John's Fund, Dick Cheney - Does anyone remember when Cheney shot the Billionaire?

Cancel John Fund

 

       Now that I have seen how many photos Grandfather took, which are intentionally misattributed I assume if one is not attributed but looks like his work, it is. 

 

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

John Fund never disappoints me.  In this instance he states that the National Park Service was founded “Last week,” meaning in 1920.  But the founding date was August 26, 1916.  Fund then defends John Muir, an action with which I agree as I was aware after dodging service in the Civil War in Canada, he eventually discovered First Nations people were like everyone else. 

Certainly, Muir would have objected to burning out the Miwuk, the First Nation people of Yosemite, in 1869, much less when the National Park Service burned out the last Miwuk living there, Jay Johnson, in 1969.  The Sierra Club said nothing. 

I interviewed Johnson at his home in 2017.  That is what he said, and he was there. 

The National Park Service also continues to stall on the decision the Miwuk be allowed to have land for their use in Yosemite Valley.  Last time, the NPS demand was that the Miwuk conform with building codes.  How do you do that when the whole point is recreating their living heritage?  I follow these amazing idiocies on our newsletter, IMAGE. 

Was Muir appropriate on all issues?  No. But he would have gotten that one right.  This raised the question of how we identify those who should be reassessed.  We need to add the National Park Service as well as the psychopath who founded the government agency, Stephen T. Mather.  Mather represents a fond ideal for elites as he never earned an honest dollar in his life and managed, with much assistance, a century long cover-up.  Mather was the consummate self-dealer, first in the private sector then moving up to Federal.  Do you imagine the Sierra Club was unaware of the facts?  Not credible. 

Did the National Park Service object to the taking of the Hetch Hetchy?  Nope. 

 A read of the books written by former rangers reveals much disenchantment, and to this we must add a dialog on how to allow people to apply proven approaches to preserving the environment while making our wild places visible to millions.  Do you think government should be involved?  I vote NO.

Note there was no objection voiced by the Sierra Club in 1969, either; Muir died in 1914.

Fund’s article was, as usual, filled with evasions and quotes from others since he really knows little about anything.  His career in journalism came via hiring to limit and manicure what we think.  This was noted during his internship at Evans and Novak in 1983.  They decided he was perfect for the Wall Street Journal.  

The assertion Muir, an outspoken Preservationist, ‘founded’ the Sierra Club is a fiction marketed by the people who carefully hide behind the scenes, an early chapter on how the Elites manage what we know. It was their families who were responsible for incorporating the Sierra Club in 1892.  Charter Members   No, it was never intended to be a club for hiking.  And those early High Trips were an extension of the High Life those people have grown accustomed to after raping the environment in California to extract their fortunes. 

Muir was a Preservationist; most of the founding members of the Sierra Club were Conservationists.

These same people, today, are the elitists who buy NeoCons like John Fund. 

The Sierra Club persuaded Muir to become the President but he occupied the office; others controlled the operations.  The organization was started to ensure real estate interests and the emerging elites, descended from people Muir despised, mentioned in the Fund article as, “The white population, the people who were invading — the frontier types, the miners — he thought they were uncouth, savage, brutal, dirty, given over to alcohol. His (Muir’s) writings are full of those descriptions.”

This characterization was mostly accurate.  But those being described, most of them white, are the progenitors of the elite’s of San Francisco today.  Pelosi, Brown, Getty and Newsom are just four of their descendants.

Where did you imagine the ‘elites’ came from?  They learned their ethics and humanity from their parents, who had thoroughly demonstrated their values. 

It is not the ordinary white population who came up with the idea of enticing Muir to head up the Sierra Club, an earlier generation of the uncouth named handled that; their motivation was to either shut Muir up, or, get him to support obtaining the Hetch Hetchy Valley as a water supply for San Francisco.  Failing that, they needed to control him while this was handled.    

