Originally designed to promote the columns of anonymous Republican and Democratic writers, this page is now the home of a variety of columnists which currently include former Republican Party political director Royal Masset, environmental reporter Duggan Flanakin, former San Antonio Light Capitol reporter Ed Sills, and general all-around curmudgeon Edd O'Donnell. Each columnist brings decades of experience to the table.

September 18, 2003      3:18 PM

EDD SILLS: DEMO SENATORS LINKED TO COMMIE CONSPIRACY

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” --George Santayana

In what one hopes won’t be a harbinger of the politics of 2004, the rearward flank of the dark side of the right wing in Texas is trying to link the Democratic senators who are opposing re-redistricting to the Communist Party USA.

The Texas Citizen Action Network, which falls squarely within a virulent strain of take-no-prisoners politics, has posted Internet articles accusing the MoveOn.org organization of being "the activist arm of the Communist Party USA." (Note: This group should not be confused with Texas Citizen Action, a defunct group of environmentalists and other liberal activists.)

"It’s time we lift the curtain of secrecy and ask Sen. Leticia Van de Putte and her fellow Senators if she will tear down the wall of misinformation and answer to Texas citizens why the Communist Party is interested in funding their efforts," states the Texas Citizen Action Network missive, entitled, "The Communist Party Is Alive and Well – Cheering Democrat Legislators On MoveOn.Org".

What evidence is offered for this linkage? Both the Communist Party USA and the MoveOn.org web sites advocate the defeat of George W. Bush in the 2004 election. And, by golly, the Communist Party USA web site has a link to the MoveOn.org web site. (The Texas Citizen Action Network folks also mysteriously allude to "the activist arm of the Communist Party of Texas.")

The listed contacts for the assertion of a commie plot, Peggy Venable and Janelle Shepard, cite their "quick review" of the web sites and also note sneeringly that Al Gore spoke to MoveOn on Aug. 17 at New York University.

(Donning right-wing skin in a mind experiment, I still can’t figure out whether I’m supposed to be most offended that Gore, MoveOn or New York University took part. Or is there something about Aug. 17? Damn, that’s my nephew’s birthday and I’m with the Texas AFL-CIO, which is an arm of the national AFL-CIO, which is also linked from the Communist Party USA web site. Holy cow! I must be a commie! Never mind that the AFL-CIO fought communism tooth and nail.)

"Citizens will likely not be surprised that the Communist Party USA is focused on helping the Democrats subvert the Democratic process in Texas. But their real purpose appears to be to defeat Republicans and elect Democrats," Ms. Venable and Ms. Shepard state.

So there you have it. In the eyes of Texas Citizens Action Network, opponents of re-redistricting, Democratic activists, Al Gore and NYU are all part of a big old-fashioned commie conspiracy.

For the record, MoveOn.org, according to those ultra-lefties at the Christian Science Monitor, is a "leading lobbying group" founded by Californian Joan Blades and her husband Wes Boyd, who thought the political dialogue of the nation had warped out of balance during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. The MoveOn folks have pioneered in use of the Internet to marshal grass-roots support for a variety of issues, including opposition to the war in Iraq. The group recently raised $1 million to spread the word on the Texas Democratic senators’ walkout.

In Texas, a MoveOn.org’s spokesman, Glenn Smith, started his career as a journalist and more recently turned to political and communications consulting. Smith ran Tony Sanchez’s gubernatorial campaign. What is typical of the MoveOn folks I know, including Smith, is that they are not now, nor have they ever been, a member of the "Owner’s Box" in Texas. But other than that, they have played respectably and effectively in the mainstream of Texas and American politics. For my money, the MoveOn folks are patriots and if Smith is a commie dupe, I’ll eat my head.

Venable and Shepard are activist Republicans who spent much of this year’s legislative session explaining how the new legislative majority’s budget-cutting initiatives would make Texas a better place. Venable is the contact for Citizens for a Sound Economy, which also advocated for "tort reform" and worked with such organizations as the Texas Association of Business, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Shepard is with the Texas Women’s Alliance.

In short, Venable and Shepard have not typically operated on the exotic political fringes, but associate with the very hard-core conservative folks who run the Republican Party of Texas.

Even in an era when political rhetoric is debased on both the right and the left, being called a communist in this country probably remains libel per se – a legal Latinism that means one presumes libel has occurred when the "commie" verbal bomb is dropped unless shown otherwise. I say "probably" because these cases don’t come along much any more; the "domino theory" proved exactly wrong and communists have less sway than ever, either here or abroad.

When half a century ago Sen. Joseph McCarthy slathered the "communist" label on some Americans for whom it was accurate and too many for whom it was not, it opened an era in which perfectly legal associations and youthful idiocies became excuses to ruin careers and deprive citizens of liberty. Fortunately, there is a learning curve in some circles of this nation despite or because of Santayana’s admonition about being condemned to repeat history. When Ann Coulter wrote a recent book eulogizing McCarthy and accusing Democrats of being "traitors," she was slammed for trying to rehabilitate "tail-gunner Joe" by mainstream Republicans and Democrats. But Coulter sold a lot of books.

The Texas Citizens Action Network article is at least the second they have put out trying to link MoveOn.org and the "Texas 10" to the communists. They have not a scintilla of evidence -- nor a jot of argument – to prove their point. Just because people or groups support you or link to you on the Internet, you are not they, nor are you their "arm". That’s equally true of the Republicans’ skinhead support.

We don’t need more stinking blacklists.

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By Quorum Report

Copyright September 18, 2003, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved