Roadmap of Hell -- guide to right-wing scammers and dirty tricksters

[starroute]

Recently a series of threads was started by DU poster Bozos for Bush. His 83 year old mother had received a letter from an organization called the American Federation of Senior Citizens, warning that her Social Security benefits were at risk unless she sent them money to lobby Congress for Social Security privatization. DU'ers soon discovered that this group was run by Gary Jarmin, a long-time fixture on the right who has been a disciple of Reverend Moon for thirty years or more. Jarmin is the founder of Christian Voice, is a member of the Council for National Policy, and is close enough to George H.W. Bush to get him to do favors on behalf of Moon operations.

Jarmin's connections led to a great deal of interesting discussion -- but ultimately even more revealing was the direct-mail solicitation firm named in the fine print at the bottom of the letter. Googling on Response Dynamics opened a window into the heart of a network of right-wing scammers, smear artists, and dirty tricksters that touches on every anti-Democratic dirty campaign trick from the Willie Horton ad of 1988, to the anti-Clinton jihad of the 90's, to the present attacks on John Kerry.

The chart below lays out what we have learned about this network. This is not a six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon deal, where people and organizations are linked merely because they once appeared on a panel together or co-signed a letter. The individuals on this chart have been intimately related to one another, often over many years, have worked together on common projects, and are connected by a dense web of overlapping connections.

I am going to follow this chart with a response #1 giving links to the various DU research threads from which it is drawn, and then attach narrative descriptions of the main sareas of interest. If you post on this thread, please leave those narratives in an uninterrupted block by not replying to them directly. Instead, reply to this original post or to other people's responses. Thank you.

[starroute]

1. Links to earlier threads

The CBS Memo story -- Buckhead and rathergate.com

Blogger Who Faulted CBS Documents Is Conservative Activist (AKA. Freeper) (9/17)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

GOP Activist Made Allegations on CBS Memos (Buckhead) (9/18)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

rathergate.com! (9/22)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

GOP + rathergate.com = vast wingnut conspiracy (9/24)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...


Carlton Sherwood, Charlie Gerow, and "Stolen Honor"

RESEARCH: Homeland Security funds used to fund George Bush's dirty tricks? (10/9)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Owner of Sinclair's "Stolen Honor" production company is a Bush appointee (10/13)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...


The Gary Jarmin scam letter

URGENT - NEED DU's HELP TO BUST AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR SENIOR CITIZENS (10/16)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Seniors urged to sign "pledge" for Bush or lose their Social Security
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...


Linking the various stories stories together

Kerry Attacker Protected Rev. Moon (10/17)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

WE WENT TO WAR TO START THE RAPTURE?!? MUST READ - EXPLOSIVE! (10/17) http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Scary Social Security letter - Gary Jarmin can destroy George Bush (10/19)
(This thread is the source of most of the info on the chart and has many more links and quotes concerning the individuals mentioned here.)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[starroute]

2. The College Republican National Committee

One group currently using the services of Response Dynamics is the College Republic National Committee, which appears near the top left corner of the chart. In October 2001, the CRNC separated from the Republican Party, became a Section 527 organization, and launched into direct-mail fundraising targeted at elderly donors. (http://www.publicintegrity.org/527/report.aspx?aid=10 )

However, the CRNC had a long and not altogether savory history prior to that. In 1965-70, their on-and-off executive director was Morton Blackwell. I confess I'd never heard of Blackwell before his stunt with the purple heart band-aids at the Republican convention, but he is a person of some significance on the right -- a close associate of Paul Weyrich, co-founder (with Weyrich, Richard Viguerie, and Jerry Falwell) of the Moral Majority, and executive director since 1991 of the secretive Council for National Policy.

During the Nixon years, the CRNC became notorious for offering courses in dirty tricks and political sabotage, to the point where George H.W. Bush, then chairman of the Republican National Committee, had to promise to investigage and get to the bottom of the charges. At this time, CRNC executive director was none other than Karl Rove. In 1972, Rove ran for chairman against Terry Dolan in a campaign so dirty that Bush had to step in and declare Rove the winner.

Lee Atwater succeeded Rove as executive director. Eventually, Rove would introduce Atwater to George H.W. Bush and he would become Bush's 1988 campaign manager. Atwater died in 1991, but not before repenting of the many dirty tricks he had pulled along the way.

Morton Blackwell went on to found the Leadership Institute, dedicated to training young Republican activists. Karl Rove is its best-known graduate.

This group of dirty tricksters has two areas of connection to the CBS memos flap. One is through Roger Stone, rumored to be the source of the memos, who was a close friend of Terry Dolan (who died of AIDS in 1986.) The other is through Mike Krempasky, who set up a "rathergate.com" site so quickly after the story broke as to raise suspicions that he had inside knowledge. Krempasky is connected in multiple ways with Roger Stone and was also employed from 1999 to 2002 by Blackwell's Leadership Institute.

The question of whether the memos can be traced back directly to Karl Rove remains unanswered -- but these connections are intriguing, to say the least.

[captain disgruntled]

3. *OUCH*

This makes my brain hurt.