When the time came, and they knew it would, Muir needed to trust them.  This worked perfectly, they had been glamping together for years. 

The short story goes like this:

The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire takes place on April 18, 1906.  Due to the incompetence of these same elites, the first disaster gains in magnitude because no thought has been expended on preparing for any disaster at all.  The dumb idea of using dynamite to blow up buildings, spreading the fire is carried out with elite hires in charge. 

To date, no one knows how many people died of the earthquake, an act of nature; and how many died of elite incompetence. 

The first thought in the minds of the elites was not relief for those left without food or housing, but, “Hey!  Now we’ll have the political clout to get the Hetch Hetchy!”

Muir had previously resisted the attempts of Gifford Pinchot, the first head of the Division of Forestry, appointed by President William McKinley, in 1898, to persuade him to the position of Conservationist, meaning, “we keep it until we want to use it, and sooner rather than later.”  Muir would always be a Preservationist, meaning, “We leave it as God made it.  Look and leave.”  There are longer definitions but those will do for now. 

Pinchot’s family was in the lumber business.

Note that the Sierra Club began describing Muir as a ‘Conservationist’ as soon as he was safely dead in December 1914, and the campaign to grab Hetch Hetchy barely waited until the fires had burned down in San Francisco. 

Muir was galvanized into action.  He lectured, wrote letters, argued, and did all in his power to stop the theft of Hetch Hetchy. 

But the elites were ready; the Sierra Club had been founded for this moment in time.   

Muir spoke to true believers, the public, and small groups across the country.  One man talking, no major media.  But the decision hinged on the coming election for President.  Woodrow Wilson had promised to give San Francisco the Hetch Hetchy – if he won. 

The elites of California delivered the state for Wilson. 

My grandfather, Arthur C. Pillsbury, was a Preservationist.  He first met Muir on board the Harrison Expedition in port in late 1899 and took a photo of Muir.  This was published the next year, credit to Pillsbury, in Camera Craft, a journal on photography launched in early 1900. 

The two shared a passion for Yosemite and for the flowers.   In 1909 Pillsbury went into rapid action mode and made the first nature movie; he began showing it to groups in Yosemite by 1910.  Pillsbury offered to make copies for Muir to use with his lectures to bring in larger audiences.  But movies were not yet respectable.  William Colby, executive director for the Sierra Club and Muir’s ‘assistant’, thought it unwise to use movies.  He was also unenthusiastic about having Pillsbury’s photos used in Muir’s upcoming book.  Muir held firm on this, however.  Pillsbury’s photos were used for, “The Yosemite.”

A wonderful gift had been arranged for Muir; in honor of the insights and inspiration he had provided.  An anonymous benefactor had arranged a trip for Muir; it was like a dream come true for John Muir.  The Benefactor, who insisted on remaining anonymous, had planned a trip for him first to South America for a journey up the Amazon, and then on to Africa.  These were places he had wanted to see all his life.  And if that did not kill him, well it would be too late to stop them.   Muir was right that the Sierra Club had all well in hand, but he was wrong about their plans. 

The elites were salivating over the idea of municipal water and private electric power galore and the money that would flow into their coffers from taxes, power, and water.  And all it took was destroying the Hetch Hetchy Valley, the other Yosemite within the National Park. 

Muir took ship in Brooklyn, NY Leaving in August 1911, effectively cutting off all communications on what was happening at home in America.  When Muir stepped off the ship on March 27, 1912, he learned the Hetch Hetchy had been lost. 

Muir died in a Los Angeles hospital on December 24, 1914, his heart broken.    

Muir’s memoirs of his trip would not be published for decades, and The Yosemite would not be republished for a half century.  And when it was, the Pillsbury photos were not included. 

Pillsbury had demonstrated the power of film and the elites had experienced the impact.  He was a problem they knew they would have to eliminate. 

