TheA PUBLICATION OF POLITICAL RESEARCH PublicEye ASSOCIATES FALL 2005 • Volume XIX, No.2 Thinking about Elephants To w a r d a Dialogue with George Lakoff

By William A. Gamson and Charlotte Ryan ince last November’s election, George SLakoff’s book, Don’t Think of an Elephant! 1, has deservedly captured the imagination of mainstream Democrats and of many progressives as well. He offers avid S. Holloway/Getty Images avid S. Holloway/Getty

D us the promise that we can achieve our polit- With 100,000 members, College Republicans are the fastest growing sector of the campus right. Here the ical vision if only we spent a little more time Cedarville University College Republicans Club in Ohio celebrates election night in 2004. “framing” our messages to appeal to main- stream America. For a large number of Americans, he Conservative argues, the Right creates a personal con- nection to policies such as tax cuts for the wealthy and the idea of small government Campus Organizing by communicating values — values like personal responsibility and the impor- Growing Pains or Arrested Development? tance of a strong “traditional” family rather than big government to solve most social By Pam Chamberlain increasing numbers of campus newspa- problems. few years ago,” the Washington Times pers with decidedly right-wing editorial But we shouldn’t get so excited about “A reported in a story last year, “Jeff policies, and lobbied for a Student Acad- Lakoff’s contribution that we overlook O’Holleran said he began to realize that he emic Bill of Rights on multiple campuses Thinking about Elephants continues on page 13 was different from the other boys he and in several state legislatures to bring knew…. Yesterday, he said, it was time to attention to what they saw as silenced con- come out of the closet. In the middle of a servative voices on campus (see flyer on pg. 7). IN THIS ISSUE They conducted campaigns accusing crowded university dining area, he took to Philanthropic Patriot Games . . . 2 the podium and announced, ‘I’m Jeff, and professors of liberal indoctrination and I’m a conservative.’ Coming Out as Con- discrimination. When they brought in Montana Human Rights servative Day had begun at the University big-name conservative speakers, the events Network ...... 3 were provocative enough to tempt some pie of Colorado.” Book Review ...... 17 To judge by the amount of media atten- throwers from the opposition. And in tion, the campus Right had a good year. Or 2003 administrators at Southern Methodist Reports in Review ...... 21 University shut down campus Republi- a good two years. Besides Coming Out as Eyes Right ...... 23 Conservative Days, students staged a Cap- cans’ affirmative action bake sale, a popu- Eye Lashes ...... 23 ture an Illegal Immigrant Day, published Conservative Campus Organizing continues on page 7

THE PUBLIC EYE1 FALL 2005 The Public Eye Guest Commentary ThePublicEye Publisher Philanthropic Patriot Games The Rev. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, How the U.S. Government M. Div., D. Min. Editor Targe ts Charities in its War on Terror Abby Scher, Ph.D Circulation By Teresa Odendahl Shelly Harter ecent front page stories in newspapers such as the Washington Post document the Design/layout RBush Administration’s use of misleading statistics in the war on terrorism, lack of Hird Graphic Design evidence for convictions, the difficulties of removing a name from a watch list once it Printing Causeway Graphics has been added, and a heavy-handed use of immigration law. Although it is covered far less in the mainstream press, nonprofit organizations are also a target of Bush’s new secu- Editorial Board (in formation) Chip Berlet rity regime. Shortly after 9/11, a Treasury official declared, “Our fight against the financ- Pam Chamberlain ing of terror has expanded to the abuse of charities.” Frederick Clarkson David Cunningham, Ph.D In an inconsistent but insidious manner, disorganized, uncoordinated U.S. government Roberto Lovato agencies with little real knowledge of the charitable sector have found it to be a vul- The Rev. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale nerable scapegoat. Rather than dissenting, major foundations are inappropriately act- Abby Scher Paul Watanabe, Ph.D ing as anti-terrorism enforcers, creating a funding chill in international grant making and perhaps even encouraging advocacy groups to be less open in their criticism of the PRAPRA Political Research Associates current administration. POLITICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES My interviews between January and May 2005 with officers of ten of the largest foun- Founder and President Emerita Jean V. Hardisty, Ph.D dations making international grants determined that a series of federal orders leads them to regularly check terrorist watch lists and require grantees to certify that they are not Staff The Rev. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, associating with or supporting terrorism. Grantees, particularly in the Global South, Interim Executive Director reported to me that they are being defunded, especially if they refuse to sign the certi- Chip Berlet, Senior Analyst Pam Chamberlain, Researcher fication agreement. But they will not go on the record for fear of further funding cuts or Shelly Harter, Data Manager Tom Louie, Director of Development and attracting unwanted attention. Communications What is creating this climate of fear? Executive Order 13224, signed by President Abby Scher, Senior Editor Bush on September 24, 2001 — right after the 9/11 attacks and a month before Con- Interns: Diana Dukhanova; Katharine Jalbert; gress passed the USA Patriot Act — broadly prohibits “transactions with persons who Jonathan Rochkind commit, threaten to commit, or support terrorism.” Board of Directors Michael Chapman The authority for this Executive Order comes from the International Emergency Heeten Kalan Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which dates back to 1977. Vivien Labaton Nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations are covered in the section that June Lorenzo Mohan Sikka reads: “The term ‘person’ means an individual or an entity… an association, corpora- Wendy Volkmann tion, organization, group or subgroup.” Paul Watanabe, Ph.D. In our dire political climate, could overly broad language of another section make The Public Eye is published by Political Research Associates. Subscriptions are $29.00 for individuals it illegal for advocacy groups to dissent or try to counter “patriotic” policies? That is and non-profit organizations, $10.00 for students and low-income individuals. Outside U.S., Canada, the section that reads: and Mexico, add $9.00 for surface delivery or “[T]he term ‘terrorism’ means an activity that… involves a violent act,” or “appears $14.00 for air mail. to be intended” among other things “to influence the policy of a government by intim- Please make checks payable to Political Research Associates, 1310 Broadway, Suite 201, idation or coercion.” Somerville, Massachusetts 02144-1731. The Executive Order introduced a blacklist of individuals and organizations suspected 617.666.5300 fax: 617.666.6622 PRA is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. All of terrorism, materially aiding terrorism, or associating with terrorists. IEEPA, and inter- donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted national law permit humanitarian assistance for these suspects, including food, cloth- by law. © Political Research Associates, 2005. ing and medicine. But this is outlawed under the 2001 Executive Order. Even children Website: www.publiceye.org All rights reserved. ISSN 0275-9322 Guest Commentary continues on page 18 ISSUE 49

THE PUBLIC EYE 2 FALL 2005 The Public Eye The Montana Human Rights Network Fighting the Far Right With Research By Abby Scher n April 2005, Kevin McGuire, an Iengineering student at the local state university, ran for the Bozeman, Mon. elementary school board. He was a new- comer in town, hailing from Santa Rosa, Calif., and part of the white flight flow- ing into the state. His parents had bought him a house. At one point, McGuire walked around with a swastika shaved into his head. The summer before, the town was in an uproar because someone was anony- mously spreading flyers from the National Alliance, a white supremacist, anti-Jewish group. The flyer featured a big photo of a child under the headline “Missing: A Future for White Chil- dren,” like children on milk cartons. rik Petersen, Bozeman Chronicle Bozeman rik Petersen,

“There will be no future for her in the E Third World America that our nation’s A small group of National Alliance supporters confront Martin Luther King, Jr. Day marchers in Bozeman, enemies are planning…” Mon., in January. Then in the run up to the Presiden- tial election, Bozeman residents received a National Alliance representative. At the Board approved a resolution proposed by National Alliance election guide denounc- same meeting, human rights activists pre- the Gallatin Valley Human Rights Task ing globalization, the loss of American sented a petition with almost 1000 names Force saying “All Are Welcome Here.” jobs to the third world, the shrinking white calling on the council to denounce the McGuire’s candidacy, which he based on population, and US-waged Zionist wars. discrimination against European Ameri- Like other fascist literature, the flyers mixed cans in the school curriculum, inspired widely held concerns with anti-Semitic double the usual turnout in the school dis- conspiracies: “George Bush … cynically People wondered who trict race. He was soundly trounced, win- used the tragedy of September 11th to ning 3.6% of the ballots in the April silence dissent and to launch the war for was tucking neo-Nazi election – 157 votes out of just over 4200 Israel his Zionist neocon handlers wanted.” cast. Thanks (at least in part) to the Gal- People wondered who was tucking neo- literature in their corner latin Human Rights Task Force. Nazi literature in their corner of Montana paradise. Bozeman is a cow town turned of Montana paradise. here are many strands to the story of university center, whose 30,000 residents Thow the Gallatin Human Rights Task include wealthy folks drawn by the beauty. Force marginalized McGuire’s white Everybody was talking. Some people supremacist program — while organizing started organizing. That summer, they flyers, which it did. A month later, more for gay and other civil rights — in their reinvigorated the Gallatin Human Rights than 1000 people marched in the bitter cold town. But let us focus in on one piece — Task Force. through the heart of Bozeman to cele- how research is a vital part of their organ- By December, their mystery was solved. brate Martin Luther King’s birthday and izing. Research helps lower the fear of res- At a City Council meeting that month, visibly show that white supremacy does not idents, informs activists for their interviews Kevin McGuire “came out” as the town’s belong there. And the Bozeman School with the media, disarms the arguments of

