MoreTangled Web

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) was created in 1983 by the Reagan administration as a new instrument of Cold War U.S. foreign policy that aimed to roll back the Soviet Union and extend U.S. influence. It was to achieve this by promoting “free market democracies” allied with the United States, which would be driven by what Ronald Reagan called “the magic of the marketplace” and managed by political systems similar to that of the United States and where the dominant political parties were all U.S. aligned.

In an earlier post ( neocon hornets nest)I mentioned the IRC's Right Web site and the more I delve into it the scarier it gets. Some will remember allegations of US involvement in the short -lived coup of Venezuelan Pres.Hugo Chavez where this NED and it's conduit ,The International Republican Institute recieved prominent mention. Check out this impressive lineup of Straustifarians on their masthead, united in their fanatical hate for communism.From Defense, Rumsfeld, Rodman (both Freedom House fellows, an AFL-CIO outgrowth) and Carl Gershman,who along with Wolfowitz,Abrams and a few other neo's are also associated with the Social/DemocratsUSA.From State you got Dobriansky and then these assorted luminaries: Elliot Abrams, William Bennet, Frank Carlucci,Newt,Kristol,Rachelle Horowitz. (Israel has friends in high places) Linkages extend to the American Enterprise Inst.,Free Trade Union Inst.,Project for the New American Century (see post) This is one ,slight fringe of a matrix funded by Olin and Scaif, we're talking hordes from hell. Jean Kirkpatrick and a fellow named Penn Kemble were instrumental in funding the Contras in Nicaragua through NED. These same zealots fund the Discovery Institute, gaining notoriety for it's role in Kansas creationism battles, and is called "the love child of Ayn Rand and Jerry Falwell" by the Bullitt Foundations Denis Hayes. I like that. Along those lines, upon hearing that a school board election in Pensylvania ousted eight creationism supporters, Pat Robertson today said "If a natural disaster sweeps through that town, they better not look to God for any help." This is our new campaign motto, Vote God Out of Your Town!

Over at neo-neocon they are busy parsing the exact meaning of "lied" ,as in they can't believe people are falling for this left-wing generated and mass media supported "meme"( they're all over the new lingo) that Bush lied. It depends, of course on what the meaning of is is. They see no irony in this at all. Meanwhile ending a tax cut is a tax hike, the "death tax" will destroy family farms and reducing the eligible number of food stamp recipients isn't a cut ,it's slowing the rate of growth.