Blackwell, Morton LI

===html  233–234bak 722
ntbcw Ken (related?)

anti-hillary: In the fall of 2000, when Morton Blackwell established a group called the Emergency Committee to Stop Hillary Rodham Clinton, he sent an e-mail that read in part: “As you know, the establishment media have protected Bill and Hillary Clinton from the worst of their crimes, corruption and cover-ups.” To underscore his sense of urgency, Blackwell, who in 1979 founded The Leadership Institute, recruited such high-powered right wing luminaries as Edwin Meese III, Ronald Reagan's Attorney General during the Iran/Contra scandal, Lynn Nofsinger, longtime Republican Party activist, Oklahoma Republican Congressman Ernest Istook and Alan Keyes, the recently failed Senatorial candidate from Illinois.

==<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/165984/10-people-destroying-democracy">https://newrepublic.com/article/165984/10-people-destroying-democracy</a>Anne Nelson/April 18, 202210 People You’ve Never Heard of Who Are Destroying Democracy
They’re sowing disruption and disinformation, and they have their eyes on 2024.
Democracy in Peril

    [Will the Democrats Fight to Save Democracy?
    10 People You’ve Never Heard of Who Are Destroying Democracy
    The Six States That Could Determine Whether Republicans Steal the 2024 Election
    View All ]

In

recent years, America’s democracy has faced countless challenges. Some

seemed to materialize out of thin air, but many have been the fruit of

secretive networks such as the 40-year-old Council for National Policy.

Here are 10 individuals who have sown the seeds of disruption and

disinformation—and who are setting their sights on the 2024 presidential

election.

Larry Arnn
President, Hillsdale College

For

decades, Michigan-based Hillsdale has served as an academic partner for

the religious right. The college has had a close relationship to the

Council for National Policy, the secretive Christian right umbrella

organization that directs so much right-wing activism, through Arnn and

his predecessor, George Roche III (who left in a cloud of scandal).

Hillsdale’s major donors have constituted a who’s who of the radical

right, including the Koch network and leading figures from the CNP. Arnn

has expanded Hillsdale’s role as a platform for the CNP’s network of

megadonors, fundamentalist activists, and media outlets, providing their

policy prescriptions with a thin veneer of academic respectability. The

college enrolls around 1,500 students, but its leaves an outsize

footprint in political messaging. Its highly politicized publication

Imprimis is sent to more than six million recipients. Hillsdale operates

the Kirby Center in Washington, D.C., where it has groomed young

conservatives at the Capitol Hill Staff Training School, run by the

Leadership Institute (see Morton Blackwell, below). Hillsdale is also

playing a role in the current disruption of public education, which has

been used for political leverage in Virginia and beyond. In 2020, Donald

Trump appointed Arnn chair of the 1776 Commission, to promote a

“patriotic” rebuttal to the 1619 Project’s racially inclusive approach

to U.S. history. Hillsdale has led an ongoing campaign to politicize

public schools, promoting anti–critical race theory campaigns and

assisting in the launch of “affiliate” charter schools in 11 states.

Joe Seales
CEO, Right Side Broadcasting Network

RSBN

serves as the equivalent of a Trump-specific C-SPAN that has carried

nearly every Trump speech, rally, and town hall since July 2015, as well

as full coverage of the pro-Trump Conservative Political Action

Conference (CPAC). It also broadcasts a show called The Right View, with

Trump daughter-in-law Lara Trump. On January 6, it livestreamed Trump’s

speech inciting the march on the Capitol, and it gave live coverage to

the Florida “Freedom Rally to Show Support for President Trump and

January 6th Political Prisoners” a year later. In July 2021, RSBN was

temporarily suspended by YouTube, but the network looked to its own app

and the new pro-Trump platform Rumble to continue to carry Trump’s

rallies. The radical right has been assiduously constructing a parallel

media system in recent decades. RSBN, Rumble, and Trump’s new Truth

Social platform complement other media initiatives, ranging from

traditional fundamentalist broadcasters like American Family Radio to

social sites like Gettr and Parler, in the ongoing construction of an

alternate political reality for millions of followers. In March 2022,

after the height of the Ottawa truckers’ protests, RSBN promoted a

truckers’ convoy roundtable hosted by Representatives Matt Gaetz and

Marjorie Taylor Greene, and it has offered ongoing amplification of

Trump’s false election fraud claims. We can be sure that whatever Trump

fabricates for future news cycles, RSBN will be repeating it.
Introductory offer: 50% off fearless reporting.
1 year for $10.
Subscribe

Neil Patel
Co-founder and publisher of The Daily Caller

The

Caller website was launched in 2010 by Patel and Tucker Carlson, his

college roommate, with a $3 million investment from Patel’s fellow CNP

member Foster Friess. (Carlson served as editor in chief until 2016 and

left the publication in 2019, when Patel bought him out.) The site

claims more than 20 million monthly readers, and the Daily Caller News

Foundation licenses its content free of charge to almost 300 outlets.

Patel has used the site as a platform for voices of the radical right,

including Jason Kessler, the white supremacist who organized the

Charlottesville rally, as well as climate denial and disinformation,

such as a falsified “nude” photo of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The site

favors members of the CNP, including Supreme Court spouse Ginni Thomas

(a Caller “special correspondent”) and Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk.

The Daily Caller has recently launched a Facebook video platform called

American Voices, with three million followers, that partners with media

platforms of the religious right. It also boosts Carlson’s Fox News

broadcasts. The Caller’s YouTube channel features additional Carlson

content, comedy and sports programming, as well as regular attacks on

Joe Biden, Anthony Fauci, and CNN. It has given ample space to Trump’s

false claims of election fraud, and positive coverage of voter

suppression legislation.

Jenny Beth Martin
Co-founder and CEO, Tea Party Patriots

Martin

launched the Tea Party Patriots in March 2009 in collaboration with Amy

Kremer and Mark Meckler, with funding from FreedomWorks, a “grassroots

service center” founded with Koch backing. The Tea Party Patriots spent

the Obama administration organizing various “spontaneous”

anti-government, anti-tax rallies. Martin, Meckler, and Kremer also

joined the CNP; by 2020, Martin had risen to the executive committee and

Meckler to the status of Gold Circle member. Martin’s Tea Party

Patriots became the meeting ground for the secular Koch brothers and the

Christian nationalist CNP. She became the go-to woman for organizing

campaigns, including political canvassing and public protests. Martin

was a key point person for the CNP in Trump’s reelection campaign. In

April 2020, she organized “100 Business Executives” in support of Trump,

along with fellow CNP members Adam Brandon of FreedomWorks and Lisa

Nelson of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Trump

acknowledged Martin by name in his speech before the CNP on the eve of

the 2020 GOP convention. On November 4, 2020, Martin announced that her

organization was going to hold “Protect the Vote” rallies in swing

states. On December 30, she tweeted that she would be speaking at the

January 6 Stop the Steal rally: “We must demand Congress to challenge

the Electoral College votes and fight for President Trump!” (Martin was

present at the rally, but didn’t end up speaking.) Most recently, Martin

has spoken out in support of the Canadian truckers’ protest. “We are

all truckers now,” she told The Hill in February.

Simone Gold
Founder, America’s Frontline Doctors

Gold

was an emergency physician in Los Angeles who was tapped by the CNP

leadership to serve as a point person for a massive Covid disinformation

campaign. The plan was advanced on a conference call in May 2020, while

the pandemic was first raging, and after Trump held his increasingly

erratic press conferences that included CNP president William Walton and

Trump aide Mercedes Schlapp. The goal was to use physicians to persuade

the public that the economy could be opened up in time to benefit the

Trump campaign. Gold began a series of appearances on media platforms

run by CNP members, disparaging the idea that Covid was a “huge medical

crisis,” pushing the false hydroxychloroquine “cure,” and attacking

Anthony Fauci. On

July 27, 2020, Jenny Beth Martin introduced Gold and a dozen colleagues

standing before the U.S. Supreme Court building, repeating a litany of

falsehoods about the virus. Their

statements, livestreamed by Breitbart News, quickly went viral, and the

video was enthusiastically retweeted by Donald Trump. On January

6, Gold joined the mob that breached the Capitol. She was recorded in

the Rotunda denouncing the Covid vaccine as “an experimental biological

agent deceptively named a vaccine.” She was charged with violent entry

and disorderly conduct (she pleaded guilty in March and will be

sentenced in June). Over

2021, she appeared in a series of “Health and Freedom Conferences”

across the country, sharing the bill with Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell,

and Mike Lindell. In 2020, she set up a profitable online prescription

service for bogus Covid “cures.”

