How the NeoCons 'Managed' Saddam Hussein

Part One of Four

- And Why the Facts Matter

“I'm not a journalist and the facts don't matter.” - Rayelan Allen, RMN owner and editor

“All politics is personal,” or “the personal is political.” Early feminist sayings

In November of 2002 we had been lied to about Weapons of Mass Destruction, the reason given for invading Iraq, resistance to the war was waning. Standing in the way, though this was not publicly known at the time, was Saddam Hussein, who was very willing to leave Iraq forever – if he was paid.

Paying him off would have been far cheaper than the cost of the war. But it would not have accomplished the real goals.

The real drive for war was oil and the dollar. The details were carried out by a group of people who had no conscience, willing to lie themselves into power and lie, cheat and steal to keep it. Together, they have changed our world, bringing us to the precipice of destruction. These are the acts of individuals who behave in exactly the same way in their personal lives. I know.

The build up to war, constructed by the Bush White House, took place as events in my own life played out in shocking ways but which proved to be highly informative in a horrible way.

The strategies used by those I was forced to deal with personally were the same as those used by the NeoCons who were driving us to war. At the time, I was fighting to protect my daughter, Morgan, from the consequences of her life-long bad behavior and judgment. Later, I realized this was not possible.

She is a psychopath acting on the mistaken belief she can get away with anything. Harming others, or even killing them, was perfectly acceptable to her.

Our internal values determine all parts of our lives and for all parts we are responsible and accountable.

How many people died because of the War in Iraq and the lies told to us? At least a million and a half, though the total is probably higher.

How many people misdirected their life efforts through patriotic fervor incited by people who had intentionally used the symbols and language of honor to defraud us? The number is unbearably high.

How many of us have struggled to understand how this could have happened?

Hold the impact of the war and how this was accomplished in mind as we consider what happened from the time this story began in 1997 until the invasion of Iraq began in the spring of 2003.

The Personal

I first became active in politics during the Goldwater campaign. My goal was to achieve social justice and individual empowerment. While pursing these goals I joined the Libertarian Party in 1974. I managed campaigns, ran for office, did fundraising and organized. I left when it was clear the Kochs had destroyed any potential for effective action in 1988.

I studied the problem of organizations while remaining active. In 1997 I was a Regent for the National Federation of Republican Women and coping with the continuing crises generated by my husband, Craig Franklin. Not filing his taxes, when he owed nothing, was typical of Craig's irresponsible behavior. I wrote this article about what we called, “The Tax Crisis,” in 2008. You're Not Paranoid – The IRS is out to get you.

After I solved the problem Craig decided to leave me and take all the money with him.

Beginning in 1997 Morgan, who had committed the incredibly ugly act of working with Craig to defraud me of millions of dollars during our divorce, had, in October of 1998, started a sexual relationship with an old boy friend of mine, John Fund, then on the Editorial Board of the Wall Street Journal. She wanted a rich husband and decided he would do.

Always ambitious, she had emerged from her childhood, which had traumatized her entire family, functionally illiterate – and her previous prospect for marital bounty, Eugene Volokh, had flown the coop the month before.

She was actually traveling with my estranged husband, on a tour of New York, London, and Paris, when she and John started their affair. Would she have hesitated if she had known how promiscuous John had become, enabled by the power accrued as a NeoCon operative? Probably not. But she might have played things differently.

John Fund was placed at the WSJ in 1984 by connections who maintained close ties with the people who were already working to put Bush in office by stealing the election in 2000. Positioned as a journalist he is actually a political operative, his first experiences in this coming through the Koch Brothers' attempt to take over the Libertarian Party.

Taking up with your mother's former boy friend, someone you have referred to as 'Uncle John' since you were a child, is scandalous behavior, there is no other word for it. This type of behavior is normal for Morgan.

I had no idea this was going on because I was thousands of miles away caring for my oldest son, Arthur, who had attempted suicide by shooting himself through the brain on March 22, 1998. It would be another year before he would be able to even go to the bathroom himself. My entire focus was on his care.

Morgan and I were not talking because her deviousness and lies had included attempting to persuade me she needed a heart transplant in an attempt to get me to turn off her brother's life support. She called me to ask for his heart. This happened, I later realized, soon after she had been paid $10,000 to do this by my estranged husband, Craig Franklin.

