Reverend Pike and PrisonPlanet

Alex Jones' Prisonplanet publishes articles by Reverend Pike, head of the National Prayer Network.

Jones and Prisonplanet support Pike's campaign against "the HateSpeech Bill."

Reverend Pike has appeared as a guest on Alex Jones' radio/TV show.

Reverend Pike is also a contributor/correspondent for Willis Carto's AmericanFreePress, and David Duke's White-Rights website.

Amongst the articles at Prisonplanet, the 'Reverend' Pike, in the now familiar Prisonplanet/far-right style, waves the ghosts of Nazism, but, again in familiar Prisonplanet and far-right style, suggests it's actually the Democrats and their pursuit of an ANTI-HATE Bill who are the real Nazis.

This is despite the Reverend himself writing for David Duke and Willis Carto's publications. David Duke and Willis Carto have numerous and deep connections with genuine racists, fascists, Nazis, holocaust deniers and eliminationism. This is the now familiar inversion of reality which occurs again and again in the propaganda of the far-right.

This is one of several articles authored by Pike which appear at Prionplanet.com:

Unite Against Hate Law Tyranny!

Rev. Ted Pike
National Prayer Network
Monday, July 20, 2009

Monday, July 20, 2009

When Hitler and Mussolini came to power, parliamentary governments had been in place in Germany and Italy for at least a half a century. These dictators established political power outside legislative due process, under the guise of national emergency. They ruled by fiat – claiming such was the only efficient way to regain national power and honor. In just this way, Democrats betrayed justice in the Senate this past week.
LINK

Clearly we have Pike pointing to the warning signs of Swaztika flags being waved - but the finger is pointed at a democratically elected legislature, bound by a constitution, implementing extensions to ANTI-HATE legislation. The genuine Nazis hiding in the shadows behind the Reverend and Alex Jones are never mentioned, let alone criticised in the same terms. Again - this is wilful and conscious deceit by the Reverend, by Alex Jones, and by Prisonplanet. Neither Reverend Pike or Alex Jones can be unaware of Carto and Duke's support for far-right extremism.

The following video shows Alex Jones interviewing Reverend Pike on the subject of the proposed extensions to the HateCrime Bill. Again, check if Alex Jones makes any reference to the fact Reverend Pike is a correspondent for the anti-semitic, pro-Nazi Willis Carto's AmericanFreePress, or that he writes for David Duke (former Klan Grand Chimp) at Duke's WHITE RIGHTS website. Jones simply avoids the Reverend's ties with Willis Carto and David Duke.

In contrast to ignoring the facts of Reverend Pike and Jones' numerous and close associations with genuine far-right extremists, the conversation is based around an inversion of reality - it raises the spectre of anti-hate legislation being Orwellian and tyrannical(!) To quote Jones, "We are not exaggerating to say 'This is right out of Bolshevik Russia". Pike intones, "That's right....."



Why might Reverend Pike be so concerned about this legislation? To listen to Jones and the Reverend one would imagine they were just seeking to protect "freespeech" without any personal interest in the matter. How civic-minded of them? How "libertarian"?

However, turning to DavidDukes' WhiteCivilRights website, we find the following :

It is not generally admitted in the media that both homosexual and heterosexual child abuse occurs with an alarming frequency among Jews.

An article by Reverend Ted Pike notes “the Orthodox Jewish community struggles to contain what has been a closely guarded secret: pedophilia…

....the existence of pedophilia is not Orthodoxy’s best kept secret. What truly cannot be uttered by the Jewish community or media worldwide is that the Talmud, Judaism’s highest legal authority, encourages pedophilia.”
LINK

Pike's article at Dukes' site is headlined:

Pedophilia ‘Rampant’ In Orthodox Judaism
By Rev. Ted Pike

Why Do They Do It?

Actually, the existence of pedophilia is not Orthodoxy’s best kept secret. What truly cannot be uttered by the Jewish community or media worldwide is that the Talmud, Judaism’s highest legal authority, encourages pedophilia. If this fact became widely known, it could destroy Judaism as one of the world’s great religions. It would confirm millennia of “anti-Semitic” accusations (beginning with Jesus’ incendiary attacks on the Pharisees) that pharisaic Judaism is based on gutter values.

In my article “Pedophilia: the Talmud’s Dirty Secret” I document that the greatest Talmudic sages repeatedly upheld the right of Jewish men to marry 3-year-old baby girls by having sex with them. The more Orthodox Judaism is, the more literally it follows every dictum of such rabbinic authorities. Shockingly, one of the most revered rabbis of the Talmud, Simeon ben Yohai, asserts “that a proselyte under the age of three years and one day may be married to a priest.”

