I was listening to Sam Seder guest-hosting for Mike Malloy in the middle of this last week.  He was interviewing the lead singer of the band “Built to Spill” — Boise, Idaho’s great musical export–, who was sort of singing the praises of the oft-dry as toast oft-intriguing Thom Hartmann.

The effect was to shrug and figure “Just so long as it doesn’t infect your music”.  More or less I like Built to Spill, though the music wears… me… out.  I think you know if you listen to Built to Spill.

I found interesting one explanation of the evolution of his politics.  Somewhere moving out of the generic Anarchism of coming out of the Punk Rock Scene — or, rather, the independent music scene coming out of the punk rock scene, the Henry Rollins line of “Get into the bus” and GO.  You observe Katrina, and realize that that is Anarchy.  You watch that which you hate walk into that vacuum, and see the futility of this nihilistic point of view.

And with that, you grow up.

An interesting evolution, an interesting jump, and probably not entirely atypical.

I see that New York City Michael Bloomberg has decided to forego a presidential race.  This effectively stops any return of the brief five-minute interval of “Bloomberg Mania”, and its attendant TWO GREAT COMPARISONS.  Bloomberg was either going to be a non-eccentric and non-charismatic Ross Perot — something akin to referring to somebody as a sort of chinless and edge Jay Leno, or referring to something as a sort of sugar-less preservative-less Twinkie.  OR… Bloomberg was a once in a century, or century-and-a-half, figure — the new Abraham Lincoln.  And I will pause and allow you to reflect on that one.

Now the good folks at UNITY ’08 have no obvious figure to plug into their dream campaign — Bloomberg was always their go-to-guy.  In reflecting on the purpose of “Unity ’08” and surveying the political landscape for the fabled out of step Republican and the fabled out of step Democrat who would need this platform of support because their parties would never nominate them, might I suggest… a ticket of… Ron Paul / Mike Gravel!  That is sure to galvanize somebody in the American electorate.

This is the newest internal memo in its entirety:

INTERNAL MEMO

It should now be stated clearly for the information of the members, that Linda de Hoyos and Uwe Friesecke had been conducting operations against Ken Kronberg personally over many years–operations which significantly contributed to the conditions that led to his death.

**************************************************************

As Eaglebeak commented on FactNet, this is like the process the Larouchites undertook with Jeremiah Duggan’s death–creating an Alternate Universe in which Duggan’s mother was ultimately blamed for her son’s death.

Here we have LaRouche blaming (1) someone who left the organization in 2000 or thereabouts; (2) someone in Europe who left (was thrown out?) in fall 2006.

Who will he blame next?

I am pretty sure I passed this on this blog at the time, but sometime during the 2004 election cycle, I saw two Larouchites standing before a banner — something like a couple of the Mt Rushmore Presidents and Larouche with the great proclamation of “The Larouche Youth Movement”.  One of them was rather ridiculously taped up in John Kerry bumper stickers, a means of expressing an element of insincerity in his support of Kerry, the Larouchites’ current mission — a departure from previous cycles when Larouche moved straight from his Democratic primary race to an Independent general election bid.

I asked the bumper-sticker clad guy “Why is Larouche supporting John Kerry?”  His answer was, “We need to take over the Democratic Party!”  My cynical thought went along the lines of “That seems to be everyone’s thoughts” along with “And everyone is probably in a rude awakening.”

I was aware of some petty annoyances that Larouche caused at the Democratic convention — a buzzing fly that had to be swatted away.  I was also aware of the “Larouche PAC” side of the story — pumping up a few forgettable jokey comments by Terry McAuliffe.  I was not quite aware of the extent to which Larouche had imbued his followerers with the storyline that here, at this convention, the Larouchites were… taking over the Democratic Party, Larouche was becoming a major player at the side of Clinton… Kerry was considering Larouche as his secret weapon for vice presidential candidate, which — I will admit — really would have exploded the presidential race right then and there.  Anyway, at the end of the campaign, the analysis was in: everything that went right in the Kerry campaign was Larouche’s; everything that went wrong was Bob Shrum’s.

More gemane in the arena of creating an alternate universe for the Larouchites to the issue of Ken Kronberg, is this tidbit:

The LaRouche-tied New Solidarity newspaper in 1974 ran an obituary for three associates who it said had been murdered by federal agents. The three, who were still alive, had recently quit the group.