One of the reasons psychopaths get away with so much is our inability to believe the ugliness of their real motives. This is also true in politics.

When John started his liaison with Morgan he expected a job as speechwriter for the Bush administration, still two years in the future. They were already discussing war with Iraq. John would assist, pushing the agenda in the media.

After years of dealing with Morgan I knew not to believe her if she did not offer proof but I had no reason to distrust John. So, in September, 1999, for practically the only time in her life, Morgan told the truth, with proof.

Puzzled at the persistent rumors about a relationship between her and John, I called to ask him. John and I had been chatting regularly for over twenty years. Asked about the relationship he expressed shock. He denied it, saying he had fed her cat for her once or twice. I believed him. He was completely persuasive, giving the impression of absolute openness.

It was the WeaselSearch Tape, recorded by Morgan in September of 1999, which changed my mind.

This is a man who helped lie us into war. His personal ethics match the ones he uses professionally.

One afternoon that September Morgan called me to beg for help. She was broke and about to be evicted from her apartment in Jersey City. John, she said, had forced her to abort his baby the previous March and then dumped her. A heated discussion ensued as I relayed to her my recent conversation with John.

Hearing a call coming in, Morgan put me on hold. It was John. She recorded her conversation with him. You can listen to it on the tape above. A few minutes later I had heard the whole of it.

I was stunned and confronted him on the phone soon afterward. He hung up on me. His cover blown he moved to the next strategy, distancing.

As a result of a fax I sent to the WSJ moments later, the job as a speechwriter for the Bush White House, already being promised, vanished. The fax, I was told, was copied at least five times on its way to his office.

The illusion of family values needed to be retained.

Instead of a job in the White House, which John had earned through his work as an operative for the NeoCons, then coming to power, he was told to write a book about how liberals steal elections. This would provide cover for the electronic hacking about to begin.

Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy, would be published September 24, 2004.

The relationship between John and Morgan seemed to stabilize for a while. Fund spent nearly half his time at the apartment I rented in NY at the Rivergate. I was rarely there. John told me he intended to marry Morgan, who he said really loved. I wished them well, glad they had come to some resolution.

But then, in December of 2000 Morgan realized he was sneaking into my empty room to call other women, including Federal judge Diane Sykes, late at night. He left emails where Morgan could find them.

I received copies of these from Morgan via email. This one, Fund sent on July 22 this same year, was typical.

Morgan's relationship with John continued, headed for rockier and rockier ground as the number of 'other women' Morgan discovered increased.

Despite this, they moved in together in Jersey City in July of 2001, just days after Morgan had vented to John Connolly of Vanity Fair. From those interviews Connolly wrote an article titled, “Sex, Lies and the Tape.” Over my objections Morgan had given him a copy of the tape she had made in 1999.

The article was published September 4, 2001, along with the tape.

Connolly had arranged for the article to be published in Talk Magazine - but Fund intimidated Tina Brown into canceling the story by having his attorney, John J. Walsh, call and make threats. Walsh later billed for services, producing this letter. Morgan also found a Work Memo later.

Instead, the article was published only online on a site called WeaselSearch, from which it got its name. When the site folded it was hosted on American Politics Journal, where it is today.

What Fund did to stop publication is standard operating procedure for NeoCons. He used this later against me.

But because the article refuted the lies John had continued to tell, a scandal erupted anyway.

Understandably, this event did not contribute to bliss in John and Morgan's relationship but the reasons were far more complex than just one little article.

Morgan called me, outraged. She had refurbished John's apartment at his request and he was refusing to pay her back. When she moved in the utilities had been turned off because of his non-payment and the plumbing did not work. I made her produce the receipts since I still did not trust her. She kept track of payment for cleaning supplies and repairs, which were complete before she told me John was battering her in the later part of September.

The violence, she later said, had begun one evening after an event at the ALEC Conference in New York in early August.

I had hoped the relationship would work out. To say it didn't vastly understates the case.

I did not believe her until I heard it happening over the phone, which happened in late September. When I heard John's demonic glee as he pounded her I felt obligated to take action. As I have said, Morgan lies. Another friend of her's, Eric Buchanan, confirmed he had also heard this taking place on another occasion. Both of us advised Morgan to leave him. She refused.

During this time Carol Divine Molin, a Republican Woman, called me to express concern for Morgan as a battered woman. She told me she counseled women who had been battered.

