A Clear and Present Danger

The Jewish Press, Nov. 30, 1990

By PROFESSOR HOWARD L. ADELSON

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There is a danger that in the midst of the failure of U.S. policy in the Persian Gulf, our attention will be so riveted on that distant region, that we will lose sight of the dangers which face the United States as a democratic republic on the home front.

The Jewish defense organizations appear to be completely helpless in the face of new threats, but the problem is intensifying. As a result of the activity of one man, the forces of the fascist, anti-Semitic, rightwing bigots in the United States have learned how to manipulate the political system.

The seriousness of this situation has been placed under a spotlight by one of the most gifted investigative reporters in this country. One of the very best introductions to the threat from the "extreme right," is a volume by Dennis King entitled Lyndon LaRouche and the New American Fascism which was published in 1989. In that volume Dennis King traces the activities and life of Lyndon LaRouche from the depths of the militant, radical Trotskyite groups to a leading cooperator with the dark forces of the right in an attempt to gain control of the American political system. In this volume Dennis King contends that the central figure tying together the bigots, the neo-Nazis and Fascists with the criminal elements in American life is Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr., who is presently serving a sentence in a federal penitentiary. Dennis King states unequivocally that Lyndon LaRouche is the central figure in providing knowledge of the American political system that has made possible the rise of bigots like David Duke to a position of prominence in Louisiana. Studying the career and activities of Lyndon LaRouche therefore is an introduction into the shadowy world of the right-wing conspiracy that lies concealed from most of us below the surface of political activity. Unfortunately, most of the newspapers and other news media have neglected this story because it requires energy to pursue the research.

Dennis King goes to great lengths to cite his evidence in support of the charge that Lyndon LaRouche, despite the presence of numbers of very visible Jews on his staff and among his supporters, is a leading American anti-Semite. Dennis King points out that Lyndon LaRouche had no difficulty in shifting from the Communist ranks in which he was at least a minor figure, to the extreme fascist right that included working with Louis Farrakhan, the leaders of the Ku Klux Klan, as well as the Populist Party, the political arm of the anti-Semitic Liberty Lobby sponsored by Willis Carto, one of the most virulent of the purveyors of anti-Semitism in the U.S. Dennis King also remarks that many of LaRouche's contacts with these anti-Semites have been quite public. Under the circumstances it beggars the imagination how any Jew can be found to serve in his entourage. Dennis King suggests that LaRouche has even gone as far as to establish close relations with the neo-Nazi movement in Germany, and he recounts a series of events and meetings involving LaRouche in support of that contention. It is nevertheless a fact that Jews have played a significant role working on behalf of their worst enemy in the U.S.

If Lyndon LaRouche were simply another political figure on the fringes of the American political system, he would not be dangerous because we have had other anti-Semitic groups on the edge of American political society. Dennis King, however, makes a point of the capacity of Lyndon LaRouche [to] conspire and to maneuver within the American political framework to achieve a degree of power far in excess of what would be warranted by the true numbers of LaRouche supporters. Many of the methods utilized by the LaRouche network to raise large sums of money were the subjects of indictments for criminal activity and for a series of civil suits by those who had been swindled. Normally that should be the end of the story, but Dennis King, the leading authority on the dangerous LaRouche movement, has said openly that the incarceration of LaRouche has by no means ended his control of the movement that he started and the fundraising activities that are the earmark of the group. The danger from the LaRouche movement has intensified in much the same manner that incarceration in Landsberg prison was merely an opportunity for the greatest villain of our age. According to Dennis King, the most authoritative investigator of the LaRouche movement, provisions have been made to allow Lyndon LaRouche to maintain his absolute control of his movement and to build it further.

It is evident that the threat from the Lyndon LaRouche movement has not ended. It is a current and present danger to all Americans and particularly to Jews. Only by turning a very bright spotlight upon the activities and history of Lyndon LaRouche and his supporters can we hope to make Americans aware of the growing danger that they face. A simple perusal of the volume by Dennis King provides more than adequate evidence of the degree to which foolish Jews, who proclaim their anti-Zionism as a badge, have allowed themselves to be lured into the ranks of the openly anti-Semitic LaRouche movement. Publicity within the Jewish community is an absolute requirement. Let us hope that others will have the courage of The Jewish Press in calling attention to this danger.

The hatred that Lyndon LaRouche feels for Jews and Judaism is unconcealed. It springs from the deepest roots of primitive, atavistic hatred that is combined with a nonsensical conspiratorial view of history which should be rejected by all men. In so many of his works LaRouche has spoken of a British/Jewish conspiracy to rule the world and to deprive America of the freedom of political and economic life. It is hard to imagine that anyone with half the intelligence of an ant would take him seriously. Nevertheless, the fact is that LaRouche has been effective in the world of politics despite the nonsense that he preaches. The danger cannot be ignored.

It is certainly shocking that a gentile from a fine North Carolina family should be the voice crying out the warning for American Jews. But Dennis King deserves that gratitude of American Jewry for stepping into the breach.

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