Apologies for the poor formatting
Kevin Dean http://qualiall.yaysoft.com
> Dear friends
>
> Below is a copy of a letter written by a well-known
antifascist researcher,
> Chip Berlet, about the infiltration of far right and
racist ideas into the
> anticapitalist and anti-WTO movement. It clealry
points to the hand of
> billionaire Milliken, the protectionist textile
magnate who backs Buchanan.
> The more I read and hear, the more I am convinced
that this is the source of
> much of the antisemitic conspiracy theories
currently penetrating the left
> (such as the favourable coverage given to the
fascist Spotlight journal by
> top "progressive" media in Britain at the moment.)
> Lisa
>
> Dear Mr. Dolan:
> Well, it certainly does not move a discussion
forward to call Angela either
> "an idiot or a digital agent provacateur" for being
critical of your
> language.
> Angela is hardly alone in her concern that some in
the anti-WTO movement
> appear to be insensitive to the way racist,
xenophobic, and anti-union
> movements are seeking to recruit out of your
coalitions.
>
> Why does Nader say in an interview he has been
working in a coalition with
> Buchanan and his advisors for years, when you, Lori
Wallach, and Joan
> Claybrook continue to deny it? And this goes back
years to the days of the
> right/left coalition that regularly appeared on the
right wing populist
> Chuck Harder radio program where Nader, Pat Choate
and Jim Hightower were
> used by Harder to weave together right wing
conspiracy theories about
> global power. I confronted Choate and Hightower
about this on a Pacifica
> radio program and at that time there was a refusal
to even acknowledge that
> there was a problem with right wing conspiracy
theories being woven into
> the anti-globalization campaign.
>
> Of course in my view Choate is a right wing populist
nationalist whose book
> on Japan as a global economic power was xenophobic.
>
> I was the person several years ago that talked to
the Canadian delegation
> of anti-NAFTA activists who went to visit Nader in
DC. They told the story
> of how they had been picked up at the airport by a
person (Jock Nash) they
> later discovered was a right-wing anti-union
business- nationalist lobbyist
> for the Milliken textile interests. Milliken is not
just a major funder of
> the John Birch Society, but a notororious
union-busting firm.
>
> Why would the Naderites send such a person to pick
up an international
> delegation from Canada where the main base of
support was trade unions? The
> delegation was upset and talking openly about it at
the meeting in DC where
> I first ran into them. I spoke with Maude Barlow a
year or so later at a
> meeting in Detroit, and she said that the left/right
alliance still
> concerned her, but there seemed to be no recognition
of it as a problem
> among the Naderites. I have raised this as an issue
with Hightower several
> times, once in person at a meeting in Key West. He
at least is now willing
> to discuss it as an issue that needs to be
considered seriously, even if we
> disagree on the particulars. He even had me on his
program to talk about my
> concerns. Why can't the Naderites see it is a
problem that needs to be
> discussed openly and seriously?
>
> When my colleague Allen Hunter gently raised the
issue of xenophobia in
> anti-globalization campaigns, he became one of the
first people raising
> these issues to be called divisive and
sectarian--now a familiar refrain.
> See: Hunter, Allen. (1995). "Globalization from
Below? Promises and Perils
> of the New Internationalism," Social Policy, v25n4,
1995, pp. 6-13, online
> at http://www.publiceye.org/Sucker_Punch/Hunter.htm.
>
> When Bob Buzzanco, Associate Prof. of History at the
University of Houston
> and another professor tried to raise some concerns
in this area at a recent
> meeting in Texas, according to Buzzanco, you made
fun of them for being
> professors and refused to engage in a serious
dialog.
>
> Here are some paragraphs in the forthcoming book
"Right Wing Populism in
> America" (Guilford Press) by me and my colleague
Matthew N. Lyons:
> = = = = = =
> Consider the statement of John Talbott, the Reform
Party spokesperson in
> New Hampshire:
>
> "If you close your eyes, it is difficult to hear
much of a difference
> between Ralph Nader on the left and Pat Buchanan on
the right when they
> talk about corruption in government, the excesses of
corporate welfare, the
> devastating effect of free international trade on
the American worker and a
> desire to clean big money and special-interests out
of Washington. There's
> a reason for this; 91 percent of the American people
consider themselves
> middle class or working class. The time is now for a
new political party
> that is neither right nor left, neither conservative
nor liberal, but
> created and built to represent the hard- working
average American in
> reforming our government."
>
> "If we all pull together, put our prejudices behind
us, and ignore
> traditional labeling such as liberal or
conservative, we can join together
> to fight the battle of our lives against the
collaboration of big business
> and big government, break the two-party monopoly,
and return control of our
> government to the true owners of this country - the
American people."