The one thing about Ken Kronberg is that we have witnessed the evolution of the org’s frantic spin control before our eyes.   I suppose we will never know what machinations brought the Larouche to publish those false obituaries in 1974, but we see what has happened in 2007.  Then again, in 1974 he did not have Uwe Friesecke to kick around as of yet.
I suppose this internal memo can be believed by a sector of Larouche’s followers, they who want to believe and must believe it.  The good news is that the Judicial process takes place in this reality and not the Fantasy Reality.  Anyway, these things are flying in the direction of the LYM and not so much the Baby boomers.  The baby-boomes in Leesburg, we are told, are edging out of the cult, making stronger connections with the outside world, and to a large extent taking some small writing assignments from Larouche for the last quick pay and habit.  I would like to think that the “Al Gore is Growing a Nazi Garden” story was written by someone slyly exiting, a half joke of preposterousness.  I doubt it, but still.  If somebody in Larouche-land would kindly offer up a follow-up story, stating that Al Gore has opted not to run for president BECAUSE of the fear of public fury over public attention at the expose about Al Gore’s 3rd Reich Gardening techniques, that would be amusing enough.
……………..

A quick note regarding Chip Berlet’s message of:

Time to mop up the LaRouchites.

Interesting phrasology, and a reference to… “Operation Mop Up”, which was a moment that you can say without a second’s hesitation that Larouche aped Hitler and the Brownshirts, rummaging into Communist meetings in a campaign of violence to, um, “consolidate left wing hegemony”.  This “Operation Mop Up” is quite different.

It has been a while since I’ve seen, placed in a “free newspaper” box of one variety or the other, what I’ve called the “Schizo Times”.  It’s pieces of notebook paper written with one woman’s sprawlings.  After an absense, probably more on my part than hers (Just not in the area as often), three popped out at me:

IF YOU HAVE MONEY OR SCHOLORSHIP FROM SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS YOU CAN GO TO HARVARD UNIVERSITY BUT YOU NEED (BRAINS) TO GO TO M.I.T.  THE BEST CHAIRS CHESS PLAYERS!

Or, her take on the Palestinian issue:

PALESTINE WAS UNDER OTTOMAN TURKS AT LEAST THEY WERE ALL MUSLIMS!
ENGLAND USED LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (Comprendevous? do you understand?) TO TALK PALESTINIANS INTO FIGHTING THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.  Ottoman Turks were muslims england separated Turks from Palestinians

THE TURKS WERE DRIVEN OUT BY ENVLAND AND Lawrence of Arabia became a Muslim The PALESTINIANS THEN THE PROMISES THAT ENGLAND MADE TO THE PALESTINIANS WERE (NOT) KEPT!  PLAIN AND DIRECT!  ENGLAND LIED TO THE PALESTINIANS!

GOD BLESS PALESTINE!  WHEN WILL THE PALESTINIANS LEARN THAT UNITED YOU STAND DIVIDED YOU FALL!
USA IS UNITED AND PERSONALLY I WAS MOLESTED WHEN I WAS 8 …

… at that point the whole dark undertone of a schizophrenic woman plastering her writings into these things becomes evident and I feel a little bad for undertaking this “FOUND” exhibition.  As is always the case for these things.

 

I suspet that if Mayor Tom Potter wanted it, another term of office would be his for the taking.  I also suspect that if I gave it some thought, and side-stepped some easily and eagerly mockable projects [“Vision Quest”?], I would have more on the ‘good’ side of his performance ledger than on the bad side of the ledger.  But that’s all up for debate.  Feel free to slice and dice your own meaning for him, as well consider any number of items an “unpardonable sin”.  (For some, his stance on illegal immigration might suffice.)

But I note that there appears to be this segment of the Portland constituency, and some outlying non-constituency, for whom Tom Potter is despised for a somewhat trivial characteristic, which manifests itself in only a handful of policy ways, which is this unpardonable sin that he has a complete personal apathy toward the world of sports and athletics.

Policy wise, this manifested itself in Potter’s poo-pooing of the Florida Marlins franchise offer to have Portland create one of those “Private – Public” stadium finance plans that would allow the Marlins to relocate to Portland.  Because a .450 major league ball-club would surely propel Portland into a glory years of economic viability, right?