[starroute]

4. The National Center for Public Policy Research

Continuing along the Response Dynamics trail led us to the National Center for Public Policy Research. The mother of another DU-er received an almost identical scam letter involving Medicare from this group, also sent out by Response Dynamics. A little Googling revealed that NCPPR had also been cited for sending Social Security scam letters to the elderly back in 1998. (http://www.clearproject.org/ACVvol9no5.html )

It also turned out the president of NCPPR, Amy Moritz Ridenour, had worked for Morton Blackwell during the 1980 Reagan campaign and it was he who encouraged her to join up with NCPPR. And there was another connection of interest -- Jack Abramoff, a director of NCPPR, had been national chairman of the College Republican National Committee from 1981 to 1985. It seems that the CRNP underwent its second flowering during these early years of the Reagan administration -- the executive director at this time was first Grover Norquist and then Ralph Reed.

Jack Abramoff's name is not a household word, but he's a big deal in conservative circles. He is a Bush "Pioneer" -- meaning he has made campaign donations to George W. of over $100,000. (http://www.stealthpacs.org/agent.cfm?agent_id=4920 ) He worked to help build up Ralph Reed's Christian Coalition. He ran a front organization in the 80's for the South African apartheid government. And he is currently in a lot of trouble for his involvement with Indian casino gambling. (http://www.whitehouseforsale.org/ContributorsAndPayback... )

Remember Abramoffe -- he's going to turn up again.

[starroute]

6. The Willie Horton ad

Response Dynamics also appears in a 1996 complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission by the Democratic National Committee. The Democrats were pursuing charges involving improper corporate contributions and faulty accounting against a group of respondents including Response Dynamics but led by the National Security Political Action Committee and Floyd Brown.

Both those names are notorious in the history of political dirty tricks. Back in 1988, Brown and the NSPAC produced the Willie Horton ad on behalf of George H.W. Bush's campaign against Michael Dukakis. The ad-makers were suspected of having direct ties to Bush and his campaign director, Lee Atwater, but though there were obvious links, it was never possible to prove actual collusion.

[starroute]

7. Bruce W. Eberle

Searching on Response Dynamics also led to the website of another direct-mail solicitation firm, Hogan, Schenk, & Paul, whose founder Amy Paul is described as having previously worked for both Response Dynamics, Inc. and Bruce W. Eberle & Associates. In the sidebar is an endorsement of Paul and her partners by a man named Ron Robinson, who is associated with Floyd Brown, producer of the Willie Horton ad. Robinson is director of Citizens United, of which Brown is chairman, and is president of Young America's Foundation, of which Brown is executive director.

The HSP connection itself hasn't produced paydirt, but Bruce W. Eberle turns out to be another direct-mail scam artist with a long history of dubious operations. (It seems that ever since Richard Viguerie set the pattern, direct-mail solicitation has been a favorite hobby on the Republican right. Karl Rove was also in the business from 1981 to 1999.)

Even though Eberle's website (which includes an endorsement by Grover Norquist) proclaims his dedication to hiring "caring people who believed in using their skills to help others and to build a better America" (http://www.bruceeberle.com/About.shtml ), his actual history is as dirty as Resource Dynamics'. For example, there was the Vietnam POW scam of the 1980's, which John Kerry called "unconscionable and extraordinary" when it wound up being investigated by a Senate Select Committee. (http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/EBERLE/judgeimposeSettl... ) And there's a current case involving John Ashcroft and charges of felony conspiracy. (http://www.pcactionfund.org/stepasideashcroft/letter01-... )

But perhaps the most extraordinary fundraising scam was the one Eberle (and Amy Paul) ran on behalf of Paula Jones, which was supposed to cover her legal fees but which ended up paying her $100,000 and her lawyers nothing. That one also wound up before a Senate committee. But its greatest significance is that it ties Eberle into the larger anti-Clinton jihad -- Hillary's original "vast right-wing conspiracy.

[starroute]

8. The Anti-Clinton Jihad

Bruce Eberle's connection with Paula Jones was no accident. Several of the individuals and events already mentioned in these posts were active in various aspects of the Clinton smear movement. For example, Amy Ridenour launched a well-funded Campaign for Victims of Sexual Harassment just as the Paula Jones charges were coming to general attention. (http://www.nationalcenter.org/Harassment997.html )

There are also links between the anti-Clinton jihad and the Willie Horton ad. Craig Shirley, head of a public relations firm that helped produce the ad, had Paula Jones as a client. At the same time, David Bossie, who had become political director of Floyd Brown's organization Citizens United in 1992, was running all over Arkansas, looking for dirt on Clinton and producing ads and fund-raising letters full of unsupported allegations.

Bruce Eberle himself worked on behalf of Gary Aldrich the author of "Unlimited Access," a notorious anti-Clinton smear published by Alfred Regnery. And he ran yet another scam operation on behalf of several of his favorite causes, including the Southeastern Legal Foundation. (http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2002Q1/hacks.html ) The Southeastern Legal Foundation is itself a group of particular interest. It is funded by Richard Mellon Scaife, the man at the center of the anti-Clinton jihad. It provided legal aid to Gary Aldrich in the 90's and more recently worked on a challenge to campaign finance reform along with Whitewater investigator Ken Starr.

The Southeastern Legal Foundation also has a connection to the CBS memos case. Harry W. MacDougald ("Buckhead"), the man who originally (and inaccurately) suggested that the CBS memos could have been faked using MS Word, is on its legal advisory board. Since MacDougald has no knowledge of fonts or forgery, it seems that he (like Mike Krempasky, creator of the rathergate.com site) may have been playing an assigned role. If so, the key must lie somewhere in this same network of scammers and dirty tricksters.