Morton Blackwell
Founder and president, the Leadership Institute

Blackwell,

Paul Weyrich, and Richard Viguerie were young Goldwater activists when

they joined forces in the 1960s. Together, they helped to create a

constellation of conservative groups, including the CNP umbrella

organization and its partner CPAC. Blackwell took on the task of

training future generations of right-wing political candidates and

activists. His Leadership Institute, launched in 1979, claims that it

has trained more than 200,000 people over its history, many of them in

county- and state-level sessions in battleground districts. The courses

include fundraising, speechwriting, social media, and candidate

development.
Graduates of the institute include Mike Pence,

Representative Jim Jordan, and Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe.

The institute’s training is ongoing, especially in contested states. In

2021, the GOP, noting that it needed to net only five congressional

districts to take the House, targeted 47 districts, five of them in

Texas. That year, the Leadership Institute blanketed Texas, scheduling

around 40 training workshops between March and November 2021—many months

before the midterm elections. The national Democrats, in contrast, have

tended to enter the state campaign arenas a few months or even weeks

before the elections, offering minimal training on the ground, limited

digital campaign tools, and poorly coordinated data. The institute’s

menu of courses reflects the right’s current initiatives, including

School Board Campaign Training and a School Board Activist Workshop.

Cleta Mitchell
Attorney

Mitchell

is a longtime member of the CNP board of governors. More recently, she

appeared on panels at 2020 CNP meetings speaking on “Election Integrity:

Securing the Ballot Box” and “Election Integrity: Action Steps.”

Mitchell also serves on the board of directors of the Bradley

Foundation, run by fellow CNP board member Richard Graber. Following

Biden’s victory, Mitchell tweeted that the Georgia recount was “A

FAKE!!!” She traveled to Georgia as a volunteer legal adviser for

Trump’s campaign and helped to file a December 2020 lawsuit challenging

the returns. According to The Washington Post’s Robert O’Harrow Jr., “On

December 30, Mitchell wrote to [then–White House chief of staff] Mark

Meadows and offered to send some 1,800 pages of documents purporting to

support claims of election fraud.” On January 2, Mitchell took part in

Trump’s infamous call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger,

of whom Trump famously demanded, “I just want to find 11,780 votes.” The

call was leaked, and when Mitchell’s role was disclosed, she was

obliged to resign from her position at the Foley & Lardner law firm.

But Mitchell continues her work through her strategy sessions at the

CNP, her board membership at the Bradley Foundation, her Apple podcast

Who’s Counting?, and her November 2021 appointment to the Board of

Advisors of the federal Election Assistance Commission, which certifies

voting systems—including voting machines—and advises local officials on

compliance with federal regulations.

Richard Graber
CEO, Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation

This

Milwaukee foundation has assets of some $900 million. Graber is a

member of the board of governors of the CNP, while CNP election

strategist Cleta Mitchell is one of the foundation’s 11 board members.

The Koch network and the DeVos family philanthropies may have received

more attention, but the Bradley Foundation’s strategic, longtime focus

on state-level politics has allowed it to make a major impact, using its

home state of Wisconsin as a laboratory. In 2012 to 2013, the

foundation spent more than $8 million on a network of groups promoting a

right-to-work law also supported by then-Wisconsin Governor Scott

Walker (a fellow CNP board member) and attacking Wisconsin trade unions.

The resulting right-to-work law crippled the unions and contributed to

Wisconsin’s shift from a Democratic to a swing state. In 2021, the

Bradley Foundation earmarked $600,000 for the American Legislative

Exchange Council’s voter management campaign software and other

activities, bringing its ALEC contributions to $5.4 million over the

previous decade. In 2020 and 2021, the foundation gave $200,000 to the

Claremont Institute. Claremont has played a critical role in the radical

right’s promotion of false claims of fraud and the efforts to rewrite

voting laws in advance of the 2024 elections; John Eastman, who drafted

the infamous six-point memo used by Trump to challenge the Electoral

College on January 6, is a Claremont senior fellow. The foundation also

contributed $300,000 to the Public Interest Legal Foundation (chaired by

Cleta Mitchell) and $175,000 to the Heritage Foundation’s election law

initiative, both of which promoted Trump’s false claims of fraud.

Lisa Nelson
CEO, American Legislative Exchange Council

Nelson

came to ALEC in 2014 after previous stints on Newt Gingrich’s staff and

at GOPAC, the Republican state and local political training

organization. ALEC was co-founded in 1973 by Paul Weyrich, also a

co-founder of the CNP. ALEC convenes corporate sponsors and Republican

state legislators to “collaborate” on model bills—including legislation

to oppose environmental regulation and gun control. In April 2020, The

Washington Post reported that Nelson, Jenny Beth Martin, and Adam

Brandon were leading an effort to organize a group of businesspeople to

help Trump “jump-start” the economy in the depths of the Covid epidemic.

