turning into a totalitarian country -- a police state --
and it must be stopped. This is happening through the
destruction of our beloved Constitution and the
principles of freedom to which it is dedicated [emphasis
in the original].
"The free America we all love is quickly
disappearing. Aaron feels we cannot allow our
forefathers' struggle to be in vain," concludes the
cover message.
The video itself opens with black and white
footage of a chunky early-teens boy, shadow-boxing.
Russo, in a voice-over, tells how, even as a poor, young,
Brooklyn kid, learning life on the streets, he's always
hated bullies.
As the narration continues, he recounts way
stations on his career -- opening a rock 'n' roll
nightclub in Chicago, managing Bette Midler, founding the
Manhattan Transfer rock group, producing the
already-mentioned films and receiving an Emmy, a Tony and
six Oscar nominations.
But nowadays, because he fears for his
country, says Russo, he is appearing before the
camera. And onto a red, white and blue-lettered stage
set, before a television studio audience, Russo strides
out.
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At
the time the video was made, the producer looked very
much the entertainment industry impresario -- with wavy
black hair down to his shoulders, a pendulous pearl
earring in his left ear, and dramatic black clothing.
After greeting his audience several times with
the prayerful gesture Hindus use to acknowledge the
godhead in everyone, Russo begins to walk back and forth,
and voice his concerns about the direction America is
going.
His topics are wide-ranging -- from
now-departed Food and Drug Administration head Kessler,
to Social Security, to the IRS -- "It Really
Sucks" Russo cracks -- to number of others,
including GATT.
Pointing out that the Congressional
legislation committing the United States to the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is some 22,000 pages long,
Russo asserts that fact obviously means none of the U.S.
Representatives or Senators who approved the legislation
had any idea what they actually were authorizing. And he
illustrates by having an assistant bring out a
wheelbarrow -- loaded with thick government volumes
comprising the
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