By Rev. Ted Pike
November 24, 2009
NewsWithViews.com
Are Millions of Anti-Obama Protestors "Conspirators?"
The Anti-Defamation League likes to describe itself as a "civil liberties" watchdog group that is ever alert to warn of dangerous "conspiracy theories," particularly those that are anti-semitic.
While deploring the conspiracy theories of others, ADL has produced a 27-page special report entitled "Rage Grows in America: Anti-Government Conspiracies," -- a conspiracy theory of its own! It charges that a number of right wing media leaders are conspiring to lie and distort facts in order to incite tens of millions of Americans against Pres. Obama. ADL further alleges that those who receive such disinformation, such as tea party and town hall protesters, are also part of the conspiracy. Trampling truth, ADL says, they follow conspiracy theories that "imagine government plots." Ignoring reality, ADL says these millions of lesser conspirators will repeat almost anything necessary to "destroy" their opponents and bring down Obama.
ADL: "Since the election of Barak Obama as president, a current of anti-government hostility has swept across the United States, creating a climate of fervor and activism with manifestations ranging from incivility in public forums to acts of intimidation and violence…Some of these assertions are motivated by prejudice, but more common is an intense strain of anti-government mistrust and anger, colored by a streak of paranoia and belief in conspiracies…Ultimately, this anti-government anger, if it continues to grow in intensity and scope, may result in an increase in anti-government extremists and the potential for a rise in violent anti-government acts."
In reality, Obama has outrageously gone out of his way to offend the values and commonsense of heartland America by promoting a big-spending, socialist, pro-homosexual, pro-abortion, pro-hate law agenda. Obama's far-left arrogance and excesses and a Democrat Congress which ignores the wishes of their constituents are the real cause of mounting opposition.
Here, from top to bottom, are those whom ADL contends are either architects or accomplices of conspiracies motivated by malice and paranoia, which could plunge America into hate-motivated violence.
Glenn Beck
ADL says, "The most important mainstream media figure who has repeatedly helped to stoke the fires of anti-government anger is right wing media host Glenn Beck, who has a TV show on FOX News and a popular syndicated radio show…Beck and his guests have made a habit of demonizing Pres. Obama and promoting conspiracy theories about his administration." "…Beck's key role as a 'fear-monger-in-chief,' [involves] using constant laments such as 'I fear for my country,' to create a sense of anxiety about and hostility towards the government in his audience." Regarding the September 12, 2009 Populist rally in Washington, D.C., ADL says Beck "promoted the event. The anger and rage that had been expressed at town hall meetings a few weeks earlier and at Tea Parties across the country became even uglier."
Joseph Farah and WorldNetDaily
"WorldNetDaily (WND), published by Joseph Farah," ADL contends, "is an online newspaper with a far-right wing, political outlook that often blurs the distinction between fact and opinion, or even fact and fiction. The publication has spearheaded efforts to convince the public that Obama does not have a legitimate birth certificate." ADL says, "One of the main reporters for WND, Jerome Corsi, has been a major promoter of the "birther" conspiracy theory..." that Obama was born outside the US.
ADL says Farah took part in the strongly anti-Obama "How to Take Back America" conference in St. Louis, September 25-26. It was heavily promoted by WND and regular columnist and anti-Obama syndicated talk show host Janet Porter.
ADL describes in detail how, "Two attorneys, Philip Berg, of Pennsylvania, and Orly Taitz, of California, have been particularly active in spreading the 'birther' argument, as has…WND." Filing lawsuits demanding certainty about Obama's citizenship, ADL says, are "Alan Keyes and Wiley Drake, 2008 presidential and vice-presidential candidates respectively for the fringe American Independent party."
Alex Jones
ADL calls Alex Jones "the Conspiracy King." It says, "If, in mainstream America, Glenn Beck may be the radio talk show host most involved stirring up anti-government hostility and anger, his counterpart on the extreme fringe is Alex Jones…He has…collaborated with celebrity truthers such as actor Charlie Sheen and far right icon Ron Paul, a US Representative from Texas [who] has often been a guest on his show." In March 2008, media figure Lou Dobbs was a guest on Jones' show.
"After the election of Obama, Jones began to develop ties to mainstream conservative media outlets such as FOX News Network." Yet ADL asserts Jones fulfills exactly what it predicts right-wing, anti-Obama hysteria will ultimately lead to: ADL says the April murder in Pittsburgh of three policeman by young Richard Poplawski was under the influence of "Jones and other conspiracy theorists."