THE PUBLIC EYE3 FALL 2005 The Public Eye the far right, and keeps conspiracy theories white power music label. They also try to ased in the state capitol, the Network that interfere with organizing at bay. “mainstream” themselves by putting the Bhas affiliated human rights groups in Some local activists do their own overt racist or anti-Semitic language in towns across the state, and two staff organ- research, but in Bozeman’s case one of the the closet to present themselves as a benign izers who support their development, along leaders of the Gallatin Human Rights Task “European rights” organization — just as with someone assigned with representing Force was Stacey Haugland, a board mem- McGuire attempted to do by talking about their interests in the state legislature. “Our ber of the Montana Human Rights Net- “European Americans” in his school board research component differentiates us from work. So she knew the Network would other groups doing community organ- have the background on the National izing in the state,” McAdam explains. Alliance and could help place McGuire “So when something happens, we’ve in the political firmament. seen it before. So we are able to go into “The biggest support we got from Research brings in experience the community that is facing some sort them was huge amounts of research,” of crisis situation and we can say, ‘here said Haugland. Haugland, a nurse/mid- and tactics to help organize a is what is going on.’” wife, originally became involved with “The Montana Human Rights Net- the Human Rights Network when she community response. It provides work provides historical perspective was targeted by anti-abortion activists and organizing advice,” Haugland with “Wanted Dead or Alive” posters activists with the brute facts and agreed. “They say, well, in Billings, while serving as a very visible abortion this is what happened.” provider in Bozeman. “Travis context for understanding what In 1993, Billings made headlines [McAdam, the Network research for challenging anti-Semitism and white director] showed up and said: this is you are in the middle of. supremacy when the whole town stood their history.” up against the harassment of Jewish and The Montana Human Rights Net- native American residents (as seen in the work also informed the Bozeman group documentary Not In Our Town). On the of successful tactics used to fight white race. And they learned that literature drops advice of the Human Rights Network, the supremacists in other towns, like the need are the National Alliance’s calling card. Gallatin Human Rights Task Force brought to reach out to congregations and do inter- “It announces the National Alliance is in a leader from Billings, Margaret McDon- faith organizing, and not to compromise around and it really puts the people ald of the Montana Association of with racism. National Alliance doesn’t like on notice and Churches. With McDonald’s support and From McAdam, they learned the puts a degree of fear in them,” McAdam advice, the interfaith organizing in Boze- National Alliance —which by the summer explained. man has created rich relationships and of 2005 fell into disarray from leadership Just receiving that information on lit- strong, visible statements of solidarity squabbles — had a history of violence. That erature drops ratcheted down the fear in the among Mormons, Sikhs, Jews, Protes- is part of their attraction. And in McAdams’ area. tants, and Catholics. The tolerance can two visits to Bozeman, they learned the “People said, ‘oh I’m so glad whole extend to gays and lesbians. A woman National Alliance is distinctive among neighborhoods received them,’” McAdam student marveled that at a recent Holocaust white supremacist groups because it has a recalled. “‘I thought I was being targeted.’ memorial hosted by the Mormon congre- source of income in Resistance Records, a — either because they are liberal, or Jew- gation, her Mormon professor asked to ish, or a son or daughter is married meet her girlfriend. to a person of color…” Another piece of organizing advice Groups researching the Right in The Montana Human Rights given by Ken Toole, the codirector of the support of organizing: Network also shared the experi- Montana Human Rights Network, was: People for the American Way,www.pfaw.org ences of dozens of other struggles Give no quarter. Other encounters with the throughout Montana — a magnet Center for New Community,Chicago,www.newcomm.org far right show that you must confront for far right groups — and the each individual even if they seem isolated, Montana Human Rights Network,Helena,www.mhrn.org northwest, relying on research by Toole said. Otherwise your Montana town Political Research Associates,Boston,www.publiceye.org colleagues at Southern Poverty will seem attractive to other group mem- Law Center in Atlanta, and Polit- bers who will then flow in from out-of-state; Southern Poverty Law Center,Atlanta,www.splc.org ical Research Associates in Boston you don’t want one to become many. And Texas Freedom Network,Austin,www.tfn.org [see box]. bargaining with them does not work — as Toole said, how do you bargain over white

THE PUBLIC EYE 4 FALL 2005 The Public Eye supremacy? You need to create a sense in the community that this is outside social Fighting Hate in the Flathead bonds and bounds. The story of how a homegrown militia, a local hate radio personality named John Stokes, and anti-envi- Research brings in experience and tac- ronmental sentiments created a volatile threat to progressive activists and town officials in the northern Montana area called the Flathead is told in “The Fire Next Time: A Not in Our Town Special” broadcast tics to help organize a community response. in July on PBS’s POV. It provides activists with the brute facts and Created by Patrice O’Neill, executive producer of The Working Group based in Oakland, Calif., it is a fol- context for understanding what you are in low up to her 1995 documentary, “Not in Our Town.” This first documentary showed how residents of the middle of. Those able to deploy that Billings challenged local white supremacists, and has been used in local organizing and town discussions ever since. In creating both, O’Neill drew upon Montana Human Rights Network research, and she con- research are better able to win media atten- tinues to read its newsletter to keep track of the far Right in the state. tion from reporters seeking “both sides” of “The thing that they had done so effectively is that they had been monitoring John Stokes’ radio show for the story. And research itself can become a number of years. They were able to look at repeated patterns, to get a gauge on what is going on there, part of the organizing strategy, as people and quote accurately,” O’Neill said. contribute to the knowledge of what is hap- John Stokes is a former real estate developer from Washington state who bought a Flathead radio station pening in their town and gain a small and broadcast the location of local environmentalists with the invitation to go after them. As locals called sense of control in the process. But it has the Montana Human Rights Network about the problem, its staff put them in touch with each other and helped them form a group to challenge the threatening atmosphere that had public officials and environ- no impact on its own unless residents cre- mental advocates frightened for their lives. That group included Kate Hunt, a local sculptor who worked ate new relationships with people they’ve with Network researcher Travis McAdam in monitoring John Stokes’ hate radio broadcasts and continues never spoken with before to create a posi- to send him tapes. tive view of the town. “Travis McAdam did a wonderful job and cataloged [Stokes’ broadcasts] really well,” O’Neill said. “You often don’t have it recorded: People say, ‘Oh, I heard so and so on the radio.’ Well what exactly did they say As Tarso Luis Ramos, former research and when?” director of the Western States Center in Throughout O’Neill’s documentary you hear Stokes’ radio threats that were catalogued by the Montana Portland, Ore., once remarked, research Human Rights Network. isn’t a “silver bullet.” It will not discredit the opposition on its own and make them shrivel up and go away. dio. they inoculate against left-wing conspiracy McAdam’s published research on the theories. esearch is also more effective when threats in the Flathead, created with the One social context is the broader field Rlocal activists are part of the research help of people like Hunt, helped win of electoral politics: how far right ideas team. media attention to the problem by pro- against planning and for inviolate prop- McAdam, as research director of the viding credible expert testimony. But the erty rights (ideas that cast environmen- Montana Human Rights Network, does a police only got heavily involved once they talists as fascists trying to take away lot of the “opposition research” on the right were threatened directly themselves. The people’s rights), move “from margin to that local activists use to counter its influ- documentary Fire Next Time, broadcast in mainstream” as Toole puts it. A Human ence. A native of Great Falls, Mon., he July on public television’s POV, docu- Rights Network study from 2000 charts tracks far right groups in his state and their ments this dynamic, and relied on Mon- the rise of the Constitution Party in Mon- members, partly through their public state- tana Human Rights Network research tana with exactly those politics, bringing ments in newspapers and websites, partly [see box]. together what McAdam calls “the wack- by attending their events, but also with the McAdam’s next report will be on iest of the Christian Right with the anti- help of activists in small towns around the McGuire, tracking more of the white government politics of the militia state who call in with information. supremacist’s background, the names of the movement.” In 2004, a local candidate Seeing McAdam in action is seeing a other members of his Bozeman group — from the Constitution Party secured 40% community enterprise. For instance, since once again with the help of the locals. “I of the vote for a seat in the statehouse rep- 2000, he has tracked threats and attacks get a lot of calls, tips — ‘I saw this guy hand- resenting the Flathead area. from the far right on environmentalists in ing out National Alliance literature. I got Last spring, McAdam prepared a back- the Flathead area in the north of the state a license plate.’ I sort fact from fiction.” grounder for a state legislative committee in an attempt to stimulate attention from With the other Human Rights Net- on the “Sheriff’s First” bill that would the media and law enforcement. Kate work staff, he builds an analysis of what is have designated sheriffs as the only legiti- Hunt, a sculptor whose activist role in the going on, so that they provide a context and mate law in a county — requiring the fed- Flathead seems to be local researcher, con- not just “the facts” for those who need it. eral government to secure their permission tinues to call McAdam regularly and send By telling a larger story that stitches together before operating within its borders. His him recordings of a local hate radio jock an understanding of how far right groups research traced the bill’s roots in the far who she monitors while working in her stu- have an impact despite their tiny numbers, right’s idea of “posse comitatus” and local

THE PUBLIC EYE5 FALL 2005 The Public Eye sovereignty. expands to promoting civil rights for gays their rivals. These research techniques “We have a very comprehensive concept and lesbians. In wrestling with the evade the deep context that those truly of the right, all the way from the Repub- quandary of how to build a broader pro- engaged with challenging the far right feel lican Party to the kooky far right. And so gressive base, he and his allies turned to is so necessary to understand if they are to we track how those kooky ideas come into research for help. But in this context, it is communicate beyond the shallow truisms the mainstream,” says McAdam. “That not just research on a particular far right of progressives. And polls often miss the differentiates us from those who see these group or tactics in fighting it, but on the subcultures governing a small state like groups as dangerous because they’ll occa- strongly felt sentiments of voters and Montana, where a gun toting hunter of a sionally blow something up.” potential voters in the state. Democratic candidate like Brian Schweitzer What is striking when talking to local “The reason research is so important is was just elected governor. activists in Montana is that they are “On the progressive side, I don’t think desperate for information about the indi- we have pollsters who can get at the deep- vidual who has come into their town (who est issues,” said Haegele. “We’re really is Kevin McGuire?) or a particular group focused on the appearance level.” (who is the National Alliance?). It is per- Without good research, He says what is actually needed is to sonal to them. You can see the attraction understand the deeply motivating feelings of providing one of Ramos’ “silver bullets,” progressives are tempted of people that he calls “public sentiment,” perhaps one of those old-style spider web feelings which go beyond the issues captured charts that suggest guilt by association. The to fight “the battle you in “public opinion” polls, around cultural Human Rights Network provides that issues, the role of government, etc. detail, but doesn’t stop there and offers didn’t choose,” or Without good research, progressives activists an analysis of why and when the are tempted to fight “the battle you didn’t far right’s views are potent. whatever pops up in choose,” or whatever pops up in front of them. Or you assume low-income voters New Research Directions front of them. are with you — without looking at current t a June leadership retreat sponsored information. “If you don’t know where you Aby the Montana Human Rights are, you aren’t going to spend your resources Network on the outskirts of Yellowstone wisely about where you want to go.” Park, the staff posed the role of research in how are we going to build power if we don’t Still some in the room wanted to under- a totally different context — building polit- know where we are starting from,” said stand the bolt and tackle of the right. ical power in the state. Greg Haegele, Deputy Conservation Direc- “We don’t spend the time to study the This proactive stance is totally in keep- tor with the Sierra Club in San Francisco, other side to know why they are effective,” ing with the Network’s program. A few who ran the retreat’s research discussion. said Jason Miller, a leader with the state car- years ago, it expanded from opposing the He is no stranger to the issue in Montana, penters’ union. “Locally what moves them? far right in the state to more deeply chal- having generated data while running polit- How do they run their campaigns? Where lenging the ills that make that form of pol- ical campaigns in the state and while serv- does all the money come from and how itics attractive to residents who are ing as director of a policy institute formed does it get dispersed?” economically disenfranchised. To promote by the Human Rights Network. Another job for Travis McAdam of the broader access to health care or widespread Without research that illuminates the Montana Human Rights Network. ■ landscape, campaigners would be working planning to preserve the environment Sources: Bozeman Daily Chronicle, January 12, 2005; against far right anti-planning sentiment, blind, or with old information derived Jay Taber, “Research as Organizing Tool,” Toole and his codirector Christine Kauf- from past experience. Montana is deeply http://skookumgeoduck.blogspot.com/2005/06/research-as- organizing-tool.html. man both ran for the state legislature — and polarized, and confusing. It has slightly won. Their leadership retreat brought more registered Republicans than Democ- Abby Scher is editor of The Public Eye and together legislators and advocates for train- rats, yet elected a Democratic governor and a sociologist. A recipient of the Ford Foun- ing and strategizing. Democratic senators, while backing Bush dation’s Leadership for a Changing World “The Nazis [like Kevin McGuire] give in 2004. award, she got to know the codirectors of the us the opportunity to have a whole lot of Yet the form of research Haegele is talk- Montana Human Rights Network through people in the room,” explained Toole. ing about is not the standard “opinion” the program. “But you got groups that are a mile wide polling done by parties in an election year and an inch deep.” Coalitions have been or the parties’ nasty style of “opposition known to dissolve once the agenda research” where they try to dig up dirt on