On Wednesday, Oregonian Sports columnist Jon Canzano rolled into the issue of Tom Potter and sports.  There was this mini-scandal a while ago where Potter was accused of receiving favors by way of free tickets to the Portland Trailblazers’ home opener.  My observation about that was that it wasn’t worth picking the nits of the law, just watch Potter’s body language and ask yourself what kind of favor this is to him.  He was there because of the intangibles of Portland Trailblazers basketball, at that point at its low ebb in public esteem, and if he has to awkwardly lend his support to with his public face, so be it.

Which brings me to my general befuddlement at Jon Canzano’s column.  So Tom Potter attends an announcement that the Triple A all Star Game is coming to town in a couple of years.  This is a nice enough get, with no downside, and no terrible effort in diverted resources.  Potter offers up some banalities on the importance of sports and athletics, and we move on from there.

Better that he do so than not.  I do not understand Canzano’s point.  Would he have rather Potter come in offered up, “I find the rules of this ballgame arbitrary and pointless, and I find the idea that people may want to watch this arbitrariness even more so.  But if you are into it, then do what you must.  Welcome Triple A All Star Game to Portland!”

Then the sports columnist for the Oregonian offers up this:

We don’t need our politicians to be former athletes. We don’t even need them to be former Little Leaguers.

Okay, I will cross off the “former Little Leaguers” from my checklist of items to consider when electing or supporting a political candidate.

Well.  Anyway.  Go Mariners!

First, I want to acknowledge that in terms of what Larouche believes, no, no there is no “Get Larouche Task Force” — something just brought up by Chip Berlet, brought up by somebody else before hand — with my slightly wacky assertion of what a “Get Larouche Task Force” consists of.  There appears to be a “Get Avi Klein Task Force” in the bowels of the Larouche organization, not dissimiliar to the “Get [Fill in the blank] Task Force” of anyone who has ever written anything critical, and by critical I mean neutral, in regards to Lyndon Larouche.
We have arrived at this Whirldwind.  As we speak, or type or stare at a computer screen, the LYM — but oddly enough, not their generational forebears, have been given a brand spanking new briefing on the evils of the upcoming Washington Monthly article, and been told rambling nonsensical thoughts in which they ought think about it.  I find myself right now, within the narrow straits of this topic, juggling a number of items at this moment.  (As well, I may end up receding from this relatively break-neck pace right as the story is arriving at a break-neck pace.  That infernal real world, and all that.)

Let’s call Larouche’s slander against Avi Klein what it is — Slander — and Larouche’s use of the word slander to describe any negative or NEUTRAL piece against him represents his acts of projection.  But while it is basically crap, and while nobody much takes Larouche’s crap seriously, it is crap placed upon private and personal relations, and it is material the Larouche Camp desires to broadcast from out of their cult (and with their cult, or the most important part of it at least, holding it as gospel) to an outside world.  I cannot say that I came to this realization myself.  When and if it comes time to publish the latest “Internal Memo”, For the eyes of the LYM — and at this point, seemingly for everybody in the Free and Unfree World’s eyes — I offer only one rule of order:  Ellipses are your friend.  The corallary is for a step backward, a deep breath, and a quick untangle.  Life is too short.  Don’t demand a goddanged LYM-purpose Internal Memo.  We know the general gist anyways.

And I wander over to the other things I find myself juggling.  I suppose someone, somewhere may discover yet writings that “Lyn Marcus” did for the SWP which repeat at an earlier date the seeming life mission statement that he laid out for his Trotskyite splinter groupings in 1965.  I refer to this, and take a good, long look over it.  Having read Tim Wohlforth’s “The Prophet’s Children”, I can suggest a number of items Larouche plucked out of this mileau, as he embarked on whatever the Heck it is that he embarked on.  Trotskyism’s demand for a pure and rarefied ideology has always invited a cultish climatology.  As well the idea of a small, determined group with a single-minded purpose shapinig and controlling a larger organism — that which he referred to in earlier incarnations by some other phrase, but now refers to as “infinitisimals”.  One more thing is a fetishizing of “Youth Movement”s, or Youth Cadres — which makes sense in the Marxist form of a Revolutionary Vanguard taking out the old Reactionaries.

