Editor's Note: Mickey Z (Michael Zezima) is the author of Saving Private Power: The Hidden History of "The Good War" (Soft Skull Press, 2000). He also contributed a chapter called "Saving Private Power" to You Are Being Lied To (New York: Disinfo Books, 2001), edited by Russ Kick.

I define a saint as a person who behaves decently in an indecent society.
~~ Kurt Vonnegut

Any human we collectively venerate as a "hero" is typically the product of disinformation, historical distortion, or media hype. While the efforts of these so-called heroes may be earnest and often worthwhile, like any other human being, they are enigmatic and unreliable. For example, contrary to popular perception, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. didn't defy the slings and arrows of segregationists alone, he merely took the credit for all the groundwork laid by dogged individuals acting in solidarity, i.e. SNCC workers.

I've taken the time to survey the following idols not to derive gratification from pointing out the incongruities (albeit, I must confess, there is an undeniable kick in doing so) but rather to utilize them as examples of how we all are manipulated.

The truth can be ugly and myths are frequently conjured to supersede or obscure it. To follow is the first installment of a brief and very incomplete roster of humans pawned off as icons. Perhaps this will encourage you to deconstruct other legends on your own.

Jacques Strapped

Myth: Jacques Cousteau loved the oceans.

Celebrated as one of the "Grand Exits" of 1997 in the now-defunct George magazine, Jacques Cousteau was eulogized by alleged environmentalist Al Gore as "the greatest . . . teacher on the global environment that I've seen." The former vice president explained how he "was inspired by [Cousteau's] own love for this earth and, especially the oceans."

Gore, of course, was opting to disregard the survey of the French atoll Muraroa conducted by Cousteau in 1987 before nuclear testing was resumed there. After a brief inspection, Jacques demonstrated his fathomless love for the oceans by filing a report stating that "the risks of radioactive contamination in the short and medium term are negligible."

Tipper's mate must have also missed the item in CounterPunch (June 16-30, 1997) describing Cousteau's work in the early 1960s with the French metals company, Pechiney, when the "greatest teacher on the global environment" supervised the laying of two pipes off Marseilles. As the editors of CounterPunch tell us, "By 1983, some 40 million tons of bauxite dust had been pumped into the sea from those pipes."

"[Cousteau] showed us all that we share this world," Gore concluded, "and have a responsibility to protect it for our children and our childrenšs children."

Velvet?

Myth: Vaclav Havel is democratic hero.

Running counter to his media-fabricated image, Vaclav Havel, playwright-turned-president of the Czech Republic, has some somewhat peculiar ideas for a champion of democracy. As detailed by Michael Parenti in CovertAction Quarterly, Havel penned a New York Times op-ed in which he denounced democracy's "cult of objectivity and statistical average," pooh-poohing "the idea that rational, collective social efforts should be applied to solving the environmental crisis."

"On another occasion," Parenti wrote, "Havel called for efforts to preserve the Christian family in the Christian nation."

For someone who has vowed to never sell arms to oppressive regimes, it's enlightening to note that Havel has peddled arms to the Phillipine generals and Thai fascists in addition to offering no objection when Chilean General Augusto Pinochet was reported in the Czech Republic shopping for weapons in 1994.

Other Havel highlights include:

ˇ Supported the Gulf War and the continuing blockade of Iraq which contributes to the death of 5000 Iraqi children per month.

ˇ Singled out Cuba for human rights-related condemnation while remaining close-lipped about any U. S. client state, i.e. Indonesia, Colombia, and Turkey.

ˇ Demanded that the Czech Republic's parliament be suspended in 1992, so he (Havel) could rule by edict and ram through his so-called reforms.

ˇ Attacked labor unions and cut health care, public housing, and education.

ˇ Drastically increased the size of the Prague police force to many times larger than it was under the "communist police state."

Oh, and one more thing: Under Havel, according to Christopher Dickey in Newsweek (September 2, 1996), Prague under Havel has become a principal hub for "the collection of children to serve visiting pedophiles."

It appears Vaclav has taken a cue from Al Gore and Jacques Cousteau on the subtle nuances of protecting children.

Genocide

Myth: Elie Wiesel wants to help all humanity.

While Wiesel's documentation of the Nazi Holocaust has earned him international acclamation and a Nobel Peace Prize, he is not always predisposed to yield the genocide victim's spotlight.

In 1982, a conference on genocide was held in Israel with Wiesel scheduled to be honorary chairman, but the situation became complicated when the Armenians wanted in. Here's how Noam Chomsky told the story in Chronicles of Dissent (Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press, 1992):

"The Israeli government put pressure upon [Wiesel] to drop the Armenian genocide. They allowed the others, but not the Armenian one. He was pressured by the government to withdraw, and being a loyal commissar as he is, he withdrew . . . because the Israeli government had said they didn't want Armenian genocide brought up."

Wiesel went even further, calling up noted Israeli Holocaust historian, Yehuda Bauer, and pleading with him to also boycott the conference. "That gives an indication of the extent to which people like Elie Wiesel were carrying out their usual function of serving Israeli state interests," Chomsky explains, "even to the extent of denying a holocaust, which he regularly does."

Why not welcome the Armenians, you're perhaps wondering? Chalk it up to two conspicuous factors: the need to monopolize the Holocaust image and the geopolitical reality that Turkey (the nation responsible for the Armenian genocide‹no dearth of irony here) is a rare and much-needed Muslim ally for Israel.

These three humans (and hundreds like them) have become little more than comic-book superheroes. However, in "real life", in the world we all actually live in, we cannot expect one person to change anything in any significant manner and we can't wait for a singular individual to lead the way.