THE PUBLIC EYE 6 FALL 2005 The Public Eye CONSERVATIVE ORGANIZING continued from page 1 lar tactic where conservative students illus- Swimming Upstream while making more noise. trate the ills of disparate treatment by dis- tudent organizing is limited by a highly Although the number of entering col- counting prices for white women and Stransient population with fewer ties to lege students who identify as on the Right people of color, while burdening white campus life and less free time than in the is slowly growing, conservative student men with paying full price. . past. Given the academic and financial activists historically were a distinct minor- Conservative student activists have pressures on today’s college students, any ity on campus, and remain so. In 2003, developed a reputation of being fiercely political activity probably should be con- 24% of first-year students identified as committed, well-trained, and fearless. They conservative or very conservative, compared have shed their “button-down” image, with 31% identifying as progressive. (see once associated with the anti-Commu- graph on pg. 11).1 nist Young Americans for Freedom in the A list of alumni Progressives not only have a slightly 1960s, and emerged as an energetic, largely larger pool to work with, they are also secular co-ed force with a message and a members of campus- more successful at recruiting. According to megaphone. The mainstream press regu- PRA’s sampling of U.S. colleges in our larly describes college conservatives as supportive programs study of campus activism, Deliberate growing in visibility and sophistication. Differences, progressive political groups But how influential have they been? reads like a Who’s Who outnumber conservative ones on cam- Very, if the test is the depth of ties they’ve puses by a ratio of 4:1.2 There is, after all, built with the broader conservative estab- of current Right a gap between holding an opinion and lishment and their grooming for future encouraging others to agree with you. In leadership. A dismal failure if you consider strategists and fact, when we conducted over 100 inter- the freeze on real campus debate and the views on eight campuses, we found only a few new campus recruits they’ve attracted spokespeople. small core of conservative activists, usually to their cause. But that might change if they no more than a handful, working at any one learn to reach the evangelical Christian school. students who have thus far remained While the number of conservative stu- lukewarm to the largely neoconservative sidered an achievement. Both progressive dents who act upon their beliefs — the campus activists. and conservative students complain of the activists — remains very low on campus, difficulties of organizing on campus. But this may be attractive in itself. Running the conservative students work with far fewer campus conservative paper or the lone numbers than their progressive counterparts conservative group on campus can offer some students a structure in which it’s acceptable to feel different. But a self-defined sense of being an out- Is Your Professor Using the Classroom as a Platform for Political cast is too individualistic to create a Agendas? This Is a Violation of Your Academic Rights. particular culture that attracts large numbers of recruits. Their success According to the American Association Of University Professors, the use of classrooms for political indoctrination is a vio- lation of academic freedom. lies not in numbers but in their deep

The 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure declared: "Teachers are entitled to freedom in the class- relationship with the supportive room in discussing their subject, but they should be careful not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter which organizations on the Right. has no relation to their subject." (This clause was reaffirmed in 1970.)

If you are not taking a course whose subject is the war in Iraq, your professor should not be making statements about the A Targeted “Minority” war in class. Or about George Bush, if the class is not on contemporary American presidents, presidential administrations or some similar subject. onservative students manage to champion a range of issues, We do not expect our doctors to impose their political opinions on us when we go to them for treatment. We should like- C wise not be assaulted by the political prejudices of professors when we pay them for an education. from opposing abortion and same sex marriage, to supporting the Bush If your professor is abusing his or her teaching privilege or is confused about the professional obligations of an educator please contact us. administration’s foreign policy posi-

Students for Academic Freedom tions on Israel or the war in Iraq. No Contact information: (800) 752-6562 other consistent, national campaign

WWW.STUDENTSFORACADEMICFREEDOM.ORG by conservative students is as perva- sive, however, as the attack on their In this ad, Students for Academic Freedom encourages students to report professors with “political prejudices.” own schools.

THE PUBLIC EYE7 FALL 2005 The Public Eye

The Clash of Ideas Conservative Adults and Higher Education Organizing he higher education agenda of various Some social conservatives ultimately seek to return higher education to an idealized time when a col- Tconservatives in the larger Right is lege education was reserved for only the very best, and a single canon of texts could knit together the much more complex than angry student shared cultural assumptions of society’s leaders and policymakers. That this ideal was primarily for speech about liberal bias on campus. At its white men is seldom discussed. roots, it has to do with traditionalist con- For instance, the conservative National Association of Scholars was founded in 1985 to critique servatives’ claim that progressive reforms of multiculturalism and affirmative action. Today it lists among its hopes:to “recall higher education to the past few decades are a fundamental its classic function of grounding students in the rich heritage of their civilization” and to “encourage threat to higher education that changed who intellectual balance and realism in campus debate on contemporary issues.”19 The American Council goes to college and what students learn once of Trustees and Alumni, co-founded by Lynne Cheney and her more moderate counterpart Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT), prefaced its provocative critique of post 9/11 liberal faculty quotations with, they get there. “ACTA has launched the Defense of Civilization Fund…to support and defend the study of American Their glib claim that liberals have taken history and civics and of Western civilization.”20 Allan Bloom, author of the 1987, but still-influential, over higher education is connected to real- The Closing of the American Mind, lamented, “[T]he university as we know it, in its content and its ity by a slender strand of truth. Affirmative aim, is the product of the Enlightenment….This project has lost its unity and its focus.”21 action and curricular reform have taken ACTA works with college and university trustees to ensure responsible management of hold because of progressive organizing on higher education resources, end grade inflation, establish a solid core curriculum, and restore campuses. For instance, women’s studies intellectual diversity on campus.22 programs launched in the 1970s and 80s to fill gaps in the college curricula have While small, these groups recognize their strategies must be long-term, and they are slowly claiming influence among higher education policymakers. The new president of the University of Colorado, grown to a network of nearly 400 campus- Hank Brown, for instance, is a cofounder of ACTA, assuming leadership of a university still reeling based programs. Colleges’ support for mul- from a controversy over one of its professors, Ward Churchill, who became a cause celebre for his ticulturalism similarly created the potential radical political analysis in the aftermath of 9/11. for profound changes in how students view and study people of color. Power dynamics among social move- The campus Right is well known for its contend daily with emotionally driven ments change all the time, so it was only a ability to deliver a consistent message ‘testaments,’ shrill libel and hateful words matter of time before a backlash developed, across campuses: Student conservatives in the name of ‘progress’ or ‘peace.’...What led by conservative strategists and ideo- are an abused minority because of their makes us better citizens and leaders is logues who saw these achievements as unpopular political ideas and the domi- diversity of thought — not melanin levels. threats to a key institution they felt they nance of liberal thinking. Crafting such a If we had more professors who disagreed once controlled. Evidence of this backlash message and sticking to it is a key lesson of with the tyrannical majority, more of us can be seen in adult conservatives’ decade- adult organizations supportive of the cam- would hear both sides.”3 long attack on affirmative action and pus Right. All the conservative students we inter- repeated attempts to cut federal funding for Typical comments from conservative viewed for our study earnestly described financial aid (see box on left). students reflect this sentiment. “I’ve made their experience in this way. Sometimes they Not all adult conservatives’ views find conservative statements in class and been added that they felt like outcasts, because secure homes among student groups on hissed,” reported a Northwestern student. progressive activists outnumber them at campuses. But when neoconservative stu- A student at Washington and Lee Univer- their schools. Rich Lowry, editor of the dents win media attention for their claims sity explained, “I was sick of being ridiculed National Review, explains, “If you’re a con- that they are not safe to express their ideas by my teachers for being a Republican.” servative, usually you kind of like going on campus, or when they organize against They demand that colleges change to against the crowd a little bit. That’s sort of a particular liberal idea like affirmative make the campus safe for conservative stu- the appeal of it.”4 The message works so well action, they make it easier for these other dents and faculty and to make room for a that it has actually become a frame for con- conservative criticisms of higher education “diversity of thought.” The manner in servative students’ reality — “conserva- to win attention. which they deliver this message is pretty tive student as beleaguered underdog.” Cutting federal support for financial aid; consistent across campuses, heavily depend- The frame succeeds in two other ways. It attacking multiculturalism and area stud- ing on sarcasm, personal attack, and activ- identifies the speakers as the conservative ies in the academic and mainstream media; ities geared to attracting publicity. For voice on campus, and the publicity it draws a call for the return to a traditional, Euro- instance, two college seniors wrote in an op- is part of a long-range strategy on the centric curriculum; and a lament on the ed in the conservative paper MassNews, “To larger Right to increase public criticism general decline of the meaning of a college be openly conservative at Wellesley is to about the current state of higher education. degree — all are examples of a larger, off-

THE PUBLIC EYE 8 FALL 2005 The Public Eye campus neoconservative agenda to take back higher education. Conservative Groups Supporting Campus Activists One segment of the campus Right grows American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), Washington, D.C. without much support from outside organ- www.goacta.org Established by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute in 1994 and first directed by Lynne Cheney, ACTA has izations. Conservative Libertarian thought members from over 400 colleges and universities. According to its website, ACTA’s quarterly publication, has a small but loyal following on campus, Inside Academe, has over 12,000 readers, including over 3,500 college and university trustees. fueled in part by a youthful resistance to College Republican National Committee, Washington, D.C. social regulation and the attraction of Ayn www.crnc.org Rand’s books, and reinforced by the sup- The College Republican National Committee (CRNC) is a college campus political organization that “provides training in conservative thought, political technology, and grassroots lobbying.” In recent years, port for free market capitalism in many uni- CRNC claims it has tripled in size due to outreach programs like the Field Program, Women’s Outreach, versity economics departments. Its Minority Outreach and Jewish Outreach. (website) strengths are a clearly defined social and Collegiate Network, Wilmington, DE economic ideology and a third party elec- www.collegiatenetwork.org toral infrastructure. Established in 1979, the Collegiate Network provides funding to conservative students and campus Once only visible at elite schools like the publications and provides technical assistance to student journalists. University of Chicago, libertarian student The Fund for American Studies, Washington, D.C. groups have begun to crop up at a variety www.tfas.org Established in 1967, the Fund for American Studies runs four summer institutes on conservative economics of schools, including public universities like and political theory at Georgetown University and a semester-long program there as well. Appalachian State in North Carolina. Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Inc., Wilmington, DE, www.isi.org Grooming the Next Generation Founded in 1953, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute is dedicated to promoting conservative thought of Leaders on campus. A mainstay of the traditional Right, the Institute publishes CAMPUS: America’s Student Newspaper, CAMPUS.org, Intercollegiate Review; ISI Update, Political Science Review; and Modern Age and ygh Bailes, on the other hand, is a maintains a publishing house. The Institute opposes multiculturalism and all forms of liberalism. It also Tposter child of how off-campus organ- houses the Collegiate Network of conservative student newspapers. izations can help students use campuses as Leadership Institute, Arlington, VA a training ground for a career in conserva- www.leadershipinstitute.org tive politics. While a student at Hampden- The Leadership Institute is a major conservative training ground for right-wing youth. The Institute includes an employment placement service and intern program that places institute attendees in prominent Sydney College, “Tygh used techniques right-wing organizations. Founded in 1979 by Morton C. Blackwell to “identify, recruit, train, and place he learned at The Leadership Institute’s conservatives,” the Institute has trained over 40,000 students. Youth Leadership School to become Stu- Students for Academic Freedom, Washington, D.C. dent Government President.”5 www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org Many observers have admired the well- Founded by David Horowitz, Students for Academic Freedom (SAF) is an information center for “promot- ing intellectual diversity” on campus and “defending free speech” for conservative students. It actively developed network of national organiza- engages students in promoting Horowitz’s Academic Bill of Rights. As of August 2005, SAF reports that tions like the Leadership Institute that it has 135 campus affiliates, organized primarily on the Web. support the Right on campus.6 In provid- Young America’s Foundation, Herndon, VA ing organizational support, off-campus www.yaf.org networks, and communications strategies The Young America’s Foundation provides conferences, seminars, educational materials, internships and speakers to high school and college students. The Foundation was established by friends and former leaders to help conservative students create a cam- of Young Americans for Freedom, but is no longer affiliated with them. It coordinates the National Conser- pus presence, their goal is more leadership vative Student Conference and the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The Foundation development than movement building. also manages the Reagan Ranch in California and runs the National Journalism Center program. As one website clearly proclaims, “The Leadership Institute’s mission as to iden- America’s Foundation, Intercollegiate Stud- ican Way, these five organizations together tify, recruit, train and place conservatives ies Institute, the Center for the Study of spend over $30 million a year to support in politics, government, and the media.”7 Popular Culture, and the Fund for Amer- conservative college student programs.8 While not monolithic, together these ican Studies offer generous resources to Meanwhile, there is no equivalent funding groups train and sustain a conservative campus-based activists who readily receive or infrastructure on the Left. student voice on campus, teaching students them (see box). These groups are well The dozen or so campus-supportive not only how to campaign for student funded by prominent foundations on the organizations mostly offer training off government but also to amplify their mes- Right, including three of the largest: the campus. A critical mass of students travel sage to attract the largest audience. Bradley, Sarah Scaife, and Olin founda- to retreats, conferences, and internships, Along with the Leadership Institute, tions. According to Young People For, a where they discover and define a group national organizations like the Young branch of the liberal People for the Amer- identity by learning and living together. If