The Talmud says ben Yohai’s endorsement of pedophilia is “halachah,” binding Jewish law.
.....
I document the Talmud’s repeated permission for women to have sex with boys under age nine.
.....
The Talmud gives the clear impression that boys under age nine are fair game for sexual predation by women and even men.
....
....pedophilia in Judaism enjoys frequent, conspicuous, and enthusiastic support from Judaism’s greatest authority, the Talmud.
....
More than 2,000 years ago, pedophilia was encouraged by the Pharisaic school of Hillel. It will be around for a long time to come. It is part of that state of “all uncleanness” that Christ said is intrinsic to Pharisaism. It will endure until that day when Christ at last obtains a pure and repentant remnant of believing Jews out of the destruction of “the great harlot,” international Jewish control. Then, Scripture promises, He “will have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion”
LINK

Not difficult to see why Reverend Pike might have concerns for himself (and his friends) about any extensions to ANTI-HateSpeech legislation. Yet Jones and Pike never mention their own self-interest in the issue - it's all left unsaid. They simply whitewash their own extensive ties with far-right extremism, white-nationalism, anti-semitism and Nazism, to deceive the viewer into believing she is listening to two concerned citizens, rather than the crypto-Nazis they really are.

Pike's website is called truthtellers.org Apparently the truth about Willis Carto and David Duke isn't covered.

At Pike's website, he asks, "Are Jews still Guilty?" LOL. In answer he writes

....the Bible teaches we can become guilty of the sin of another by sympathy with it.
LINK

Does that include supporting David Duke and Willis Carto, Reverend?

-----

Here's a cartoon from the Reverend Pike's website........which in light of his association with Willis Carto and David Duke is so disingenuous it beggars belief. It's a fraud......



The dude hangs out with Nazis, and says Jews are pedophiles, yet pretends people are gonna jail him for being pro-marriage! What a fucking fraud.

Some more of the "reverend" Pike's wisdom:

Today, Jewish activists of the Anti-Defamation League continue the work of their spiritual and political ancestor, Kun; they forcefeed society and the youngest children with pro-homosexuality.

Yeah, I was forcefed homosexuality. Everyone is, right? By jews? LOL

Here's an example of one such pedophile S. 909 would rush to assist if it were law today. Last week the FBI and Washington D.C. police announced arrest of homosexual Duke University administrator Frank Lombard for trying to persuade an undercover police officer to have sex with Lombard's six-year-old adopted black son. The affidavit said Lombard sexually molested the child, describing himself as a "perv dad for fun." The boy was reared by Lombard and his homosexual partner. (See, Gay Duke U. Official Attempts to Sell Black 5-Year-Old Son for Sex: MSM Out to Lunch. NewsBusters.org 06/29/2009)

Attorney General Holder testified that the federal hate law would give homosexuals, regardless of their guilt or innocence, preferential rights and importance over the majority of "straight" Americans. This means that if the officer lost his cool and called Lombard a faggot, striking him, and Lombard screamed, "Hate crime!" the whole federal, state, and county law enforcement and justice establishment would be obligated to come to the aid of Lombard with triple speed.

Man this dude is a freak. Does he not understand the least thing, or is he just purposefully twisting things? I guess he's just mad. He seems it. If the officer struck this alleged "offender" - the state isn't supposed to protect him - because he's accused of "being a faggot" and a pederast? Errr - right. Even if the dude is guilty of the worst crimes imaginable - he still has human rights, you fucking idiot. And whilst this pillock complains about the erosion of "what's good about america", the onset of a po9lice state and all the rest of it, the idiot seems to think it's ok for a cop to beat someone - so long as he thinks - or absolutely knows - "he's a faggot"!? Is that what he's saying?

Instead of being charged with simple assault, the undercover officer would face a federal felony rap which could total ten years in prison. After spending at least $10,000 for the best attorney he could find, the officer could spend tens of thousands in legal fees if the case dragged on or was appealed.

On the other hand, if Lombard learned the officer's identity and struck him, crying "Pig!" the officer would have no special status as the member of a federally protected group. He could not scream "Hate crime!", but would have to find justice through conventional law.

Awwwww - the liddle ole copper don't like being called "pig"? I'm sure it ain't very nice......but let's be fair - there is a criminal offence of assaulting a police officer, police officers choose to do their job.....the police are supposed to be upholders of the law....and if assaulted they have the full force of the state behind them without doubt. What a fucking jerk this Pike dude is. I'd love to see him make that argument on Alex "it's a fucking police state man!!!" Jones' show. I don't like the Reverend Pike one bit.

I wrote to him earlier - I don't expect a reply. At least not to the question I asked.

Marx - Development of Human Society

The Marxist view of the development of human society
Karl Marx: From The Preface To
"A Contribution To
The Critique Of Political Economy"

In the social production which men carry on they enter into definite relations that are indispensable and independent of their will; these relations of production correspond to a definite stage of development of their material forces of production.

The sum total of these relations of production constitutes the economic structure of society – the real foundation, on which rises a legal and political superstructure and to which correspond definite forms of social consciousness.

The mode of production in material life determines the social, political and intellectual life processes in general.

It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness.

At a certain stage of their development, the material forces of production in society come in conflict with the existing relations of production, or – what is but a legal expression for the same thing – with the property relations within which they have been at work before. From forms of development of the forces of production, these relations turn into their fetters.

Then begins an epoch of social revolution. With the change of the economic foundation, the entire immense superstructure is more or less rapidly transformed.