The effectiveness of film was proved by Pillsbury in 1912 when he showed his newly invented and filmed lapse-time film of wildflowers. From seed to death, the gathered Superintendents of all the National Parks viewed this at their annual conference, that year held in October.  They immediately voted to stop mowing the meadows for fodder for their horses.  Seeing the film persuaded them. 

The National Press Club viewed one of Pillsbury’s films in October of 1915.

By 1919 Pillsbury Picture Company nature films had been licensed for global distribution by Pathé, Universal and Paramount.  Motion pictures had proved their power.  In 1926 he was asked to make a presentation to then President Calvin Coolidge and 70 of his closest friends at the Willard Hotel banquet room.

But this article is not about dumping icons; it is about being more discerning about which icons should be dumped, and why. 

Today we are divided Left and Right but the squirrely things we are encouraged to argue about are intended to keep us busy fighting each other and ignoring the elites who continue to reduce us further into absolute serfdom.

Therefore, you need to take a hard look at what you think you know and revise your assessments.  Fund’s article artfully evaded the real issue, and that is what you should remember.  Fund always injects more issues to divide; never mentioning the truths which bring us together.  That is his job.  Always note the difference between what people and ‘organizations’ say – and what they do.  It matters.   

The CorporaState that Ate America

First published at: https://howtheneoconsstolefreedom.blogspot.com/2007/04/corporastate-that-ate-america.html

FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2007

What would Thomas Jefferson say to those who evoke his words to install fascism in America today?

“Why can't you see?

We just want to be free

To have our homes and families

And live our lives as we please.”

Dana Rohrabacher

West Coast Libertarian Troubadour (1973)

(From David Friedman's, “The Machinery of Freedom.”)

Today is the 264^th Anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson. A lot has happened in America in those years but most importantly a lot is still happening that Americans fail to understand. We need to connect ALL the dots.

In California a Federal Maritime Officer, Lt. Eric Shine, is fighting charges he is depressed; although they have argued he is employed within the proceedings they refuse to pay him or give him his benefits; that means he receives none of his due medical benefits or legal aid. Catch-22. Very useful to those suing him, which includes the US Government, Homeland Security, and the US Coast Guard. The powers that be pretty much ignored Shine and the charges he had leveled of toxic waste dumping, graft, and corruption until he began to write letters to Congress. They then slammed him with continuous litigation and decided he was depressed. If he wasn't he should be.

Who 'they' is goes to the Dot question. If the US Government, Homeland Security, and the Coast Guard weren't enough Shine has gotten the attention of others who are perhaps even scarier. One of these is The Carlyle Group and their friends and associates. This included George W. Bush for a while; the senior Bush is still believed to be associated.

The Carlyle Group, a corporation that handles investments for the well connected, including alumni of the Reagan, Bush Administrations and Saudi Princes, acquired General Dynamics, for which Eric Shine's father worked as Vice President of Engineering in 1992. Seeing what was happening to America 's military through the acquisition of General Dynamics in that year gave Eric the insight he needed to understand what was happening to the Merchant Marine. At the time Eric had no idea how 'Six Degrees of Separation' the world really is.

The Carlyle Group acquired General Dynamics, which produced electronics for the military, in 1992. They purchased the electronics division, located in San Diego, according to William E. Conway Jr., a Carlyle managing director, in an, “all-cash deal was for less than $100 million.” Carlyle Group, named for the hotel where the founders met, was founded in 1987.

Moving from investment in restaurants Carlyle Group began assembling a portfolio with a very different focus at the beginning of the HW Bush Administration. General Dynamics was expected to make $300 million when it was acquired, according to Conway . According to a specialist in the market consulted for this article that price was, “a steal.” We will follow those dots in a later article.

According to the Wikipedia, “Carlyle deals in the following industries: Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Consumer & Retail, Energy & Power,Healthcare, Real Estate, Technology & Business Services, Telecommunications & Media, and Transportation. The Carlyle Group's investments are focused on East Asia, Europe and North America, with most investment money coming from the

United States (65%), Europe (25%), Asia (6%), Latin America, and the Middle East . Defense investments represent about 1% of the group's current portfolio — though this translates, for example, into a 33.8% ownership of QinetiQ, the UK 's recently privatized defence (sic) company.”