THE PUBLIC EYE9 FALL 2005 The Public Eye the identity of many conservative students summer school courses on conservative F. Buckley, Jr., the father of conservative on campus is akin to an oppressed minor- political and economic theory for 35 years, campus activism and author of God and ity, the collective character of participants reflecting its commitment to the long- Man at Yale. at these events is one of joy and relief at hav- term strategic value in serious academic The organizations that came together in ing found eager, ambitious, and focused fel- study of conservative ideology. support of campus publications do not nec- low students ready for action. The One might think the effect of the essarily share the same perspective on all opportunity to identify with a conservative approach of organizations like the Fund for issues, including “strong government”- student culture certainly exists, but students American Studies is diminished by their style neoconservatives like Kristol, with often have to travel off-campus to find it. outsider status and the small number of stu- traditional “small state” conservatives like One student testified: dents they reach. But their influence is aug- Buckley. They are, however, willing to I have faced so many obstacles, at mented by other conservative institutions share responsibility for supporting campus times I have felt like abandoning my fight inside higher education, including publications as a key element of conserva- for a balanced campus....However,...after endowed chairs, policy centers and grad- tive strategy. attending the National Student Con- uate fellowships funded by the same set of When conservative students take advan- servative Conference last August,... [I conservative foundations.10 tage of the resources available from such understood] that I was not alone in my campus-supportive organizations, they struggle, [Back at school] I strongly can accumulate the generic personal assets voiced my commitment towards con- Conservative pundits of leadership development and political servatism. On one of the most liberal skills building. Beyond that, however, campuses in America, I received the amplify the voice of the choosing to associate with these organiza- highest number of votes in all of the races tions is a good career move — it enhances run and easily secured my [student gov- contemporary campus their résumés and allows access to the nec- ernment] seat.9 essary networking that helps secure a job Some of the national organizations offer Right beyond its in an official political world dominated by an impressive collection of incentives for relatively small size. conservatives. They can feel close to power, joining the team. These include free or sub- a heady attraction for careerists and non- sidized trips to conferences, academic careerists alike. credit coupled with opportunities for fel- A list of conservative alumni of campus- lowships and internships, chances to study Some networks have been in place in for supportive programs reads like a Who’s conservative economic and political theory decades. For instance, the organizational Who of current Right strategists and with well-respected scholars, access to con- founders of three conservative student- spokespeople. Karl Rove, the White House servative decision-makers in Washington, supporting groups are among the lumi- Chief of Staff, Sen. Rick Santorum, (R-PA), and the opportunity to jumpstart a career naries of the neoconservative movement. Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax on the Right. William Simon and Irving Kristol of The Relief, and Ralph Reed, the former direc- It does not matter if they reach only a Institute for Educational Affairs (IEA) tor of the Christian Coalition and current few. The elite of the campus-supportive decided to fund conservative campus Georgia political candidate, have all been conservative organizations are identifying papers in 1979. Simon was Secretary of the associated with the College Republicans or young conservatives and grooming them Treasury under Nixon, and Kristol has their National Committee. Edwin Feulner, for leadership, while others, like Young been a publisher of several important con- President of the Heritage Foundation, and America’s Foundation or Students for Aca- servative journals and is a fellow at the neo- Richard Allen, Senior Fellow at the Hoover demic Freedom, provide basic training for conservative think tank, the American Institution, were involved with the Inter- future foot soldiers in the larger conserva- Enterprise Institute. IEA merged with the collegiate Studies Institute as students. tive movement. Madison Center, founded by William Ann Coulter and Dinesh D’Souza, Organizations like the Fund for Amer- Bennett, Secretary of Education under prominent members of conservative cam- ican Studies, which runs conservative sum- Ronald Reagan, and Allan Bloom, the pus speakers bureaus, each started a con- mer courses at Georgetown University, or University of Chicago intellectual who servative campus publication with the the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, which decried the liberal drift of higher education. assistance of the Collegiate Network. Along maintains a publication list of nearly 200 Eventually the Collegiate Network—as with other prominent conservative pundits, conservative titles directed at college stu- this campus newspaper grants program they provide a key role in the larger media dents, are committed to bringing conser- came to be called—moved to the Inter- by amplifying the voice of the contempo- vative political theory to students. The collegiate Studies Institute, which had rary campus Right beyond its relatively Fund for American Studies has offered been founded 43 years before by William small size.

THE PUBLIC EYE 10 FALL 2005 The Public Eye

Tygh Bailes now runs the Grassroots reported they Programs at Morton Blackwell’s Leadership avoid getting Figure 1. Political Views Over Time Institute. As Tygh’s staff bio on the Insti- involved with 80 tute’s website says, “At The Leadership student poli- 70 Institute, Tygh has helped train thousands tics.15 In effect, of conservative activists to become more this aggressive 60 Middle of the Road effective. In addition to speaking for The conservative 50

cent 40 Leadership Institute, Tygh is also a sought campaign has r Pe Far Left /Liberal after speaker for groups such as GOPAC silenced both 30 11 20 and The Center For Reclaiming America.” faculty and stu- Far Right/Conservative dents who fear 10 The Campaign for “Academic being attacked 0 Freedom” by critics on and 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 here is no denying that conservative off campus. Source: “The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 2004,” The Higher Education Tactivists are creative in message deliv- Students Research Institute, UCLA, p. 1. ery, consistent in focus across the country, from all political and skilled in taking advantage of the polit- backgrounds reported that they experi- 100,000 members and is its own “soft ical moment. All these aspects of conser- ence very little debate on campus about money PAC.” Rather than wielding the vative student organizing are important political ideas. It’s not that students avoid influence of a powerful united student strategies developed with the help of the expressing their opinions, but there is lim- voice, however, the CRNC’s purpose is “to conservative institutes.12 ited interaction and even less dialogue make known and promote the principles The major conservative messages are with those who disagree.16 Granted that dis- of the Republican Party…[and] to aid in that access to conservative political thought cussion across difference of opinion is not the election of Republican candidates at all is not available on campus; that the big ideas comfortable for many people for a variety levels of government,” as their chapter on the Right are squelched when brought of reasons, but this apparent lack of engaged manual spells out.17 into classrooms by conservative students; conversation among students may be a Strategists appear to have only a few and that there are very few faculty who symptom of something else. One hint of choices. They could continue to work with teach conservative ideologies. The com- what that might be is the aggressively com- the relatively small numbers of current bined force of students and some off-cam- bative stance of many conservative spokes- conservative activists, helping them refine pus strategists call for the return of people on campus. and amplify their messages for attention far “academic freedom” to U.S. colleges. The beyond what their actual organizational size outcome of their actions, however, is just What’s Next? might warrant. They could build on a cer- the opposite of their stated goals. or many conservative students and their tain level of success, and leverage power Ironically, instead of fostering open dia- Fadult supporters, the system skillfully from off-campus, by expanding alliances logue and debate, the conservatives’ version prepares the next generation of conserva- with national organizations like the Repub- of the campaign for academic freedom tive leaders, using the campus as a rehearsal lican Party. They could encourage and has actually diminished, and in some cases space. The common frame of conservative support more groups that spontaneously silenced, political discussion. A professor student as underdog resonates with many, develop around specific issues. The danger from Metropolitan State College of Den- and appeals to an apolitical sense of fairness of this is that some groups may not com- ver reported resorting to taping her own on the playing field. It falls short, however, pletely agree with their benefactors. Because lectures as a kind of protection against of an adequate set of principles that will tip Libertarianism has some popularity on being attacked.13 Another faculty member, the scales of public opinion and win students campus, it has been identified as a poten- this time from Monmouth College in major victories, at least on campus. tial break-away group by young neocon- Illinois, took her children out of school for The most telling void in conservative servative leaders.18 a few days after challenging a visiting campus power is the lack of a mass base of A final choice is to expand the base, conservative and being harassed for it.14 student support. Currently, there is just not drawing from the large pool of non-polit- Students we interviewed with views across enough of a critical mass of mobilized and ically active conservatives or even cen- the political spectrum said they could not organized conservative students to call trists. This is where conservative Christian rely on faculty for political mentoring. itself a movement, and what exists is just organizations come into play. Almost all the professors we spoke with, not growing fast enough. The one excep- It is too early to tell how much politi- both conservative and progressive, includ- tion is the College Republican National cal force the Christian Right will have on ing those who teach political thought, Committee (CRNC) which claims secular campuses. But Christian evangel-

