Doug
^^^^^^^ CB; I don't disagree with Doug's point, but upon reading it I did a free association on the word "Lobby" ,and I thought of this historic example that is perhaps deeply American, sadly, and ironic on this thread.
Liberty Lobby
>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Lobby
Liberty Lobby logo (1955-2001)Liberty Lobby was an American political advocacy organization which existed in between 1955 and 2001.[1] It was founded by Willis Carto. In their own words,
“ Liberty Lobby is a pressure group for patriotism — the only lobby in Washington, D.C., registered with Congress which is wholly dedicated to the advancement of government policies based on our Constitution and conservative principles.[2] ” Contents [hide] 1 Controversial from its founding 1.1 Antisemitic world-view 1.2 Repatriation of blacks back to Africa 2 Public image management, internal strife, and ultimate demise 3 Aftermath 4 See also 5 External links 6 References
[edit] Controversial from its founding [edit] Antisemitic world-view Liberty Lobby was the subject of much criticism from all quarters of the political spectrum from the first day of its founding. Liberty Lobby described itself as a conservative political organization, its founder, Willis Carto, was known to hold strongly antisemitic views, and to be a devotee of the writings of Francis Parker Yockey, who was one of a handful of esoteric post-World War II writers who revered Adolf Hitler. Yockey, writing under the pseudonym of Ulick Varange, wrote a book entitled Imperium: The Philosophy of History and Politics, which Willis Carto adopted as his own guiding ideology.
Many critics, including disgruntled former Carto associates as well as the Anti-Defamation League (a group that fights antisemitism and Holocaust denial), have noted that Willis Carto, more than anybody else, was responsible for keeping organized antisemitism alive as a viable political movement during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, when it was otherwise completely discredited.
Evidence for the antisemitic stance of Liberty Lobby began to mount when numerous letters by Carto excoriating the Jews (and blaming them for world miseries) began to surface. "How could the West [have] been so blind. It was the Jews and their lies that blinded the West as to what Germany was doing. Hitler's defeat was the defeat of Europe and America." Carto's letters eventually became the subject of a federal civil lawsuit (LIBERTY LOBBY, INC., et al., Appellants, v. Drew PEARSON et al., Appellees. No. 20690. United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit provides an accurate account of the case - bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/390/390.F2d.489.20690_1.html.) Liberty Lobby ultimately lost in the United States Supreme Court with a denial of certiorari.
Other cited evidence of the group's antisemitic views includes the charge that the group's file cabinets contained extensive pro-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan literature. In 1969, True magazine ran a story by Joe Trento entitled "How Nazi Nut Power Has Invaded Capitol Hill".[3]