[starroute]

9. Stolen Honor

Finally we come to the current presidential campaign. It turns out that all the anti-Kerry smears have some relationship to this same network of groups and individuals. For example, it was Morton Blackwell who handed out the purple-heart bandaids at the Republican convention. The Swiftboat Veterans' "Unfit to Command" was issued by Alfred Regnery, the same publisher as Gary Aldrich's anti-Clinton smear. And Carlton Sherwood, producer of "Stolen Honor," did a whitewash of Reverend Moon in 1991 which was also published by Regnary.

However, the most intriguing connections involve the man behind Sherwood -- Charlie Gerow, a small-time Republican politician in central Pennsylvania. Gerow is described in various articles as a spokesman or publicist for "Stolen Honor," but he is clearly far more than that. Sherwood's production company, "Red, White and Blue Productions," seems to have no existence aside from this one film, and the only address ever given for it is c/o Quantum Communications, Charlie Gerow's public relations firm in Harrisburg.

For a two-bit local conservative, Gerow seems oddly well-connected. When he ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary for Congress in 1998, his supporters included Richard Mellon Scaife (http://garciapublicaffairs.com/htm/Scaifecont98-90.htm ) and Grover Norquist. (http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/05/05/cq/goodling.h... ) In 2000, he received donations from Jack Abramoff and from Ron Robinson. (http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/campaigns/charli... )

I do not know what connections these people may have had with Gerow aside from giving money to his campaign. But it does seem striking that these four names link him to the Willie Horton ad, to the anti-Clinton jihad, and to Morton Blackwell and the Karl Rove school of dirty tricks.

[starroute]

10. Final Remarks

Although it may look large and definitive, this chart is very much a work in progress. It is based on research that was done on-the-fly by a small group of dedicated DU-ers over a period of several hectic days, and there are still many areas that cry out for further investigation.

In particular, the people and groups associated with the Willie Horton ad were only lightly touched on by the research thread, which was focused on the direct-mail solicitation area. It would clearly be useful to know more about Floyd Brown, Citizens United, Young America's Foundation, Ron Robinson, and Craig Shirley.

It would also be nice to know where Bruce Eberle came from before he got into the direct-mail business in 1974 and whether Charlie Gerow had prior connections with any of the people who donated to his campaigns.

And it might be worth going back to the CBS memos threads and pursuing links between the people mentioned there and the groups and individuals cited here. As one example, Roger Stone, like Jack Abramoff, is heavily involved in Indian casinos. And Charlie Gerow and "Buckhead" have both worked with their local chapters of Lawyers for Buch/Cheney. At this point, both of those look more like common interests than direct connections, so I didn't put them in the chart. But they could be worth further scrutiny.

Of course, the Holy Grail would be to tie "Stolen Honor" or the CBS memos directly to someone like Karl Rove -- but I don't really expect a smoking gun. These people cover their tracks well, and after 16 years, no one has definitively proved that Lee Atwater and the George H.W. Bush campaign commissioned the Willie Horton ad. Still, it's always possible to get lucky.

Finally, a general principle seems to be emerging from these research threads: Googling on the relatively obscure people, like Gary Jarmin or Bruce Eberle, is going to turn up far more of substance than attacking the big boys directly. The Reverend Moon and Paul Weyrich types all know each other, have been in cahoots for years, and shy clear of any direct implication in illicit activities. The small fish aren't as careful or well-connected, so they're the weak spots.

So let's hear it for small fishing. (Anybody got a string and a bent safety pin?)

[Bozos for Bush]

23. Outstanding summary and diagram, starroute - and an idea

But do you have room on that diagram for 400+ more symbols?

As you know, I believe the CNP is officially behind all of this, and a lot more...but I accept your nicely-written observation that the CNP is the water that all these fish swim in.

Perhaps we can keep this effort better organized by keeping your thread as "clean" as possible - what I am thinking is this...

Use this thread to diagram and summarize our findings.
Use the other thread for all initial findings, research, etc.

That will keep this thread well-organized, so it doesn't start to look like all the other threads LOL.

You continue to humble me,

John

[EstimatedProphet]

5. Kick

[Bozos for Bush]

36. kick

[progressivebydesign]

11. Kicking to get my mind around this!!!

Wow.. we have just scratched the surface. Voters don't realize how DEEPLY embedded these smear tactics are into Republican politics.

[salvorhardin]

12. Wow! Beautiful work!

Just beautiful.

Kick!

[DireStrike]

13. EXCELLENT! But where are the CNP and Moon? -EOM

[starroute]

17. The CNP is everywhere

It's the water in which these fish swim. Morton Blackwell is CNP executive director. Gary Jarmin, Jack Abramoff, Ron Robinson, Floyd Brown, and Gary Aldrich are all members. The late Terry Dolan was a member. Richard Mellon Scaife is not an official member but has extensive connections with the organization.

But because the CNP has its fingers in so many pies, you can't focus on it. It would be like saying, "The murderer is someone who breathes air and eats food." It's the lower-level links, like Response Dynamics and Bruce Eberle, who give the clearest picture of what's really happening.

Moon also plays a role here -- though perhaps not so much these days as back in the 80's -- and so do Paul Weyrich and his Heritage Foundation. All of those connections are worth keeping in mind, but are not useful as starting points.