In considering such transformations, a distinction should always be made between the material transformation of the economic conditions of production, which can he determined with the precision of natural science, and the legal, political, religious, aesthetic or Philosophic – in short, ideological forms in which men become conscious of this conflict and fight it out.

Just as our opinion of an individual is not based on what he thinks of himself, so can we not judge of such a period of transformation by its own consciousness; on the contrary this consciousness must be explained rather from the contradictions of material life, from the existing conflict between the social forces of production and the relations of production.

No social order ever disappears before all the productive forces for which there is room in it have been developed; and new higher relations of production never appear before the material conditions of their existence have matured in the womb of the old society itself. Therefore, mankind always sets itself only such tasks as it can solve; since, looking at the matter more closely, we will always find that the task itself arises only when the material conditions necessary for its solution already exist or are at least in the process of formation.
LINK

Why Socialism?
by Albert Einstein

This essay was originally published in the first issue of Monthly Review (May 1949).



Is it advisable for one who is not an expert on economic and social issues to express views on the subject of socialism? I believe for a number of reasons that it is.

Let us first consider the question from the point of view of scientific knowledge. It might appear that there are no essential methodological differences between astronomy and economics: scientists in both fields attempt to discover laws of general acceptability for a circumscribed group of phenomena in order to make the interconnection of these phenomena as clearly understandable as possible. But in reality such methodological differences do exist. The discovery of general laws in the field of economics is made difficult by the circumstance that observed economic phenomena are often affected by many factors which are very hard to evaluate separately. In addition, the experience which has accumulated since the beginning of the so-called civilized period of human history has—as is well known—been largely influenced and limited by causes which are by no means exclusively economic in nature. For example, most of the major states of history owed their existence to conquest. The conquering peoples established themselves, legally and economically, as the privileged class of the conquered country. They seized for themselves a monopoly of the land ownership and appointed a priesthood from among their own ranks. The priests, in control of education, made the class division of society into a permanent institution and created a system of values by which the people were thenceforth, to a large extent unconsciously, guided in their social behavior.

But historic tradition is, so to speak, of yesterday; nowhere have we really overcome what Thorstein Veblen called "the predatory phase" of human development. The observable economic facts belong to that phase and even such laws as we can derive from them are not applicable to other phases. Since the real purpose of socialism is precisely to overcome and advance beyond the predatory phase of human development, economic science in its present state can throw little light on the socialist society of the future.

Second, socialism is directed towards a social-ethical end. Science, however, cannot create ends and, even less, instill them in human beings; science, at most, can supply the means by which to attain certain ends. But the ends themselves are conceived by personalities with lofty ethical ideals and—if these ends are not stillborn, but vital and vigorous—are adopted and carried forward by those many human beings who, half unconsciously, determine the slow evolution of society.

For these reasons, we should be on our guard not to overestimate science and scientific methods when it is a question of human problems; and we should not assume that experts are the only ones who have a right to express themselves on questions affecting the organization of society.

Innumerable voices have been asserting for some time now that human society is passing through a crisis, that its stability has been gravely shattered. It is characteristic of such a situation that individuals feel indifferent or even hostile toward the group, small or large, to which they belong. In order to illustrate my meaning, let me record here a personal experience. I recently discussed with an intelligent and well-disposed man the threat of another war, which in my opinion would seriously endanger the existence of mankind, and I remarked that only a supra-national organization would offer protection from that danger. Thereupon my visitor, very calmly and coolly, said to me: "Why are you so deeply opposed to the disappearance of the human race?"

I am sure that as little as a century ago no one would have so lightly made a statement of this kind. It is the statement of a man who has striven in vain to attain an equilibrium within himself and has more or less lost hope of succeeding. It is the expression of a painful solitude and isolation from which so many people are suffering in these days. What is the cause? Is there a way out?

It is easy to raise such questions, but difficult to answer them with any degree of assurance. I must try, however, as best I can, although I am very conscious of the fact that our feelings and strivings are often contradictory and obscure and that they cannot be expressed in easy and simple formulas.

Man is, at one and the same time, a solitary being and a social being. As a solitary being, he attempts to protect his own existence and that of those who are closest to him, to satisfy his personal desires, and to develop his innate abilities. As a social being, he seeks to gain the recognition and affection of his fellow human beings, to share in their pleasures, to comfort them in their sorrows, and to improve their conditions of life. Only the existence of these varied, frequently conflicting, strivings accounts for the special character of a man, and their specific combination determines the extent to which an individual can achieve an inner equilibrium and can contribute to the well-being of society. It is quite possible that the relative strength of these two drives is, in the main, fixed by inheritance. But the personality that finally emerges is largely formed by the environment in which a man happens to find himself during his development, by the structure of the society in which he grows up, by the tradition of that society, and by its appraisal of particular types of behavior. The abstract concept "society" means to the individual human being the sum total of his direct and indirect relations to his contemporaries and to all the people of earlier generations. The individual is able to think, feel, strive, and work by himself; but he depends so much upon society—in his physical, intellectual, and emotional existence—that it is impossible to think of him, or to understand him, outside the framework of society. It is "society" which provides man with food, clothing, a home, the tools of work, language, the forms of thought, and most of the content of thought; his life is made possible through the labor and the accomplishments of the many millions past and present who are all hidden behind the small word “society.”

