]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]       PARASITES ON THE RIGHT         [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[ 
                                                             (9/22/88)
     When the "Honorable" Edward Markey of Massachusetts was caught 
raising millions of dollars under false pretenses, ("The Hiroshima 
Hustle, WASHINGTON MONTHLY Oct 1986, see also AtE Jun 87), he replied 
"In the universe of direct mail solicitations we conduct our direct 
mail in the same fashion as the right wing groups do."
     I hate to admit it, but he is right -- in fact, he is less 
culpable than the parasites on the Right, because from Markey, a leper 
even among the Representatives in the House of Ill Repute, only babes 
in arms expect any honesty.
     But if you expected honesty from the Young Americans for Freedom, 
the Americans for Nuclear Power, the Conservative Caucus, or the other 
mail order kitchens, you may be badly disappointed, for they are 
merely using conservative causes to raise money for themselves.
     If the persecution of Oliver North was good for anything at all, 
it was to separate these parasites from those who need money for a 
cause rather than for themselves.
     It may well have been Howard Phillips or R.A. Viguerie who first 
had the brainstorm of exploiting North's name for their own pockets, 
but dozens of similar panhandlers soon copied the idea. As the bait to 
open the letter, Phillips put a photo of North behind bars on the 
envelope. "Do you want to see this man behind bars?" shouted the print 
on the envelope. Inside was all about the (correctly described) injus-
tice of persecuting North and how badly he needed help, as indeed he 
needs it to this day, with lots of exhortation to send money now. But 
nowhere, repeat NOWHERE, did the letter utter one syllable about giv-
ing one solitary cent of that money to North -- the obvious idea being 
that people would be misled into thinking so, but could not sue the 
perpetrators for what morally, if not legally, is a despicable fraud.
     I wish I had kept track of the numerous solicitations that I 
received using this gimmick. But recently I received such a letter 
from an outfit called "National Defense Council Foundation," Alexan-
dria, VA. (Most of these hucksters are in the Washington, DC, area.) 
     Displayed on their stationary are honorable names on their "Advi-
sory Board," such as General Singlaub's on this one. (It is easy to 
accept a place on an advisory board that promises to be conservative. 
The "advisors" do nothing but dignify the stationary and the scheme. 
Before I grew wise to these outfits, I was talked into being on the 
"Advisory Board" myself, including Viguerie's "Flat Tax" come-on.)
     The whole thing is often followed by a "poll" for retarded 
infants, in this case by the soul-searching great-decision-making 
questions
      "1. Do you believe Ollie North committed a crime? 
      "2. Do you believe Ollie North should have been indicted? 
      "3. Do you think President Reagan should pardon Ollie North...?"      
These primitive questions are designed to make suckers think they are 
engaging in a protest vote, and mainly make them end up filling in the 
sum (always on the "ballot") that they are going to send to these 
panhandlers and their noble cause: More Prosperity for Fund Raising 
Operators.
     The outfits to which I will never send a cent are:
     R.A. VIGUERIE and any of the numerous operations run by him.
     CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS, run by Howard Phillips. Howard Phillips uses 
**unpaid volunteers** for phone solicitations (I talked to one 
myself), but is said to draw an annual salary of $80,000 for himself 
from the funds collected by the methods described here (this part I 
have heard from a source, but cannot confirm it first-hand.)
     NATIONAL DEFENSE COUNCIL FOUNDATION, as above.
     AMERICAN SECURITY COUNCIL, which uses same cheap pressure tactics 
as the two above.
     OTHERS in this category -- please send their appeals so I can 
check them out and make their scam public here.
     YOUNG AMERICANS FOR FREEDOM. Used Ukrainian teen-age defector 
Walter Polovchak's name in numerous appeals, but gave not a cent of 
the funds thus collected to either him or his lawyer. New leadership 
never apologized for this, (Bob Dolan) promised an explanation in 
writing when I asked for one, but promise turned out to be yet another 
lie.
     AMERICANS FOR NUCLEAR POWER, runs a fund raising operation for 
itself, doing little beyond occasionally testifying before obscure 
congressional committees and sending out solicitations. Took a $2,000 
fee from AtE promising to advertise it, in fact only used AtE sub-
scriptions as a bait for themselves, never turned over any of the 
money and left me to fulfill the subscriptions for free. Testified in 
favor of reconstructing the Hanford reactor after Chernobyl and may 
have played a part in its permanent shut-down.
     Note also the speed with which these panhandlers change their 
"causes." Howard Phillips was on C-span and running a big direct mail 
campaign against Gulf/Exxon for strengthening the Marxist regime in 
Angola. What has become of that campaign other than lining Phillips' 
pockets?
     Incidentally, the address where Oliver North WILL get your money 
(the only authorized one!) is 

                    NORTH DEFENSE TRUST
                    Box 96577
                    Washington, DC 20090
    

                       *    *    *

Return to the ground floor of this tower
Return to the Main Courtyard
Return to Fort Freedom's home page