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Posted on 10/15/2003 12:58:09 AM PDT by kattracks
Under the altruistic guise of registering America’s youth to vote, radical organizations are indoctrinating and recruiting a new generation of activists. Leftist domination of campus voter registration efforts aids anti-American groups sign up enthusiastic novices. As Greg Yardley has previously documented, students can quickly slide into a negative morass of hardcore activism and even criminality. More importantly, such efforts can drastically alter the political situation in cities and states across the U.S.Some of the groups involved, like the Communist-friendly National Youth and Student Peace Coalition, make little pretence as to their political leanings. Music for America, another “independent group” trying to register college-aged voters, openly refers to our leaders as “dorks and losers.” Others are more subtle.
Pre-eminent in this sphere is “Rock the Vote,” MTV’s campaign to increase young voter registration. Formed in 1990, RTV claims that it has helped to register more than 1.35 million young voters, 500,000 during the 2000 election cycle alone. RTV sends “Community Street Teams” consisting of “veteran community organizers” and younger activists to register potential voters at concerts and other venues. If RTV practiced the non-partisanship that it preaches, its civic endeavours would be commendable. Unfortunately, RTV tilts the political field leftward for the thousands of young people it introduces to the electoral process.
RTV constantly extols the virtues of leftist positions and personalities. For example, RTV regularly condemned California Proposition 54, the Racial Privacy Initiative that would roll back the destructive tide of identity politics. RTV echoes the partisan howler that “California children would suffer” if Proposition 54 succeeds.
Beyond its outright advocacy, RTV strongly suggested that only a fringe element supported the initiative. On its website, RTV listed eight entities—and no noted individuals—who support Prop 54, yet cites more than 100 organizations and individuals who oppose it. California voters, meanwhile, have repeatedly repudiated the Left on similar initiatives in recent years. Regardless of 54’s relative merits, this self-proclaimed non-partisan group has made no effort to treat both sides of the issue equally.
In its issues section, the RTV website shifts from pretended neutrality to outright advocacy. On the economy, for example, RTV directs new voters to the AFL-CIO and the left-wing Berkeley Labor Center. Another link leads to the liberal Campaign for America’s Future. CAF proudly proclaims its disdain for school choice and refers readers to misleader.org, which Moveon.org—the group that formed to defend Clinton’s perjury—has formed in a cynical effort to discredit President Bush. On the environment, RTV again parrots the Left’s propaganda, opposing limited oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
RTV also endorses and works in conjunction with leftist fronts. Rock the Vote confirmed its antiwar, leftist partisanship by co-sponsoring a newspaper advertisement with TrueMajority, Peace Action, and TomPaine.com. The ad described voting as “the only peace demonstration the President can’t ignore.” With such political bedfellows, it seems clear how Rock the Vote hopes the newly registered will vote. However, the nature of these organizations is worth examining in depth, to see what kind of fellow-travelers RTV has cast its lot with.
36 Flavors of Leftism
Beyond its alliance with RTV, TrueMajority embodies the radical Left’s conviction that to be “true,” majorities need only be left-wing. Ben Cohen, of Ben and Jerry’s fame, founded TrueMajority. Cohen long preached the leftist gospel of corporate “social responsibility” but practiced a notably capitalistic sell-out to the Unilever conglomerate that pocketed him nearly $40 million and that disoriented the leftists who thought that Cohen cared about their brand loyalty. (No wonder Cohen lists his address as “Bank Street.”) Faithful to TrueMajority’s poverty talk and affluent walk, Director Gary Ferdman received more than $90,000 for his “non-profit” work in 2001.
TrueMajority monitors developments in Congress and decides when to mobilize its network to promote its conceptions of “social justice,” “peace” and “equality.” Group members receive e-mail alerts that enable them to pepper Congress with form letters reciting the party line.
The organization provides a revealing glimpse of its mentality in a fantasy vision of the future available at its website. On TM’s September 7, 2012, a new President delivers the Administration’s first State of the Union address (although they never tell us how a "new" president has come to give this important speech a full month before the presidential election). By 2012, “a swelling group of creative citizens had succeeded in wresting power from the special interests” and undoubtedly would have also realized Marx’s vision of a perfect society.
