Saw this on Free SpeechTV tonight. NeoCons not a secret conspiracy, but a

[BrklynLiberal]

well thought out plan first delineated by Justice Lewis Powell in 1971.
He was terrified by the Progressive bent that was overtaking our media, our Universities, our Judiciary and our Churches. He suggested a plan to change the direction of each of them back to the right, reactionary, corporatist direction he felt they should be headed.

The Powell Memo
(also known as the Powell Manifesto)
Powell Memo published August 23, 1971

Introduction
In 1971, Lewis F. Powell, then a corporate lawyer and member of the boards of 11 corporations, wrote a memo to his friend Eugene Sydnor, Jr., the Director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The memorandum was dated August 23, 1971, two months prior to Powell's nomination by President Nixon to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Powell Memo did not become available to the public until long after his confirmation to the Court. It was leaked to Jack Anderson, a liberal syndicated columnist, who stirred interest in the document when he cited it as reason to doubt Powell's legal objectivity. Anderson cautioned that Powell "might use his position on the Supreme Court to put his ideas into practice...in behalf of business interests."

Though Powell's memo was not the sole influence, the Chamber and corporate activists took his advice to heart and began building a powerful array of institutions designed to shift public attitudes and beliefs over the course of years and decades. The memo influenced or inspired the creation of the Heritage Foundation, the Manhattan Institute, the Cato Institute, Citizens for a Sound Economy, Accuracy in Academe, and other powerful organizations. Their long-term focus began paying off handsomely in the 1980s, in coordination with the Reagan Administration's "hands-off business" philosophy.

Most notable about these institutions was their focus on education, shifting values, and movement-building – a focus we share, though usually with contrasting goals. One of our great frustrations is that “progressive” foundations and funders have failed to learn from the success of these corporate institutions and decline to fund the Democracy Movement that we and a number of similarly-focused organizations are attempting to build. Instead, they overwhelmingly focus on damage control, band-aids and short-term results which provide little hope of the systemic change we so desperately need to reverse the trend of growing corporate dominance.

We see depressingly little sign of change. Progressive institutions eagerly embrace tools like the web and e-mail as hopes for turning the nation in a progressive direction. They will not. They are tools that can and must be used to raise funds and mobilize people more effectively (and we rely on them heavily), but tools and tactics are no substitute for long-term vision and strategy.

So did Powell's political views influence his judicial decisions? The evidence is mixed. Powell did embrace expansion of corporate privilege and wrote the majority opinion in First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, a 1978 decision that effectively invented a First Amendment “right” for corporations to influence ballot questions. On social issues, he was a moderate, whose votes often surprised his backers.

____________________________________________________________________

Confidential Memorandum:
Attack of American Free Enterprise System
DATE: August 23, 1971
TO: Mr. Eugene B. Sydnor, Jr., Chairman, Education Committee, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
FROM: Lewis F. Powell, Jr.

This memorandum is submitted at your request as a basis for the discussion on August 24 with Mr. Booth (executive vice president) and others at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The purpose is to identify the problem, and suggest possible avenues of action for further consideration.

Dimensions of the Attack
No thoughtful person can question that the American economic system is under broad attack.1 This varies in scope, intensity, in the techniques employed, and in the level of visibility.

<snip>

more...

http://reclaimdemocracy.org/corporate_accountability/powell_memo_lewis.html

This is the discussion I saw on FSTV. The show was called SOURCECODE
http://sourcecode.freespeech.org/sc203DI

[texpatriot2004]

1. Interesting website I bookmarked it. n.t

[opihimoimoi]

2. They have created a paradigm shift toward the Negative aspect

of our Society...How to Rule for self interest....that was the first step toward a slippery slope.

Can it be reversed?

The effort needed has yet to be devised, implemented. Do we wait for the White Knight? Is there Time to train one? What to do, what to do?

[BrklynLiberal]

3. More info here.

http://www.prospect.org/web/printfriendly-view.ww?id=9606

http://www.mediatransparency.org/story.php?storyID=21

[BrklynLiberal]

4. This is the discussion I saw on FSTV.

The show was called SOURCECODE
http://sourcecode.freespeech.org/sc203DI