Then it came out that her motive was reigniting her brief fling with Fund by assisting him with Morgan. The fling had taken place some time earlier, after Fund spoke to a group to which Molin belonged. Liking what she saw, evidently, she took him home with her. Fund's parting words were, by report, “You got to swallow.”

We learned Molin had complained to the management at the Wall Street Journal about how she had been treated the year before.

The beatings continued. Morgan filed police reports in New Jersey.

Morgan became aware John was still lying about their relationship, saying he barely knew her, while she was living with him. At one point she used her cell phone so I could hear him telling these lies to Lloyd Grove from the Washington Post.

Listening to him lie was stunning. Again, I begged her to leave.

After she found even more emails, from a growing list of other women, she agreed. The emails included these between him and Michele Davis, on January 13^th and 18^th, and this Email, revealing the sexual relationship he had begun with law professor Gail Heriot, also on the 13^th of January.

Christine Hall Reis, a new bride, offered the services of herself and her friend, Julie Currie, from Kroll Opposition Research to John on January 21, 2002. Christine had sent an unusual photo of herself to John, which he printed and left on the floor, where Morgan found it.

Morgan moved out of the apartment in Jersey City and into an apartment I rented for her in New York around January 24 - 26, 2002. I breathed a sigh of relief, but it was not over. The craziness escalated.

John found out where Morgan was living and moved in with her. He left a litter of papers there, some of which Morgan scanned and sent me to prove this was happening. This letter from Fidelity Investments is dated January 25, 2002. Morgan picked it up off the floor in her Manhattan apartment after John left it there. Another incident of battery soon took place just moments before I arrived at the apartment. When I walked in I saw Morgan bloodied and bruised.

The New York police report was filed.

John had been told by his two closest friends, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove, who occupied adjacent spaces on his speed dial, he needed to provide evidence Morgan had lied. Which she might well have done. But there were witnesses. Buchanan and I had heard beatings take place and were ignored by authorities. Neither of us were ever called though the authorities knew we were witnesses.

Fund received help from some of the other women in his life. A few of these were victims themselves, unaware of what was really happening and are not named. Others, like Gail Heriot, whose relationship with Fund began in a hotel room in December of 2001 or January of 2002, assisted in building the website Fund used to insert lies into public view and wrote letters for him, libeling both Morgan and myself.

Desperate, we sought help from people who were politically at odds with the NeoCons. One of these individuals was Sidney Blumenthal.

It was at this time Blumenthal put a keylogger on Morgan's computer to steal information about Fund. He had refused to help, trying to persuade her it was enough to expose him politically. So Morgan returned the keylogger favor, against my advice.

While she can't write a literate sentence Morgan was a wiz with computers. It was this act which would expose to us the strategy adopted by the Bush White House to ensure the War in Iraq was not stopped in November of 2002.

An attempt to kill Morgan took place in May, 2002. I heard this over the phone as the key turned in the door of her apartment. Morgan threw herself against it and engaged the dead bolt. I believed her. She is not that good an actress.

Then, she went into hiding with a couple in Georgia.

As the campaign to sell the fiction of Weapons of Mass Destruction was hammered into accepted fact Morgan was following Sidney via his emails and reading early chapters of his book, Clinton's War. Occasionally she would forward me a copy.

By November war appeared to be inevitable. Then, Morgan called me and asked if U-Day was something like E-Bay. The keylogger had turned up something with more surprises than Blumenthal's book.

Saddam, in communication with Blumenthal, wanted to cut a deal to be paid to leave so war would not be necessary. I had the origin of the email checked out and the expert said it had come from the Emirates and Baghdad was a likely source.

The appointed agents for insuring Saddam would stay put were the Clintons and their old friend, Sidney Blumenthal. This activism on their parts is likely the real source of the largess which flowed into the Clinton coffers, not Hillary's public speaking abilities or investment savvy.

The previous January Fund had forced Morgan to sign a 'confession' saying no abuse had taken place. The documents were dated January 24, 2002, just before she moved out.

Evidently, Fund promised to pay her what he owned her if she signed and, stupidly, she did. Since an accounting of what Fund owed matched what was asked if you add in the outdated checks Morgan found while cleaning, which Fund had given her, it is likely Rove and Cheney decided this was not enough 'proof' to be persuasive.