[DireStrike]

24. I think I understand.

If you included the CNP, it would become a 3d chart.

But for illustrating the point to skeptics, perhaps it would be useful to put a dot of color or something on people who have direct/extensive CNP ties?

[Bozos for Bush]

26. not a 3rd chart, a 4th Reich (nt)

[EstimatedProphet]

29. Forgive me-there's too many acronyms out there

The CNP stands for what?

[Bozos for Bush]

30. Council for National Policy - here's a great link to learn about them

http://www.seekgod.ca/topiccnp.htm

[EstimatedProphet]

35. That site said a mouthful!

Here's one of the first paragraphs from their introduction:

"Men who read any of these articles must do so with full knowledge that they are written by a woman and that there is no intent to usurp authority over, or to teach men. The writing is done with full approval and support of my husband, which is a Biblical stand.

God forbid a WOMAN assemble a webpage! If she has to justify writing a webpage because the readers will scream "Back in the kitchen, woman!", then what does that say about the kind of people that are in this movement?

[Bozos for Bush]

43. kick, and goodnight (nt)

[Bozos for Bush]

53. kick

[Bozos for Bush]

57. kick

[evilqueen]

50. CNP more info

Here's the disinfopedia entry on CNP

[Bozos for Bush]

59. kick

[starroute]

55. Celsius 41.11, David Brown, and Ron Robinson

Celsius 41.11 is the supposed answer to Fahrenheit 911. According to a current thread in General Discussions, it's currently flopping miserably at the box office. However, I just ran onto a page of credits at what seems to be its official website and was amused by the "Special Appreciation":

THE MEMBERS OF CITIZENS UNITED
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF CITIZENS UNITED
FLOYD G. BROWN
RON ROBINSON
BRIAN BERRY
DOUGLAS RAMSEY

http://campsol.com/4111/c4111_contents/about

Boy, they don't even bother to try hiding it, do they?


On edit: Yep, it's an all-Citizens-United lineup.

Citizens United Officers & Board of Directors

David N. Bossie, President
President, Citizens United & Citizens United Foundation
Burtonsville, Maryland

Michael Boos, Vice President & General Counsel
General Counsel & Director of Citizens United American Sovereignty Action Project
Manassas, Virginia

Floyd G. Brown, Chairman of the Board
Executive Director, The Reagan Ranch & Young America's Foundation
Santa Barbara, California

Brian Berry, Director
Media Consultant
Austin, Texas

Douglas L. Ramsey, Secretary-Treasurer
Seattle, Washington

Ron Robinson, Director
President, Young America's Foundation
Reston, Virginia

http://www.citizensunited.org/about

(Boos is listed further up in the credits as "Legal Services Provided By."

[Bozos for Bush]

58. Nope, they've been getting away with it for over 20 years

bed time...exhausted here.

[George_S]

14. Once again, outstanding work! And a request...

Fantastic, starroute. Oh what a tangled web we weave.

I have a request for the DUers who are game.

Tony Rackauckas was deeply involved in the California Supreme Court "recall" of the 80s. Rose Bird was the main target. After she lost her seat, she died a lonely and broken woman.

Since then California has been blue and red stripped and Tony Rackauckas and whoever funded and backed him is to blame. I've hit a dead-end on it.

More on Tony Rackauckas:

Orange County Register – October 3, 2004

Cloud over O.C. law


DA Rackauckas' reputation is shot, and Sheriff Carona's could be next

By Jane Shade, Professor of Law, Western State University and William R. Mitchell, Newport Beach attorney and former chairman of the OC chapter of Common Cause

It wasn't that long ago when both the Orange County District Attorney's Office and the Orange County Sheriff's Department were held in high esteem. Unfortunately, both District Attorney Tony Rackauckas and Sheriff Mike Carona have generated news lately for questionable law enforcement tactics, mishandling of political contributions and charges of conflicts of interest. The arrest last week of former Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo amplifies the problems for both men. Added to this litany of misconduct is a growing and serious concern that both offices and both officeholders have placed a premium on playing politics while law enforcement takes a back seat.

http://twistedbadge.com/feature_tonyr_p29.htm

This fool obviously could not take down 3 California Supreme Court justices by himself. So who helped? Since starroute's research goes back to the 80s as well, maybe there are unknown connections from then to the present. There probably are.

[yardwork]

15. Thank you! I am forwarding....

Edited to note that Harry W. McDougald (Buckhead on FR), who is an attorney in Atlanta, was the "blogger" who "discovered" that the CBS memos were "forgeries." Within hours of the 60 Minutes II broadcast Buckhead put long, detailed posts on Free Republic discussing font sizes, etc. Those "guesses" got picked up by right-wing news agencies instantly, all over the country and became conventional wisdom, even though they were WRONG. The memos are probably not legit, but not for the reasons that McDougald gave.

McDougald was also present during the 2000 riots in Palm Beach, as were several other Atlanta-based attorneys.

The web is probably sphere-shaped. It's a three-dimensional universe proving Hillary Clinton's contention that there is a vast right-wing conspiracy. Their goals are simple - money and power.

[starroute]

18. L. Brent Bozell was also part of the Buckhead story

Bozell (another CNP member) played an active role in disseminating Buckhead's claims to the point where Drudge picked them up. He was also a close friend of Terry Dolan.

