Populism (as shown in *The Progressive Populist*

John Halle john.halle at yale.edu
Sun Jan 2 18:42:25 PST 2000



> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2000 17:28:13 -0500
> From: "Chip Berlet" <cberlet at igc.org>
> Subject: Re: Populism (as shown in *The Progressive Populist*
>
> 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.
>

If the challenge is to back up the claim that centrist dems routinely threaten the spectre the extremist republican wolf in moderate sheeps clothing, example are almost too numerous to mention. Check out the recent issue of the Nation where both Bush and McCain portrayed as such, which I posted on recently.

If the challenge is to find examples of PRA research used by the corporate media to discredit prospectively significant progressive issues, the most recent example which comes to mind is your recent appearance the film "Waco: the Rules of Engagement." Of course, anyone with a modicum of political sophistication has questions about the film and considers the source of the charges emanating from it. However, the thrust of the segment, entirely predictably for those of us without illusions about the function of mass media, was to discredit and pre-empt a radical critique of this use of institutionally sanctioned paramilitary violence.

And while were on the subject of illusions:


>
> 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.
>

Since when is a record of accurate prediction any kind of criterion for entering the golden rolodex? If you have illusions on this score try reciting the phrase "the Bulgarian connection" a few times. Do you need more examples?

John



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