Eric and I knew the statement was hogwash and would have so testified.

The real campaign to destroy our credibility began in 2003, after Fund's friends realized they had more than one political operation to protect. They needed to protect John, a pivotal political operative, and the truth about Saddam.

So evidence was sought and obtained through trade with those holding it.

Craig, my former husband, was Senior Vice President of Green Hills Software, Inc. He and the company's president, Dan O'Dowd, had made a deal in 1997 to defraud their partners. Dan would have a fake stock option agreement made to deny me a marital share during our divorce and Craig would lead a walk out to keep Glenn Hightower, Dan's partner, from exercising his buy out option when Dan exercised it and made him an offer.

Morgan had supplied a recording of Craig gloating about this and in late 1999 I had filed a law suit. Morgan gave a deposition on February 22, 2001. The suit settled and the deposition was never certified, making it illegal to copy.

Green Hills Software, LLC. exchanged a copy of this deposition for defense contracts. Today, Green Hills Software, Inc. is a billion dollar company heavily into drone technology and supplying the Military Industrial Complex.

The campaign to destroy our credibility began in early 2003.

On January 23, 2003 Fund filed an answer to Morgan's law suit in New York.

On April 1, 2003 Melinda's webmaster received a threatening letter. 

On April 3, 2003, Dan O'Dowd decided the desperate need for servicemembers was to provide a measly $5,000 for a child's college education. He amount pledged, $100.000, with matching funds up to $250.000. The non-profit was incorporated on the 9^th and announced publicly on April 10^th. The is an embarrassingly minor contribution for a corporation which made billions from contracts flowing from the military.

On April 7, 2003 Craig Franklin handed an enveloped copy of Morgan's Deposition to Anne
Fisher, his then girl friend, telling her it contained Morgan's deposition. It was addressed to John Fund.  It was a Green Hills envelope with the postage paid by the company in advance.

On April 8, 2003 RuthlessPeople was down. 

On May 11, 2003, Mother's Day morning, I wrote an email responding to questions received early that morning from Eric Alterman for an article which would be published on the 15^th.

On May 15, 2003 Eric Alterman's hit piece, "Who Framed John Fund?" was published in The 
Nation.

On May 16, 2003 Gene Gaudette, Editor of American Politics Journal, received a Letter via email from Gail Heriot, one of Funds many girl friends libeling us.

On June 21, 2003 JohnFund.com, a hit site, appeared online. The site came down sometime after May 19^th this year. It can be viewed through the WayBackMachine.

On July 22, 2003 Wendy MacElroy, who calls herself a feminist but focuses her attack pieces on women, traded a hit piece on Morgan for a gig at Fox News. Wendy, who has known Melinda since the 1970s, failed to call her or Morgan. The article is titled, False Rape Charges Hurt Real Victims.

During this time Melinda received notice from the IRS claiming she owed money. The IRS refused to tell her why since her returns were produced by a CPA and documented all expenses.

Carried out this way, the NeoCon campaign was masked and did not appear to have any relationship with the War in Iraq. It was all 'personal.'

But all parts of our lives reflect our values, which is why trying to separate the two in this was is wrong.

Clearly, everyone else had agendas which had nothing to do with the simple, provable fact John Fund committed domestic violence. This is a crime and should be prosecuted even if the victim has lied previously and is a jerk. 

 

In 2004 I wrote GREED – The NeoConning of America, a lightly fictionalized autobiography framed around my daughter, not myself. I am now reissuing a non-fiction version, which includes “the Bunker in Georgia” Story. That story about Saddam began in Chapter 16 - A Signal from the Bunker, in subsection The Bunker in Georgia.

Saddam also knew too much.

No one read the book, though the reviews were very good.

I wonder what would have happened if I had understood the ruthless lack of conscience these people carry behind smiling, and lying, faces in both their personal and professional lives. What choices would I have made, personal and political?

The next years were given over to stark survival and caring for my son. Since Morgan had drained me of money this was much more difficult. I fought back because I had to, using the only tool I could afford, the truth.

Stay tuned for Part Two - What Happens When You Know Too Much

Stop the Drone Profiteers

We all know about the kind of threat represented by the purchase and use of drones in our communities. We also know the potential for profit with drone technology is measured in the billions of dollars.

Visit this site and see how many such contractors there are today.

