Move towards the light, Ralph, the light!.....

March 4, 2004 9:38 AM

Ralph Nader's Dark Alliance- (LA Weekly) In search of support for his candidacy, "...Nader has now jumped into bed with the ultrasectarian cult-racket formerly known as the New Alliance Party and its guru, Fred Newman" who "recruits and controls his followers through a brainwashing scheme baptized "social therapy," designed to create blind allegiance to Newman", and who has "dipped his rhetoric in the poisonous blood-libel of anti-Semitism, denouncing Jews as "storm troopers of decadent capitalism."". More on this right wing cult ( via Orcinus)
posted by troutfishing (19 comments total)

Oops - sorry for the egregious attribution error. That should have been the LA WEEKLY!
posted by troutfishing at 9:41 AM on March 4, 2004

I delt with some of the New Alliance folks while doing progressive activism in Portland, Oregon in the early 1990s. Very creepy organization. The individuals I met just seemed like unwitting dupes.
posted by Nelson at 10:49 AM on March 4, 2004

(thanks, Matt, for the correction)

Nelson - Dave Neiwert uses terms very much like yours ("unwitting dupes") to describe Newman's followers and, as I'm sure you read in the LA Weekly article, "By French-kissing the cultists to get on the ballot, Nader has allowed himself to be used as bait to lure the unsuspecting into the Newmanite orbit, where they risk being sucked into the cult."

I was curious about the group's political migration - all the way from Maoism to, now, the xenophobic Buchanon fringe of the US right wing.

I suppose he got hooked on the attention he received during the 2000 election, but Nader needs to pull out of this screaming nosedive of his. It's a sad, unecessary plunge.
posted by troutfishing at 11:26 AM on March 4, 2004

Nader needs to pull out of this screaming nosedive of his. It's a sad, unecessary plunge.

Oh no, he doesn't and oh no, it isn't: the more marginalized, pathetic and, frankly, divorced from ordinary reality he renders himself, the less chance Nader has of helping Bush win re-election by diverting votes from the eventual Democratic nominee. The creepier and more threatening to regular people Nader's associates seem, the fewer people will waste a vote on Ralph's ridiculous candidacy.
posted by JollyWanker at 11:58 AM on March 4, 2004

he doesn't sound ridiculous to me at all.

he might get my vote for president. in any case, i'm definitely excited to see him in the race.
posted by mrgrimm at 12:22 PM on March 4, 2004

I've run into the New Alliance people too...they scare me. What's Ralph thinking?
posted by dejah420 at 12:45 PM on March 4, 2004

admittedly, it seems like an bad association. i suspect it's an unfortunate sacrifice he made to get on all 50 ballots.

eh. the antisemitic history is embarrassing, but so is Kerry pandering to homophobes. i still intend to "waste my vote" on someone other than the big 2.

color me most digusted by MoveOn's attempts to bribe Nader out of the race.
posted by mrgrimm at 12:56 PM on March 4, 2004

I'd never heard of Fred Newman before - this is fascinating.
From Ex IWP.org - this article is a magazine style read - but there's much more to chew on - apparently the APA (American Psychological Association) has no problem with this "cult" presenting at their conferences. Makes a great selling point - "hey we can't be a cult, many of our therapists are ok with the APA!"
posted by batgrlHG at 2:12 PM on March 4, 2004

Whenever I hear "cult" I turn to rickross.com; he does indeed have a page on the New Alliance Party (top linked article is the one under discussion).
posted by staggernation at 5:00 PM on March 4, 2004

I think Nader is of Lebanese descent so that might explain his associating with an antisemite (but not condone it).

The Weekly has been running a pretty hard smear campaign on Nader lately. Everyone on all sides is going to be fighting through '04 like badgers, Nader included. Things are going to get ugly, especially when they thaw Osama. Yeeha!
posted by velacroix at 7:49 PM on March 4, 2004

Oh no, he doesn't and oh no, it isn't: the more marginalized, pathetic and, frankly, divorced from ordinary reality he renders himself, the less chance Nader has of helping Bush win re-election by diverting votes from the eventual Democratic nominee.

Exactamente! It is surprising and worrisome that he's at 6% at the moment, though, according to the latest worthless poll.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:08 PM on March 4, 2004

I think Nader is of Lebanese descent so that might explain his associating with an antisemite...velacroix

Whoa there...back this puppy up. What?
posted by dejah420 at 9:32 PM on March 4, 2004

Calling New Alliance a "right-wing cult" is not really accurate. They're comparable to the LaRouche organization: a weird mix of totalitarian left and totalitarian right, wacko conspiracy theories, and an opportunistic willingness to work with other fringe groups or infiltrate existing groups. Plus the Scientology-like therapy/brainwashing process for party members.

Trying to decide whether New Alliance is "left" or "right" is pointless. They're just loony.
posted by Daze at 9:35 PM on March 4, 2004

Whoa there...back this puppy up. What?

Yeah, that came off badly. What I meant to say is that from my experience travelling and staying in the middle east, I've met a few people from both sides of the fence. Although not many are antisemetic, they aren't necessarily against them either. And vice-versa for the Israelis. And yes, this is probably still just a piss-poor generalization, but it made sense to me in the light of Nader's political strategy.
posted by velacroix at 11:06 PM on March 4, 2004

Maybe if we all ignore this nutjob, he'll go away.
posted by Goofyy at 7:04 AM on March 5, 2004

stavros - that was worrisome to hear, indeed. And that's exactly why I posted this.

MoveOn.org's offer to Nader could be described as a bribe, I suppose - but what then would be the reason for Nader to run, if it's is not about promoting his agenda? He can't win, and it's a ridiculous election during which to try and build a new party to challenge the current 2 party system.

So I have to conclude that Nader is addicted to attention. Hey - let's be fair - everyone wants attention. It's only human. But - in this case - I feel that Nader is being very selfish.
posted by troutfishing at 8:31 AM on March 5, 2004

velacroix - "Thaw Osama"?.....Beg pardon? Osama's not frozen. He's freeze dried - it's a new process that reduces freezer-burn.
posted by troutfishing at 8:35 AM on March 5, 2004

nader was born and grew up in the US with Xtian parents... you can make the generalization about people living in the Middle East today (less so for Christians) but for someone who was born here and grew up here, it really doesn't apply and is unfair.

I'm sure Nader is looking to whoever will have him on the ballot to get his message out... troutishing (in America?) probably has it right. It's too bad because Nader did do some amazing things, effective things, important things, before he started this president thing. Too bad.
posted by chaz at 10:33 AM on March 5, 2004

chaz - in America, yup. But I know Nader's still got a good core to him.....which he now needs to acknowledge.
posted by troutfishing at 9:00 PM on March 5, 2004