It is evident, therefore, that the dependence of the individual upon society is a fact of nature which cannot be abolished—just as in the case of ants and bees. However, while the whole life process of ants and bees is fixed down to the smallest detail by rigid, hereditary instincts, the social pattern and interrelationships of human beings are very variable and susceptible to change. Memory, the capacity to make new combinations, the gift of oral communication have made possible developments among human being which are not dictated by biological necessities. Such developments manifest themselves in traditions, institutions, and organizations; in literature; in scientific and engineering accomplishments; in works of art. This explains how it happens that, in a certain sense, man can influence his life through his own conduct, and that in this process conscious thinking and wanting can play a part.

Man acquires at birth, through heredity, a biological constitution which we must consider fixed and unalterable, including the natural urges which are characteristic of the human species. In addition, during his lifetime, he acquires a cultural constitution which he adopts from society through communication and through many other types of influences. It is this cultural constitution which, with the passage of time, is subject to change and which determines to a very large extent the relationship between the individual and society. Modern anthropology has taught us, through comparative investigation of so-called primitive cultures, that the social behavior of human beings may differ greatly, depending upon prevailing cultural patterns and the types of organization which predominate in society. It is on this that those who are striving to improve the lot of man may ground their hopes: human beings are not condemned, because of their biological constitution, to annihilate each other or to be at the mercy of a cruel, self-inflicted fate.

If we ask ourselves how the structure of society and the cultural attitude of man should be changed in order to make human life as satisfying as possible, we should constantly be conscious of the fact that there are certain conditions which we are unable to modify. As mentioned before, the biological nature of man is, for all practical purposes, not subject to change. Furthermore, technological and demographic developments of the last few centuries have created conditions which are here to stay. In relatively densely settled populations with the goods which are indispensable to their continued existence, an extreme division of labor and a highly-centralized productive apparatus are absolutely necessary. The time—which, looking back, seems so idyllic—is gone forever when individuals or relatively small groups could be completely self-sufficient. It is only a slight exaggeration to say that mankind constitutes even now a planetary community of production and consumption.

I have now reached the point where I may indicate briefly what to me constitutes the essence of the crisis of our time. It concerns the relationship of the individual to society. The individual has become more conscious than ever of his dependence upon society. But he does not experience this dependence as a positive asset, as an organic tie, as a protective force, but rather as a threat to his natural rights, or even to his economic existence. Moreover, his position in society is such that the egotistical drives of his make-up are constantly being accentuated, while his social drives, which are by nature weaker, progressively deteriorate. All human beings, whatever their position in society, are suffering from this process of deterioration. Unknowingly prisoners of their own egotism, they feel insecure, lonely, and deprived of the naive, simple, and unsophisticated enjoyment of life. Man can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is, only through devoting himself to society.

The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil. We see before us a huge community of producers the members of which are unceasingly striving to deprive each other of the fruits of their collective labor—not by force, but on the whole in faithful compliance with legally established rules. In this respect, it is important to realize that the means of production—that is to say, the entire productive capacity that is needed for producing consumer goods as well as additional capital goods—may legally be, and for the most part are, the private property of individuals.

For the sake of simplicity, in the discussion that follows I shall call “workers” all those who do not share in the ownership of the means of production—although this does not quite correspond to the customary use of the term. The owner of the means of production is in a position to purchase the labor power of the worker. By using the means of production, the worker produces new goods which become the property of the capitalist. The essential point about this process is the relation between what the worker produces and what he is paid, both measured in terms of real value. Insofar as the labor contract is “free,” what the worker receives is determined not by the real value of the goods he produces, but by his minimum needs and by the capitalists' requirements for labor power in relation to the number of workers competing for jobs. It is important to understand that even in theory the payment of the worker is not determined by the value of his product.

Private capital tends to become concentrated in few hands, partly because of competition among the capitalists, and partly because technological development and the increasing division of labor encourage the formation of larger units of production at the expense of smaller ones. The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society. This is true since the members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who, for all practical purposes, separate the electorate from the legislature. The consequence is that the representatives of the people do not in fact sufficiently protect the interests of the underprivileged sections of the population. Moreover, under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights.

The situation prevailing in an economy based on the private ownership of capital is thus characterized by two main principles: first, means of production (capital) are privately owned and the owners dispose of them as they see fit; second, the labor contract is free. Of course, there is no such thing as a pure capitalist society in this sense. In particular, it should be noted that the workers, through long and bitter political struggles, have succeeded in securing a somewhat improved form of the “free labor contract” for certain categories of workers. But taken as a whole, the present day economy does not differ much from “pure” capitalism.