As far as I know, Bozell isn't tightly connected to any of the people at the heart of the dirty tricks/direct mail network, but it would certainly be worth trying to find out.

[George_S]

16. The Dolphin Group!!!

The Westwood-based Dolphin Group, which is running the slick campaign with massive mailings of ordinary, sincere, smiling folks saying they support the ballot initiative, is nationally known for having produced the infamous Willie Horton video ads that sank Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential election.

Lee Stitzenberger, chief executive officer of the Dolphin Group, confirmed his agency is handling the initiative campaign but declined further comment.

As the Los Angeles Times reported in a 1994 story: "Stitzenberger produced a video of Willie Horton's victims. Their descriptions of Horton's vicious attacks was a powerful attack on former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis in his 1988 run for the presidency. Stitzenberger produced the video as part of an independent effort to aid George Bush's election."

The ad was widely condemned as an effort to introduce racism into the campaign and as a distortion of Dukakis' record on crime as Massachusetts governor.

The Dolphin Group has a long history in the initiative process, having as far back as 1976 run the campaign defeating Proposition 14, which would have protected the hard-fought gains made by Cesar Chavez's United Farm Workers.

The Dolphin Group is the same company that spent more than $5 million of Phillip Morris' money in a failed effort to pass a pro-smoking California ballot initiative, Proposition 188, in 1994.

As with the living wage initiative, which is designed to appeal to people who support a living wage--even though this initiative would curtail such efforts in Santa Monica--the wording on the tobacco initiative was similarly deceptive. It implied that the initiative favored restrictions on smoking, when in fact, if passed, it would have ended tough local ordinances designed to protect nonsmokers.

"People were not told that this would wipe out their strict local standards and impose a weaker law," Paul Knepprath of the American Lung Assn. said at the time.

As The Times reported in the Stitzenberger story, "his firm ran the 1986 campaign that resulted in the unprecedented defeat of California Chief Justice Rose Bird and two other Supreme Court justices. In that campaign, he and his partners organized a group called Crime Victims for Court Reform, which drew on mothers and fathers of murdered children who opposed the liberal Bird court."

The Dolphin Group also promoted an agricultural industry-backed alternative, Proposition 135, to undermine the "Big Green" environmental initiative in 1990 that resulted in the labeling of hazardous materials in everyday products.

The "living wage" campaign that the Dolphin Group is now handling is similarly deceptive in that the living wage it refers to would only apply to a small number of those who work under city contract but would prevent Santa Monica officials from enacting any broader living wage proposal that might include workers at the fancy hotels.

That is not made clear in the mailings that voters have received, and one is easily fooled into thinking that a vote for this initiative is indeed a vote for a real living wage proposal of the sort being considered by the Santa Monica City Council. It is instead designed to undermine that effort. Voter beware!

http://www.robertscheer.com/2_localla/00_columns/100100...

[George_S]

19. Mysterious Political Mailers Linked To Anti-Living Wage Faction

Mysterious Political Mailers Linked To
Anti-Living Wage Faction
Group Maintains They Are Not 'Responsible' For Fliers
Santa Monica Daily Press - November 21, 2002
By Andrew H. Fixmer

Deceptive mailers which may have swung Santa Monica's vote on the living wage have been linked to the measure's opponents, despite their prior denials of involvement.

State campaign disclosure forms list FAIR - Fighting Against Irresponsible Regulation - as the main source of funding for three, last-minute mass leaflet mailings which appear to have misled voters.

One controversial mailing, under the heading "Democratic Voters Ballot Guide For Santa Monica," listed "No on JJ" beside a checked box, beneath the Democratic candidates for governor and other state offices, Congress and city council. However, the Democratic Party said it endorsed JJ, the living wage ordinance, which was narrowly defeated Nov. 5.

....

Lacy and Lord-Butcher - who created the apparent dummy committees backing Democrats, pro-choicers and quality schools - weren't available for comment Wednesday. Lord-Butcher is credit-ed as being the "father of the slate mailer," and Lacy worked in Ronald Reagan's administration. Both are considered tops in their field.

http://www.laane.org/pressroom/stories/smart/sm021121sm...

[George_S]

22. more on The Dolphin Group

The Dolphin Group is more than just a communications firm. We are a full service public relations and public affairs consulting firm with a reputation for achieving results for our clients. Everything we do is designed to change the perceptions of an individual or group -- to get them to think differently -- and to ultimately persuade them to change their behavior. We are result-oriented and by the nature of our business, crisis-oriented as well. With offices in Los Angeles and Sacramento, and over two decades of experience, the Dolphin Group is prepared to accept any challenge.

Bill Roberts, also a founding partner in Spencer-Roberts, which pioneered the concept of professional campaign management and political consulting, founded the Dolphin Group in 1974. Roberts was best known for his role in turning popular 1960s movie star Ronald Reagan into one of the most well-known political figures in U.S. history.

http://www.dolphingroup.org /

In other words, they lie, and they will take down anyone who gets in their way, like Rose Bird.

[annabanana]

20. we must keep this kicked into the week

There is a lot of meat here for any lurking investigative journalists with big platform!

[Blaze Diem]

21. Ann Coulter and Newt Gingrich fit in here someplace,

Since they were given free access to promote and implement their abuses, who brought these two into the fore?