THE PUBLIC EYE11 FALL 2005 The Public Eye ical campus groups are currently the largest be little incentive for students to do much End Notes growing category of campus organiza- more than run affirmative action bake sales 1 Linda Sax et al., The American Freshman: National Norms for 2004 Summary (Los Angeles: Higher Education tions. Yet not all evangelicals are conser- and groom themselves for future leadership Research Institute, UCLA, 2005) 1. Available at: vative. And organizations like Campus with the help of adult allies. http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/findings.html. Crusade for Christ and InterVarsity Chris- While small numbers of conservative 2 Pam Chamberlain, Deliberate Differences: Progressive and Conservative Campus Activism in the United States, tian Fellowship have declined to join in students play out a seemingly limited role (Somerville, Mass: Political Research Associates, 2004), 2. with the largely secular network of campus- on campus, we need to pay more attention 3 http://www.massnews.com/2003_Editions/3_March/ supportive conservative groups. to the larger contest. These students 030403_mn_wellesley_lacks_diversity.shtml, July 11, 2005. But as Christian evangelical ministry enhance a “low intensity” form of attack on 4 Christopher Hayes, “Birth of a Pundit,” In These Times, groups gain popularity on campus, their higher education curriculum and culture March 4, 2005, [p?] members can become targets for political from the Right. Whether we like it or not, 5 http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/08-CONTAC- organizing by both the Left and the Right. TUS/staffdirectory-bios-bailes.htm, July 21, 2005. 6 See for instance, John Colapinto, “Armies of the Right: Progressive groups have already made The Young Hipublicans,” The New York Times Magazine, some inroads in educating religious stu- May 25, 2003, 30-59; Joshua Holland, “Why Conser- dents through service learning programs, This aggressive conservative vatives are Winning the Campus Wars,” http://gad- flyer.com/articles/print.php?ArticleID=187, June 24, sometimes conducted by college chap- 2005. lains that attract mostly apolitical stu- campaign has silenced both 7 http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/01ABOUTUS/abou- dents attracted to service projects involving tus.htm, June 28, 2005. The Leadership Institute claims to have trained 40,000 students social action, personal reflection, and aca- faculty and students who fear 8 Young People For Foundation, “Conservative Youth demic credit. –Focused Organizations,” training materials, 2004 and On the Right, the Colorado-based being attacked by critics. the 990 IRS form for the Fund for American Studies accessed at http://www.guidestar.org/pqShowGsRe- evangelical powerhouse Focus on the Fam- port.do?npoId=275986, June 24, 2005. ily offers internships and educational pro- 9 http://www.yaf.org/conferences/college/conference.asp, grams to students through its college U.S. campuses are politicized. These multi- June 28, 2005. 10 People for the American Way, “Right Wing Watch—Buy- student ministry. By reaching out to Cam- leveled attacks have begun to erode the ing a Movement,” http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/gen- pus Crusade and InterVarsity Christian Fel- work of progressive educators and policy- eral/default.aspx?oid=2057, June 22, 2005. lowship, the organization could generate makers and threaten the very academic free- 11 http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/08-CONTAC- mass mobilization much as the Christian dom the Right insists it defends. Progressive TUS/staffdirectory-bios-bailes.htm, July 21, 2005. 12 As recently reported in The New Yorker, a few conserva- Coalition engineered the transformation student activism cannot protect universi- tive Christian colleges, like Claremont-McKenna or of apolitical evangelicals into politicized ties on its own. Patrick Henry, encourage students to sharpen their debating skills. Patrick Henry’s President Michael Far- Christian conservatives in the 1980s. The natural defenders of a university sys- ris says students “need these verbal-communication Opposing same-sex marriage through tem are its leaders and its supporters. Uni- skills to defend their ideas. There’s no training like argu- ing against the best minds and then beating them.” Han- state constitutional amendments may be versity presidents, established faculty, nah Rosin, “God and Country,” New Yorker, June 27, a new area for campus work if strategists can trustees, fundraisers, and the media that 2005, 47. peel away enough of a base among an age cover higher education issues are beginning 13 For instance, see the case of Oneida Mercanto in Jen- nifer Jacobson, “A Liberal Professor Fights the Label,” cohort more tolerant on social issues than to recognize their collective power as Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 26, 2004; Nikhil their elders. Student groups may compro- defenders of quality, accessible higher edu- Aziz, “Campus Insecurity: The Right’s Attack on Fac- mise in this area in order to attract new cation. Groups as distinct as the American ulty, Programs and Departments at U.S. Universities,” The Public Eye, Spring 2004. socially conservative constituencies to Association of University Professors, Amer- 14 Personal communication. conservative activism. ican Philosophical Association, and the 15 Deliberate Differences, 22-24. National Women’s Studies Association are 16 Ibid., 28-32. Conclusion examples of national groups already voic- 17 http://crnc.org/resources/ChapterManual.pdf, 53, July ven though it has maintained a campus ing their opposition to the Academic Bill 13, 2005. of Rights. Piecemeal attempts at appeasing 18 David Kirkpatrick, “Young Right Tries to Define Post- Epresence for decades, the conservative Buckley Future,” New York Times, July 17, 2004, A1, A17. student “movement” is still in its adolescent conservative challenges may interrupt, but 19 http://www.nas.org/nas.html#PURPOSE, June 24, development. It is old enough to appreci- will not ultimately stop, the conservative 2005. ate mentors, accept support, and run many move to claim the campus as its own. ■ 20 Jerry Martin and Anne Neal, “Defending Civilization: How Our Universities are Failing America and What Can of its own campaigns, but not mature Pam Chamberlain is a researcher at Politi- Be Done About It,” (Washington, D.C., ACTA, February enough to understand its organizational 2002 edition) 2. cal Research Associates, publisher of The 21 deficiencies or recognize its potential power. Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind, New Public Eye. Thanks to Jean Hardisty, Tom York, 1987, 256,262. As long as the larger Right maintains its Hayden, Josh Holland and Iara Peng for their 22 http://www.goacta.org/about_acta/mission.html, June power base in electoral politics, there will help with this article. 24, 2005.

THE PUBLIC EYE 12 FALL 2005 The Public Eye THINKING ABOUT ELEPHANTS continues from page 1 some deafening silences or, to switch metaphors in midstream, some glaring blind spots in his way of framing Ameri- can politics. Lakoff is a cognitive psychologist but he weaves together insights shared by the soci- ologists, political scientists, and commu- nications specialists who have been analyzing “framing contests” for the past 30 years. On the following points, he speaks for a broad interdisciplinary consensus: Facts never speak for themselves. They take on their meaning by being embedded in frames, themes which organize thoughts, rendering some facts as relevant and sig- nificant and others as irrelevant and triv- ial. Framing matters and the contest is lost at the outset if one allows one’s adversaries rinted with kind permission of the artist to define the terms of the debate. To be self- P conscious about framing strategy is not being manipulative. It gives coherent mean- ing to what is happening in the world. One But suppose one frames the world as a to enter into the worldview of one’s adver- can either do it unconsciously, or with dangerous place in which the forces of evil saries. Lakoff does not demonize conser- deliberation and conscious thought. — a hydra-headed monster labeled “ter- vatives but makes a successful effort to A frame is a thought organizer. Like a rorism” — confront the forces of good. enter into their way of thinking. In doing picture frame, it puts a rim around some This frame depicts Saddam Hussein and so, he illustrates a useful rule of thumb: To part of the world, highlighting certain al-Qaeda as two heads of the same mon- reframe a message effectively, you should events and facts as important and render- ster. In this frame, whether or not there were be able to describe a frame that you disagree ing others invisible. Like a building frame, actual meetings by agents or other forms with so that its advocates would say, “Yes, it holds things together but is covered by of communication between them is nit this is what I believe.” insulation and walls. It provides coherence picking and irrelevant. to an array of symbols, images, and argu- People carry around multiple frames The Problem with Strict ments, linking them through an underly- in their heads. We don’t simply have one Fathers and Nurturant Parents ing organizing idea that suggests what is way of framing an issue or an event. Lakoff s critics have pointed out, part of essential — what consequences and values emphasizes two meta-frames2 or cultural ALakoff’s appeal is the promise of a are at stake. We do not see the frame themes operating in the United States, silver bullet through which liberals and directly, but infer its presence by its char- embodied in two competing family progressives can rebuild their majority sup- acteristic expressions and language. metaphors: the Strict Father vs. the Nur- port if only they will follow the formula. The idea helps us understand why turant Parent. He sees these meta-frames Progressive values such as fairness, inclu- changing our political situation does not as underlying, respectively, conservative and siveness, empathy, and community have rest on just the media presenting the facts liberal thought more generally. But Lakoff broad cultural appeal, Lakoff reminds us. better or people paying better attention. is wise enough to recognize that we don’t Reframing political debate to focus on Some progressives threw up their hands in carry around just one of these in our heads those values, then, is the roadmap to regain- dismay and frustration when polls showed but both of them. One may be much more ing power. that most Bush voters believed that there easily triggered and habitually used but the Well, yes and no. The family metaphor was a connection between al-Qaeda and other is also part of our cultural heritage and seems to work better as a metaframe for Saddam Hussein. The “facts” were clear that can be triggered and used as well, given the conservative thinkers than it does for pro- no connection had been found. If these vot- appropriate cues. gressives. But even here, there are fissures ers didn’t know this it was because either In a framing contest, such as between between conservatives who find it resonant the media had failed in its responsibility to liberals supporting gay civil unions and con- and those who fear Big Brother rather inform them, or they were too lazy and inat- servatives opposing gay marriage, a suc- than embracing Strict Father when think- tentive to take it in. cessful framing strategy involves the ability ing about the role of government. Some lib-

THE PUBLIC EYE13 FALL 2005 The Public Eye ertarian conservatives make common cause directs our attention to the message but he the Christian Right has, at times, effec- with liberals who don’t like the government shifts attention away from the groups, tively traversed. telling them what they can read or buy. It political parties, governments, and other car- To succeed, challengers need to integrate isn’t very clear how the Strict Father model riers of those messages, and the complicated, their framing strategies with broader move- articulates with a free market meta-frame uneven playing field on which they com- ment-building strategies. This means build- that underlies conservative support for the pete. Social movements and the advocacy ing and sustaining the carriers of these privatization of Social Security, for exam- groups they spawn successfully challenge frames in various ways — for example, by ple. Strict fathers don’t have invisible hands. official or dominant frames frequently. helping groups figure out how to gain Furthermore, the nurturant parent They compete on a playing field in which access where blocked, and how to embodied in the New Deal — America’s inequalities in power and resources play a strengthen their ability to collaborate bet- soft version of the European style welfare major role in determining whether they suc- ter with groups sharing similar goals. Fram- state dating to the 1930s that brought us ceed. Nevertheless, some movements were ing contests are about a lot more than Social Security and federal labor staying on message. regulation — resonates differently There is an irony here because between those who call themselves Lakoff, to his credit, has been liberals versus those who call them- spending a lot of his time over the selves progressives. The nurturant Christian Right organizations did past several years talking to many parent metaphor doesn’t really have of the “carriers,” convincing the a lot of resonance for people who see a lot of movement-building work to political groups of the importance themselves on a quest for social jus- of framing. The danger here is tice. Nor is mutuality — a progres- further the success of their preferred that the focus on message, divorced sive goal or value — quite the same from movement-building, reduces as nurturance. Locking arms and frame but often remained behind the framing strategy to a matter of singing “We shall overcome” is pitching metaphors for electoral about self-help and interdepend- scenes. On the abortion issue, for campaigns and policy debates, or ence, about brotherhood and sis- perhaps contracting with think terhood, not parents. example, they rarely speak to the media tanks like the Lakoff’s own Rock- Family metaphors are not the ridge Institute to find the right hot most likely frames for most people directly but support broader coalitions buttons. to use on foreign policy issues. By focusing entirely on the con- Lakoff has little to say about another such as the National Right to Life tent of the message, while ignor- resonant meta-frame: The world is ing the frame carriers and the a dangerous place. Much has been Committee as spokespersons for playing field, Lakoff falls into the written about the cultural roots of pitfalls of the social marketing such a frame in supporting the Cold their movement’s frame. model.3 Without a strategy to War and the nuclear arms race. One build a base or constituency, and can substitute “terrorism” for “com- without democratic media reform, munism” and the same underlying framing can become simply a more frame remains serviceable. The superhero dramatically successful against long odds in sophisticated, but still ungrounded, vari- who rescues the innocents from unpro- reframing the terms of political debate and ation on the belief that you just need to voked attacks by evil forces in children’s car- it behooves those engaged in reframing communicate the right ideas – i.e. “the toons isn’t exactly a strict father or nurturant efforts to analyze their experience. truth will set you free.” To counter the parent but a benevolent outsider who pro- In failing to embed framing guides in assumption that the frame will set us free, tects the whole family from outside threats. this broader movement-building con- framing strategies must not just address the What to do about Osama and Saddam is text, Lakoff asks us to ignore not only the content of the message or the style of debate not really about tough-love versus co- elephant in the room but also the moles, but attend to base building and challenge the counseling. ferrets, chipmunks, occasional black pan- contours of the non-level playing field in thers, raging bulls and wild boars, and the which the contest is carried on. What Lakoff Obscures more domesticated donkeys and carrier The one intermediary that Lakoff rec- ike any frame, Lakoff’s framing of con- pigeons. There is a whole menagerie out ognizes is the think-tank that helps its Ltemporary American politics highlights there that Lakoff is not thinking about. political allies to shape their message some things and obscures others. Lakoff And it is this multi-faceted complexity that through its clever marketing skills. He