A shiny new Ensign in 1991, Eric Shine began what he assumed would be a career carrying out the duties of an officer in the Merchant Marine and Naval Officer. As part of his training he had become familiar with the statutes and regulations that had governed the existence of the Merchant Marine since 1791. Shine had not yet heard the term 'privatization,' it would soon become frighteningly familiar to him.

The term, 'privatization,' as it is used by those in power today bears as much resemblance to the original as Anna Nicole Smith does to Mother Theresa.

The term, 'privatization,' was first used by Dr. Robert Poole, founder of Reason Foundation in his book, “Cutting Back City Hall,” in the mid 70s. The idea of converting services provided by government into services provided through private, for profit business, became a byword for efficiency over the next three decades. But efficiency had not been the point. The issue was giving people back control of their own lives.

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. The idealism of the 70s was harvested for the benefit of the greedy.

The issue of privatizing began with trash collection, proposed by Bob Poole and then Social Security. was first posed for a position paper written for the campaign of Ed Clark, Libertarian presidential candidate, in 1979. The 'white paper' later appeared in much the same form under the sponsorship of Cato Institute, founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane, III, Charles Koch, and Murray Rothbard. During this time things changed. Ideas are useful tools for achieving your goals; this idea proved to be fertile ground.

In 1981 Rothbard, a stalwart Austrian School Economist, was ousted from the Cato Board. In his newsletter, Libertarian Review, Rothbard said Cato, "revealed its true nature and its cloven hoof. Crane, aided and abetted by Koch, ordered me to leave Cato's regular quarterly board meeting, even though I am a shareholder and a founding board member of the Cato Institute." Austrian economists do not approve of Congress fiddling with the economy.

Cato began providing regular briefings for Congress on how to minimize their costs and optimize their profits in the 90s when the Contract on America swept into office.

Privatization and outsourcing had found applications that lead to consequences none of the Libertarians who had originally supported the ideas expected.

Lt Eric Shine had seen continuous and troubling violations of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 through the first six years of his career. Shine had witnessed blatant dumping of toxic waste, violation of safety regulations, and other wrong doing. Because he was doing his due diligence, ironically Shine gained a reputation as a trouble maker. He persisted in reporting these through avenues that had been truncated, leaving active Federal Maritime Officers with no recourse. It was as if the rules he had learned had been canceled.

Congress had mandated that at majority of American shipping must sail under America 's flag. They had done this to ensure that ships would be available in time of conflict and peace so that standards for safety and the wellbeing of the seas and our nation would be maintained. These ships, Congress said, would be manned by Officers of the US Merchant Marine. When Lt. Shine began his career the 10,000 ships under the US flag at the close of WWII had shrunk to less than 200, reducing the protections to America intended by Congress and the jobs available to Federal Maritime Officers.

In 1998 Shine began work in Hawaii for the Navy. What Shine saw at Pearl Harbor was the application of American ingenuity to the dissolution of the Navy Installation that had been a hub of strength for decades. Under the mandate of privatization services were being transferred to private companies. Graft, corruption, and thievery were systemic. Serving as a project engineer Shine could find no one who would listen to his objections. There was too much money to be made by remaining silent. Privatization and cost reduction were the rhetorical devices that filled the air.

What Shine was witnessing was the birth of the Corporation as its own nation in its nascent form. Having extended corporate leverage through the use of government to wage war, to realize profits through war and through income streams flowing into their pockets from Americans, Corporations were now looking at how to further their portfolios by clamping Americans into place forever. The means were the various Grids that had become the core of their holdings; Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Consumer & Retail, Energy & Power,Healthcare, Real Estate, Technology & Business Services, Telecommunications & Media, and Transportation,

The next step was to bolt in place those missing links to nationhood. Corporations, including those owned by Carlyle, have now begun to assert extraterritoriality, ignoring laws through manipulation, payoffs, and restructuring. American maritime law says that foreign ships cannot engage in commerce between two American ports; they corporations are now chipping away at this limitation. The rules exist only for others and where they augment profits. Sea Launch, a ship that puts satellites into space, harbors at Long Beach and has extraterritorial status. Corporations have become nations, with all the power and money and none of the accountability. Anyone who got in their way would be toasted.

In 2001, Lt. Shine filed a grievance in the hopes someone would finally listen. Again he was ignored. Then, he began writing letters to Congress and the reaction was swift. Shine was astonished to find himself detained charged with being 'depressed.' He had not been aware that even if he was depressed this could be deemed a cause for denying him medical benefits. For the CorporaState the rules are made anew every day as needed.

Why would Eric Shine persist? He could have gotten on the Corporate dole, accepted the lavish stipends offered from his probably intentional placement with the military industrial complex. That goes to who he is. The answers are in his origins.

Sally Shine, now 80, remembers her son, Eric, “as a good boy,” who, “made her proud.” “Eric,” she said, “was president of his graduating class in High School.” Eric Shine was poised to live a life of accomplishment when he graduated from King's Point, the Academy for the USS Merchant Marine in 1991. Life is full of surprises.

One of five children from a close-knit and loving Catholic family, he had attended St. Columba School in San Diego, moving on to what is now Cathedral Catholic High School while participating in the local scouting program with Troop 272. Shine was the first member of his troop in a long time, according to his mother, to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. His Court of Honor was held February 15, 1977. During the Court of Honor the Scout receiving his Eagle Badge renews the oath taken when he became a scout; that oath includes the promise that of, “Living honorably reflects credit on his home, his church, his troop, and his community.”

In the experience of those who know him best, Eric Shine takes life seriously. He did so when he chose as his Eagle Scout Project to organize donations of food and clothing for a poor village in Mexico and he did the same when, as newsletter editor at King's Point, he insisted on publishing an article that uncompromisingly told the truth, despite pressure to do otherwise.

Those were the values he had learned and then lived. Those values stayed with him when he went on to a career in the Merchant Marine. Career was another thing the Shine family took seriously.

Eric's father attended West Point, as many other family members, going on to a career with General Dynamics for 30 years. He retired as vice president of engineering and director of ethics. Hard work and doing the right thing were values strongly inculcated in the Shine home. Eric was sure that this whole thing could be cleared up if he just persisted.

Each of us sees the world through our own place in that world, and Eric Shine began his career in the Merchant Marine hearing from his father about General Dynamics, where the elder Shine had spent most of his life, and about doing the right thing. Unfortunately, that does not square with the birth of the CorporaStates.

The stark images of returning veterans at Walter Reed Hospital and elsewhere are still alive in the minds of Americans, demonstrating what privatization and 'cost reduction' really mean. Those and other techniques for lowering costs have been used since the Vietnam War with deadly results. Veterans needing treatment and benefits were, and are, forced to wait while their symptoms are dismissed as 'emotional problems.' Those in need are simply waited to death. Dealing with Shine was just a matter of using the same methods that worked to lower other costs.

According to Philip Meskin, founder of the Veteran's Party, the treatment meted out to Shine exactly parallels the treatment of Veterans after all American wars since Vietnam .

“Same old business as usual,” he said. Meskin, added that, “300,000 veterans died after the Vietnam War of Agent Orange and other diseases related to cancer, cell degenerative conditions, and other undefined causes.” “They were depressed, too,” he said wryly. Social workers are notorious for rendering opinions that deny benefits to veterans based on such causes as 'depression.' “There are no limits to what they will do to cut costs. They let people die every day,” said Meskin.

So the same technique that eliminates costs in caring for veterans can in the case of Shine make it impossible for him as a whistle blower to find help.

So many are involved. So many, like Dana Rohrabacher, who were once singing the praises of freedom, have found cozy lives elsewhere. Following the money, connecting the dots, always brings us the answers, however unpalatable those may be.

Next week Lt. Shine will face yet another round of court dates, again without counsel. Detained without pay, he is now without any resources – but he continues to speak out. Eagle Scouts don't give up and Shine is no quitter. One man left standing against the CorporaState, unless others help. David and Goliath was nothing to this.

Happy Birthday, Thomas Jefferson!

(To contact Lt. Eric Shine go to his website. He will be grateful to hear from you.)

Hear why Coulter deserves more than just a slap on the wrist from Lydia Cornell this Friday on the Spiritual Politician.

First Published at: https://howtheneoconsstolefreedom.blogspot.com/2007/03/hear-why-coulter-deserves-more-than.html

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 07, 2007

Got this in my e-mail today.

“(Washington, DC) – Log Cabin Republicans President Patrick Sammon made the following statement about pundit Ann Coulter's remarks at CPAC:

"Ann Coulter should be embarrassed by her anti-gay remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Coulter's words are not worthy of this event or our nation's political dialogue. Intelligent people engage in political debates using ideas not insults. Unfortunately, she has made a career out of saying increasingly outrageous things just to garner headlines and shill her books. Ann Coulter is more interested in soundbites than substance and she has become more ridiculous than relevant. She obviously has no shame."”

Log Cabin, the club for gays and gay rights within the Republican Party, came out with the above, sent to its membership this morning. I was slightly bemused because the subject line read, “Ann Coulter - Log Cabin Responds - Inclusion West for Melinda” I have been writing about Coulter, the CPAC event, and the NeoCon take over of what was once my home in the Republican Party for the last several days. But nope, this was just their update with my name inserted for that personal touch.

Some changes are definitely not for the better. 30 years ago being a Goldwater Conservative was more like being a Christian Liberal today. The change of direction can best be measured by the number of political operatives and think tanks funded by George W's corporate clientèle over the last 30 years. Think large numbers, including Coulter, David Horowitz, John Fund, Robert Novak and so on. They cost a lot but did the job for their employers. If you celebrate Earth Day in April you were fooled by one of them assigned to suborn the Environmental Movement.

Older people, if not growing forgetful, will often nod, remembering when the environment and rights for women and peaceful relations were not Liberal Plots but ideas we all agreed needed to be put into action. Howard Baker, Jr. was a Republican from Tennessee who headed the first committee on the Environment. There was no controversy; all Americans wanted a clean environment. Many Veterans of WWII were serving in Congress. Veterans of World War II had no illusions on the romance of war. They came home hungry for peace and wanted that peace for their children. But war is far more profitable for corporations. Slowly, things changed.

That was when women still had a respected place in the Republican Party and the ERA was still in our platform because equal rights for all Americans was taken as a matter of course. That was before Phyllis Schlafly reared her ugly head as another NeoCon political operative, funded to divide us on the issue of rights for women through a carefully thought out disinformation campaign. Then, we knew we were finishing the Revolution of 1776, mending the mistakes made by the Founders in putting a higher priority on establishing a government than on preserving the rights with which each of us is born. Schlafly has gotten rich doing that work as those chasms of anger and distrust she dug grew ever deeper. The ERA remains to be ratified and a campaign is active to accomplish that. To find out more contact the ERA Campaign Network. As Susan B. said, “Failure is Impossible.” Women keep trying.

I received the e-mail from the folks at Log Cabin because I joined the Log Cabin Club in the 90s to show solidarity with them as an oppressed minority among Republicans. (What? A gay Republican? Impossible!) Supporting the right of others to live their lives untrammeled by busy bodies was a common value for Conservatives back when I first read, “Conscience of a Conservative” by Barry Goldwater. Most of the Log Cabin members are nice people although I did not attend the parties. I developed an aversion to hot tubs while I was on the State Executive Committee of the Libertarian Party of California, serving the 2^nd of six terms. In politics, as in all life, you decline when you are not inclined.

The Log Cabin Club response to the Coulter comment was not unexpected. They were not alone, thank goodness. Some Conservatives, finally fed up with Coulter and her behavior have launched a petition of Conservatives who attended the conference. Sean Hackbarth, The American Mind wrote an open letter. He has been joined by over 200 others, a good thing and long awaited. A return to civility in politics and all social intercourse is long overdue.

The Conservative Union came out with its own statement to distance themselves from Coulter today. It is up on their website though their motives are probably more legal than moral or ethical. Coulter has been speaking there for years, after all.

“ACU, the event’s primary sponsor and CPAC strive to provide a platform and forum for a variety of differing views and personalities. ACU and CPAC do not condone or endorse every speaker or their comments at the conference. As such, ACU and CPAC leave it to our audience to determine whether comments are appropriate or not.

“ Ann Coulter is known for comments that can be both provocative and outrageous. That was certainly the case in her 2007 CPAC appearance and previous ones as well. But as a point of clarification, let me make it clear that ACU and CPAC do not condone or endorse the use of hate speech,” said David A. Keene, ACU Chairman.””

Of course, David A. Keene, is keenly aware that the conference the Conservative Union puts on every year is attended mostly by the people least likely be be able to judge what is appropriate and the most likely to be influenced by what is probably their first exposure to what is unabashedly presented as the culture and values of Conservativism. Young people are vulnerable to drugs presented by attractive pushers, including snorting NeoConservativism.

Steve Frank, a long time Conservative activist and leader in California who does a daily e-zine mailed out widely to Republicans said, “the character of the CPAC conference has changed over the years. Before, it was attended by people of all ages; today attendees tend to be 25 and younger. Coulter has long been popular with college-age Republicans.”

The faggot remark is not the most egregious act, either on the part of Coulter or by the Conservative Union taking place at the conference. Coulter's vicious behavior, her flouting of law, and the way she has encouraged violence towards others has been building for a long time now. We will be talking about that with Lydia Cornell on my show, the Spiritual Politician, this Friday.

At the CPAC conference the treatment of Dan Borchers meted out by Coulter's flunkies and CPAC was far worse than the casual remark about John Edwards. Coulter repeated those remarks the next day to Americans United for Separation of Church and State in a church sanctuary in Fort Lauderdale. The group has moved to disavow the remarks.

So serving up Coulter to the Conservative Union's targeted audience of young people smacks of indoctrination. This may be the last time, the Coulter Swan Song, so to speak. Her prominent position in the NeoCon world has been profitable but indications are that presence is heading towards the dustbin as Republicans take stock across the steady decline of NeoCon power. Some will reject Coulter because they are disgusted; others because she has moved from the column of asset to liability. Markets in icons work that way.

By continuing to feature her for these many years the CU did, in fact, endorse her hate speech and profited from the culture it created, a culture that has as much relationship to Conservatism as I knew it in the 60s as Christianity does to the Inquisition. Republicans, Libertarians and Conservatives await unfolding events.

Conservatives used to believe that the government that governed least was best, that local control was the original idea, that accountability was essential to all human action, and that all of us were born possessed of inherent rights. If you think that is still the case tell David Keene. The contact information is:

The American Conservative Union. | .1007 Cameron Street. | .Alexandria, VA 22314. | .Phone: (703) 836-8602

America: The original idea was freedom for all of us. That is still where real Conservativism should have taken us.

Hear Coulter, her assaults on others, and find a new spiritual direction for Americans discussed this Friday on the Spiritual Politician. 4Pm PST onBBSRadio.com. Our guest will be Lydia Cornell, actress, activist, and a warrior for truth.