Secretive Right-Wing Nonprofit Plays Role In Covid-19 'ReOpen' Organizing
'Secretive Right-Wing Nonprofit Plays Roll In Covid-19 Organizing,' Alex Kotch, Center for Media and Democracy, Truthout, May 23, 2020.
A shadowy right-wing nonprofit is helping coordinate coronavirus response strategy and promoting the lockdown protests.
Working alongside close allies that have helped coordinate the protests, including Stephen Moore of the Heritage Foundation and FreedomWorks, Council for National Policy Action (CNP Action) has been hosting conference calls and publishing action memos around reopening states’ economies.
CNP Action is the 501(c)(4) nonprofit affiliate of the Council for National Policy (CNP), a coalition of far-right political advocacy and think tank figures that has worked largely behind the scenes since its founding in 1981. CNP’s membership includes conservative Republicans and right-wing extremists who work together to shape policy. Trump allies, including senior adviser Kellyanne Conway and former chief adviser Steve Bannon, were CNP members as of 2014. Trump’s lawyer Jay Sekulow has also been a member, according to a recently published book by Anne Nelson.
Since last month, CNP Action has hosted weekly conference calls to coordinate coronavirus response tactics. The first call featured Moore, who founded the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, the Heritage Foundation’s Ed Meese, and Al Regnery, chairman of CNP’s Conservative Action Project and the cousin of prominent white nationalist William Regnery.
Moore has called the lockdown protesters “the modern-day Rosa Parks” for “protesting against injustice and a loss of liberties.”
The email announcing the second call, which featured ALEC CEO Lisa Nelson and State Policy Network CEO Tracie Sharp, links to information about an April 21 car protest at the Alabama Capitol Building in Montgomery, organized by the anti-LGBTQ group Eagle Forum. The forum’s founder, the late Phyllis Schlafly, was a CNP member, and several current staffers are part of the CNP-connected “Save Our Country Task Force.”
The announcement directed readers to the private Facebook page of the group ReOpen PA, which was one of three groups that organized an April 20 lockdown protest at the Pennsylvania state capitol. The other two groups’ Facebook pages have been deactivated.
In an announcement of the third call, CNP Action directs allies to send links to op-eds, articles, and social media posts to a TeaPartyPatriots.org email address, indicating that the group is involved in CNP’s organizing efforts. “The Save Our Country Task Force will send it out for others in the coalition to share and cross-promote for a multiplying effect,” the announcement says...
More, https://truthout.org/articles/secretive-right-wing-nonprofit-plays-role-in-covid-19-organizing/
- Trump supporters hold a rally to call for the reopening of the California economy after the lockdown closure, implemented to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, in Woodland Hills, CA on May 16, 2020.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Yesterday, the White House announced the newest recipient of the Medal of Freedom: Ed Meese. From the official statement:
Edwin Meese III has long been a thought leader and strong conservative voice on matters of law and policy. As Counselor to President Ronald Reagan, Mr. Meese helped to craft a foreign policy strong enough to end the Cold War and played a pivotal role in securing historic tax cuts.
As Attorney General, he promoted Federalism and the original public understanding of our Constitution. Since leaving public service, Edwin Meese has continued to champion our Nation's founding principles through his extensive work at The Heritage Foundation.
Reading this, one might get the impression that the president is giving the medal to Meese because he's a notable conservative -- which isn't generally the sort of thing that warrants the nation's highest civilian honor.
But for those familiar with Meese's background, there's a bit more to his c.v. that's worth appreciating.
During his Senate confirmation process, Meese was investigated by a court appointed independent counsel, which examined a variety of corruption allegations. The investigation culminated in a report that did not include criminal charges, but which nevertheless rebuked Meese for ethical lapses.
He was confirmed anyway.
During his tenure as Reagan's attorney general, Meese was caught up in the Iran-Contra scandal, during which he told Reagan that presidential powers are inherently broad enough to circumvent legal limits: so long as the president was acting with national security interests in mind, Meese argued, laws passed by Congress could be overlooked.
In fact, as far as Meese was concerned, the White House didn't even have to tell Congress when the president was ignoring federal laws. (What's more, this was not only the scandal of his tenure as A.G.)
For Trump to give this guy the Presidential Medal of Freedom is a little on the nose, isn't it?
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trumps-latest-curious-choice-presidential-medal-freedom