THE PUBLIC EYE 14 FALL 2005 The Public Eye

Nor does Lakoff acknowledge the rise of a media reform move- ment, whose participants engage in a variety of media critique, alternative and oppositional media, and media reform efforts. While we strongly agree with Lakoff that progressive framing efforts have lacked adequate resources, hundreds of organiza- tions operating at the national, regional, and local levels have included reframing in their efforts to build progressive movements.5 The central lessons to be learned from Lakoff’s omission is that building an effective framing strategy is not merely about more effective marketing expressed through catchy symbols that tap an emotional hot button and trig- ger the desired response. The problem isn’t that it doesn’t work rinted with kind permission of the artist P — in the short run, it may — but that its singular focus on finesse in rightly appreciates the skill of conservative People-driven framing individual framing undermines the goal of social marketers ensconced in their well- akoff’s narrowness leads him to such increasing citizens’ sense that they can col- funded think tanks like the Heritage Foun- Lastounding claims as the one he makes lectively change things. By treating poten- dation or American Enterprise Institute. in his introduction to Don’t Think of an Ele- tial participants as individuals whose But he has nothing to say about the rise of phant! : “There is only one progressive citizenship involves voting and perhaps a relevant social movement, the Christian think tank engaged in a major reframing conveying their personal opinion to key Right, in the late 1970s. The Christian exercise:the Rockridge Institute.” Perhaps decision-makers, citizens as collective actors Right’s infrastructure supported conser- it is tunnel vision stemming from Lakoff’s are moved off of the screen. vative frames in ways that went far beyond roots in cognitive psychology that blinds In contrast, a participatory approach to finding better ways of marketing their him to the civil rights movement’s “major promoting progressive frames looks at the message. Political scientist Duane Old- reframing” of Black American experience, failings of mass media with an eye on sup- field describes how evangelicals built move- the feminist movement’s “major reframing” porting a group’s strength in building long- ment-oriented broadcast media and active of women’s experience, as well as the major term, on-going relationships with local congregations to grow in political sig- reframing of gay, lesbian, and transgendered journalists. Building these working rela- nificance.4 By the late 1980s, the influence experience, the reframing of labor (social tionships are themselves opportunities for of the movement was directed through the unionism), and the major reframing of framing contests that, when successful, Republican Party. nuclear power. further the prominence of one’s preferred Christian Right organizations did a lot The list of successful reframing efforts frame in the competitive media field. of movement-building work to further would be incomplete without mention of An essential guide for progressives must the success of their preferred frame but the Black feminist movement, that address these issues as well as how framing often remained behind the scenes. On the reframed the feminist reframing, and the strategies can draw out the latent sense of abortion issue, for example, they rarely environmental justice movement that agency that people already carry around speak to the media directly but support reframed environmental organizing. In with them. In sum, a participatory com- broader coalitions such as the National other words, not only are broad-based munication model involves developing an Right to Life Committee as spokespersons social movements critical to reframing ongoing capability of people to act collec- for their movement’s frame. efforts, but such movements ensure that tively in framing contests. One doesn’t reframing remains an active process of transform people who feel individually engagement with shifting political realities.

THE PUBLIC EYE15 FALL 2005 The Public Eye powerless into a group with a sense of col- their trunks and running them back up the This essay is the product of a collabora- lective efficacy by pushing hot buttons. hill. After the children were taken care of, tive process involving the MRAP (Move- Indeed, one doesn’t transform people at all. the elephants started helping the adults. ment/Media Research and Action Project) People transform themselves through According to the account, they rescued 42 seminar including Matt Williams, Jeff movement building — the work of reflec- people. They wouldn’t let their handlers Langstraat, Vered Malka, Michelle Gawerc, tion, critique, dialog, relation building mount them until the job was done. Johanna Pabst, and Jesse Kirdahy-Scalia. and infrastructure building that synergis- To make the metaphor fit our message, tically constitute a “major reframing effort.” let’s add a detail that didn’t actually happen. End Notes Let’s imagine that in carrying out their res- 1 George Lakoff, Don’t Think of an Elephant! Know Your Conclusion Values and Frame the Debate (White River Junction, cue mission, the elephants confronted a Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2004). raming matters but it is not the only group of government soldiers assembled to 2 They are meta-frames because we often want to talk Fthing that matters. There is a danger of enforce a law against elephants acting as a about the framing of issues and specific events as well. Lakoff aims his discussion at more general world views “quick fix” politics — the sexy frame as the pack. And imagine further that these nine that cut across multiple issues. new hot button. Just as conservatives elephants just ran right by the soldiers, 3 Charlotte Ryan contrasts the social marketing, media advo- worked slowly and patiently for three brushing them aside to complete their cacy, and participatory communication models in “Putting decades, progressives need to start small and mission. Now there are some elephants to the Public in Public Health,” forthcoming. think about. ■ 4 Duane M. Oldfield The Right and the Righteous. (Lanham, build big, to win back our base of support. Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1996). Framing work is critical to this process, but 5 William A. Gamson is a Professor of Soci- Our own modest network at MRAP (Movement/Media framing work itself must be framed in the Research and Action Project) has included at one time or context of movement building. ology at Boston College, where is codirects the another: the Grassroots Policy Project, the Advocacy Media Research and Action Project (MRAP) Institute, Frameworks Inc, Institute for Policy Studies, Integrating framing and other forms of Political Research Associates, Poverty Race Research movement building is necessary if the with Charlotte Ryan. He is the author of Action Council (PRRAC), Community Media Workshop, the Progressive Communicators Network, United for a frame carriers are going to be able to com- many books and articles on political discourse and social movements, including Talking Fair Economy, Massachusetts Labor Extension Program, pete successfully against the carriers of Northeast Action, Health Care for All, and many others official frames with lots of resources and Politics and is a past president of the Amer- including researchers based in academic institutions. ican Sociological Association. Charlotte We have run framing workshops for over 400 organiza- organization behind them. This involves tions, one of which, the Rhode Island Coalition against an explicit recognition of power inequal- Ryan is the author of Prime Time Activism: Domestic Violence [] is publishing Media Strategies for Grass Roots Orga- with us, a complete manual on participatory communi- ities and how to challenge them and a cation including framing processes. Also see Charlotte recognition of citizens as potential collec- nizing and an associate research professor in Ryan (1991) Prime Time Activism: Media Strategy for Orga- nizers. Boston: South End Press. tive actors, not just individual ones. Think sociology at Boston College. tanks that want to help progressives are an important component of creating a supportive infrastructure but they will fail if they adopt a social marketing model that ignores the nature of the play- ing field and focuses only on the message. There is a story circulating on the Internet, attributed to Jim France of the Pavilion Hotel Group in Bangkok. Elephant rides were one of the main attractions at a resort hotel in Phuket. About twenty minutes before the first wave of the tsunami hit, the nine ele- phants became extremely agitated and unruly. They broke out of their con- finement, climbed a nearby hill, and started bellowing. Many people fol- lowed them up the hill before the waves hit. After the waves had subsided, the elephants went down the hill as a group

and started picking up children with rinted with kind permission of the artist P

THE PUBLIC EYE 16 FALL 2005 The Public Eye Book Review WITH GOD ON THEIR SIDE tocol on Global Warming and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty How Christian Fundamentalists Tram- on Nuclear Arms. He—there is absolutely no possibility of He pled Science, Policy and Democracy in being She—like the Bush administration, sees the United George W. Bush’s White House Nations as one step short of Satanic internationalism, aka One Esther Kaplan The New Press, 2004, 322 pages, World Government. After all, just look at the UN Convention $24.95 hardcover. on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against

Reviewed by Eleanor J. Bader Women. The thought of ratification, Kaplan writes, sends the The story of George W. Bush’s reli- Bush team into apoplectic panic. To hear them tell it, the Con- gious awakening has become a contem- vention would require the United States “to hand over our right porary legend: a tale of a hard-drinker to decide our own laws on such issues as family law, parental rights, turned pious Christian. Whether it’s true or not, Bush’s alleged religious exercise, education, abortion regulation, employment conversion is trucked out repeatedly, presumably because many pay scales, quotas in educational institutions, workplaces and Americans are comforted by the notion of a God-fearing exec- elected offices, and forbid us from recognizing that men and utive who, like them, once wallowed in sin. women are fundamentally different.” But like most legends, scrutiny reveals flaws in both the nar- Indeed, Bush’s posturing often reeks of anti-feminist back- rative and its denouement. In fact, Esther Kaplan’s With God lash and is an overt reaction to the blurring of gender roles that on Their Side exposes the turpitude and racism that undergirds women’s and GLBT movements have trumpeted since Stonewall. the Bush administration, from justifying war by lambasting Islam But as horrifying as the administration’s rhetoric is, it is their poli- as “a religion of violence” to endangering teenagers by denying cies that pack the biggest punch. Take AIDS. Twenty-plus years funding for school-based sex education programs that mention into the pandemic, we know that reducing the risk of infection contraception or abortion. It’s a terrifying read, rife with exam- by practicing safer sex and using clean needles cuts transmission. ples. What’s more, Kaplan’s documentation connects the dots, Sadly, this is not a message fundamentalists wish to promote. demonstrating how Christian fundamentalism has intruded into Instead, an all-out war on condoms, hinged on the fact that pro- virtually every aspect of U.S. life. phylactics don’t stop the Human Papilloma Virus, has been Let’s start with GWB himself. launched. Money for programs that While previous presidents have con- promulgate abstinence as the only sistently affirmed their belief in God, With God on Their Side presents solution to STDs, including AIDS, Bush goes one step further and pur- has been free-flowing. Worse, AIDS ports to have a direct line to the a deeply unsettling look at the organizations critical of this stance Almighty. Kaplan reports that when have been punished. Fifteen groups, the president met with then-Pales- power Christian conservatives have all previous recipients of federal tinian Prime Minister Mahmoud funding, were called to task and Abbas in 2003, he told him that acquired. In championing a biblical subjected to months of intensive “God told me to strike at al-Qaeda audits. Those reined in include the and I struck them, and then he worldview, their politics supercedes Gay Men’s Health Crisis, The instructed me to strike at Saddam, National Association of People with which I did, and now I am deter- democratic pluralism. AIDS, and The Stop AIDS Pro- mined to solve the problem in the ject. Middle East.” God also weighed in Similarly, Christian fundamen- when Bush was pondering his first talists have swooped into public run for the White House. “God wants me to do it,” he announced schools with curricula penned by religious rightists to teach absti- to televangelist James Robison. Months later, in the aftermath nence to America’s youth. Again, federal money—hundreds of of 9/11, he told Time magazine that God had chosen him to lead millions of dollars—has been made available for a host of proj- the world’s war on terror. ects. Kaplan quotes John Marble, of National Stonewall Democ- Not only does Team Bush believe itself to have Divine rats, about his research into Teen Mania and other anti-sex efforts. approval, it believes its agenda represents God’s will. That’s right: “The abstinence-only message is deeply linked with Evangeli- God is anti-abortion, anti-gay, and scornful of the Kyoto Pro- cal Christianity. You’re really hoping everyone will come to Christ