Nelson continued her efforts over 2020 and doubled down after the

Biden’s victory. From December 2 to 4, 2020, ALEC hosted a secret

“process working group” for Republican state legislators, election

commissioners, and attorneys to develop strategies on election oversight

and redistricting. In July 2021, ALEC hosted and financed an “academy”

under the rubric of the “Honest Elections Project” in conjunction with

its annual meeting, with panels featuring Cleta Mitchell and other CNP

strategists. Nelson offered a preview of their project to rewrite

election laws at the CNP’s May 2021 meeting: “We’ve been targeting our

efforts on those states that have had issues—Pennsylvania, Michigan,

Arizona, Florida to a certain degree.” Currently, Republicans control 30

state legislatures, including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan,

Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. If successfully implemented, the

independent state legislature initiative could determine the outcome of

the 2024 elections, regardless of the popular vote.

Daniel J. Schultz
Attorney and founder, Precinct Strategy

Schultz

was an early proponent of the idea that Republican-controlled

legislatures could overturn election results—later promoted as the

“independent state legislature doctrine.” In some interpretations,

Republican-controlled state legislatures could nullify the popular vote

and send their own electors to put Trump in office. The key to his

strategy? Purging from the Republican Party inconveniently ethical

officials like Brad Raffensperger, starting at the precinct level. “We

can take over the party if we invade it,” Schultz told Steve Bannon on

his podcast in February 2021. Over the following months, there was a

surge in candidates for precinct chairman positions across the country.

Schultz has pointed to the strategy’s success in Arizona as a model.

ProPublica reported that in one Maricopa district, the precinct roster

grew by 63 percent in less than six months. Schultz’s website asks: “Can

we get 3/10 of 1% of the 74 M Trump America Firsters to Become

Republican Precinct Committeemen? To TAKE OVER The Republican Party? To

Save the Republic?” He points out that precinct committeemen are the

ones who elect the state party leaders and are the only ones who can

vote to endorse primary candidates; in some states, they are the only

ones who can nominate candidates to fill vacancies in state

legislatures. The logic is that full slates of pro-Trump precinct chairs

could guarantee pro-Trump candidates on the Republican state-level

ballots in 2022, who could be activated to enact the independent state

legislature doctrine in 2024—subject to judicial review. Donald Trump

approves. On February 27, 2022, he issued a statement endorsing

Schultz’s project.

Anne Nelson @anelsona

Anne Nelson is

the author of Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the

Radical Right. She has taught at Columbia University for over 20 years

and is currently a research scholar at Columbia’s Saltzman Institute of

War and Peace Studies.
Read More: Magazine, May 2022, Politics, The

Soapbox, Feature, Democracy, January 6, Republican Party, Donald Trump,

Right Wing Extremism

==

Morton C. Blackwell has served (circa 2000) as Treasurer of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Free_Congress_Foundation" title="Free Congress Foundation">Free Congress Foundation</a>.

According to one <a href="http://watch.pair.com/database.html" class="external text" title="http://watch.pair.com/database.html" rel="nofollow">biographical sketch of Blackwell</a>,

