According to a TIME expose piece ('Read and Right', Sept. 17, p. 16), the number one publisher of anti-Obama books is Regnery Publishing Inc., a few of whose malicious efforts are shown above. Incredibly, and as my European friends are wont to let me know, a key barometer of American IQ deficit, is that several of these crap efforts are "at the top of the New York Times best seller lists". Well, so much for relying on the NY Times for insight into quality reading!
Among these is Dinesh D'souza's "Obama's America" which film effort has already been roundly condemned as a blatant propaganda film (reminiscent of Leni Reifenstahl's Third Reich efforts) and which a Republican blogger actually put down (see the guest blog: http://www.brane-space.blogspot.com/2012/08/guest-blog-2016-obamas-america.html
According to TIME, "Regnery claims to 'have the highest batting average' at producing best sellers in the entire industry'. But in truth, what Regnery's claim is really based on is that a vast number of uninformed, halfwit, ignorant people inhabit this country and have money to burn on bullshit. Merely because 30 million such people exist (bringing the mean IQ down a good 10 points) doesn't mean the "best sellers" claim is something to be admired.
Concerning Regnery, TIME observes:
"As the country moved to the right, the firm became a hit machine, first under Henry's son Alfred now under president and publisher Marji Ross".
The trope about the country "moving to the right" is questionable. My take is not that any such thing has occurred, but rather the Right's Bullshit Electronic Megaphone, assisted by talk radio, the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, and a palsied, balless, cooperative media (since the end of Watergate) has enabled the Right voices to be heard over and above those of the sane. Let me also note here, that what TIME alludes to as "the Right" or the right in terms of political spectrum, is in fact a conglomerate of extremist fanatics and crazies. This same bunch, or pretty close to it, was roundly rejected by 95% of Americans in the 1960s, which is why their voices - including from the States' Rights Parties, the John Birch Society and others, were kept muted.
Barry Goldwater, for example, was totally rejected by the electorate in the 1964 election. And Goldwater would be considered almost moderate compared to today's Reich wing nitwits, Tea Baggers and others.
But let's look more closely at the origins of the Regnery bunch, that churns out these anti-Obama pot boilers with such abandon. (Also recalling it was Regnery that published the anti-Kerry, Swift boat attack doggerel 'Unfit for Command', in 2004.
According to author Russ Bellant ('Old Nazis, The New Right and the Republican Party', South End Press, 1991) on page 30, Regnery was actually the original "brain child" of William Regnery. Bellant notes (ibid.):
"William Regnery, an incorporator and early leader of the (America First) Committee, with Robert Wood, helped Wood to found the ASC (American Security Council). "
Now, before we go on, some background. The America First Committee was an organization founded in the early 1940s and whose charter and organization was dedicated to opposing all effort to aid Allies facing the aggression of Nazi Germany. (Ibid.)
The America First Committee, the American Vigilante Intelligence Federation, and the American Coalition of Patriotic Societies would later form the nucleus of the ASC.
The origins of the ASC begin almost at the apex of Trade Union power in the United States, after Army and business surveillance of workers became linked in common cause. (See, e.g. Jensen, J.M.: Army Surveillance in America: 1775-1980, Chapter 7: Watching the Workers, Yale University Press, 1991). As further noted by Russ Bellant (op. cit., p. 30):
"The ASC began in Chicago in 1955, staffed primarily by former FBI agents. In its first year it was called the Mid-American Research Library. Corporations joined to take advantage of what former FBI agent William Turner described as ...'a dossier system modeled after the FBI's, which was intended to weed out employees and prospective employees deemed disloyal to the free enterprise system."
A Washington Post take (1/8/79, p C1) is even more succinct :
"It has been called 'The Cold War Campus' and 'The Heart of the Military-Industrial Complex' "
Bellant (p. 33) goes on to point out the concerns of the ASC didn't remain domestic:
"Although the ASC began as an anti-labor operation with support from Sears, and other businesses, it soon became involved in foreign policy issues. It co-sponsored a series of annual meetings from 1955 to 1961 called National Military-Industrial Conferences in which elements of the Pentagon, National Security Council, and organizations linked to the CIA discussed cold war strategy with leaders of many large corporations, such as United Fruit, Standard Oil, Honeywell, U.S. Steel, and of course, Sears Roebuck."
Bellant also refers to William Regnery's son, Henry who (p. 31):
"..replaced him at their book publishing company and at the ASC"
One can surmise from this, that though key partners in the original ASC may have folded, it is still around and that Regnery could well be a propaganda arm or at least prominent mouthpiece for their views, churning out these tracts and fanatical anti-Obama books, but which are in fact backed and supported by a covert alliance of corporate bigwigs, covert security personnel and other banking interests, similar to those who also issued vitriol against JFK when he was president. (Well documented in James Douglass' book, JFK and the Unspeakable)
Currently, the organization appears to have adopted a slightly different monicker, 'The American Security Council Foundation':
http://www.ascfusa.org/
However, some sources suggest that while related, the above organization is not the same as the ASC proper. Maybe, maybe not. What is fairly plausible is that as their assorted layers were exposed, especially after Bellant's book emerged, and later internet investigations, they had to burrow deep underground. I personally believe they are still around but hidden in different names and likely difficult to access, if they have a website at all, see e.g. http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Security_Council
My point in all of this is that when one sheds light on roaches, they tend to run. Without light, they can pretty well do what they want with impunity. Knowing that a group exists and may have extraordinary influence, even in a book publishing operation, is key to understanding how they can influence public opinion. Let us never forget the infamous words of Edward Bernays, the original author of 'Propaganda':
“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government, which is the true ruling power of our country.”