> "This is an example of repressive populism in
service to business
> nationalism since it is a call for "the people" in
the middle to attack the
> internationalist elites while ignoring the racist
and xenophobic policies
> of Buchanan."
>
> "Nader and his colleagues worked closely with a
business nationalist brain
> trust financed by right-wing textile magnate Roger
Milliken. The
> strategists included Milliken's lobbyist, Jock Nash,
Alan Tonelson of the
> ultraconservative U.S. Business and Industrial
Council, and Pat Choate of
> the Manufacturing Policy Project."
>
> "According to Ryan Lizza, it was Choate, the 1996
Reform Party vice
> presidential candidate, who 'orchestrated Buchanan's
flight from the
> Republican Party.'"
>
> "The Naderites and other anti-globalization forces
frequently cited books
> and reports by authors such as Charles Derber, David
C. Korten, Jerry
> Mander, Edward Goldsmith, and William Greider. In
thousands of pages the
> authors denounced large multinational corporations,
global finance capital,
> international banking interests, powerful elites,
and betrayal by corrupt
> politicians. Only in Greider was there a serious
(albeit brief) discussion
> of how these historic themes have been woven into
right-wing populist
> conspiracy theories."
> = = = = =
> If there is anything not accurate in the above,
please let me know. I have
> researched it independently and find that this is a
coalition that has been
> working together for several years. If you claim it
is not so, then why do
> legislative staff in congressional offices see you
all as in a working
> coalition? Are they mistaken? Where could they have
gotten the idea that
> you all work together?
>
> In fact, you openly work together.
>
> At a regional meeting May 31, 1997 at Boston College
on globalization run
> by Naderites, The panelists included Lori Wallach,
Pat Choate, and
> Tonnelson of the anti-union US Business and
Industrial Council.
> Issues of the right wing conspiracist John Birch
Society magazine and the
> antisemitic and fascist Spotlight were being quietly
passed out. When I
> asked the meeting organizers to make some comment
distancing themsleves
> from the Spotlight, as well as the John Birch
Society (since there was a
> large stack of JBS magazines on a literature table),
I was scolded and told
> that they were trying to build a broad coalition. A
number of the people I
> spoke with knew that Spotlight was antisemitic.
>
> The organizers of the Boston event included Charles
Derber, a professor and
> author of several books. Other organizers spanned a
wide age range. I also
> approached Lori Wallach and was brushed off. (To be
precise, Wallach said
> she didn't have time to talk about it.). I also said
hello to Choate, who
> also said he had no problem with the JBS literature.
>
> The JBS magazine was The New American special
reprint of its Special Report
> "Conspiracy for Global Control," and included a
special page of books
> available from the JBS on the freemason/illuminati
conspiracy, and the
> favorite hoax book, "Report from Iron Mountian."
>
> Here is something from editor Gary Benoit's comments
in the magazines at
> the event:
>
> "To be sure, the CFR itself is not the conspiracy,
and the members of the
> CFR are not all new world orderites. Yet in the
shadows--behind the CFR and
> other powerful internationalist groupings such as
the Trilateral
> Commission, behind the giant tax-exempt foundations,
behind the Wall Street
> and Federal Reserve financial and banking interests,
behind presidents and
> prime ministers, behind the NAFTA/GATT/IMF/NATO/UN
axis, behind even the
> communist menace itself--is the conspiracy for
global control."
> I realize that you do not think like this, but can
you see why many of us
> on this discussion think that the Naderites and
their allies are
> insensitive to the dynamic? Can you understand why
we want an explicit,
> clear, public rejection of racist and xenophobic
nationalism and
> conspiracism? If you don't support right wing
nationalism and conspiracism,
> then you need to publicly distance yourself as an
organization in clear
> terms. This may not be your fault, but it is your
obligation.
>
> Here is something that Hunter said in his article:
>
> "In networks and coalitions it is important that
decision-making processes
> be as transparent and democratic as possible, since
there are no general
> rules which can resolve tensions in coalitions
between, among other things,
> "beltway" and grassroots perspectives. Especially
because the US remains
> the most powerful nation on earth and has a long
history of imperial
> domination, Americans committed to internationalism,
to global equity and
> sustainability, should be leery of using appeals to
nationalism. Racial
> divisions remain crucial fracture lines in US and
are replicated in
> progressive politics; a commitment to anti-racism
(including immigrants'
> rights) implies that the potential racial
implications of coalitional
> politics should be a primary consideration."
>
> I look forward to a serious discussion of these
issues.
> Chip Berlet
> Senior Analyst
> Political Research Associates
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