Populism (as shown in *The Progressive Populist*

Chip Berlet cberlet at igc.org
Sun Jan 2 14:28:13 PST 2000


Dear John:

Please provide an example to back up this claim. I cannot recall PRA our me ever having done this. It is the kind of claim that circulates on the right about our work but I am surprised to see it on the LBO list. Check out the PRA publication list or our web page to see what our focus is. Such stereotyping of PRA is very tiresome. We work very hard to challenge liberal thinking on these issues.

John Halle wrote:
> Over here at least, its not the "left" which talks it up, but rather the
> Clintonite center that routinely, and successively uses the threat to
> pre-empt the development of a progressive constituency capable of
> challenging its agenda. The usual technique is to discover some far-right
> group with ties to the campaign of the centrist Repug challenging the
> centrist Dem. Liberals will be certain to drop whatever flirtation they
> may have been having with a third party alternative. Incidentally, this
> is what keeps Berlet's group in the corporate media's golden rolodex.

This may be true for some "watchdog" groups, but not PRA. I got into the "corporate media's golden rolodex" by having accurately predicted a number of trends on the political right.

Incidently, the director of PRA is Jean V. Hardisty. She has an academic background while I have a journalistic/investigative background. As progressives, we do not like to be confused with liberals. Jean even wrote an essay on her love/hate relationship with liberals that is still in print.

I await your example.

-Chip Berlet



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