<dl>

<dd>Blackwell is "Executive director, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Council_for_National_Policy" title="Council for National Policy">Council for National Policy</a>; founder and president, the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Morton_Blackwell_Leadership_Institute" title="Morton Blackwell Leadership Institute" class="mw-redirect">Morton Blackwell Leadership Institute</a>, a foundation which trains young people for youth leadership; founder and chairman, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Conservative_Leadership_PAC&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Conservative Leadership PAC (page does not exist)">Conservative Leadership PAC</a>; Republican National Committeeman from Virginia; treasurer, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Reagan_Mumni_Association&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Reagan Mumni Association (page does not exist)">Reagan Mumni Association</a>; youngest delegate to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barry_Goldwater" title="Barry Goldwater">Barry Goldwater</a> RNC in 1964; alternative delegate for Reagan in 1968 and 1976 and a delegate in 1980; former special assistant to President <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ronald_Reagan" title="Ronald Reagan">Ronald Reagan</a> on the White House staff; former staff member, Senate Republican Policy Committee; serves on the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Republican_National_Convention" title="Republican National Convention">Republican National Convention</a>'s Standing Committee on Rules; former policy director, U.S. Senator <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Gordon_J.Humphrey" title="Gordon J. Humphrey">Gordon J. Humphrey</a>; overseer, 1980 Youth for Reagan effort; former editor, The NewRight Report; former contributing editor, Conservative Digest. Formerly with The <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Viguerie_Company&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Viguerie Company (page does not exist)">Viguerie Company</a>. Spouse: <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Helen_R.Blackwell&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Helen R. Blackwell (page does not exist)">Helen R. Blackwell</a>, Virginia state chairman, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Eagle_Forum" title="Eagle Forum">Eagle Forum</a>; chairman, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Voting_Integrity_Project&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Voting Integrity Project (page does not exist)">Voting Integrity Project</a>; former member, State Central Committee, Republican Party of Virginia.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>"With <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Paul_M._Weyrich" title="Paul M. Weyrich">Paul M. Weyrich</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_Viguerie" title="Richard Viguerie">Richard Viguerie</a>, Blackwell met with <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jerry_Falwell" title="Jerry Falwell">Jerry Falwell</a> to found the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Moral_Majority" title="Moral Majority">Moral Majority</a>. 'Finally, on the verge of realizing his right-wing utopia, Weyrich harvested what his friend Morton Blackwell termed the greatest track of virgin timber on the political landscape: evangelicals. Out there is what you might call a moral majority, he told Jerry Falwell in Lynchburg, Pennsylvania, in 1979. That's it, Falwell exclaimed. That's the name of the organization.' [Robespierre of the Right]</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>"Morton Blackwell works with Plinio de Correa de Olivier's Tradition, Family & Property and endorsed Olivier's book, Nobility & Analagous Traditional Elites, on the necessity of restoring traditional Nobility & Elites to rule the world. In the Forward Blackwell wrote: 'One does not have to accept Papal infallibility to appreciate a case persuasively made, using theological, moral, and prudential arguments. This book will convince many readers, whatever their faith, that good elites are legitimate, desirable and, yes, necessary.' The Secret Story of a Cult Apologist features a picture of Paul Weyrich and Morton Blackwell with the American head of TFP, which is the parent organization of CESNUR, the cult apology network for cults such as <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Scientology" title="Scientology" class="mw-redirect">Scientology</a>."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>In his Letter to a Just Elected Conserative, Mr. Blackwell says, "Your constituency is the voters, especially the coalition which elected you. You can't count on the news media to communicate your message to your constituency. You must develop ways to communicate with your coalition which avoids the filter of the media. Focus on your <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Base&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Base (page does not exist)">base</a>. Write to them. Meet with them. Honor them. Show yourself to be proud of them. Support their activities. Show up at their events. Help other politicians and activist who share their priorities. People expect politicians to be selfish, so they specially love politicians whose actions show them to be unselfish. Liberals in the media failed to defeat you. Now they will use carrots and sticks to tempt and to intimidate you. They will define any betrayal of your coalition as a sign of "growth." Don't fall for that nonsense. The only way you can get the liberal media on your side is always to betray your supporters, which you know would be political suicide. Media people on the left operate on a double standard They can forgive a liberal politician almost anything. They hold conservatives to an absolute standard." See: <a href="http://leadershipinstitute.org/04RESOURCES/Speeches.htm" class="external free" title="http://leadershipinstitute.org/04RESOURCES/Speeches.htm" rel="nofollow">http://leadershipinstitute.org/04RESOURCES/Speeches.htm</a></dd>

</dl>

===

<a href="http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/Morton_Blackwell">http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/Morton_Blackwell</a>

Blackwell, as it turns out, is one of the founding members of the ugly side of the American Conservative movement. He was there at the creation with jokers like Brent Bozell, William F. Buckley, and Phyllis Schlafly. His "non-partisan" <a href="http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/Leadership_Institute" title="Leadership Institute">Leadership Institute</a> has trained thousands of conservative footsoldiers, including Grover Norquist, Ralph Reed, and Jack Abramoff. When they were young adults, he taught them, "A stable movement requires a healthy, reciprocal I.O.U. flow among its participants." He was also a major supporter of Tom DeLay in DeLay's last days in the U.S. House of Representatives. (<a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1374139/posts" class="external free" title="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1374139/posts" rel="nofollow">http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1374139/posts</a>)

So, he's no mere activist like your local Rotarians or county NRA secretary-treasurer. He's in the inner circle of Republican power, having worked his way in as a leader in the Draft Goldwater movement and bought his way in with thousands of dollars in contributions ($16000 over the last four years alone; see the FEC database).

