The LaRouchies head for Boston

[starroute]

A high school friend of my son's is a LaRouche follower this days (though otherwise a pretty decent fellow.) They were talking on the phone earlier this evening, and the friend said he was part of a group that was about to head to Boston for the convention -- though he didn't explain whether they planned to protest or just to hang around and try to ingratiate themselves.

He also said that Homeland Security had already cancelled their hotel reservations once. I have no idea what that could be about. Does anyone have any clue as to what the LaRouches could be up to and why Homeland Security would be down on it?

[markbark]

1. To answer your question....

Quoth the poster:
Does anyone have any clue as to what the LaRouches could be up to and why Homeland Security would be down on it?

Mr LaRouche and his followers are only slightly to the left of types like Nicolai Ceausescu or Kim Jung Il. They usually identify themselves as Libertarians because that sounds a whole lot less scary than Fascist.

Virulent anti semitism is one of their favourite activities.

A few examples:

"Before Christianity, there were established some very vicious Oriental cults in the area near Babylon. These cults led to the various manifestations of a particular form of cult called Manichaenism.The cult was spread by Venetian bankers...This pseudo- alchemic cult later called Freemasonry."

"Judaism is not a true religion, but only a half-religion, a curious appendage and sub-species of Christianity."
"Judaism is ideological abstraction of the secular life of Christianity's Jew, the Roman merchant-userer who had not yet evolved to the state of Papal enlightenment, a half-Christian, who had not developed a Christian conscience."

"Judaism is the religion of a caste of subjects of Christianity, entirely molded by ingenious rabbis to fit into the ideological and secular life of Christianity. In short, a self- sustaining Judaism never existed and never could exist. As for Jewish culture otherwise, it is merely the residue left to the Jewish home after everything saleable has been marketed to the Goyim."



In short, these guys are bad news. The Homeland Security guys are just making sure that they don't have too many things on their plate. Boston's gonna be lively enough without this crowd there.


(LaRouche tidbits found at http://www.publiceye.org/larouche/nclcmain.html)
**GOD** I love living in the 21st Century.... ain't the internet grand? :)

--MAB

[rman]

12. ah, the old "left = bad" meme.

also it's curious how LaRouches supposed anti-semitism doesn't actually involve hating of jews.

[markbark]

21. Um....

Quoth the poster:
ah, the old "left = bad" meme.

The LaRouchies are NOT left (well... I guess they COULD be... they've drifted so far right that they're coming back 'round the world to the "left" fringes)

Additionally....
it's curious how LaRouches supposed anti-semitism doesn't actually involve hating of jews.

I guess your definition of "hate" is not one that I've previously been acquainted with.

Let me refresh your memory of my previous post...

"Judaism is not a true religion, but only a half-religion, a curious appendage and sub-species of Christianity."

Sub-species? Sounds pretty dehumanizing to me. Turn on the showers and fire the ovens boys, time to save the planet from the world-wide Zionist conspiracy!

Or perhaps we all ought to save our poor misguided Jewish brethren and kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. Right Annie?

Sheesh! :eyes:


--MAB

[Feanorcurufinwe]

23. Ah, the old 'ignore the evidence, erect a dishonest strawman' theme.

:puke:

[Logansquare]

2. Well, they followed Howard Dean around during the primaries

and screamed incoherently at him during his campaign stops. I believe the man Al Franken tackled was a LaRouchie. The only good thing I can say about them is that they seem to hate the Republicans even more than they hate the Democrats.

[starroute]

3. I'd forgotten about them disrupting the Dean rallies

The LaRouchies drive me nuts, because a lot of their articles online seem very thoughtful and perceptive -- but then they'll betray their agenda by veering off into ranting about the Rothschilds or George Soros or Marc Rich.

My son let this friend haul him to one meeting. He said afterwards that had very mixed feelings about it, because on one hand it was nice to meet a bunch of young people his age who were serious and able to talk perceptively about current issues, but on the other hand they were very obviously a cult.