Production is carried on for profit, not for use. There is no provision that all those able and willing to work will always be in a position to find employment; an “army of unemployed” almost always exists. The worker is constantly in fear of losing his job. Since unemployed and poorly paid workers do not provide a profitable market, the production of consumers' goods is restricted, and great hardship is the consequence. Technological progress frequently results in more unemployment rather than in an easing of the burden of work for all. The profit motive, in conjunction with competition among capitalists, is responsible for an instability in the accumulation and utilization of capital which leads to increasingly severe depressions. Unlimited competition leads to a huge waste of labor, and to that crippling of the social consciousness of individuals which I mentioned before.

This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career.

I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman, and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society.

Nevertheless, it is necessary to remember that a planned economy is not yet socialism. A planned economy as such may be accompanied by the complete enslavement of the individual. The achievement of socialism requires the solution of some extremely difficult socio-political problems: how is it possible, in view of the far-reaching centralization of political and economic power, to prevent bureaucracy from becoming all-powerful and overweening? How can the rights of the individual be protected and therewith a democratic counterweight to the power of bureaucracy be assured?

Clarity about the aims and problems of socialism is of greatest significance in our age of transition. Since, under present circumstances, free and unhindered discussion of these problems has come under a powerful taboo, I consider the foundation of this magazine to be an important public service.

Insurance Industry Funded Fascism

That's the description given by Francis (Frank?) Schaeffer, a former leading Republican Pro-Lifer on the increasingly violent tactics being employed in the protests about Obama's helath-care reform.

And Schaeffer should know - he wrote the script and developed the tactics, which he now rejects as "fascist". Schaeffer claims the only thing missing from this fascism is the blackshirted uniforms.

Right-Wing Turncoat Gives the Inside Scoop on Why Conservatives Are Rampaging Town Halls

by Francis Schaeffer

The Republican Old Guard are in the fix an atheist would be in if Jesus showed up and raised his mother from the dead: Their world view has just been shattered. Obama's election has driven them over the edge. Consider Former Congressman Dick Armey. Several far right foundations and the multitrillion dollar health-insurance industry have teamed up with him to organize the far right foot soldiers of the Republican Party to intimidate people speaking on behalf of health-care reform. They are using my old shock troops -- given many of these folks were first energized by the Evangelical pro-life movement that my late father and I started in the 1970s. What we did to clinics they are now doing to congressmen and others speaking out for health care reform.

Having failed at the ballot box, having watched their Fox News-organized "tea parties" fizzle the intimidation tactics which the Republicans have embraced are being used in a well-financed, top-down orchestrated fake grass roots campaign by corporate interests to try and protect the profits of the insurance business. Armey's FreedomWorks is organizing against health care reform. Armey's lobbying firm represents pharmaceutical companies including Bristol-Myers Squibb. Armey's lobbying firm also represents the trade group for the life insurance industry. FreedomWorks is supporting the status quo at all costs. (They are also fans of fossil fuels. Armey's lobbying firm represents Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the UAE, on energy related issues.)

Last year, the Wall Street Journal exposed FreedomWorks for building "amateur-looking" websites to promote far right interests of Armey. FreedomWorks represents a top-down, corporate-friendly approach that's been the norm for conservative organizations for years. How do I know this is the norm? Because I used to have strategy meetings with the late Jack Kemp and Dick Army and the rest of the Republican gang about using their business ties to help finance the pro-life movement to defeat Democrats. I know this script. I helped write it.

Democratic members of Congress are being harassed by angry, sign-carrying mobs and disruptive behavior at local town halls. It's the tactic we used to follow abortion providers around their neighborhoods. "Protesters" surrounded Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) and forced police officers to have to escort him to his car for safety. We used to do the same to Dr. Tiller... until someone killed him.

How Can The Right Stoop So Low?

I used to know Dick Armey quite well. One of my sons even worked for him as an intern. I knew Armey in the context of his being a fan of my late Evangelical Religious Right leader father Francis Schaeffer. (Back in the day when I was a right wing "pro-life" organizer who has long since quit the Republicans in disgust at their -- our -- descent into extremism and hate.) Armey was once a decent guy, whatever his political views. How could he stoop so low as to be organizing what amounts to America's Brown Shirts today?

I think I know what happened to him, Gingrich and the rest: They can't compute that their white man-led conservative revolution is dead. They can't reconcile their idea of themselves with the fact that white men like them don't run the country any more -- and never will again. To them the black president is leading a column of the "other" into their promised land. Gays, immigrants, blacks, progressives, even a female Hispanic appointed to the Supreme Court... for them this is the Apocalypse.

The last presidential election (to paraphrase Bart Simpson) "broke their brains." What else could explain their embrace of intimidation -- rather than discourse -- over the health care debate and such unsavory moments of madness as the Republicans accusing Obama and Judge Sonia Sotomayor of racism, knowing full well that they'd just destroyed their chances with the Hispanic community forever?

The "Scorched Earth Policy"

Dick Army and company have been driven mad by their reversal, not just of political fortunes but of seeing that they've wasted their lives. They now know they were wrong: about the country, the free market, war for fun and profit, and what the American people really want. They made their best case and were rejected by the American people -- and by history. Bush was their man and he turned out to be a fool. So now all the the Republican gurus have left is what the defeated Germans of World War Two had: a scorched earth policy. If they can't win then everyone must go down. Obama must fail! The country must fail!