* Heres initial info link from a DailyKos Diary

</pre>

<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/8/31/105812/355" class="external text" title="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/8/31/105812/355" rel="nofollow">Band-Aid Goon No Garden Variety Activist</a>

* Heres another DailyKos Diary

</pre>

<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/8/30/22243/0247" class="external text" title="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/8/30/22243/0247" rel="nofollow">GOP DELEGATES WEAR BAND-AIDS TO MOCK EVERY VETERAN</a>

* Virginia GOP National Committeeman Morton Blackwell, a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana - Is this the same Morton Blackwell ?

</pre>

This guy Blackwell is a long time GOP operative. Started as a Young Republican and since the 70's has run an outfit called the Leadership Institute. I wonder who gave him the $8,230,655 budget they spent in 2000 grooming young people to train tens of thousands of students to be GOP activists?

=

starroute Sep-23-04 - <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2400623#2404602" target="_blank">http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...</a>

"Perhaps the most important constituent body of the New Right network after the Heritage Foundation is the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC), also founded in 1975 by John Terry Dolan, ... Charles Black and Roger Stone with the help of Richard Viguerie."

I posted that .... My general conclusion was that Viguerie is closely linked to the Young Republic/dirty tricks/Karl Rove wing of the New Right. Scaife is much closer to the southern/racist/anti-Clinton wing -- both Harry MacDougald and many of the SwiftBoat figures have Scaife connections.

Morton C. Blackwell, founder and chairman, Conservative Leadership PAC, has served (circa 2000) as Treasurer of the Free Congress Foundation.

<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Morton_C.Blackwell" target="blank">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Morton_C._Bl...</a>

Blackwell is "Executive director, Council for National Policy; founder and president, the Morton Blackwell Leadership Institute, a foundation which trains young people for youth leadership; founder and chairman, Conservative Leadership PAC; Republican National Committeeman from Virginia; treasurer, Reagan Mumni Association; youngest delegate to Barry Goldwater RNC in 1964; alternative delegate for Reagan in 1968 and 1976 and a delegate in 1980; former special assistant to President Ronald Reagan on the White House staff; ...

"With Paul M. Weyrich and Richard Viguerie, Blackwell met with Jerry Falwell to found the Moral Majoritation.' .....

AnIndependentTexan Sep-22-04 - <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=884949" target="_blank">http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...</a>

The term 'New Right' was coined by Kevin Phillips in 1975 and refers to the amalgam of organisations and institutes spawned by Richard A. Viguerie, Paul Weyrich, Howard Phillips and John Terry Dolan with heavy funding from such financial magnates as Joseph Coors, Nelson Bunker Hunt and Richard Mellon Scaife. ... In 1973 Coors, with the help and advice of Paul Weyrich ... founded the Heritage Foundation. .....

Blackwell ... trained a teen-aged Karl Rove as a field organizer ...

Rove Consults With Blackwell on Political Strategy. At the 2000 convention, Bush strategist Karl Rove consulted with Morton Blackwell of Virginia, who supported a plan that emphasized primaries in small states when the Republican Party selects its presidential nominee.y. 'Finally, on the verge of realizing his right-wing utopia, Weyrich harvested what his friend Morton Blackwell termed the greatest track of virgin timber on the political landscape: evangelicals. Out there is what you might call a moral majority, he told Jerry Falwell in Lynchburg, Pennsylvania, in 1979. That's it, Falwell exclaimed. That's the name of the organiz

wiki

Morton C. Blackwell (born November 16, 1939, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Jara,Colorado" title="La Jara, Colorado">La Jara, Colorado</a>) is an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States">American</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative%28politics%29" title="Conservative (politics)" class="mw-redirect">conservative</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_activist" title="Political activist" class="mw-redirect">political activist</a>. He is president and founder of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadership_Institute" title="Leadership Institute">Leadership Institute</a> (established 1979), a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501%28c%293" title="501(c)3" class="mw-redirect">501(c)3</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-profit" title="Non-profit" class="mw-redirect">non-profit</a> educational foundation that teaches political technology.