Come to think of it, that's the same odd mixture as in their online articles. I really don't know what to make of it. Most cultists are totally brain-wiped. The LaRouchies are capable of thinking on their own -- they just have a systemic warp in their perceptions.

[Logansquare]

20. Well, its first of all a cult of personality

When LaRouche himself dies, the "party" or whatever it is calling itself is sure to come to crisis.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. "The Great LaRouche Toad-Frog Massacre"

Does anyone remember that from Bloom County?

They thought they were being invaded by communists when the air raid siren accidentally went off, and Portnoy (the little hedgehog) took his 45mm American Ruger Assault rifle and wiped out a pond full of frogs and toads.

"Milo, realizing Portnoy's emotional stability was at stake, went to his side and explained that while, admittedly, the likelihood of those toad-frogs being Communists, or even liberals, was not great, there was no reason to assume that he had wiped out supply-side Republicans instead. In fact, there was an excellent chance that the vast majority of them were LaRouche Democrats, who, of course, were better off dead."

[walldude]

5. This is hilarious

"Judaism is not a true religion, but only a half-religion, a curious appendage and sub-species of Christianity."

You know I can totally see the logic in this. Considering Christ was a JEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess he was just a "sub-species" of the religion that was founded in his name...

[indigobusiness]

15. lol...good synopsis...

Berkley Breathed is back in the saddle...no?

[genius]

6. Probably as delegates. A lot of them are upstanding members of the Party.

The ones I've met are some of the more progressive members of the Party and seem pretty well grounded. They seem to like Kerry.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

25. Name one LaRouche supporter who is an upstanding member of the Party

What you have said is laughably ridiculous.

[absolutezero]

7. so

the larouchies plan on making fools of themselves, i'm looking forward to watching the police pull raving loonies out in the middle of kerry's acceptance speech :eyes:

[genius]

8. Most of them are just like other Democrats and you wouldn't know they are

LaRouchees unless they tell you. The ones I have met are really nice people. I haven't met or seen their leader ever and I couldn't care less about him but the people are really nice and normal. Only a handful reportedly make noise, more because they feel they are the subject of witchhunts than because of anything else. Several LaRouchees are on the Central Committee in my county and they seem really level-headed. They like Kerry. They like Kucinich. They are anti-war, anti-free-trade, pro-universal health care, as far as I can tell. I'd rather deal with people like that than with conservative sell-outs.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

9. I beg to differ

I first heard of Lyndon Larouche back in 1976 when he was heading something called the Labor Party. Eight years later he was accusing Walter Mondale of being a Communist dupe. Some of his other positions include suport for Star Wars and that Queen Elizabeth II was dealing dope.

We had several Larouche supporters pass out their literature my county's Democratic convention. I wouldn't have a problem with that if they'd bothered to show up to the precint meetings that preceded this convention.

[genius]

16. I've seen them work on mainstream Democratic campaigns

If the ones on the central committee in my county are any example, they are very energetic supporters of the Democratic Party. In fact, they seem to be some of the hardest working Democrats. Their favorite candidate seemed to be Kucinich. But they were happy when Kerry won Iowa and New Hampshire.

The part about them that confuses me about them is that they liked Clinton better than Gore. Since they are more liberal than Gore on the issues, I don't understand that one. If anyone has an explanation for that one, I'm curious.

They are not anti-Semitic. I've seen a number of Jewish people with them and there doesn't seem to be any issue of prejudice. A lot of Jews think Sharon is a terrorist just as a lot of Americans think Bush is a terrorist. Don't confuse opposition to the Israeli government with anti-Semitism.

[midwayer]

19. Here is a little more information on your son's friends issue

First I would like to set the record straight

I am not a Larouche supporter! I will vote for Kerry. I see there are some things over the years he has said and done that have inflamed some people but, as I have said before there are some things he is saying today which may be of value in the overall scope of things.

I absolutely hate to think of him stealing any votes from Kerry.