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International shows you just how serious a threat this is to our real security and freedom. When this many corporations are lined up, hands out, to grab the largess, you know the money available is only beginning.

What kind of people would, today, be ready to sell their fellow Americans down the river and into bondage so they can profit? The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International provides a list of their members, to which we linked. At Drone Free Zone we would like to google map these 'businesses,' making them visible in their communities so their fellow Americans, congregants, club members, neighbors, and family members with conscience, can let them know, face to face what they think of how drone enablers make their money. They must be stopped. We must do this in every way possible, including direct, personal, confrontation.

It takes integrity to be willing to stand up for what we believe. It is not always easy. There are over 2,000 contractors and we need a team to find and catalog locations and other contact information.

Additionally, we need to research the people in positions of authority within these corporations. Are they persons of rectitude? Or are they the kind of people who will do anything for the buck? We need the evidence.

Please help us roll out a protest to close the doors of those who are locking down our skies and lives. We need to expose those whose lives lack integrity.

The meaning of the word, Integrity.

in·teg·ri·ty

n.

1. Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.

2. The state of being unimpaired; soundness.

3. The quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness.

The word has profound meaning. Many attempt to hide behind words, which is true of the man we use as an example, Dan O'Dowd, owner of Green Hills Software, Inc., a drone contractor.

If a man engages in a scheme to violate the law, suborning the justice system to gain power and wealth, while destroying the lives of an entire family and putting some of them at risk of their lives, does he have any claim to 'integrity?' 

And what if the list of crimes the man enabled and covered for includes placing uncounted women and girls at  risk?  What if he is known to have paid off victims, or intimidated them into silence?  

And if such a man hides behind the cloak of power to cover his crimes, what is he then?  And who if such a man had the audacity to name his technology, INTEGRITY?

Our country, today, is waking up to question those who have been entrusted with power.  One of the first questions to be asked is what can be proven of their integrity?  Have  they honored their obligation to follow the law, used power in ways which made all of us safer, more secure in our homes and lives?  The evidence will speak for itself.

Go to "Craig Franklin and Green Hills Software"

Contact me through DroneFreeZone.com” if you can help. It will be very much appreciated.

Banning the drones locally is already happening, as you see below.

According to this article, “Thomas Jefferson’s Home Town First to Ban Drone Surveillance," the movement to stop drones, used domestically, is now launched. 

Banning drones is a defensive move, important, but it does not deliver the slap down so desperately needs to be delivered to those now profiting or prevent the next scheme from being rolled out.

For those without INTEGRITY it is  all about the money, greed, and an unbridled lust for power and control.  If one scheme fails, they will more on to the next.

America needs individuals who use their discernment to question what they are asked to do and the integrity to say, 'no,' even when they stand to profit.  For this to happen we need to ensure only those with integrity are entrusted with power.

Our institutions, government, courts, commerce, should be always in the hands of those possessing only the highest integrity.  This must be true in government and in corporations.

As you read about what one man, Dan O'Dowd, did, using one corporation, you will understand the urgency of this project.

 

If any man guilty of such offenses then uses the word, INTEGRITY, for his main product, what does that say about him? Yet this man became enormously wealthy through his actions.

The use of the word could well be an attempt to cover, even possibly, to himself, the full import of his actions.

This is the question we will answer, starting with drone corporations.

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

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 on BBSRadio.com. Our guest will be Lydia Cornell, actress, activist, and a warrior for truth.

Show down in Crawford, Texas: When the Truth Triumphed

W. Leon Smith was a believer. When he started his newspaper The Lone Star Iconoclast in Crawford in 2000 he believed that George Bush would be an asset to the community and the country.

Time and events have changed that.

When Bush was inaugurated in 2001, America had a budget surplus. But by September of 2004, Americans faced the worst budget deficit in history, were mired in war, seeing its sons and daughters returned home maimed or in coffins, and facing a rapidly deteriorating economy.

With his co-editors, Smith sat down again to go over the issues. The paper always made endorsements. Their editorial policy was not focused on partisan politics but on simply doing the right thing. Ignoring party loyalty, . Smith declared that what really matter was character and keeping faith with those who elected them.

The three editors at The Iconoclast objectively considered the issues; they assessed George Bush and John Kerry as if they were prospective employees, acting for all Americans. They counted up the time George Bush spent on vacation, more time off than any other president in history.