The Lobbyist-run Groups "Americans for Prosperity " and "FreedomWorks/ Dick Armey-Orchestrated Memo:

Here is a leaked excerpt from the folks organizing the intimidation campaign:

- Artificially Inflate Your Numbers: "Spread out in the hall and try to be in the front half. The objective is to put the Rep on the defensive with your questions and follow-up. The Rep should be made to feel that a majority, and if not, a significant portion of at least the audience, opposes the socialist agenda of Washington."

- Be Disruptive Early And Often: "You need to rock-the-boat early in the Rep's presentation, Watch for an opportunity to yell out and challenge the Rep's statements early."

- Try To "Rattle Him," Not Have An Intelligent Debate: "The goal is to rattle him, get him off his prepared script and agenda. If he says something outrageous, stand up and shout out and sit right back down. Look for these opportunities before he even takes questions."

The Last Republican Tactic: Outright Lies

A barrage of outright lies, wherein the Democrats are being accused of wanting to launch a massive euthanasia program against the elderly, free abortions for everyone, and "a government takeover" of health-care is now being combined with physical intimidation that in several cases has required police escorts to protect pro health-care reform speakers surrounded by angry plants sent to disrupt public forums on the health-care issue. Demonstrators hung Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD) in effigy outside of his office. (Missing from the reporting of these stories -- with the notable exception of Rachel Maddow -- is the fact that much of these protests are coordinated by public relations firms and lobbyists who have a stake in opposing President Obama's reforms.

There is no daylight between the Republican Party, the health-care insurance industry, far right leaders like Dick Armey, the legion of insurance lobbyists, and now, a small army of thugs. All we're missing is actual uniforms, otherwise we now have a full blown American version of the Nazi Brown Shirts.

No, I don't believe that these people are about to take over the country. No, the sky is not falling. But the Republican Party is. It is now profoundly anti-American.

The health-insurance industry is run by very smart and very greedy people who have sunk to a new low. So has the Republican Party's leadership that will not stand up and denounce the likes of Dick Armey for helping organize roving bands of thugs trying to strip the rest of us of the ability to be heard when it comes to the popular will on reforming health care.

Conclusion: the Fascist Formula

Here's the emerging American version of the fascist's formula: combine millions of dollars of lobbyists' money with embittered troublemakers who have a small army of not terribly bright white angry people (collected over decades through pro-life mass mailing networks) at their beck and call, ever ready to believe any myth or lie circulated by the semi literate and completely and routinely misinformed right wing -- Evangelical religious underground. Then put his little mob together with the insurance companies' big bucks. That's how it works -- American Brown Shirts at the ready.

What's the results of the fascist formula for the rest of us? Well, think how this "method" worked against Dr. Tiller's abortion clinic and how that story ended. In this case a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to save our economy from going bankrupt because of spiraling health care costs may be lost, not because of a better argument, but because of lies backed up by anti-democratic embittered thuggery. The motive? Revenge on America by the Old White Guys of the far right, and greed by the insurance industry.

What Can Be Done?

It's time that this whole shabby (and insane) business be exposed, vilified in run out of town on a rail by whatever responsible Republicans -- if any -- that are still in the party and who want to see the fortunes of their party revived. Republican leaders taking insurance industry money via lobbying firms and using it to organize what amounts to roving bands of thugs not only need to be exposed but thrown out of the public debate forever. They should become absolute pariahs.

It's time to give this garbage a name: insurance industry funded fascism.
LINK

Here's an interview with Schaeffer on the topics raised above. Schaeffer gets it absolutely spot-on: the disinfo campaign is working on two levels- 1)the outright lies about the health-care reforms, and 2)accusations that a black democratically elected president who is moderately progressive is a Hitlerite demagogue (effectively putting a loaded gun on the table for use by the extremist, ill-educated, fanatical wing. Shooting Hitler would be "a good thing", right?



Clearly these same tactics have been operating in the 911 Truth and Patriot movements - whereby democrats, liberals, ecologists and socialists are portrayed as the extremists, whilst the genuine Nazis, fascists and racists operating in 911 Truth and Patriot movements are falsely described as "freedom-lovers", "friends of liberty", "libertarians" etc. and are falsely cast as portraying grass-movements.

Well done Schaeffer - thank you.

More on this story at gordspoetryfactory blog, here

Aaron Russo - Raving Crackpot

Right Wing Crackpot, Aaron Russo
Larry Simons' boyfriend

Defending the constitution without paying taxes to do it. Yeah - makes sense. Clearly the selfish bastards who refuse to pay any tax seek the protection of the state and the full power of the law without wanting to actually fezz-up any of their money to do it. Yeah - makes sense.

They love their country - isn't that enough?

Eustace Mullins - Anti-semite

From Nizkor:

Eustace Mullins is the author of the virulently anti-Jewish book "The Biological Jew" (Faith and Service Books, Stauton, VA, 1968). Mullins, in this lengthy comparison of Jews with biological parasites, wrote:

The Jew has always functioned best as a panderer, a pornographer, a master of prostitution, an enemy of the prevailing sexual standards and prohibitions of the gentile community....