[yardwork]

25. Newt Gingrich is centrally-connected to the Georgia Crew

There appear to be several geographical nexi for this group, and Atlanta, GA is one of them. It connects Gingrich, Zell Miller, numerous Atlanta-based attorneys (at least one of whom is on the Georgia Board of Elections), the Bush* Ranger who owns Home Depot, and others.

Other geographic hotspots are in Texas, south Florida, and Pennsylvania, as well as D.C.

[starroute]

37. Bob Barr and Newt Gingrich both connected to Southeastern Legal

Barr is a former president. Newt is friends with a former president. I haven't tracked those connections any further, but it might be worth doing.

There was more on Southeastern Legal back on one of the "Buckhead" threads -- but I just tried to get there and came up with a message saying that due to heavy traffic the archives would be unavailable until after the election. That's really going to crimp our style on these research threads -- but I guess we carry on as best we can.

[Bozos for Bush]

41. Southeastern Legal info

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/search/article_...

Buckhead, as he was known at the Free Republic site, has been unmasked as Harry MacDougald, an Atlanta lawyer with strong ties to conservative Republican causes. He even helped draft the petition urging the Arkansas Supreme Court to disbar President Clinton after the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Reached by telephone by the Times on Friday, MacDougald, 46, confirmed that he is Buckhead but declined to answer questions.

MacDougald, a lawyer in Atlanta, is affiliated with two prominent conservative legal groups, the Federalist Society and the Southeastern Legal Foundation, where he serves on the legal advisory board.


And a right-wing point of view: http://commonsensewonder.com/mtarchives/005950.shtml

In the shadows? Isn't that a little over the top? He probably just didn't want people harrassing him for his political views.

MacDougald is a lawyer in the Atlanta office of the Winston-Salem, N.C.-based firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice and is affiliated with two prominent conservative legal groups, the Federalist Society and the Southeastern Legal Foundation, where he serves on the legal advisory board and has been involved in several high-profile cases.

Founded in 1976, the Southeastern Legal Foundation advocates "limited government, individual economic freedom, and the free enterprise system," according to its website.

The foundation has fought affirmative action and domestic partner benefits for government employees, and successfully challenged a Clinton administration plan to use proportional sampling, rather than a hard count, to estimate the population in the 2000 census.

MacDougald helped draft the foundation's petition in 1998 that led to the five-year suspension of Clinton's Arkansas law license for giving misleading testimony in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.

And MacDougald assisted in the group's legal challenge to the campaign finance law sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.). The challenge, ultimately presented to the U.S. Supreme Court, was funded largely by the Southeastern Legal Foundation in conjunction with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the law's chief critic, and handled by former Clinton investigator Kenneth W. Starr.

The Supreme Court upheld the law, which banned unlimited contributions from corporations to federal candidates and political parties.

The foundation was joined in its challenge by a cadre of groups that spanned the ideological spectrum, including the National Rifle Association and the American Civil Liberties Union.

So clearly all the LA Times has been able to show is that he is a civil libertarian who uses legal arguments to fight for what he believes in. Not exactly evidence that he is some conspirator is it?

MacDougald is also a Republican appointee to the Fulton County Board of Registration and Election.

Oh my god, he is a Republican appointee for a very minor bureaucratic position in his local county. Oooooh. Next they might have him sitting next to Newt on a plane.

He is not a big financial contributor to political causes, having donated $250 to the Georgia Republican Party in 2002, when Christian Coalition founder Ralph Reed was chairman. Reed is now a senior strategist for the Bush campaign.

[evilqueen]

49. townhall.com

Disinfopedia: Townhall.com is a project of the Heritage Foundation. Regular contributers include: Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Pat Buchanan, William F. Buckley, Jr., Oliver North, Robert Novak, among others. Free Republic Network (from whom the free republic website was born) is one of many members.

Disinfopedia's Entry on Townhall.com : It started in 1991 as a BBS called 'Town Hall'. A 'Town Hall Tour' of May 1992 gives an impression of that BBS. Town Hall, was a joint venture of National Review Magazine and the Heritage Foundation. In March 1993 they had about 700 individual users and they were connected to 15 organizations. To access the BBS you needed a computer and a modem using a network phone number and an access code. Joining costed $20 and beyond that the user was charged from 26 cents to 66 cents a minute depending on the time of day. <1> Jeanne Allen was in 1993 the executive director of Town Hall. <2>

In March 1994 they announced that Town Hall would become a private forum on Compuserve. <3>

On July 19, 1994 Rich Winkel wrote about Town Hall in a Usenet posting

"On Compuserve computer network [phone] An electronic bulletin board (BBS) and interactive dial-up computer service for the conservative movement carried on the Compuserve computer network. Sponsored by National Review and the Heritage Foundation. Includes electronic (ASCII) text version of materials from groups such as the The Free Congress Foundation's National Empowerment Television project, Focus on the Family, The Leadership Institute, International Freedom Foundation, Citizens for a Sound Economy, and the State Policy Network of state-based think tanks." <4>

Townhall.com
According to the whois-information the domain name (townhall.com) was claimed on March 2, 1995. The web site (www.townhall.com ) went live on June 29, 1995. <5> <6> Tim Butler was at that moment president of Town Hall and the organization was still owned jointly by Heritage and National Review. Soon after that 'Townhall.com' was considered to be only a Heritage Foundation project. The WayBack machine has pages that go back to 1996. On the 'media-kit' page of 'townhall.com' they write:

"Online since 1991, and on the Web since June 1995, townhall.com reaches an established, older, and highly influential community of between 200,000 and 250,000 individual users each month. The largest conservative site on the Web, www.townhall.com is the main internet address for over 35 member sites, including publications and radio shows, think tanks, and public policy, grassroots, and educational organizations."