What is startling with these Trotsky-era writings is it’s almost convincing me that the current moment in Larouche’s history IS THE ENDS to which he has been workign toward for the past four decades.  The control of a younger generation under his control toward the older generation under his control, and the attendent “Creative Destruction” that arises.  It is a sociopathic idea, one that requires 40 years to achieve to move these two age groupings, and one that would also more or less require that “1974 to 1999” intermission in heavy recruitment.

I cannot for the life of me tell when Larouche thought he was seriously assembling a cadre of supporters for a role as Governing Leader (and he has offered up his suggestion on how he would become president — and more or less dictator — without the framework of a popular democratic vote several times, as well how the powers that be would hand him control over particular levers of power to arrive at much the same effect), and at what points he adapted to a Fantasy Shadow Government.  I offer this example, from Ruth Tuttle in “YTTN” as a guide that confuses the matter:

On the streets outside groccery stores, in airports, in Sears parking lots, I learned to hawk the NCLC’s publications, shouting out the daily headlines.  “Only two more weeks until nuclear holocaust.”  “only one more week…”  “one three more days…”  When it didn’t happen we deliriously proclaimed the news:  “NCLC averts nuclear holocaust!”

I can only suggest that the current “Fantasy Shadow Government” is a bastardized version of his earlier “Fantasy Shadow Government”, every aspect a Potemkin Village for an earlier more impressive Potemkin Village.  But I’ve already been through that analysis, in various forms.
The better explanationis to suggest that its been running around in the circles, and the circles have all ended up forming one larger circle.  Play with that geometrical model, yahoos!

The sickening washes over me.  The challenging thing comes in encountering somebody offering themselves us pondering the ways of Larouche versus that which the less than favorable world is offering us.  In actuality, there are not that many of them, but it has been enough to keep the Cult Leader going (in that he’s been happy to wander around in circles.)  Their concerns are relatively typical, their conflicts with society at large and culture at large, and I myself do not fully trust somebody who has not had these samd conflicts.  This is to suggest I grasp the memes in which the Cult Leader has thrown out there, but just fail to understand how it pulls anyone from Step A to Step Z.  I saw Larouche at the age of 12.  He looked like a nutcase to me.  I had the vaguest idea of who he was, never thinking of him at all, for the next decade, but if asked I’d probably think in terms of benevolence.  No, I had not run into a Larouchite at that point in time.  When I did, I tended to view them in a “It takes all kinds” manner, people have the free will to hand over whatever part of their free will they want to whomever they want.  If forced to consider for a second, though, I would have had to come to the conclusion that very coerceive techniques are at play with these people, had to to get them to the point where they are right now — immersed in a Fantasy World and believing they are propelling the engines of the World, and not even for their benefit.

I have not seen whatever new fangled item the LYM have just recently seen regarding the upcoming Washington Monthly article and attendent subject matter.  All I know for sure is that it will be nonsensical, but will be forced to make sense in their minds because it is easier to accept as making sense.   Having read the early offensive — a slander thrown to the journalist of the piece, a tying of a “Get Larouche Task Force” with the “Vast Right Wing Conspiracy” of the Clinton era, I can only suggest to the LYM, if any of you are reading this: — he does not think much of your intelligence.

So.  Um.  Clear any good Brush today?

How quickly and how unstoppable is this brush?  Perenials, I suppose.

He gave up on the outside world long ago, and has been focused solely on replenishing his nest with fresh young prey. The biggest revelation for me, when I finally completely separated from LaRouche, was the discovery of how invisible he is to the real world. Inside his organization, and his Daily Briefings, LaRouche is portrayed as the center of the universe, around which all else revolves. Once outside, former members come to realize that, perhaps, this is the biggest fraud of all.

That would be Nick Benton.  Writing on his myspace account.  A two-fer for Larouche — an ex-member AND a myspace account.  In the preceeding paragraph, Benton states that Larouche has failed on all accounts.

Reading into the pre-emptive offense against the upcoming piece by the Mossad Agent, if I am reading it correctly, I think Dear Cult Leader is about ready to absorb the loss of Baby Boomers as he pursues his end game — and he was writing off his baby-boomers anyways.  He mentioned his mortality, which is — whatever else it may suggest — is a pre-requisite for preparing his membership for their post-Larouche mortem duties.    You gather how little the LYM members could care about Ken Kronberg, and you gather that he has ready the story of the “Ken Kronberg Hoax” for the — um — Mossad Agent’s piece, that which at this point probably wouldn’t work for too many of Baby-boomers, but the replacement LYM would probably eat up.

the implications of the growing [sic] LaRouche Youth Movement, which promises a long institutional life for the organization, for many decades after the 84-year old LaRouche’s demise.