We must remember that there is no Jewish crime per se, since the existence of the Jewish parasite on the host is a crime against nature, because its existence imperils the health and life of the host...

This religious ceremony of drinking the blood of an innocent gentile child is basic to the Jew's entire concept of his existence as a parasite, living off the blood of the host...

The Jews do not want anyone to know what Nazism is. Nazism is simply this--a proposal that the German people rid themselves of the parasitic Jews. The gentile host dared to protest against the continued presence of the parasite, and attempted to throw it off. It was an ineffectual reaction, because it was emotional and ill-informed...

Mullins' writings are a standby on the Klan/neo-Nazi circuit. A recent Sons of Liberty book list included Mullins titles such as "Jewish TV: Sick, Sick, Sick," "The Jewish War Against the Christian World," and "Easter," which the catalog tells us give a "look at the 5,000 years of history in the ongoing war between the Satanic-Jewish forces and their Babylonian religious system and the rest of humanity." (Sons of Liberty Fall 1992 catalog, New Christian Crusade Church)
LINK

Interestingly Eustace Mullins was a member of the Populist Party PAC. Again, this from Nizkor - check out the motley crew of "freedom lovers":

The Populist Action Committee (Richard Hatch, May, 1993)

In 1991, the Populist Action Committee (PAC) was "formally launched by the Liberty Lobby, the Washington-based populist institution that publishes The Spotlight." (Spotlight, 6-3-91, 1) The PAC is intimately tied to the Spotlight, which is "a prime mover behind the PAC." (Spotlight, 9-9-91, A-3) Unlike conventional political action committees, the PAC will not give money directly to candidates for office, but rather will "promote and publicize populist candidates, urging patriots to make direct contributions to these candidates." (Ibid)

The Kick-Off

The featured speaker at the kick-off meeting was "English populist" John Tyndall of the British National Party. (Spotlight, 6-3-91, 1) Tyndall is a British "former" National Socialist who has been quoted as saying "The Jew is like a maggot feeding on a body in an advanced state of decay." (Knight, 47) The selection of Tyndall as featured speaker for the founding meeting is an indication of the political direction of the Populist Action Committee. Tyndall was a founder of the British National Party in 1960. (Hill, page??) The original BNP was "pro-nazi and anti-semitic" and later merged with other far-right groups to form the National Front in 1967. The NF promoted the exclusion of non-whites from England. (Fielding, 67-68)

Tyndall resurrected the old BNP name when he founded a new party after the collapse of the National Front. As noted in a "Spotlight" interview, the BNP publishes _British Nationalist_ and _Spearhead_. (Spotlight, 6-24-91, 16-17) The name "Spearhead" is a throwback to the paramilitary organization in which Tyndall was active during the original BNP days. Tyndall, who sported Nazi-style stormtrooper attire in those days, was "gaoled" for his involvement in this paramilitary group. (Hill, 61)

Promoting "Populist Candidates"

According to Liberty Lobby founder Willis Carto, the PAC "will be promoting populist candidates." (Spotlight, 6-10-91, 11) The PAC does this in part by publicizing the activities of such candidates in the "Spotlight".

In one such case, the "Spotlight" directed readers to Joe Fields who in 1992 was running for a California State legislature seat under the banner of the American Independent Party. Fields is a notorious far-right activist from Southern California who in 1987 "identified himself to reporters as a member of the National Socialist American Workers Party." [NAZI PARTY] (Los Angeles Times March 11, 1988, 30, section 1)

The make-up of the advisory board of the PAC gives an idea of why such "populist candidates" would be promoted by the PAC. The members (and their descriptions) as of March 9, 1992 included:
..........
Abe Lincoln Austin (Monetary Scientist) Mike Blair (Investigative Reporter)
Ken Bohnsack (Founder, Sovereignty)
Robert Brock (Black Nationalist)
Howard Carson (Publishing Consultant)
Capt. G. Russel Evans (Historian)
Lt. Col. James (Bo) Gritz (US Army, ret.)
Dr. Martin A. Larson (Author)
Roger Lourie (President, Devin-Adair publishing)
Donald A. MacPherson (Constitutional Attorney)
Pauline Mackey (Treasurer, ret. David Duke for President)
Tom McIntyre (Former Chairman, Populist Party)
Eustace Mullins (Author)
John Nugent (Financial Consultant)
Lawrence Patterson (Editor & Publisher, Criminal Politics)
Col. L. Fletcher Prouty (US Air Force, ret.)
John Rakus (President, National Justice Foundation)
John Rarick (Former Congressman, D-Louisiana)
Vince Ryan (Editor, The Spotlight)
Sherman Skolnick (Chairman, Committee to Clean Up the Courts)
Maj. James H. Townsend, Ret. (Editor & Publisher, The National Educator)
James P. Tucker (President, National Media Services)
Tom Valentine (Host, Radio Free America)
Raymond E. Walk (President, Rayan Associates, Inc.)
Robert Weems (Founding Chairman, Populist Party)

Well, well, well...........what a motley crew.

