingerprints.  
Known to his own friends and enemies alike as "Dr. Evil," Berman has  
perfected the art of setting up non-profit "charitable" groups to  
advance corporate interests.

	The groups have deceptively helpful-sounding names, like "Guest  
Choice Network," the "Employment Policies Institute" or the "Center  
for Consumer Freedom," but really serve as well-funded attack dogs for  
the tobacco, alcohol, chain restaurant, tanning and other industries.

	The groups' non-profit status makes their funding hard to trace,  
which has permitted Berman to operate in the shadows for decades while  
pocketing millions from unpopular industries for his work thwarting  
public interest legislation.

Pushback against underhanded lobbying tactics

	Berman depends on secrecy to cloak his operations, but recently the  
Congressional watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in  
Washington (CREW) unveiled a hard-hitting new website, www.BermanExposed.org 
, which unmasks Berman's front groups, tactics, employees and projects.

	CREW's website outs Berman's "charitable" groups as the lobbying  
tools they are, and describes how he uses them to run attack ads and  
implement other tactics to fight Mothers Against Drunk Driving, People  
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and other public interest  
groups' efforts to raise awareness of obesity, second-hand smoke, 	and  
other causes.

	CREW even posted a photo of the $3.3 million house Berman purchased  
with money he has earned from his dirty lobbying tactics.

Another Blow Hits Closer to Home

	CREW's new site was a resounding strike at Berman, but it might have  
inadvertently catalyzed yet another blow that hits even closer to  
home. Rick Berman's son, David Berman, is a 42-year-old singer- 
songwriter who, since 1989, has been the front singer for a popular  
New York City indie rock band called the "Silver Jews."

	Over the years, the Silver Jews have developed a loyal following, but  
on January 22, 2009 David Berman stunned his fans by posting a note to  
an online message board announcing that after all these years he was  
leaving the band.

	The reason? His father, Rick Berman. In scathing language, David  
disclosed to his fans who his father is, and how leaving the band  
related to his father's work. The younger Berman wrote:


> Now that the Silver Jews are over I can tell you my gravest secret.  

> Worse than suicide, worse than crack addiction: My father. You might  

> be surprised to know he is famous, for terrible reasons.

>

> My father is a despicable man. My father is a sort of human  

> molester. An exploiter. A scoundrel. A world historical  

> mother******* son of a bitch. (sorry grandma). You can read about  

> him here: www.bermanexposed.org

>

> ... A couple of years ago I demanded he stop his work. Close down  

> his company or I would sever our relationship. He refused. He has  

> just gotten worse. More evil. More powerful. We've been "estranged"  

> for over three years. Even as a child I disliked him. We were  

> opposites. I wanted to read. He wanted to play games.

>

> He is a union buster. When I got out of college I joined the  

> Teamsters (the guards were union organized at the Whitney). I went  

> off to hide in art and academia. I fled through this art portal for  

> twenty years.

>

> In the meantime my Dad started a very very bad company called Berman  

> and Company. He props up fast food/soda/factory farming/childhood  

> obesity and diabetes/drunk driving/secondhand smoke.

> He attacks animal lovers, ecologists, civil action attorneys,  

> scientists, dieticians, doctors, teachers. His clients include  

> everyone from the makers of Agent Orange to the Tanning Salon Owners  

> of America. He helped ensure the minimum wage did not move a penny  

> from 1997-2007!

>

> The worst part for me as a writer is what he does with the English  

> language. Though vicious he is a doltish thinker, and his spurious  

> editorials rely on doublethink and always with the Lashon Hara  

> [Hebrew for the prohibition against spreading gossip against others].

>

> As I studied Judaism over the years, the shame and the shanda  

> [scandal] grew almost too much. My heart was constantly on fire for  

> justice. I could find no relief. This winter I decided that the SJs  

> [Silver Jews] were too small of a force to ever come close to  

> undoing a millionth of all the harm he has caused. To you and  

> everyone you know.

>

> Literally, if you eat food or have a job, he is reaching you.

>

> I've always hid this terrible shame from you, the fan. The SJs have  

> always stood autonomous and clear. Hopefully it won't contaminate  

> your feelings about the work ... In a way I am the son of a demon  

> come to make good the damage.

>

> Previously I thought that, through songs and poems and drawings, I  

> could find and build a refuge away from his world. But there is the  

> matter of Justice. And I'll tell you it's not just a metaphor. The  

> desire for it actually burns. It hurts.

>

> There needs to be something more. I'll see what that might be.

>

> DCB

>

	Ouch.

	David's powerful note provides insight into the tortured feelings he  
has endured as the son of the "lobbyist from Hell". Rick Berman is  
guilty of shamefully obstructing public health and working to crush  
those who care about public welfare, clean air, the environment,  
animal rights and other causes.

	For any normal father, this public note would be excruciatingly  
painful. For all we know, it might be for Rick Berman, too. But will  
the pain of this note be enough to change him?

	Hopefully David's public expression of his feelings about his  
father's work will make Rick Berman think about what he is doing to  
society, if not his family.