Key Staff

* Jonathan Garthwaite, Editor
* Jennifer Biddison, Assistant Editor
* Ryan Zempel, News & Politics Editor
* Laura O'Dea, Marketing Manager
* Carolyn Davids, Community Coordinator

Regular Contributors

* Mike Adams
* Gary Aldrich
* Mark Alexander
* Doug Bandow
* Bruce Bartlett
* Tony Blankley
* Brent Bozell
* Peter Brookes
* Jay Bryant
* Pat Buchanan
* William F. Buckley, Jr.
* Neil Cavuto
* Mona Charen
* Linda Chavez
* Chuck Colson
* Ward Connerly
* Ann Coulter
* Helle Dale
* Larry Elder
* Edwin J. Feulner
* Suzanne Fields
* Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.
* Maggie Gallagher
* Jonah Goldberg
* Paul Greenberg
* Rebecca Hagelin
* David Horowitz
* Dexter Ingram
* Paul Jacob
* Terence Jeffrey
* Jack Kemp
* Charles Krauthammer
* Larry Kudlow
* John Leo
* David Limbaugh
* Rich Lowry
* Ross Mackenzie
* Michelle Malkin
* John McCaslin
* Bill Murchison
* Joel Mowbray
* Oliver North
* Robert Novak
* Marvin Olasky
* Kathleen Parker
* Dennis Prager
* Alan Reynolds
* Paul Craig Roberts
* Debra Saunders
* Phyllis Schlafly
* Ben Shapiro
* Thomas Sowell
* Jacob Sullum
* Mark Tapscott
* Cal Thomas
* Matt Towery
* Rich Tucker
* Emmett Tyrrell
* Diana West
* George Will
* Armstrong Williams
* Walter Williams

Members

* A World Connected
* Accuracy in Academia
* Accuracy in Media
* Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty
* AgapePress
* Alliance Defense Fund
* American Conservative Union
* The American Enterprise
* American Land Rights Association
* American Legislative Exchange Council
* American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property
* Americans for Prosperity Foundation
* Americans for Tax Reform
* AnnCoulter.org
* Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs at Ashland University
* The Bradley Foundation
* BreakPoint Online
* Campus Report
* Capital Research Center
* Cato Institute
* The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity
* The Center for Consumer Freedom
* Center for Equal Opportunity
* Center for Individual Freedom
* Center for Security Policy
* Center for the Future of Russia
* Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change
* Citizens Against Government Waste
* Citizens for a Sound Economy
* The Claremont Institute
* clashradio.com
* Collegiate Network
* Competitive Enterprise Institute
* Concerned Women for America
* The Conservative Caucus
* Conservative Petitions.com
* Conservative Political Action Conference
* Defenders of Property Rights
* Digital Freedom Network
* Employment Policies Institute
* EnviroTruth.org
* Evergreen Freedom Foundation
* Family Research Council
* The Federalist e-journal Digest
* The Federalist Society
* The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
* Free Republic Network
* Free-Market.Net
* Freedom Alliance
* Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation
* Frontiers of Freedom
* The Fund for American Studies
* Georgia Public Policy Foundation
* Green Watch
* Greening Earth Society
* Grove City College
* Heartland Institute
* The Heritage Foundation (lots of names and info about it at that link) Also : Policy Review was founded by The Heritage Foundation. Tucker Carlson of Crossfire was once an editor there.
* Hillsdale College
* The Howard Center for Family, Religion, and Society
* Human Events Online
* The Human Life Review
* Independent Women's Forum
* Insight on the News
* Institute for Humane Studies
* Institute for Policy Innovation
* Intercollegiate Studies Institute
* ISI Books
* Landmark Legal Foundation
* Lawsuit Abuse Makes Us Sick
* Leadership Institute
* LifeNews.com
* The Lone Star Report
* Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute
* Mackinac Center for Public Policy
* Maryland Public Policy Institute
* Massachusetts News
* Media Research Center
* Mountain States Legal Foundation
* National Center for Policy Analysis
* The National Center for Public Policy Research
* National Legal and Policy Center
* National Review Online
* National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Inc.
* National Taxpayers Union & NTU Foundation
* Ohio Taxpayers Association & OTA Foundation
* OpinionEditorials.com
* The Optimate
* Pacific Legal Foundation
* Pacific Research Institute
* The Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty
* The Philadelphia Society
* The Project for California's Future
* The Reagan Ranch
* religionjournal.com
* RetireSafe.org
* Small Business Survival Committee
* State Policy Network
* Susan B. Anthony List
* Tax Foundation
* Taxpayers League of Minnesota
* Tech Central Station
* Texas Public Policy Foundation
* Townhall.com
* Traditional Values Coalition
* U.S. English, Inc.
* U.S. Term Limits
* The Washington Times National Weekly Edition
* The Weekly Standard
* The World & I
* World Congress of Families
* World Magazine
* The Yorktown Patriot
* Young America's Foundation

Contact Information
214 Massachusetts Ave NE
Washington, DC 20002
Tel. [phone]
Fax [phone]
web site: www.townhall.com


Additionally, there is a list of regressive organizations which is probably worth checking out. One of our DUers mentioned the Rutherford Foundation (below this post), there is a Rutherford Institute (is that the same one?)