<h2>Contents</h2>

</div>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Blackwell#Biography">1 Biography</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Blackwell#Political_activism">2 Political activism</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Blackwell#Council_for_National_Policy">3 Council for National Policy</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Blackwell#Affiliations">4 Affiliations</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Blackwell#Controversy">5 Controversy</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Blackwell#References">6 References</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Blackwell#Sources">7 Sources</a></li>

</ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2>Biography</h2>

In youth politics, Blackwell was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Republican" title="College Republican" class="mw-redirect">College Republican</a> state chairman and a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Republican" title="Young Republican" class="mw-redirect">Young Republican</a> state chairman in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baton_Rouge,_Louisiana" title="Baton Rouge, Louisiana">Baton Rouge</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana" title="Louisiana">Louisiana</a>. He served on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Republican_National_Committee" title="Young Republican National Committee" class="mw-redirect">Young Republican National Committee</a> for more than a dozen years. He rose to the position of national vice chairman at-large of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Republican_National_Federation" title="Young Republican National Federation" class="mw-redirect">Young Republican National Federation</a>. Off and on for five and half years, 1965 to 1970, he worked as executive director of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Republican_National_Committee" title="College Republican National Committee" class="mw-redirect">College Republican National Committee</a> under four consecutive College Republican national chairmen. For eight years, he was a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee.

Blackwell worked for seven years under conservative <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Viguerie" title="Richard Viguerie">Richard Viguerie</a>, the specialist in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_mail" title="Direct mail" class="mw-redirect">direct mail</a>.

Blackwell was first elected to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlington_County,_Virginia" title="Arlington County, Virginia">Arlington County</a> Republican Committee in 1972. He is a member of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_of_Virginia" title="Republican Party of Virginia">Republican Party of Virginia</a>'s state central committee and was first elected in 1988 as Virginia’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_National_Committee" title="Republican National Committee">Republican National Committeeman</a>, a post he still holds. In 2004 he was elected to the Executive Committee of the RNC.

<h2>Political activism</h2>

Blackwell was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Goldwater" title="Barry Goldwater">Barry Goldwater</a>’s youngest elected delegate to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Republican_National_Convention" title="1964 Republican National Convention">1964 Republican National Convention</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco,California" title="San Francisco, California" class="mw-redirect">San Francisco</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California" title="California">California</a>. His Louisiana delegation was headed by former <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_of_Louisiana" title="Governor of Louisiana" class="mw-redirect">gubernatorial</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlton_Lyons" title="Charlton Lyons">Charlton Lyons</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shreveport,Louisiana" title="Shreveport, Louisiana">Shreveport</a>. In the spring of 1966, he worked for the election of the late <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roderick_Miller" title="Roderick Miller">Roderick Miller</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafayette,_Louisiana" title="Lafayette, Louisiana">Lafayette</a> as only the third Republican member of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_State_Legislature" title="Louisiana State Legislature">Louisiana House of Representatives</a> since <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_era_of_the_United_States" title="Reconstruction era of the United States" class="mw-redirect">Reconstruction</a>.

He was a national convention alternate delegate for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_W._Reagan" title="Ronald W. Reagan" class="mw-redirect">Ronald W. Reagan</a> in 1968 and 1976, and a Ronald Reagan <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delegate" title="Delegate">delegate</a> at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Republican_National_Convention" title="1980 Republican National Convention">1980 Republican National Convention</a>. In 1980, he organized and oversaw the national youth effort for Reagan. From 1981 to 1984, Blackwell was a special assistant to President Reagan.

Blackwell is considered something of a specialist in matters relating to the rules of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party%28United_States%29" title="Republican Party (United States)">Republican Party</a>. He served on rules committees of the state Republican parties in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party%28Louisiana%29" title="Republican Party (Louisiana)" class="mw-redirect">Louisiana</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_of_Virginia" title="Republican Party of Virginia">Virginia</a>. He serves now on the RNC’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Standing_Committee_on_Rules&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Standing Committee on Rules (page does not exist)">Standing Committee on Rules</a> and has attended every meeting of the Republican National Conventions’ Rules Committees since 1972.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Blackwell#cite_note-0">[1]</a>

On January 24, 2008, following the departure of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Thompson" title="Fred Thompson">Fred Thompson</a> from the field of candidates seeking the nomination, Blackwell threw his support behind former <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts" title="Massachusetts">Massachusetts</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_of_Massachusetts" title="Governor of Massachusetts">Governor</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney" title="Mitt Romney">Mitt Romney</a>.

