[MD] "just right-wing politics"

[Arlo J. Bensinger]

In his time as a professor, Pirsig felt the ever-present assault on the
university's by what he described as "just right-wing politics".

Today, this assault has moved into full gear. Or has it? An interesting article
HNN.com (George Mason University) in response to a previous article titled
"Who's behind the attck on liberal professors?"

The response (http://www.hnn.us/articles/1244.html) sums up an intereting
historical trajectory, beginning with a 1971 memo from SCJ Lewis Powell.

The memo stated ""the American economic system" of business and free markets was
"under broad attack" by "Communists, New Leftists and other revolutionaries who
would destroy the entire system". The rise of Heritage Foundation, and other
conservative funding agencies forming a core of four funding agencies, can be
traced to the "research" used to villify and condemn the Academy (and
"subversive professors" like Pirsig).

The article explains what we see right away as a common, typical tactic of
ideological propaganda. "The right-wing movement's messages are orchestrated
and amplified to sound like a mass "movement" consisting of many "voices."
Using "messaging"--communication techniques from the fields of marketing,
public relations, and corporate image-management--the movement appeals to
people's deeper feelings and values. Messages are repeated until they become
"conventional wisdom." Examples include lines like "Social Security is going
broke" and "public schools are failing." Both statements are questionable, yet
both have been firmly embedded in the "public mind" by purposeful repetition
through multiple channels. This orchestration has been referred to as a "Mighty
Wurlitzer," a CIA term that refers to propaganda that is repeated over and over
again in numerous places until the public believes what it's hearing must be
true."

"It turns out that many of the most important attacks are part of a campaign
organized by conservative foundations, as a study by report by the National
Committee on Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) found. In a section entitled,
"Targeting the Academy" the report discusses right-wing attacks on academia,
including "political correctness" campaigns, efforts to use alumni
contributions to advance a conservative agenda, efforts to take over or de-fund
the National Endowment for the Humanities and to de-fund the National Endowment
for the Arts. These attacks follow the pattern outlined in the Powell memo --
attack the patriotism of liberals and attempt to convince trustees of colleges
and universities to remove them, replacing them with ideological
"conservatives."(4)"

"Attack the patriotism of liberals"? Where have I heard that before? Hmm..

The article concludes, "By looking at the backgrounds of the conservative
sources cited in Foner and Gilmore's article on freedom of speech on campus, we
have discovered another story. What Foner and Gillmore took to be a number of
voices signifying, in their words, "a broader trend among conservative
commentators, who since September 11 have increasingly equated criticism of the
Bush administration with lack of patriotism," is really only the tip of an
iceberg of organizations, funded by a core group coordinating a right-wing
agenda to put a chill on more than just academic speech. Academics should be on
guard because the activities of these organizations follow a pattern designed
to mislead the casual reviewer."

No kidding. I post this only because even here the Party Jesters seek to employ
"Mighty Wurlitzers" to normalize the idea that there is a Vast and Immoral
Leftist Conspiracy in the Academy, where black-toothed, villianous professors
seek to indoctrinate pure-heart conservatives into the mindless evil of
liberalism.

Yeah, right.

Arlo