Raw McCarthyism is so yesterday. The twenty-first-century version of political witch-hunts will, like most things right-wing these days, come down the pike with a more measured approach and will be cloaked in the robes of defending our freedoms and fighting the war against terrorism. Instead of indiscriminate ranting about a list of Communists in the State Department (as Sen. Joseph McCarthy did 50 years ago) or breaking into offices, stealing files and destroying equipment, and turning radical groups against each other (as with the FBI's COINTELPRO project of the 60s and 70s), this epoch's version seems to be more along the lines of John Poindexter's Total Information Awareness project (TIA) -- a monumental invasion of privacy.
Weyrich acknowledges that he knows "some people who voted for President George W. Bush who marched in the demonstration in Washington."
Paul Weyrich, widely recognized as one of the founding fathers of the Christian Right, is advancing his own McCarthy-like "modest proposal," bridging the gap between the Cold War witch hunts and TIA. Weyrich wants the Department of Homeland Security or Congress to launch an investigation into the funding sources behind the "neo-Communist" groups involved in the anti-war movement. While Weyrich's charge that Communists are leading the movement is nothing new -- the Center for the Study of Popular Culture's David Horowitz beat him to that by several months -- he is the first to openly call for widespread investigations into the peace movement that are eerily reminiscent of the dark days of the House Un-American Activities Committee.
"It seems that no matter what the cause, some of these groups have the money to go wherever there are demonstrations," Weyrich wrote in a recent column for the online conservative NewsMax.com. "If you read the names of the participating groups, you will see that they are hardcore leftists. They are the front groups created by the Soviet Union when it was pouring millions of dollars into the Communist Party USA, which in turn dispensed it to these phony organizations."
Weyrich, the chairman and CEO of the Washington, DC-based Free Congress Foundation, is determined to discredit the anti-war movement. How can these "phony organizations" make ends meet he asks, when they don't even use "direct mail." "Even the liberal foundations don't want to associate with these folks. Even left-wing money types prefer to donate to environmental or socially radical groups." Since the Soviet Union has collapsed, and no money is coming from other Communist countries, where in heaven's name "do they get their money?" Further, Weyrich inquires: "How can these demonstrators be available to come to events from one end of the country to the other all year long? How do they support themselves? Who is supplying the money?"
Civil libertarian and Village Voice columnist Nat Hentoff says that Weyrich's proposal "is constitutionally un-American." In a phone interview, he said, "From September 11 on, the president, the attorney general and the defense secretary have been saying that whatever we have to do to keep the country secure has to be done and will be done within the bounds of the constitution. Paul Weyrich ought to re-read the Bill of Rights which starts with the First Amendment," Hentoff suggested.
Weyrich acknowledges that he knows "some people who voted for President George W. Bush who marched in the demonstration in Washington." And it's difficult to tell which organizations exactly that he wants investigated. His column only refers to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), a group he disagrees with but "would nevertheless defend their right to express their beliefs," and the Workers World Party, "the chief organizer of the anti-war event in Washington and San Francisco," by name. It's apparent that the latter group would be one of the first targets for investigation.
Weyrich chatters on about unnamed "groups which are dedicated to the overthrow of the United States [that] should not be treated as legitimate," and "Communist front groups [that are out] to destroy our democratic republic," but didn't mention any of the dozens of mainstream groups who endorsed the two demonstrations.
Weyrich insists that "No legitimate group should be intimidated if Congress goes after true enemies of America." Which groups are legitimate and which aren't appears to be up for grabs. Some groups do have socialist connections. But Weyrich argues that investigating the financial support behind "these neo-Communists" is well within Tom Ridge's purview and, if he refuses, Congress should take up the task.
"The red-baiting isn't surprising, but if it gets to the level of the U.S. government investigating anti-war groups it would be absolutely unconscionable."
Conservative Kingpin
Why take Paul Weyrich's proposal seriously? After all, even the administration has acknowledged that people have the right to express themselves in a free society. In his article, "Re-Framing Dissent as Criminal Subversion: Paradigm Shift and Political Repression," Chip Berlet, senior analyst with Political Research Associates, argues that "one of the earliest and most overlooked warning signs that a campaign of political repression is underway is 'paradigm shift' -- [defined as] a major negative change in the way the public perceives the political movement that is ultimately victimized. Paradigm shift frequently is associated with episodes of political repression, and frequently precedes more overt signs of attack such as assaults, break-ins and surveillance. Political repression telegraphs its punches."
Paul Weyrich is no ordinary conservative political figure; he is more than the Zelig of late twentieth century Christian Right politics. Political Research Associates, a Massachusetts-based organization tracking right-wing movements, has said he is a "key strategist for [both] the secular and religious right."
Weyrich is the real deal, and a far more significant figure in the Christian Right's inner circle than even someone as mediagenic as Jerry Falwell. While Falwell gets maximum media exposure, you rarely hear about Weyrich. Weyrich's letters and e-mail communiqués to his constituency are combinations of conservative wisdom, fanciful prognostication and overheated rhetoric. Unlike the late-great sportscaster Howard Cossell who claimed to "tell it like it is," Weyrich tells it like he thinks it should be, and his ideas frequently come to the forefront.
In 1973, Weyrich helped raise the money to create the Heritage Foundation; he is also one of the founders of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a corporate-sponsored organization that, according to its Web site is an "association for conservative state lawmakers who share a common belief in limited government, free markets, federalism, and individual liberty." A 1999 Christianity Today story credits Weyrich with being "instrumental in the development of the Moral Majority and Christian Coalition."
Through the Free Congress Foundation he's organized numerous political campaigns, was a major supporter of Reagan's Central America wars and a longtime backer of reactionaries in Africa, including UNITA's Jonas Savimbi. In a March 2002 column eulogizing Savimbi ("UNITA Leader Gave Life for Faith") Weyrich wrote: "I am always pleased to tell those who inquire that the picture [on my desk] is of Jonas Savimbi, leader of the freedom forces in Angola. I might now call him Saint Savimbi since he was martyred for his faith by the communist forces in that country." Weyrich has been a long-term member of the Council for National Policy, a semi-secretive body made up of hundreds of conservative leaders. He also founded National Empowerment Television, a network totally devoted to conservative organizations.
Don't expect either Tom Ridge or Congress to respond quickly on Weyrich's call for investigating the anti-war movement.
Don't expect either Tom Ridge or Congress to respond quickly on Weyrich's call for investigating the anti-war movement. But don't expect this to fade away, either. As with other right-wing ideas that often seem dreadfully outlandish, this one might get more traction once the war has begun. If that day comes, the rebirth of a Senate Internal Security Subcommittee or a House Committee on Un-American Activities may not be far behind.
Research assistance for this article by Laura Ross.
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