<h2>Council for National Policy</h2>

Blackwell has been a member since 1984 of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_National_Policy" title="Council for National Policy">Council for National Policy</a>, a group of politically active conservatives. Founders included <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Viguerie" title="Richard Viguerie">Richard Viguerie</a>, the Virginia direct-mail specialist, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Weyrich" title="Paul Weyrich">Paul Weyrich</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Phillips%28politician%29" title="Howard Phillips (politician)">Howard Phillips</a> of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Party%28United_States%29" title="Constitution Party (United States)">Constitution Party</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_Schlafly" title="Phyllis Schlafly">Phyllis Schlafly</a>, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St.Louis,Missouri" title="St. Louis, Missouri">St. Louis</a> activist who led the opposition to the proposed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Rights_Amendment" title="Equal Rights Amendment">Equal Rights Amendment</a>. Another founder was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_LaHaye" title="Tim LaHaye">Tim LaHaye</a>, author of the Left Behind novels. The council does not make its proceedings public. When he first ran for president, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush" title="George W. Bush">George W. Bush</a> addressed the Council for National Policy. His remarks from 2000 have never been unveiled.

<h2>Affiliations</h2>

<ul>

<li>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Pelerin_Society" title="Mont Pelerin Society">Mont Pelerin Society</a></li>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Council_for_National_Policy" title="The Council for National Policy" class="mw-redirect">The Council for National Policy</a></li>

<li>Executive Director of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Council_for_National_Policy" title="The Council for National Policy" class="mw-redirect">The Council for National Policy</a>, 1991–2000</li>

<li>White House Staff as Special Assistant to President Reagan for Public Liaison, 1981–1984</li>

<li>Former Staff Member, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Senate_Republican_Policy_Committee&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Senate Republican Policy Committee (page does not exist)">Senate Republican Policy Committee</a></li>

<li>Former Staff Member, U.S. Senator <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Humphrey" title="Gordon Humphrey" class="mw-redirect">Gordon Humphrey</a></li>

<li>Founder (1979) and President, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Leadership_Institute" title="The Leadership Institute" class="mw-redirect">The Leadership Institute</a></li>

<li>Founder and Chairman, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Leadership_PAC" title="Conservative Leadership PAC" class="mw-redirect">Conservative Leadership PAC</a></li>

<li>Board member, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reagan_Alumni_Association&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Reagan Alumni Association (page does not exist)">Reagan Alumni Association</a></li>

<li>Former Editor, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_New_Right_Report&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="The New Right Report (page does not exist)">The New Right Report</a></li>

<li>Board member, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Conservative_Union" title="American Conservative Union">American Conservative Union</a></li>

<li>Board member, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Congress_Foundation" title="Free Congress Foundation">Free Congress Foundation</a></li>

<li>Director, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Congress_Foundation" title="Free Congress Foundation">Free Congress Foundation</a></li>

<li>Chairman, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Legislative_Studies_Institute&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Legislative Studies Institute (page does not exist)">Legislative Studies Institute</a></li>

<li>Director, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Right_to_Work_Committee" title="National Right to Work Committee" class="mw-redirect">National Right to Work Committee</a></li>

<li>Trustee, The Philadelphia Society</li>

</ul>

<h2>Controversy</h2>

Blackwell was at the center of controversy during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Republican_National_Convention" title="2004 Republican National Convention">2004 Republican National Convention</a>, when he passed out <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_heart" title="Purple heart" class="mw-redirect">purple heart</a> bandages which were perceived by some as denigrating the award. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kerry" title="John Kerry">Kerry</a> campaign attacked the activity as the Republican Party mocking <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army" title="United States Army">United States soldiers</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Blackwell#cite_note-1">[2]</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Rove" title="Karl Rove">Karl Rove</a> called Blackwell's bandages "inappropriate".<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Blackwell#cite_note-2">[3]</a>

<h2>References</h2>

<li id="cite_note-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Blackwell#cite_ref-0">^{</a></span}> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/aboutus/morton.cfm">"Leadership Institute--Morton Blackman"</a>. Retrieved June 3, 2011.</li>

<li id="cite_note-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Blackwell#cite_ref-1">^{</a></span}> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/30/gop.purple.hearts">"Delegates mock Kerry with 'purple heart' bandages"</a>. CNN. September 1, 2004. Retrieved May 13, 2010.</li>

<li id="cite_note-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Blackwell#cite_ref-2">^{</a></span}> Rutenberg, Jim (September 1, 2004). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/01/politics/campaign/01swift.html">"Delegates Mock Kerry's Wounds, Angering Veterans"</a>. The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2010.</li>

</ol>

</div>

<h2>Sources</h2>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_York" title="Byron York">Byron York</a>, The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy (New York, Crown Forum, 2005), pp. 233–234</li>

</ul>

Blackwell, Morton LI

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