Gary Webb Quotes in Kill the Messenger (2014)

Gary Webb: American kids did die and are still dying, just not the ones you care about apparently.

Gary Webb: I thought my job was to tell the public the truth, the facts; pretty or not, and let the publishing of those facts make a difference in how people look at things, at themselves, and what they stand for...

Norwin Meneses: I'm going to tell you the whole truth. I'm going to introduce you to people you should talk to and then you will be faced with the most important decision of your life.

Gary Webb: Oh Yeah, what's that?

Norwin Meneses: Deciding whether to share it or not.

Gary Webb: [receiving award from his colleagues] My first story was about a dog that should have died, but wouldn't. I was twenty-two. It was a stupid little feature, but I was proud of it. I put it in a frame and hung it on my wall. And believed I joined a secret guild of reporters that day. If there was ever a believer, it was me. My last story was about a police horse in Cupertino, California who died of constipation. Actually, it's not a joke. But to begin with a dog and end with a pile of horseshit, there's a kind of poetry in there, somewhere. But this, this is horseshit. Me being up here. Look, I know I pissed off a lot of people over the years, many of whom are in this room right now. But I think that's what good investigative reporting does. It ruffles feathers.

Gary Webb: But I was never fired. And my editors never threw me under the bus. And that's because I never wrote anything until now that really mattered to a lot of people. Mattered in a scary way. I'm not going to take it back. Make nice to save my job. Because I thought my job...

[chocking up]

Gary Webb: Sorry. I thought my job was to tell the public the truth - the facts, pretty or not - and let the publishing of those facts make a difference in how people look at things. At themselves, at what they stand for. That's shame on me. This is the only thing I ever wanted to do. And for a while, a long while, it was an honor.

Alan Fenster: They block me! Every time I ask for something. Claiming - get this - national security.

Gary Webb: National security and crack cocaine in the same sentence? Does that not sound strange to you?

Fred Weil: That's classified. How did you get it?

Gary Webb: Got it from a drug dealer.

Fred Weil: Perfect. Listen, I was John Kerry's lead investigator on the senate subcommittee that investigated this. You have no idea what you're getting into.

Gary Webb: Why don't you tell me? Tell me what I'm getting into.

Fred Weil: I'm on the National Security Council now. And I have the trust of the President and his cabinet. It took me ten years to get back to that place.

Gary Webb: Your name goes nowhere near this. This conversation never happened. You have my word on that.

Fred Weil: You ever done anything like this before?

Gary Webb: No.

Fred Weil: Has your paper?

Gary Webb: Not that I'm aware of.

Fred Weil: Some fancy information that you have there. And dangerous. I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you that other reporters have been down this rabbit hole. Seasoned reporters. Who knew their way around Washington. And Central America.

Gary Webb: So what are you telling me?

Fred Weil: I had an American citizen, a rich Republican Party fund-raiser, a White House favorite, in my office, upset about things he was hearing. He believed in freedom and defeating communism, but not in laundering narcotics money for guns. And he's sitting in my office in the US Senate, and he gets a phone call telling him that if he talked to me he'd die. This is your ticket out of small time, right? You're going to make your bones on this.

Gary Webb: This is a true story.

Fred Weil: My friend, some stories are just too true to tell.

Gary Webb: That's bullshit.

Fred Weil: Yeah? And yes, it is. Congratulations. You figured that out. Too true to tell...

Gary Webb: My angle is that the American government knew drugs were put on the streets to fund an illegal war.

DEA Agent Miller: What you want to say happened, never happened.

Gary Webb: Then why am I here?

DEA Agent Miller: American kids were going to die in that war.

Gary Webb: American kids *did* die. They're still dying. Just not the ones you care about, apparently.

Anonymous Agent: [from the back of the room] We'd never threaten your children, Mr. Webb.

Gary Webb: [suddenly standing] My children? What did you say? I'm writing the story...

[walks out]

John Cullen: [appearing in his hotel room in the middle of the night] I was recruited by the Agency out of college. I knew Spanish and Law, and I wanted to do good. I wanted to fight some evil empire. I went to Central America. Made nice with radicals. Slept with some of the pretty ones. And turned in names. Then I started noticing that they were disappearing. Permanently. The people that we hunted Murdered All they had was a deep desire to reform the government and have free elections. That's it. After I left the Agency, I worked my way into a major drug cartel. It was early Medellin. I solved logistical issues, bringing supply into the United States. Paved the way, you might say, as the traffic grew - and grew.

Gary Webb: Well someone in Washington knows what you do, and is doing nothing to stop it.

John Cullen: It's all lies and corruption, Gary. You become attracted to the power, then you become addicted to the power, then you're devoured by the power.

Gary Webb: Your thing and my thing, are they connected? Are they the same?

John Cullen: Yes. They are the same.

John Cullen: Nobody wants to hear your sad story, Gary.

Gary Webb: You can go on record.

John Cullen: And end up dead? No.

Gary Webb: Then why are you here?

John Cullen: I'm confessing. Who else am I going to tell?

Gary Webb: Let me catch you up to speed here, counselor. The CIA uses people who work for the CIA. They also use people who work with the CIA. You get the difference.

Outside Counsel: We don't operate in a courtroom or in absolutes, Gary. We operate in shades of grey.

Gary Webb: Mm hmm. I didn't realize truth was a shade of grey.

Jerry Ceppos: He said he never spoke to you.

Gary Webb: You kidding me? I was in Managua for three days, you know this.

Anna Simons: No, I know you were in Managua.

Pete: He said you never got inside the prison. He said he never saw you.

Gary Webb: Well there were five hundred other people who did.

Jerry Ceppos: Yeah, but can you prove it?

Gary Webb: What, you mean, like did I bring home a t-shirt from the prison gift shop?