Here is something that sounds like classic Larouche that I find funny and will pass it along:

"McAuliffe is aware, of course, that, if Cheney were to be removed before or during the Democratic Convention, all the credit would go to LaRouche."

Although to his credit he has been exposing cheney's dealings all along through here.

He is planning on guest speakers at the DNC which include:

"The Democratic elected officials who will join LYM representatives at the press conferences are indicative of a larger group which was outraged when they learned that young people were being kept out and harassed. Expected to attend and speak are:

* Rep. Harold James, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Rep. Perry Clark, Louisville, Kentucky
* Rep. Joe Towns, Memphis, Tennessee
* Rep. James "Billy" McKinney (former), Atlanta, Georgia
* Councilman Robert White, Cleveland, Ohio
* Barbara Lett-Simmons, Democratic National Committeewoman, District of Columbia

This article discuss the outijng of the Larouche campaign in Boston and says it is due to Homeland Security and Cheney

http://www.larouchepub.com/pr/2004/040722lym_bsn_cnvntion.html

[Feanorcurufinwe]

24. In fact, you can't believe anything these people say.

If it is on their website, it is more likely than not, a lie.

[fujiyama]

10. They may be

"anti-war, anti-free-trade, pro-universal health care"

The constitution party is for some of those things as well and so is Pat Buchanan.

However, LaRouche also espouses homophobia, anti semitism, and seems pretty much for the drug war.

It's sad because I think some of the people caught in his campaign are actually quite intelligent. Too bad they ended up in what seems to be a cult of personality.

[ConsAreLiars]

11. Cult members are often nice people.

Just misguided - literally. Do a little research.

[Jose Diablo]

13. LaRouche is bad news

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_LaRouche

<Quote from Wikipedia>

"LaRouche and the NCLC

In 1969 LaRouche formed the National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC), a grouping of ex-SDS activists and other ex-Trotskyists. Despite its name the NCLC had no significant connection with the labor movement. It soon developed the hallmarks of a cult, with a charismatic leader (LaRouche), a catastrophist and conspiratorial ideology, and an esoteric vocabulary known only to initiates. NCLC members gave up their jobs and private lives and became entirely devoted to the group and its leader. Like many cults, the LaRouche organization developed an internal discipline technique, called "ego stripping," which reinforced conformity and loyalty to LaRouche.

In the 1970s LaRouche developed an intense interest in fascism, and began to adopt some of its slogans and practices, while maintaining (as he still does) an outward stance of anti-fascism. He began to regard himself and his followers as "Prometheans," superior to all other people, and under his direction the NCLC adopted violent and disruptive tactics, physically attacking meetings of the SWP, the Communist Party and other groups, who were classed by LaRouche as "left-protofascists." During "Operation Mop-Up," NCLC members engaged in a series of well-documented beatings of members of these groups. Some ex-NCLC members who left the group at this time say that LaRouche was studying the career of Adolf Hitler and consciously adopting the tactics of the early Nazi Party.

During the 1970s LaRouche steered the NCLC away from the left and towards the extreme right, while retaining some of the slogans and attitudes of the left (as did the founder of fascism, the ex-Socialist Benito Mussolini, and many others since). The Marxist concept of the ruling class was converted by LaRouche into a gigantic conspiracy theory, in which world capitalism was controlled by a secret cabal including the Rothschilds, the Rockefellers, Henry Kissinger, the Council on Foreign Relations and other standard villains of the extreme right, many though not all of them Jewish. LaRouche added some novel variations on this theme. The heart of the conspiracy, according to LaRouche, was the financial elite of the City of London. LaRouche has always been violently anti-British - a trait shared by many American isolationists - and has included Queen Elizabeth II, among others, in his list of conspirators.