They looked over the toll taken by the War in Iraq . Then they turned their attention to the emerging patterns of corruption that revealed an agenda having nothing to do with serving the American people. Billions were disappearing into the maw of such corporations as Halliburton through contracts that never went out to bid.

George Bush ' s popularity had waned in other parts of the country, but in Texas his approval rating still stood at over 80%. Smith knew the risks. He was cautioned that publishing an endorsement of John Kerry in 2004 could cost him his business.

On September 29, 2004 , the Iconoclast endorsed John Kerry with a half-page editorial that became the talk of the nation and the world. The passionately worded editorial was downloaded and reprinted millions of times over the next months.

Over and over again the Iconoclast ' s servers crashed because of the volume. The three phones in the Iconoclast ' s offices were not still for weeks. At first, most callers were angry, abusive, obscene with whoever answered the phone. Then, a change started to take place. The number of calls continued to keep the phones busy around the clock but the reason for the calls changed. People from Texas and across the country and then the world began to express their gratitude. The Iconoclast had spoken for them, outlining their concerns and issues succinctly and objectively, they said.

At first it had been difficult for the Iconoclast employees to endure. Employees were harassed and threatened as was Smith. Reporters were prevented from just doing their jobs. A campaign was mounted to boycott the paper, threatening advertisers with boycott of their businesses if they continued to advertise in The Iconoclast.

A group in Clifton , where the Iconoclast headquarters are located, began to call for Smith ' s removal as Mayor of the small town. A delegation of local people came en mass to the offices of the Iconoclast to tell Smith they intended to “run him out of town.”

Smith held his ground truth, and at no time did he choose to rescind the editorial.

Courage comes with the Smith heritage. The Smith family and Texas have a long history.

Erastus “Deaf” Smith, Leon Smith ' s great-great-great-great uncle, first came as to Texas from Mississippi Territory in 1817, having been born in New York and later living in North Carolina . Deaf had lost his hearing from a childhood disease. In 1822 he was married and living near San Antonio .

During the course of the Texas War of Independence Erastus Smith would earn the deep respect and gratitude of Stephen Austin and Sam Houston. His work as a spy for the Texans would provide the information that won Texas ' s independence.

Wounded in battle, he returned to duty in time for the crucial battle for independence, where he played a key role. It would be Deaf Smith who discovered the fate of those at the Alamo and who escorted Susanna W. and Angelina E. Dickinson, now widows, to safety. It was to Smith the phrase, “Remember the Alamo ,” would be ascribed.

On April 21, 1836 , Smith, under orders from Sam Houston, destroyed Vince ' s Bridge to prevent the retreat of the Mexican army. Smith always accomplished his mission. He died November 30, 1837 .

On September 29, 2004 , his great-great-great-great nephew also took action, born from a sense of honor and loyalty to the preservation of America’s true values and to Texas . As Mayor of Clifton, Texas he had done his duty to his community. Now he would do his duty to his fellow Americans.

The Editorial, as it came to be known, set the issues that would be raised during the Presidential debate then pending. That editorial began by pointing out that few Americans would have voted for Bush if they had realized he would:

• “Empty the Social Security trust fund by $507 billion to help offset fiscal irresponsibility and at the same time slash Social Security benefits.

• Cut Medicare by 17 percent and reduce veterans’ benefits and military pay.

• Eliminate overtime pay for millions of Americans and raise oil prices by 50 percent.

• Give tax cuts to businesses that sent American jobs overseas, and, in fact, by policy encourage their departure.

• Give away billions of tax dollars in government contracts without competitive bids.

• Involve this country in a deadly and highly questionable war, and

• Take a budget surplus and turn it into the worst deficit in the history of the United States , creating a debt in just four years that will take generations to repay.

These were elements of a hidden agenda that surfaced only after he took office.”

The Editorial was reasoned, deeply researched and well documented. It had needed to be said; no one else had said it. Despite that or because of it Smith became the focus of media attention himself. Everyone from MSNBC to college newspapers throughout the country wanted an interview and many came to Clifton to get it.

Leon found himself working around the clock, even giving interviews at 4 in the morning. Work on the paper backed up but always, finally, went out. Smith found himself hammered; every statement made in the Editorial scrutinized and questioned in exhausting detail. But he knew that he needed to be available. To do otherwise could be deemed as backing away from the truth.

• On November 3rd, 2004 the Iconoclast ran a story on overcharging by Halliburton.

• On November 17th, the paper reported voting irregularities.

• On December 1^st it reported the Congressional investigation of voting irregularities.

• On December 12 the report of the offer off $100,000 from Jimmy Walters for proof that the World Trade Center had collapsed as reported by the governmental investigation was on the front page.

• January 5, 2005 Rep. Conyers Asking Senators To Object To Certification Of Election

• February 9, 2005 Unexpected Illness, Medical Bills Cause Half Of All Bankruptcies

• March 2, 2005 Lessons of My Lai :Army Whistleblower Urges Public To Do The Right Thing

• March 9, 2005 Underwater Noise Pollution Will Dolphins And Whales Go The Way Of The Dinosaur? - The Velvet Revolution: Divestiture For Democracy 87 Citizen Groups Launch Nationwide Campaign To End Secrecy In U.S. Voting Machine Companies

• March 23, 2005 Texas House Proposes Tax Cuts For The Wealthy With School Finance Plan

In the next months the readership of the Iconoclast would change. Few now subscribed from the local area, but the on-line edition was read across the country and internationally. As corporately owned media within the United States was stifled and issues that were public knowledge in Europe and elsewhere globally, Americans could find the truth reliably on the pages of the Iconoclast.

The Iconoclast became the newspaper for Americans who want the truth and for those in other countries who wanted a real American paper. Print copies began to be mailed out around the world.

The migration of Depleted Uranium came to the attention of Americans through the Iconoclast as did other issues that otherwise would have remained unknown to the general public.

While The Iconoclast had become a major source for the truth, this work carried out by a staff of three incredibly brave and intrepid people, Mr. Smith still felt as if major stories were slipping through his fingers because of the lack of staff, money and time.

Smith had also begun to receive e-mails and phone calls from people deep within the Bush Administration and in multinational corporations who had information they knew should be available to the public. They knew he could be trusted because of his unwavering bravery. Stretching his resources to the limit, Smith worked around the clock to make as many of these stories available as possible while still ensuring that the documenting research would be available to protect the paper ' s continued existence.

Over and over again it would be an article in the Iconoclast that would awaken Americans to issues that did not appear in the mainstream media. But Smith faced the frustration of limited resources. Not all of these invaluable leads could be followed up. Whistleblowers were equally stalwart, and unwilling to go elsewhere; they knew Smith was to be trusted and many were putting their lives and livelihoods on the line.

America was experiencing another division; this one not on the ideological divide but based on Internet access and whether the Internet was used as the most reliable source of news. Americans were confused by the best way to get their news. In the blogosphere the state of affairs was clarifying. For the rest of the country it remained opaque. Attempts to limit Internet access were stepped up by the administration. At the same time, activist organizations, such as Velvet Revolution, Code Pink, and After Downing Street and a host of others began to step up organizing against the war and in opposition to the Bush Administration but no one could penetrate into the mainstream.

Then, in August of 2005 Cindy Sheehan went to Crawford , Texas to confront George Bush. Camp Casey sprang into being; the media arrived ready to shoot at their usual Bush clearing his boring brush story, but events would prove them wrong.

The Iconoclast had covered a Sheehan story recently, but now Smith and one of his fellow editors decided to follow the events in detail, through cell phones providing hour-by-hour or even minute-by-minute coverage of the drama playing out at Camp Casey and at the Crawford Peace House.

The action was reported on the Iconoclast pages online. As major mainstream media saw the Iconoclast following the action they ramped up their own coverage. Finally, the mainstream had competition, limited but on point.

Then, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and Americans received a closer look at the stunning lack of compassion of the Bush White House. The stories flowed out, directly through readership then through the blogging community.

The activist world had come to depend on the Iconoclast as someplace they could go for the truth and the Iconoclast intensified its mission to meet that demand.

In the following months the use of cell cameras and links to video and audio would flesh out the approach the Iconoclast had pioneered while the choke hold of corporate ownership continued its drive to cut activists off from the mainstream. The case of a student at UCLA, battered by campus police, would gain visibility through observers using their personal devices. In Iraq the use of camera cell phones was banned.

The race for the hearts and minds of Americans had become grim, the outcome depending on factors not yet in evidence. As the number of issues and activists increased so did the crying need to break through to America . Would it happen in time? The jury is still out.