THE PUBLIC EYE17 FALL 2005 The Public Eye

and wait till marriage for sex. If you’re struggling with homo- conservatives—Is it that power loves power? Or is wealth an overt sexual thoughts, you need to convert to Christianity and that display of God’s beneficence?—the relationships Kaplan chron- will cure you.” icles offer chilling proof of far-reaching partnerships. And then there is abortion, an ever-present religious-right In addition, I wish Kaplan had explained why a political fac- obsession. Bush’s reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy, or tion so concerned with fetuses and childbirth is so blasé about Global Gag Rule, prohibits U.S. financed international family global warming and environmental degradation. Will God planning groups from performing abortions or counseling somehow protect the lungs of Christian children? Or will women about their options, even with funds raised separately. Christ’s return eviscerate such mundane concerns? The funda- Hypocrisy rears its head here, Kaplan writes, because reducing mentalist Right’s lackadaisical response to pollution is hard to family planning has caused a groundswell of abortions and an fathom, unless End Times prophesies depict the only future worth increase in female death from illegal procedures. “A Population considering. Action International report,” Kaplan continues, “cites clinic Despite these lingering questions, With God on Their Side closures in country after country. In Kenya, five family planning presents a deeply unsettling look at the power Christian con- clinics were shuttered after having their USAID funding cut off servatives have acquired. Bush’s boosters —The American for refusing to comply with the policy; one facility was the only Family Association, Concerned Women for America, The center serving some 300,000 people in a vast, poor neighbor- Christian Coalition, Focus on the Family, and The Southern hood of Nairobi.” Baptist Convention, among them—are champions of a bibli- Sound absurd? Doubters need only remember that this is the cal worldview that supercedes democratic pluralism. Kaplan pres- Lord’s volition, conveyed directly to GWB. ents these folks as forces to reckon with. If she is right, and I am Other Divine orchestrations ally conservative evangelical sure she is, we ignore them at our political and social peril. power brokers with corporate leaders and judicial appointees who Eleanor J. Bader is a teacher, writer and activist. She writes for Z, eschew church/state separation. While the book never fully The Brooklyn Rail, Lilith, Library Journal, and Habitat Magazine, explains the alliance between industrial big-wigs and religious and is the coauthor of Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terrorism.

GUEST COMMENTARY continued from page 2 of suspected terrorists are not entitled to In November 2002, with Executive Here’s an example. The Treasury guide- assistance under 13224. Order 13224 and the Patriot Act as the pre- lines specifically advise international fun- Watch lists and the names on them are sumed legal basis, new government over- ders to gather information on potential proliferating since Bush enacted the Exec- sight of charities came in the form of the grantee groups, their employees, subcon- utive Order. 13224 actually included the Treasury Department’s “Anti-Terrorist tracting organizations, and vendors, as first “list” of only 27 names. When I Financing Guidelines: Voluntary Best Prac- well as to check the blacklists. In several ref- checked in June, that one list had grown tices for US-Based Charities.” These con- erences, the guidelines suggest that: “The to some 202 pages (more than doubling fusing guidelines affect foundation funding charity should run the names through since the fall of 2004). Additionally, there (especially abroad), international charita- public databases…” They presume that is some question as to the political moti- ble organizations, Muslim-American charitable organizations are primarily laun- vations behind new entries on the lists, groups, and potentially any nonprofit dering money, and demonstrate little with foreign governments such as Colum- undertaking. My research confirms that it understanding of charitable intent, mission bia, Indonesia and Mexico allegedly is now commonplace for foundations to or grant making practices. lobbying the Bush Administration to “voluntarily” require grantees to certify A similar approach is central to Oper- add opposition groups and insurgents that they are not supporting terrorists, ation Green Quest, an effort involving from their countries. and to check board members and employ- many federal agencies to follow the money List checking by foundations, non- ees against multiple terrorist lists. trail between American organizations and profit organizations, or other groups is not This is even as funders and interna- terrorists abroad. In a brochure designed required by the Executive Order. But, tional relief groups call the guidelines unre- to encourage banks and other financial by attaching the lists to the order, the alistic, impractical, costly, and potentially institutions to report suspicious activity, the government implies the need for such a dangerous. The guidelines put the onus of government urges them to watch out for review. So does the threat that the govern- ferreting out terrorists and terrorist activ- charity or relief organizations that could be ment will prosecute them under anti-ter- ities on grant makers and nonprofit groups, channeling funds to terrorists and notes that rorism laws for providing “material aid.” rather than the U.S. government. transfers between bank accounts of related

THE PUBLIC EYE 18 FALL 2005 The Public Eye rinted with kind permission of the artist P entities or charities could be signs of trou- The nation’s Islamic foundations and eral said things similar to this officer: ble. Many nonprofit organizations that public charities are under particular sus- “Everyone agrees that the voluntary Guide- have nothing to do with terrorists make picion. The government froze the assets of lines are impossible to deal with… It would such bank transfers as a regular part of doing several, such as The Holy Land Foundation, be difficult to make any grants if we fol- their work, and they should not have to Global Relief, the Benevolent Interna- lowed [them].” Yet, the threat of liability, worry that they will be investigated for tional Foundation, and the Islamic African the penalty of frozen assets, and the advice doing so. Relief Agency, and placed them and their of attorneys lead most corporate funders, Added pressure comes from the USA principals on terrorist watch lists. Accord- major foundations, international relief Patriot Act and the secret and wide-rang- ing to the 9/11 Commission, however, organizations, and large nonprofits to pay ing power it gave the government to spy on the government has not proven that these them serious attention, in part because any person or entity, including nonprofit groups are guilty of any terrorism-related there is no “safe harbor.” organizations. The government can now crimes and there have been no convic- While the largest foundations claim seize property and freeze assets without first tions to date. Ironically, the Treasury guide- that they have not changed their priorities producing any evidence of wrongdoing. lines were released in response to and processes for giving as a result of new Making matters worse, the government can Arab-American and Muslim-American security rules, they almost all check the label evidence collected in these raids as organizations that had asked the Treasury watch lists on a regular basis. According to confidential for national security reasons, Department for a roadmap on how to my research, some do it daily, while oth- which puts organizations in the untenable avoid legal penalties. ers do it weekly or monthly on every cur- position of having to defend themselves In the course of interviews with ten of rent and potential grantee. Just a month against claims to which they are not privy. the largest international foundations, sev- ago, however, the Justice Department’s

THE PUBLIC EYE19 FALL 2005 The Public Eye

Inspector General confirmed that the is doing what it claims to be against: harm- country’s main terrorist watch list con- ing charities and the people they serve tains incomplete and inaccurate informa- while doing little to stem terrorism. The left tion. And foundations are confused by It is now commonplace hand of the government doesn’t seem to the multiplicity of black lists – not just the know what the right hand is doing, creat- State Department’s and the Treasury’s, but for foundations to ing a mess for funders, while also achiev- the European Union’s and those of indi- ing the aims of conservatives who want to vidual countries. “voluntarily” require tame the NGO sector. (see Jean Hardisty In “voluntarily” requiring that the organ- and Elizabeth Furdon, “Policing Civil izations they fund sign a document ”cer- grantees to certify that Society: NGO Watch,” Public Eye, Spring tifying” that they will not “knowingly 2004). permit any portion of the grant to go to ter- they are not terrorists, and The civil rights and liberties of charities rorism or violence,” many employ lan- — especially those of Islamic relief organ- guage that has been all but codified. to check board members izations — are infringed upon by a policy Even while crafting these requirements, that is both ineffective and aimed at the compliance officers at foundations scoff at and employees against wrong enemy. Charities, foundations, the practice. “What does certification do? international relief organizations, and non- Wouldn’t a terrorist just sign the letter?” multiple terrorist lists. governmental groups are not a major source There is a widespread sense that these of funding for terrorism. Rather, their work administrative formalities are unlikely to holds out the hope of positive social change yield effective results. Program officers view Yet while inconvenient for them, the in the world. ■ certification language as “useless and practice has led to the defunding of groups, embarrassing,” damaging trust in their particularly in the Global South, which Terry Odendahl, executive director of the work with the very groups that could make have refused to sign. Other grantees tacitly Institute for Collaborative Change in Santa a difference in improving the conditions agree with the funders to ignore the inane Fe, NM, conducted this research while the that lead to terrorism. Ironically, some and untenable by complying. 2004-2005 Waldemar A. Nielsen Visiting also fear it “doesn’t really protect you from No one is arguing that terrorism is not Chair in Philanthropy at the Georgetown being designated as having provided a real and dangerous threat. But, by enforc- Public Policy Institute’s Center for Public and material aid.” ing elaborate, draconian rules, Washington Nonprofit Leadership.

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THE PUBLIC EYE 20 FALL 2005 The Public Eye ……Reports in Review…… REPORT OF THE MONTH Surveillance-Industrial Complex “suspicious activity” and report anyone who “does not seem to “The Surveillance-Industrial Complex: How the American belong,” even more aggressive programs are being proposed to Government is Conscripting Businesses and Individuals in the recruit everyone from mail carriers to utility employees—who have Construction of a Surveillance Society,” access to private residences—to act as de facto spies informing on by Jay Stanley, American Civil Liberties Union, August 2004. any unusual sightings inside private homes. At the same time that watch programs cultivate an atmosphere This summer, seven new state/federal “fusion centers” that aim of distrust and racial profiling among individuals and commu- to stream together and process “intelligence” generated by every- nities, the government is recruiting companies to provide it with one from postal carriers and perhaps private data-mining busi- personal information on customers. It buys this information — nesses to FBI agents made headlines in a few places like collected by companies through routine purchases, supermarket Massachusetts and California [see Carol Rose and Chip Berlet, loyalty cards, car rentals, banking, identification verification, rou- “Romney’s Spy Center,“ Boston Globe, June 14, 2005]. So it seems tine background checks, and other transactions—and creates reg- fitting to go back to the American Civil Liberties Union’s August ulatory standards to make data easily accessible or simply requires 2004 report on “The Surveillance-Industrial Complex” to under- or “encourages” its surrender. One of the biggest data companies, stand the broader apparatus through which the government cre- Choicepoint, says it sells data to 35 different government agen- ated the data flowing into these high-tech spying centers. cies including the FBI. The report explains that private compa- The report documents the pro-surveillance lobby of compa- nies are not restricted by the Privacy Act or subject to the Freedom nies pitching high-tech spying technology to a government of Information Act. obsessed with stopping crime before it starts. It also highlights how The notorious Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act allows the the government recruits both individuals and companies to col- FBI to demand information about individuals involuntarily lect data and report suspicious behavior through watch programs, from libraries, bookstores, and internet service providers without open-market data purchases, etc., as well as how it is collecting, court oversight, while another section allow agents to use National saving, and using the data. For instance, it reports on wholly new Security Letters to secure information on individuals from finan- volunteer programs created post-9/11: cial and other institutions which was once allowed only to • Police on the East Coast are embracing CAT Eyes — or research those with ties to suspicious governments. Even Las Vegas Community Anti-Terrorism Training Institute — to hotels were deemed interesting, receiving National Security Let- train neighborhood watches. ters from the FBI in December 2003. •The Department of Homeland Security is funding While some companies are forced to release their data with secret Highway Watch to encourage truck drivers to report orders, others are actually lobbying the government to purchase suspicions to a central control center. Citizen preparedness and install the use of surveillance technology which they devel- campaigns are widespread, and, in New York, encourage oped. Moreover, the information collected from all these sources residents to call a statewide tip line. can be fused to create detailed profiles on the private lives of bil- • The FBI’s InfraGard built a network of 10,000 businesses lions of citizens. Together the innovations create an atmosphere (exactly which businesses is a secret) that may or may not of eroding checks on government and corporations, unchal- be a network of tipsters. lenged by courts that have not caught up to the Brave New World While citizens are cryptically alerted to watch and report threatening people’s liberties.