What we can't tolerate is an unelected, powerful group being an "invisible government" - no matter how many disgusting books they try to put out in an effort of unceasing character assassination.
Among these is Dinesh D'souza's "Obama's America" which film effort has already been roundly condemned as a blatant propaganda film (reminiscent of Leni Reifenstahl's Third Reich efforts) and which a Republican blogger actually put down (see the guest blog: http://www.brane-space.blogspot.com/2012/08/guest-blog-2016-obamas-america.html
According to TIME, "Regnery claims to 'have the highest batting average' at producing best sellers in the entire industry'. But in truth, what Regnery's claim is really based on is that a vast number of uninformed, halfwit, ignorant people inhabit this country and have money to burn on bullshit. Merely because 30 million such people exist (bringing the mean IQ down a good 10 points) doesn't mean the "best sellers" claim is something to be admired.
Concerning Regnery, TIME observes:
"As the country moved to the right, the firm became a hit machine, first under Henry's son Alfred now under president and publisher Marji Ross".
The trope about the country "moving to the right" is questionable. My take is not that any such thing has occurred, but rather the Right's Bullshit Electronic Megaphone, assisted by talk radio, the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, and a palsied, balless, cooperative media (since the end of Watergate) has enabled the Right voices to be heard over and above those of the sane. Let me also note here, that what TIME alludes to as "the Right" or the right in terms of political spectrum, is in fact a conglomerate of extremist fanatics and crazies. This same bunch, or pretty close to it, was roundly rejected by 95% of Americans in the 1960s, which is why their voices - including from the States' Rights Parties, the John Birch Society and others, were kept muted.
Barry Goldwater, for example, was totally rejected by the electorate in the 1964 election. And Goldwater would be considered almost moderate compared to today's Reich wing nitwits, Tea Baggers and others.
But let's look more closely at the origins of the Regnery bunch, that churns out these anti-Obama pot boilers with such abandon. (Also recalling it was Regnery that published the anti-Kerry, Swift boat attack doggerel 'Unfit for Command', in 2004.
According to author Russ Bellant ('Old Nazis, The New Right and the Republican Party', South End Press, 1991) on page 30, Regnery was actually the original "brain child" of William Regnery. Bellant notes (ibid.):
"William Regnery, an incorporator and early leader of the (America First) Committee, with Robert Wood, helped Wood to found the ASC (American Security Council). "
Now, before we go on, some background. The America First Committee was an organization founded in the early 1940s and whose charter and organization was dedicated to opposing all effort to aid Allies facing the aggression of Nazi Germany. (Ibid.)
The America First Committee, the American Vigilante Intelligence Federation, and the American Coalition of Patriotic Societies would later form the nucleus of the ASC.
The origins of the ASC begin almost at the apex of Trade Union power in the United States, after Army and business surveillance of workers became linked in common cause. (See, e.g. Jensen, J.M.: Army Surveillance in America: 1775-1980, Chapter 7: Watching the Workers, Yale University Press, 1991). As further noted by Russ Bellant (op. cit., p. 30):
"The ASC began in Chicago in 1955, staffed primarily by former FBI agents. In its first year it was called the Mid-American Research Library. Corporations joined to take advantage of what former FBI agent William Turner described as ...'a dossier system modeled after the FBI's, which was intended to weed out employees and prospective employees deemed disloyal to the free enterprise system."
A Washington Post take (1/8/79, p C1) is even more succinct :
"It has been called 'The Cold War Campus' and 'The Heart of the Military-Industrial Complex' "
Bellant (p. 33) goes on to point out the concerns of the ASC didn't remain domestic:
"Although the ASC began as an anti-labor operation with support from Sears, and other businesses, it soon became involved in foreign policy issues. It co-sponsored a series of annual meetings from 1955 to 1961 called National Military-Industrial Conferences in which elements of the Pentagon, National Security Council, and organizations linked to the CIA discussed cold war strategy with leaders of many large corporations, such as United Fruit, Standard Oil, Honeywell, U.S. Steel, and of course, Sears Roebuck."
Bellant also refers to William Regnery's son, Henry who (p. 31):
"..replaced him at their book publishing company and at the ASC"
One can surmise from this, that though key partners in the original ASC may have folded, it is still around and that Regnery could well be a propaganda arm or at least prominent mouthpiece for their views, churning out these tracts and fanatical anti-Obama books, but which are in fact backed and supported by a covert alliance of corporate bigwigs, covert security personnel and other banking interests, similar to those who also issued vitriol against JFK when he was president. (Well documented in James Douglass' book, JFK and the Unspeakable)
Currently, the organization appears to have adopted a slightly different monicker, 'The American Security Council Foundation':
http://www.ascfusa.org/
However, some sources suggest that while related, the above organization is not the same as the ASC proper. Maybe, maybe not. What is fairly plausible is that as their assorted layers were exposed, especially after Bellant's book emerged, and later internet investigations, they had to burrow deep underground. I personally believe they are still around but hidden in different names and likely difficult to access, if they have a website at all, see e.g. http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Security_Council
My point in all of this is that when one sheds light on roaches, they tend to run. Without light, they can pretty well do what they want with impunity. Knowing that a group exists and may have extraordinary influence, even in a book publishing operation, is key to understanding how they can influence public opinion. Let us never forget the infamous words of Edward Bernays, the original author of 'Propaganda':
“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government, which is the true ruling power of our country.”
What we can't tolerate is an unelected, powerful group being an "invisible government" - no matter how many disgusting books they try to put out in an effort of unceasing character assassination.
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