Michael Savage
ADL: "As these conspiracy theories become more popular, they are starting to cross over from the fringes into more "mainstream" venues. On August 14, 2009, for example, right-wing radio talk show host Michael Savage, whose listeners are estimated to number over eight million, proclaimed on his Savage Nation that the government would declare martial law. "Martial law," he announced, "will be declared in this country over a pretext. I think the likelihood is very high that the gang that has taken over this country will declare…a pretext…the equivalent of the Reichstag fire [an event that helped the Nazis take over the German government]…to put in a form of martial law."
Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter
ADL complains that these internet giants are making possible "viral" proliferation of grassroots American rage and conspiracy theories by providing them an uncensored forum.
Tea Party protests
ADL says, "Some conservative media outlets, such as the FOX New Network, have also played a role in promoting tea parties." "At these events, and later sequels, anti-government sentiments and conspiracy theories proliferated, with a common theme being that somehow Obama had 'stolen' the country from Americans."
Town hall meetings
Town hall meetings, which ADL calls "disruptions," are described as the rude, unnecessary interruption of political and social progress, particularly healthcare reform, during this past summer. ADL especially objects to frequent imagery comparing Obama and the Democrat proposal of taxpayer-funded abortions to Nazism. "The widespread use of Holocaust and Nazi analogies and comparisons, which still continue, goes well beyond legitimate or even exaggerated criticism of the Obama administration and its policies." "In these Nazi analogies, Obama and his supporters are being cast as opponents to be destroyed rather than fellow citizens with whom dialogue, debate, and compromise are possible. The ready use of such propaganda is symptomatic of the radicalization of some segments of the American populace, and contributes to a self-perpetuating cycle of radicalization, in which even more extreme ideas seem plausible and acceptable."
Immigration protest
ADL describes immigration protesters as "xenophobes" -- persons afflicted with an irrational fear of foreigners and those who are different. It is also a movement, ADL claims, which is manipulative. "…continuing its exploitation of hot-button issues to gain a greater following, the anti-immigrant movement is increasingly appropriating anti-government language and events."
ADL may particularly resent ALIPAC, the immigration watchdog group which, this spring, alerted the nation to ADL/Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) attempts in their MIAC document to bias Missouri State Police against a wide spectrum of Christian/conservative and patriotic groups, labeling them potential terrorist threats. ADL says of ALIPAC leader William Gheen that he "has a history of using the tea party movement to serve his own purposes."
What Can We Do?
The Anti-Defamation League is the most powerful, anti-Christian, pro-homosexual, pro-abortion attack group in America. Yet because ADL, like its sister attack group SPLC, is entirely staffed by far left Jews, Christian watchdog groups, such as WorldNetDaily, virtually never criticize it.
This must change. In 2005, on Trinity Broadcasting Network, Orthodox rabbi Daniel Lapin warned tens of millions of Christians worldwide that ADL “is in relentless attack on evangelical Christianity.” He has repeatedly urged both Christian and Jewish leaders to stand up to ADL, which he correctly asserts does not represent the thinking or aspirations of all Jews. At the time of Lapin’s warning, he even included on his Toward Tradition website a toll-free number that anyone could call if threatened or smeared by ADL. As an Orthodox rabbi, Lapin claimed he was perfectly equipped to do battle with ADL – shielded from its inevitable smear, “anti-Semite!” Yet no Jewish, evangelical or Catholic leader has rallied behind him.
Christian/conservative leaders must recognize that ADL, if further protected from criticism, will only mount even more vicious anti-Christian assaults. In 1939, British diplomats Chamberlain and Asquith hoped that if Western powers remained silent and inoffensive Hitler could be contained. In reality, like a tiger, Hitler could smell their fear. Their appeasement only emboldened him to become more aggressive.
The same will happen if millions of Obama protesters remain silent before ADL's recent attack upon them. Like Hitler's 1939 "war games" in Spain, ADL is now testing the religious and political right to see if it will publicly resist ADL's agenda of bringing persecution to them. Persecution is the whole purpose behind ADL-orchestrated hate crimes laws worldwide. After Pres. Obama's signing of the federal hate law last month, ADL boldly took credit not only for "spearheading" its passage over the past 12 years but also for convincing 45 U.S. states and the District of Columbia to pass some version of its "model hate crime law." (ADL Hails Long Overdue Enactment of Hate Crime Law, October 28, 2009.)Will conservative leaders even mention ADL's attack on them this week? Since ADL was founded in 1913, none has had the courage to publicly criticize it.
If they did so now, it would be remarkably out of character.