Peace Through Surrender
The second RTV affiliate, Peace Action, seeks to enlist voters who can promote the group’s Orwellian contention “that war is not a suitable response to conflict” (a viewpoint not shared by al-Qaeda). Suggesting the close ties among the antiwar leftist fronts, Peace Action endorses TrueMajority. While billing itself as “the nation’s largest grassroots peace group,” PA relies heavily on the dollars of leftist-dominated tax-exempt foundations, as well as substantial contributions from a few unnamed individuals.
In addition to its involvement with the RTV, Peace Action directs its own activities to recruit and register new voters – and teach them to vote the “right” way. For example, PA recently began mobilizing to support its “Campaign for a New Foreign Policy,” which includes voter registration efforts and urges “cooperation” without explaining how to cooperate with Islamist fanatics who revel in the incineration of innocents.
Peace Action credits itself – and only itself – with securing the 1963 and 1996 test ban treaties, and ending the Vietnam War. Elsewhere on its site, PA touts its central role in the nuclear freeze movement that threatened to breathe life into the withering Soviet ediface during the Reagan era.
Naturally, PA regularly excoriates George W. Bush and the Republican Congress. Despite the diverse tapestry of justification for the Iraqi liberation, Peace Action has mischaracterized the U.S. as a “rogue superpower.” Linking itself to the international leftist “peace” collective, Peace Action maintains a presence in the International Peace Bureau, one of the world’s foremost clearinghouses for leftist visions of peace. IPB honored Rep. Barbara Lee for casting the lone vote against toppling the Taliban regime, al-Qaeda’s enabler. Instead of fighting back, the IPB urges the U.S. to eschew the “quick-fix” of self-defense in favor of establishing “social justice”; Marxism as national security policy.
To fertilize the American campus with its ideology, Peace Action spawned the Student Peace Action Network (SPAN). SPAN opposes military recruiting on campus, apparently believing that our national defenders are not worthy to walk the same sidewalks as freshmen shuffling from Marxism 101 to Remedial English. Claiming “the Pentagon has targeted our schools for invasion,” SPAN views military recruiting as a right-wing plot. SPAN’s “Flunk the War Machine” campaign is yet another spin on the “books not bombs” motif. Globally, SPAN promotes PA’s “Campaign for a New Foreign Policy.”
Nepotism for Peace
The third of RTV’s co-sponsors, TomPaine.com, encourages people to “register for peace” and directs interested potential voters to the registration information at the websites of Rock the Vote, Peace Action, and TrueMajority. Additionally, TomPaine.com requests that every “activist” endeavor to register a new voter every month until the 2004 election and muses about the possibilities of 36 million new leftists storming the polls.
TP.com pretends that it is non-partisan but unswervingly supports the leftist line. TomPaine can arrogantly declare itself above accepting commercial advertisements, thanks to the perks of blatant nepotism. Bill Moyers is the President of the Florence and John Schumann Foundation, which sponsors “independent” media outfits that always tilt leftward, such as NPR, “Frontline” (one of Moyers’ profitable public service ventures), The American Prospect and TomPaine.com. Coincidentally, the editor of TomPaine.com is Bill Moyers’ son, John. In one of the more memorable moments in cable news history, Bill O’Reilly nearly blew a gasket while skewering the rabid partisanship and sniveling cynicism of the younger Moyers, a man whose performance confirmed his need for his family’s patronage.
Edited by an ideologically kept man, TomPaine.com predictably assails the Bush Administration on the war, taxation and any number of other issues. The website has also wiped away radical environmentalists’ culpability for handcuffing the power industries, instead insinuating that the overloaded utility company has escaped responsibility because it donated to the Bush re-election campaign. Nowhere does TomPaine.com blame careless environmentalists for opposing every power expansion initiative. To add a new wrinkle, TP.com now features disgraced former White House Counsel John Dean’s most recent anti-Bush scribblings.
The National Youth and Student Peace Coalition: Commies for Democracy?
While Rock the Vote and its member organizations enjoy some success in disguising their leftist proclivities, the more radical Left is forthright about its politics when trying to recruit college students. The National Youth and Student Peace Coalition unites the most strident radical leftists to forge, as the group’s website declares, a “long-term student and youth opposition to war.” Now that the antiwar frenzy has largely waned, NYSPC is quietly concocting schemes to influence the crucial 2004 election, according to a recent report in Yes magazine. NYSPC members include the Young Communist League of the CPUSA, Young People’s Socialist League, and Young Democratic Socialists. Other partners are Not With Our Money and the Campus Greens.
… And apparently a few illiterates have joined its ranks, too. The Coalition’s online mission statement proclaims that NYSPC was “formed in repsonse [sic.]” to 9/11 and aims to build a “strategc [sic.]” coalition. NYSPC’s members later “consensed [sic.] upon a statement” regarding Iraq. Occasional typos befall even the most careful writers; making multiple mistakes in a leading public document and creating non-existent words in that mission statement denote borderline illiteracy.
The NYSPC also recites the extreme leftist script on the 9/11 attack, repeating the “root causes” mantra. NYSPC cadres condemn Israeli defense as “state terrorism” and blame the U.S. for the deeds of the Taliban regime. Predictably, anti-Western entities such as Middle Eastern terrorists, the USSR, and Taliban thugs have escaped NYSPC criticism.
Previously, NYSPC’s antiwar efforts climaxed on May 6, which the group dubbed “Lobby Day.” Activities included signing up new voters and holding teach-ins and workshops designed to facilitate a more efficient weakening of America. NYSPC’s 2003 agenda included “consensing” upon a student strike with their tired “Books Not Bombs” slogan. (Education spending increases have outstripped inflation by 50 percent over the past century, although NYSPC’s website would not reflect any derivative benefit from the expenditure.)
While garnering positive press coverage in outlets such as The Nation and cultivating an image of dedication to peace and justice, the NYSPC’s membership roster indisputably betrays the group’s true values. The infamous Muslim Student Association, a Wahhabi-connected propaganda outlet, is a member. Another NYSPC accomplice, the Black Radical Congress, regurgitates the hard Left’s litany of 9/11 “root causes,” celebrates Barbara Lee and seemed reluctant to condemn al-Qaeda’s terrorist attack.
continued...
Finally, the NYSPC-allied "180 Movement" not only believes that the U.S. is far worse than the 9/11 evildoers but believes the universities are dens of conservatism. (At the student level, they may be correct, but that’s not what they mean.) The 180 cadres warn, “as the university is connected to the rest of society, dissenting views have and will be suppressed.” They are correct—academic suppression of dissent often prevents conservative scholars from gaining tenure and frequently allows punitive actions against students who dare to express non-leftist beliefs. Left-wingers can rest easy about their own free speech rights.
Chin Music for America
Music for America is also upfront about its leftist politics. MFA is a leftist PAC dedicated to “fusing the cultural capital of politically active musicians,” extreme leftist organizations and radical students into a crusade for—surprise—“social justice.” Its voter registration link, for instance, directs potential voters directly to the Democratic National Committee. MFA openly supports Howard Dean, the most bilious of President Bush’s antiwar detractors. Similar to Rock the Vote, however, MFA uses music and culture to market a partisan agenda to young potential voters.
MFA’s founder is Franz Hartl, a former anti-sweatshop activist who draws inspiration from the Marxists threatening Brazil. In terms of his political discourse, he also seems to draw sophomoric inspiration from Mad Magazine. “We’re using culture to show that Karl Rove and the Cato Institute are dorks and losers,” Hartl told The Nation, lowering the tenor of leftist discourse a smidgeon lower. This lack of sophistication has not led to an appropriate humility. One of the contributors to MFA’s weblog (the site is currently under redevelopment) dubbed herself a “political almost genius” for mocking the liberation of Iraq. And unfortunately, even the “almost genius” Left can convert many American students.
Although a recent MTV-commissioned poll determined that approximately two-thirds of America’s youth support President Bush and the courageous liberation of Iraq (including Brittany Spears, hardly a "dork" or a "loser"), history teaches us that nothing can cure leftists pursuing a utopian pipe dream. From their base on the American university campus, radical groups will continue their campaign to subvert students' minds and place ideological blinders over young eyes. We live in an age when every vote counts tremendously. This was never more true that during our current struggle to strengthen our national security and protect Western values. In this struggle, these leftist organizations are working for the wrong side.
-Eric
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