My speculative fiction regarding Larouche would be of a future, middle of this century, Lyndon Larouche long gone and long forgotten except for the most footnotey of footnotes, and the remnants of his cult of personality gone.  But a current LYMer, using much of Larouche’s jargon, and a little more nimble and on his feet, with the correct mass-desperation society experiences during a really big economic downtrun, becomes the Fascist Dictator of America.  But that’s as far flung science fiction as the Sliders episode with Larouche as president.
I have not much understood some mechanical touches for Larouche.  At the end of the day, he does need some public awareness, and the means to arrive at those have deteroiated.  Laugh as one may at his presidential bids, but they gave the media a certain requirement to cover him, and at times with a forced neutrality, as well a public curiosity to cover him otherwise.  Laugh as one may at his literary output — and to a slice of the under-30 set, say Larouche and they will think “Children of Satan” s I, II, and is there a III? — but they provided some place in the public sphere — and gave purpose for them to pop onto college campuses.  Larouche has no presidential bid in the offing, it has deteroiated to the “Support Hillary Clinton” campaign — something for his minions to do, I suppose.  Sans the concept of Larouche behind the scenese giving economic policy for a President Hillary Clinton, what would the Larouchies be promoting visa vie Larouche?  And Larouche has folded up his print runs, offering up a supposed “Internet Strategy” — something Larouche must realize by now is a sort of double-edged sword — and which is a bit more difficult to pollute the atmosphere with, I must say.   Now his street teams are standing in the middle of the freeway, poster-signs on, crude sexual jokes about “Dick” Cheney.

I do not quite get it.  Is this a “neo-Malthusian” or “negantropic” (or whatever that word is) Economic model which somehow by itself refutes the supposed Economics Larouche is advancing (which boils down to a love of building large shiny objects.  NOW does he understand the concept of governments doing a little penny-pinching now and then?)
The “Larouche Youth Movement” would probably have to end up becoming inward-looking without the physical presense of their leader, a strange spirituality.  And I will note the what he released during his prison era.  I suppose they have the “Plato” story to work with, and the cultural malaise, but beyond this, economic trends are pointing downward, rationalized as “The Winds of Change”.

But, okay.

By a very weird coincidence, I checked Dennis King’s “L.L. and the New American Fascism” out of the library about an hour before I found your post. (concering Webster Tarpley at “9/11 Truth Conferences”.)  Lately his name just keeps popping up in my “Satanic panic” research, in posts, even in casual conversation. I decided I must know more.

A few thoughts about Dennis King, not in relation ot the “Satanic Panic” — at least not directly — but with the book, from an assortment of ex-members.

And to me, the biggest irony is, I don’t think he has comprehended squat about why people join LaRouche, or stay with him for years, decades, and entire lifetimes. I can well imagine that a member who already has largely figured it out, could read King’s book and find enough justification for his/her misgivings to decide that’s the final straw, and leave at that time. I doubt that King says anything that could sway a regular member, or even a new LYM member.

AND

As to Dennis King’s book, it contains extremely useful information and insights. It is true that, since King is not a former member, there is plenty he misses, but it seems to me, judging from his recent work, that he is fast rectifying that.

It is, by default, THE book on Larouche.  My guess is if someone were to write a new book that could be take that crown of “THE” book — and not by default — it would have to be written by a former member of the cult, and not even necessarily one who was terribly high up in the ranks, because — face it — I can grasp at pieces of what the heck their point is (and I have gone through with motivations on joining — which all members are actually surprisingly up-front in explaining — and they are rather typical concerns of late adolsecents), but nonetheless, it’s an alien creature to me.

Other than that, he probably overplays the anti-semitism angle at the epense of other parts of the problem with Larouche.

I would like to say King’s motivation are foreign to me — which seems to be another weird tic that arises from any slight criticism of Larouche, but then I realize I have been on this topic for this calendar year, so I kind of  just have to shrug that question off.