Here's Alex Jones' Prisonplanet description of Mullins from an episode of Prisonplanet in which he was the guest. Notice how Prisonplanet treats Mullins' rabid anti-semitism and his history of mixing with nazis and the extremist far-right:

Alex Jones Interviews Eustace Mullins

Eustace Mullins is the last living protege of Ezra Pound, the author of the only book burned in Germany since Hitler. Mullins was the grandfather of the movement to expose the Federal Reserve as a private run for profit scam raping the American people and sinking America into endless debt.
LINK

Oh - they don't mention it. Perhaps they might have mentioned Mullins used to work with another Prisonplanet favourite, Jim Tucker, over at the racist, extremist far-right Populist Party supported by that other favourite of Prisonplanet, Willis Carto? No? I guess they just forgot to mention it.......again.

And here's Daryl Bradford Smith, of TheFrenchConnection (IamTheWitness.com), interviewing Eustace Mullins. DBS has an interesting take on the Nazi angle regarding Mullins:

Daryl Bradford Smith
interviews Eustace Mullins

For decades, Eustace Mullins has been trying to explain that the Rothschilds and other Ashkenazi families are trying to take over the world, and that they secretly created and continue to support the Nazi movement as a tool to manipulate people.
LINK

Oh - I guess Bradford Smith just forgot to mention that Mullins was actually mixing with genuine Nazis, Willis Carto, White extremists etc ........forgetful bunch of kooks these, huh? And didn't Daryl Bradford Smith claim his site "disavows any contact with Nazis, Fascists or Racists in any form."

Interesting how both references to Mullins raise the spectre of Nazism as a malevolent force - but suggest it as something Mullins was deeply opposed to, and perhaps was even threatened by.

Such suggestions completely invert the actual facts of the matter - Mullins' association with the Populist Party clearly brought him into direct contact with genuine Nazis and far-right extremists, racists, and anti-semites (just read the list of fellow members and the potted history given above).

It is a disgrace that Alex Jones' Prisonplanet, DBS, and all the other members of so-called "patriot" and "truth" movements purposefully whitewash Mullins' past and present him as a respectable figure to their audience - even going so far as to suggest Mullins is somehow an opponent of fascism.

There seems to be a clear tactic being employed by the so-called patriot and "911 Troof" movements - to invert reality by suggesting genuine fascists are "the good guys" whilst portraying democrats, liberals, socialists and ecologists as "fascists".

Elaine Morgan - Aquatic Ape Hypothesis

Elaine Morgan OBE is a Welsh feminist writer (which can't be a bad thing). She's author of several books about the aquatic ape hypothesis (AAH), among them The Descent of Woman, The Aquatic Ape, The Scars of Evolution, The Descent of the Child, The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis and her latest The Naked Darwinist which discussed the reasons why there is so little discussion of aquatic scenarios in the academic literature.

Here's a brief talk she gave on AAH at TED:



Her website provides a link to download a PDF of her latest book, The Naked Darwinist, which is very kind of her.

The BBC Natural history department did a two part radio programme on the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis.

Presented by Sir David Attenborough Scars of Evolution is a two part series looking at the history and current status of the 'aquatic ape hypothesis' (AAH), first proposed 45 years ago by Sir Alister Hardy, then elaborated and developed by Elaine Morgan and others.

The hypothesis proposes that the physical characteristics that distinguish us from our nearest cousin apes - standing and moving bipedally, being naked and sweaty, our swimming and diving abilities, fat babies, big brains and language - all of these and others are best explained as adaptations to a prolonged period of our evolutionary history being spent in and around the seashore and lake margins, not on the hot dry savannah or in the forest with the other apes. The programmes explore the varieties of response to the theory, from when it was first proposed to the present day. Why it is seen by many as a very provoking idea and at the accumulating evidence of recent years that seems to be tipping the mainstream towards assimilating many of the AAH proposals. Programme two ends with dramatic new biological evidence suggesting that water-birthing was a very early human evolutionary adaptation.

Part 1

The series starts by looking at the history of the AAH and other competing theories of human origins - and at the prevailing ideas about early human evolution in 1960 when Hardy first raised the tentative question: Was man more aquatic in the past? Programme one considers Raymond Dart's Taung Child discovery and the ensuing savannah theory of human origins, as popularised by Robert Ardrey and Desmond Morris; the reaction to Hardy's radical alternative and to Elaine Morgan's bestseller: Descent of Woman.

Listen

Part 2

The second programme looks at the evidence that has accumulated in the last 5 - 10 years which seems to be driving the anthropological herd inexorably down to the water's edge. It includes reports on brain evolution, highlighting the essential fatty acids and nutrients that can only be sourced in the marine food chain; the global coastal migrations of early hominids, including major water crossings 1 million years ago; diving response and voluntary breath-control as semi-aquatic pre-adaptation for speech and some new and intriguing research findings that seem to indicate that water-births may be a very ancient human adaptation indeed.

Listen

Probably only available to UK IP addresses.

However, here's a 4 part lecture Elaine gave on Aquatic Ape Hypotheses to University College London, October 2008: