[Peace-discuss] LaRouchite speaker

[C. G. Estabrook]

I can't believe that AWARE is considering contributing to the honorarium
of a speaker associated with the LaRouche movement.  But I also have
trouble believing that the organizers of the "Forgiveness Weekend" would
damage their own cause by featuring such a speaker.  His associations
can't be kept hidden.

I think most people in AWARE are sympathetic to what they understand to be
the goals of the rally -- but those goals are seriously undermined by
having a representative of a neo-fascist movement as a prominent speaker.
It will produce some very bad publicity.

LaRouche is a nut and his movement has the aspects of a cult, but that's
not a reason to dismiss it.  (It's in a position not dissimilar to that of
the National Socialist German Workers' Party in the 1920s, under the
liberal Weimar Republic.) Those who have been around town for a while will
remember how it wrecked the Democratic party in this state in 1986.

On Bevel's long association with LaRouche (and other far-right causes) see
<www.publiceye.org/rightwoo/rwooz9-22.html>; and from LaRouche's side,
<www.larouchepub.com/pr/1996/mississippi_tour.html>.

For more information on LaRouche's neo-fascism, see
<http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Lyndon_LaRouche> and "Lyndon
LaRouche: Fascism Wrapped in an American Flag" by Chip Berlet at
<http://www.publiceye.org/larouche/nclc1.html>, both with further links.

At the next meeting I intend to speak against the plan to use AWARE money
to pay some of Bevel's honorarium.  I understand he's getting $1000, and
I'm afraid it won't do any good just to ask that our money not be used for
any of that: funds being fungible, the AWARE money would just free other
money and so would necessarily be supporting him.

I hope other members who think AWARE should not be paying for an extremist
of the far right will come and speak at the meeting as well.  If AWARE
should decide nevertheless to do so, I'd have to withdraw from the
organization, and I would regret that.  It would have only one good effect
for me, as I mentioned to someone after tonight's meeting: I'd get my
Sunday afternoons back -- they'd no longer be devoted to writing "news
notes"...

Regards, Carl