In the 1980s LaRouche's political rhetoric and accusations grew more detached from generally accepted reality. Hitler had been a British agent as was Marx. Menachem Begin was a Nazi. The Beatles were "a product shaped according to British Psychological Warfare Division specifications." Both Communism or Fascism were facets of the great overarching conspiracy of the "Synarchy," an oligarchical network of financiers and manipulators who rule the world. Only LaRouche and his "humanist elite" fully understand this vast conspiracy, and possess the willpower and knowledge to withstand it. LaRouche's personal egotism is a significant force driving his politics. In 1979 he wrote: "My principal accomplishment is that of being, by a large margin of advantage, the leading economist of the twentieth century to date." Some of LaRouche's conspiracy theories appear to border on self-parody, "Who is pushing the world toward war?" he asked in 1981. "It is the forces behind the World Wildlife Fund, the Club of Rome, and the heritage of H. G. Wells and the evil Bertrand Russell."

<end quote>

This guy set-ups a supposed left pro labor group, then steers it to the far right, making money the whole time. I'd help you sons friend see this guy for what he is, a con man.

Edit for spelling

[starroute]

14. Thanks for the link

I'll pass it on to my son. I'll don't know how much headway he'll make with the friend (who's someone he's known for a long time, but has never been especially close to), but he can draw on it as he choses.

I'm impressed to see Wikipedia doing something this detailed, by the way. It seems to have come a long way lately -- I'll have to add it to my Firefox searchbar.

[genius]

17. Sort of like a Karl Rove article on Kerry

[genius]

18. My real issue is I don't like witch hunts against Democrats

What will the conservatives be saying about Kucinich or Kennedy in a few years? Oh, that's right, the conservative Democrats have already allowed the right-wing to discredit Kennedy and to minimalize Kucinich. Democrats need to stick together and stop demonizing liberal Democrats by accusing them of things they are not.

LaRouche is old, isn't he? Once he's gone, they will have to pick on someone else to hate and some other group to harrass. Will the Deanies or the Kucinicizens be next?

[Jose Diablo]

26. LaRouche is a Democrat?

I guess Zell Miller is a Democrat too. What does it take to be a Democrat, just declare?

Does LaRouche support Kerry or Kucinich. Does Kucinich or Kerry support LaRouche? I doubt it.

A worry about a neocon attack on Dean or Kucinich because LaRouche is not there to attack? Dean and Kucinich will always be attacked by the neocons, with or without LaRouche.

One thing I learned being in a union, solidarity can only go so far. Just because somebody wants to help you in a strike, does not mean you should accept that help. Ever wonder why unions shunned 'help' from the communists? It is because the 'help' would hurt more than help. Once labor won the legal right to force companies to negotiation the unions became partners in capitalism, their beef was with the share they were getting of the profits, not overhauling the whole economic system. Being a partner in capitalism was FDR's Pluralist economy. And it worked very well for all participants, thank you.

The communists wanted a 'workers paradise' without profit generating capabilities of capitalism. The 'workers paradise' turned out to be a fraud on the workers because the victorian ideology of Marx considered humans to be basically good. Humans by and large if given the opportunity are greedy. By the time Marx's idea's were put in place in Russian, western civilization was moving from monopoly to financial capitalism and then to a Pluralist economy with FDR. Communism became an out of date ideology based on the victorian western social system long gone. The 'workers paradise' in Russia became a bureaucrats wet dream of pilfering. Doing dumb things like measuring truck production by metric tons produced rather than a more productive measurement like units produced. Of course if you measure truck production by metric tons, then you end up with some very heavy trucks, though not as many units. Pretend to work and pretend to get paid. On and on.

Back to the topic though, LaRouche doesn't deserve the Democratic party. I don't know what LaRouche is, I don't think he is a communist nor a conservative Democrat. I would place LaRouche slightly to the right of Attila the Hun. Call him a radical right if a name is needed.

[WoodrowFan]

22. Homeland Security?

I really doubt if homeland security would give a hoot if Larouche showed up in boston. To Larouche EVERYTHING is a plot and everybody in the US government is out to get him cause he's so brilliant and such.