[Kathy in Cambridge]

27. I'm bookmarking this! Great research!

[EstimatedProphet]

28. If you get the chance, watch "With God on our Side"

Several of the people listed in the diagram were interviewed about the last 30 years in politics.

[0007]

45. I watched "With God on our Side" and barely made it through

the whole thing.

[OutsourceBush]

31. Much too complicated...

You simply need to have and organizational chart. Don't make it look like a spider web.

Lev 1 Big Money Funders (follow the money)
Scaife
Hunt
Coors
Moon
etc

Lev 2 major orgs
CNP
etc

lev 3 minor orgs
org members of CNP 1
org members of CNP 2
etc

lev 4 high lev individuals
big name 1
big name 2
etc
etc

[Bozos for Bush]

32. Hey Outsource

None of us know yet for sure what the final diagram will look like. This was starroute's first attempt, and it's a damn good first draft.

As all of us find more and more, it will be filled in, or perhaps redone. And come on, it IS a spider web - look how it's trapped millions and millions of unsuspecting Americans.

Personally, I envision it will eventually have the CNP in the middle, but we'll see

[OutsourceBush]

33. Understood

FYI: Notice there are several Billionaires involved in funding or founding the CNP.

Also, we can't forget about the computerized voter fraud issue. That appears to be an end game to maintain power once they have the house, senate, presidency and the supreme court.

[Bozos for Bush]

64. kick n/t

[annabanana]

34. kick

[KharmaTrain]

38. Is The Rutherford Foundation Tied Into This?

Let me add my admiration for all the work involved here and how intricate and nebulous this network is. Seems like every new model I see gets more entangled than the last, but most the names remain the same.

When I saw the Paula Jones connection, I remember she was represented for a while by the Rutherford Institute or some other likewise named group and was headed by a blow-dry preacher/freeper type...the name escapes me momentarily and also tied in was Susan Carpenter-McMillian...the babe who got Paula the nose job and the makeover.

As soon as the Jones fiasco petered out this group dropped her...I remember reading of some possible litigation...and I haven't heard of this Rutherford group or Carpenter-McMillian since.

Does this fit into anything?

Again, great work and thanks for all your doing.

Cheers!

[Bozos for Bush]

39. Yes, Rutherford has big ties

For example, Regency Communications, Inc. (a company like Response Dynamics) in Houston puts out Seniors Coalition scam letters. My mom just got one yesterday. Regency has direct links to both Rutherford and the Liberty Alliance (Falwell).

[starroute]

56. The Rutherford Institute is strongly tied to CNP

"The Rutherford Institute was founded in 1982 by John Whitehead and the Chalcedon Foundation, with financial assistance also from the Coors Foundation. Chalcedon founder and Christian reconstructionist R. J. Rushdoony was on the Rutherford Institute's first board of directors and was a speaker at Rutherford events. CNP members throughout the Institute's history, include Rushdoony, and founding board member Howard Ahmanson, founding board member Frank Schaeffer who produced a number of films with Whitehead, including Religious Apartheid and The Second American Revolution."

http://www.seekgod.ca/cnp.w.htm#whitehead

All the people named are CNP members.

It was Whitehead who was Paula Jones' lawyer, but his organization lost hundreds of thousands of dollars on the case. (No doubt in part because of those supposed donations for legal fees that Bruce Eberle was scamming off.)

[Bozos for Bush]

60. Been taking the night off to relax for a change - but tomorrow...

I'll be hard at work on this stuff again. I am especially interested in learning where Jarmin and Response Dynamics spend their money.

[alteredstate]

40. Kick! And nominated for the Home Page!

n/t

[Bozos for Bush]

42. We all thank you, and it's time for bed (nt)

[annabanana]

44. kick in the morning

[Onlooker]

46. What you've done is pretty ingenious

This is proof of the vast right wing conspiracy. The question is, Do you think there's anything we can do with this information before the election? I think there's a lot we can do with it after. If there is real evidence of a vast right wing conspiracy, that would big news.

[Bozos for Bush]

47. Onlooker, good morning and if you have time today

Please try to get this to as many people as possible. Print the diagram, and print the summaries with link addresses that starroute wrote in the first several posts, and fax them to every news organization you can.

I believe faxes would be more likely to succeed than emails.

Work in 50 minutes

[starroute]

48. I've started a new thread on Stolen Honor and the Willie Horton ad

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

This is an expansion of what I wrote above about Charlie Gerow. I did a lot of new research last night, and by the time I was done writing it up, it seemed substantial enough to warrant its own thread. Please come have a look.

[Bozos for Bush]

52. After work I'll try to pitch (chip LOL) in on this. (nt)

[Dancing_Dave]

51. Good work!

Know thy Enemy!

[Bozos for Bush]

54. Our enemy is a monster unlike any this nation has ever seen (nt)

[Bozos for Bush]

61. Posted detailed Swift Boat financial info on other thread (nt)

[Blue_Tires]

62. nominated for homepage

can mods pin this at the top?

[Bozos for Bush]

63. We thank you

A few people have worked very hard on this, and we could use a lot more help.

[annabanana]

65. kick in the morning