Other Reports in Review Who are the Domestic Terrorists? head with this simple report compiling the cry from the deaths sought by the white Terror From the Right: Almost 60 60 terrorist plots in the United States devised supremacists, the report notes. Terrorist Plots Uncovered in the U.S. by white supremacists and the Far Right Among the more recent plots listed: by Andrew Bleiwas, Anthony Griggs and Mark since the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. • David Wayne Hull, imperial wizard of Potok, Southern Poverty Law Center Intelli- Although the Congressional Quarterly the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan gence Report, July 2005. secured a draft listing from Homeland Secu- and an adherent of the anti-Semitic rity that marks animal rights and Earth Christian Identity theology, was charged The Southern Poverty Law Center grace- Firsters as the nation’s gravest domestic ter- in February 2003 with buying hand fully turns Homeland Security logic on its ror threat, their property destruction is a far grenades with the aim of blowing up

THE PUBLIC EYE21 FALL 2005 The Public Eye

abortion clinics. The FBI says Hull also of both the Old and New Testaments. will distribute $180 million in grants for illegally taught followers how to build The Task Force lobbies the government to abstinence-only AIDS prevention programs pipe bombs. He was convicted of draw upon its themes in celebration of each in 2005, with several evangelical organizations weapons violations and sentenced to 12 year’s National Day of Prayer. In 2005, 26 eligible for the funding. years in federal prison. state governments — issued proclamations The report takes on the larger, more philo- • Antigovernment extremist and tax adopting the NDP Task Force’s theme, “God sophical task of analyzing the challenges to resister David Roland Hinkson of Idaho Shed His Grace on Thee.” The scale of its suc- the separation of Church and State posed by was charged with trying twice to hire cess in wooing state legislatures demonstrates these grantees. But its difficulty in disentan- someone to murder a federal judge, a the increasing popularity of this organization gling Right Wing from less advocacy oriented prosecutor, and an IRS agent involved in and its increasing involvement in the politi- evangelical activity diminishes the useful- a tax case against him. Hinkson had cal sphere. Overall, the report argues that the ness of its analysis. refused to pay almost $1 million in taxes NDP Task Force’s political motivations skew For instance, while Campus Crusade for earned from his Water Oz dietary sup- the original purpose of the National Day of Christ — which obtained $17,271,852 in plement company. He was convicted in Prayer, which was to unite all faiths, rather grant money — champions the role of the 2004 on tax charges and in 2005 for the than to be sectarian, exclusive, and religiously male as protector, it does not promote polit- assassination plot as well. and politically divisive. ical campaigns on the issue. • In April 2004, neo-Nazi skinhead Sean Gillespie videotaped himself as he fire- Conservative Philanthropy, Perpetual Report bombed Temple B’nai Israel, an Okla- Ta ke 2 Bush’s Other War: The Assault on Women’s homa City synagogue, for a film aimed Funding the Culture Wars: Philanthropy, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights at inspiring other racists to violently Church, and State International Women’s Health Coalition, June pursue their cause. He was found guilty By John Russell, National Committee for 2005. www.bushsotherwar.org of the attack and faces a minimum 35- Responsive Philanthropy, February 2005. The Coalition regularly updates an exten- year sentence without parole. NCRP’s 2004 report, The Axis of Ideology: sive online report that provides one-stop Conservative Foundations and Public Policy, shopping from various sources on President Hijacked Day of Prayer made waves by documenting how 79 con- George W. Bush’s domestic and international National Day of Prayer Task Force: servative foundations helped mainstream campaign against women’s reproductive Turning a Day of Faith into a Rally for the “radical” policy ideas, like huge tax cuts for rights, access to health care and abortion, and Christian Right the wealthy and privatizing Social Security, sex education: www.bushsotherwar.org. For Texas Freedom Network Education Fund, 2005. with large grants supporting the general example: This report documents how the National operations of conservative organizations. It • In March 2004, at a regional planning Day of Prayer Task Force has turned this also found that conservative Christian organ- meeting of the Economic Commission observance, established by Congress in 1952, izations won 10% of the grants to fight access for Latin America and the Caribbean, the into a battleground of the on-going religious to abortion, promote school prayer, oppose United States was the only one of 38 culture war. The task force, housed in Focus gay marriage, and engage in other culture war countries in the western hemisphere on the Family and led by its leader’s wife, dis- causes. that opposed making a call for greater courages any non-Christian groups from par- In its 2005 report, “Funding the Culture access to reproductive health services ticipating in its programs and disperses the Wars,” NCRP uses the same data, plus some and HIV/AIDs prevention programs. ideology of the Christian Right to the main- new data on evangelically oriented private •Poor women turn more and more to stream public through its prayer day activities. foundations, to zero in on support for Chris- Medicaid for family planning services The Prayer Day is observed nationally, since tian evangelical organizations promoting because of cuts to subsidized family plan- the Reagan Administration, on the first Thurs- policy changes. This is challenging, since ning programs. Because of its greater day in May. evangelicals come in all political shapes and expense, this makes for bad health policy. The report argues that the organization sizes. But in the end, Russell tracked 37 • One of Bush’s nominees for a Federal spreads the language of the religious Right into foundations and 3,162 grants totaling $168 court, James Leon Holmes, is former mainstream politics and government in part million. The average social service grant for president of Arkansas Right to Life. by asking people to pray against the “pro- work in the United States totaled $59,346, The report offers one paragraph sum- motion of homosexuality,” the denial of God and the average grant for policy and advocacy maries of Holmes and other key judicial in public schools, and condom distribution. totaled $48,541. nominees. The Task Force organized more than 50,000 Focus on the Family, the Rev. James Dob- • The site also covers such topics as giv- prayer events aimed at evangelical Chris- son’s enterprise which opposes access to abor- ing legal status to embryos, blocking tians. While the organization explicitly claims tion and gay marriage, secured more than $5.5 funding for international programs, to be inclusive of Jewish tradition, in practice, million from 1999 to 2002 from 32 grantors. and manipulating science for political the researchers say, this is false because it In the international realm, the report is par- ends. ■ strictly adheres to the evangelical Lausanne ticularly concerned with the President’s Emer- Covenant, which champions the infallibility gency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which

THE PUBLIC EYE 22 FALL 2005 The Public Eye Eyes RIGHT SCHLAFLY’S TOO TAME, TOO BLOG ALERT: SANTORUM A similar fate befell one of Phyllis Schlafly’s EXPOSED! columns in which she weighed in against an Special kudos to the blog Santorum BAD TASTE ON THE ALTAR important piece of legislation — the reau- Exposed.com for posting a video clip of Penn- OF MULTICULTURALISM thorization of the Violence Against Women sylvania Senator Rick Santorum arguing After the London bombings, Diane West Act. “If Republicans are looking for a way to against birth control . insisted in a July 15th Washington Times op- return to their principles of limited govern- On the July 28th Nitebeat, a New Eng- ed that blind faith in multiculturalism was ment and reduced federal spending, [this land public affairs cable show, Santorum to blame for home-grown terrorism. Accord- would be] a good place to start.” And why? said, “I vote for and have supported birth con- ing to West, Islam itself, including every “It’s a mystery why Republicans continue to trol because it is not a taking of human life. Muslim from moderate to fundamentalist, put a billion dollars a year of taxpayers’ But I’m not a supporter of birth control… is the real problem, but people will not say money into the hands of radical feminists who “I think it’s harmful to women. I think it’s it for fear of hurting someone’s feelings. use it to preach their anti-marriage and anti- harmful to society to have a society that says She convolutedly writes of “the gross male ideology, promote divorce, corrupt the having sex outside of marriage should be incompatibility of Islam — the religious family court system, and engage in liberal encouraged… Birth control to me enables force that shrinks freedom even as it ‘mod- political advocacy.” that and I don’t think it’s a healthy thing for erately’ enables or ‘extremistly’ advances But once again, her title was too tame for our country.” jihad —with the West.” Townhall.com. While her own website, Within a few days, NARAL Pro-Choice And in a display of the hyperbole and bad www.eagleforum.org, topped it with the America documented the times Santorum taste common to a certain style of conservative banner, “Time to Defund Feminist Pork,” had in fact voted against access to birth con- commentators, she berates us all for remain- Townhall.com found “Time to Dispose of trol, including a March budget amendment ing silent on the real threat to the West. “Much Radical Feminist Pork” much tastier. for family planning services. better to watch subterranean tunnels fill with Sources: http://www.eagleforum.org/column/ and charred body parts in silence,” she quips in her http://www.townhall.com/columnists/phyllisschlafly/ps200 piece entitled, “Facing Hard Facts.” 50718.shtml. But the Times headline was too tame for Townhall.com, a conservative digest of news DON’T MOURN THE WAR with a broad readership. When it reprinted DEAD; PICKET West’s op-ed, it had become, “Burnt Offer- In 1998, Fred Phelps, the notorious pastor ings on the Altar of Multiculturalism.” of Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas, pick- Source: http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/dwest.htm, eted the funeral of Matthew Shepard, who http://www.townhall.com/columnists/dianawest/dw20050 was killed in an anti-gay attack in Wyoming. Eye LASHES 718.shtml Phelps also likes to picket the funerals of those who suffered from HIV/AIDs. In 2005, Phelps is winning media atten- tion for picketing the funerals of the Iraq war Muslim persecution HAIKU dead, who he claims are dying in retribution “of Christians has for a bombing of his church six years ago. Creationists have In July, his target was a 19 year-old Idaho continued for 13 National Guardswoman, Carrie French, Designs on our who died in June in Kirkuk and whose centuries—and still intelligence funeral was in Boise. “An all-American girl from a society of all- goes on. American heretics,” he told the Associated Bad education Robert Spencer ” Press, apropos of nothing. – –The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam, cover Anon Source: Associated Press, June 14, 2005

THE PUBLIC EYE23 FALL 2005 The Public Eye

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