Am Policy Center 2 APC
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">error, NTBCW/ Am RESOURCES Pol NETWORK?</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">SEE DEWEESE ag21</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">odd problem w/ dupl node:</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">why deleted?</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> note MALWARE: http://americanpolicy.org/</font></p><h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Talk:Tom DeWeese</font></h1><div id="bodyContent"><div id="contentSub"><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tom DeWeese appears to be a right-wing, anti-globalist, isolationist, anti-environment nut. In his rants which range from fighting environmental movements (because they are really part of a plot to redistribute power and wealth away from the United States) to pagaenism in Sunday School (which is based on a minor program used by some schools which involve touching trees while blindfolded to learn more about identifying and recognizing things using senses other than sight, as well as learning about interacting with nature), Mr. DeWeese even goes so far as to suggest it is wrong to teach children to pick up litter... He is one of many examples of how ignorant people gain media influence primarily through the Internet. He is also appears to have financial ties to Phillip Morris through his organization, The American Policy Center, which publishes, among other things, the questionably EPA Watch newsletter.</font></p></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref 2 GUK</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Agenda 21: a conspiracy theory puts sustainability in the crosshairs</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Could right-wing attacks on a non-binding UN sustainability resolution put sustainable business at risk in some states?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Greg Harman</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Wed 24<b> Jun 2015 </b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Green space, clean energy, increased urban density...and global dictatorship. It’s hard to see how all of these things could connect, but — according to a popular right wing conspiracy theory — a UN resolution aimed at sustainable development could pave the way.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Theorists argue that Agenda 21, a 23-year-old non-binding UN resolution that suggests ways for governments and NGOs to promote sustainable development, is the linchpin in a plot to subjugate humanity under an eco-totalitarian regime. One of its most outspoken critics, <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>American Policy Center president Tom DeWeese</b>, has described the resolution as “a new kind of tyranny that, if not stopped, will surely lead us to a new Dark Ages of pain and misery yet unknown to mankind”.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">APC is on the political fringes, but anti-Agenda 21 sentiment is moving into the political mainstream. Criticism of the resolution extended to the Republican party’s 2012 platform, which stated: “We strongly reject the UN Agenda 21 as erosive of American sovereignty.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Legislators in several states have even created anti-Agenda 21 bills, many of which could pose serious threats to companies pursuing sustainability in those states.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In Arizona, for example, a proposed bill dictated that the state could not “adopt or implement the creed, doctrine, or principles or any tenet” of Agenda 21,</b> and prohibited it from “implementing programs of, expending any sum of money for, being a member of, receiving funding from, contracting services from, or giving financial or other forms of aid to” a host of organizations with sustainability agendas, including the President’s Council on Sustainable Development.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Taken at face value, Arizona’s bill – which was defeated in 2012 – would have curtailed almost any sustainability efforts in the state, restricted the activities of tens of thousands of philanthropic organizations that promote sustainability, and potentially scared away hundreds of sustainability-minded companies. If it had passed, it could also have cost the state millions of dollars in lost revenue, as well as thousands of jobs.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">If it hadn’t been defeated, Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton feared the bill “would send the message that Phoenix doesn’t believe in a sustainable economic future. It could negatively impact not only Phoenix and its residents, but the entire state</span>”.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Agenda 21 addresses issues ranging from children’s health to public transportation to women’s empowerment, all of which could also have been severely curtailed under the sweeping wording of Arizona’s bill. The state’s chamber of commerce was among the bill’s staunchest opponents.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Battles in the statehouse</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While Arizona’s bill was especially concerning, it’s only one of several anti-Agenda 21 bills that have come to the floor in state legislatures across the country. Almost all have failed, either dying in committee, getting defeated on the statehouse floor or – in the case of Missouri’s 2013 bill – getting vetoed by the governor.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The exception was Alabama, which unanimously adopted a law in 2012 to prevent any future effort to “deliberately or inadvertently infringe or restrict private property rights without due process, as may be required by policy recommendations originating in, or traceable to ‘Agenda 21’</span>”.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As Alabama’s legislation demonstrates, one of the biggest dangers of anti-Agenda 21 bills lies in their often-vague wording, which can obscure many of their potential impacts. Arizona house minority leader Chad Campbell called his state’s bill the “most poorly crafted bill” in the statehouse at the time. “We wouldn’t be able to use CFL light bulbs in state buildings because that would be considered energy efficiency,” he said.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In Texas, a similarly sweeping anti-Agenda 21 bill submitted this year sought to prevent any governmental entity from accepting money from or granting money to any “nongovernmental or intergovernmental organization accredited by the United Nations to implement a policy that originated in the Agenda 21 plan”.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To get an understanding of the breadth of this language, it’s worth noting that, under its broadest interpretation, Texas’ bill could have curtailed the activities of the National Rifle Association. While the NRA is hardly a hotbed of sustainable activism, it supports several programs that dovetail with Agenda 21. Last year, for example, the group gave money to 4-H, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Texas Wildlife Association, all of which promote conservation and sponsor outdoor education - activities that could easily be linked to the sweeping priorities of Agenda 21.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>The Texas bill could also have barred nonprofits that work with the UN from receiving any state or municipal funding</b>. In an email to the Houston city attorney’s office, James Cargas, the city’s senior assistant attorney for energy, wrote that it would impact “approximately 31,000 nongovernmental organizations [that] provide funding for the benefit of the general public or volunteer services”, including senior citizen advocacy group AARP, the United Way and the privately-owned Ford Foundation. In other words, had it passed the bill, Texas might have cut itself off from hundreds of millions of dollars in charitable funding.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A lightning rod</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On the surface, it’s hard to see why Agenda 21 is so controversial. While it urges international cooperation, it is hardly the totalitarian, internationalist screed that critics claim. Far from promoting international governance, for example, it calls for greater local government involvement in sustainable agricultural and urban development.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But that hasn’t stopped anti-internationalist critics from portraying the resolution in the grimmest possible terms. Pundit Glen Beck, for example, hoisted the paranoid banner with Agenda 21: Into the Shadows, a 2015 novel that outlines how the feared “anti-human” scheme could unfold.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the real world, however, Agenda 21’s critics are left groping for actual targets. In an interview with the Guardian, Alabama state senator Gerald Dial conceded that his bill doesn’t have any real world application – yet.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“We think the long term impact is more relevant than the short term,” Dial said. “When people become more familiar with what Agenda 21 is, more business and people who are looking to locate somewhere will say, ‘Hey, Alabama would be a great place because we won’t be faced with any opportunities for the federal government to come in and mandate to take over property.’”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Meanwhile, Texas state representative Molly White said that her bill requires further development because of the “complexities of this Agenda”.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“My staff and I will look at other bills passed around the country during the interim to prepare the legislation and refile it for next session,” she wrote in an email.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A useful lens on both sides of the political spectrum</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Given the breadth and vehemence of the anti-Agenda 21 sentiment, it is perhaps unsurprising that many sustainability organizations are reluctant to discuss it. For example, the <b>International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives,</b> perhaps the group most actively engaged in assisting local governments to achieve sustainability goals aligned with Agenda 21 goals, denied requests to discuss the resolution’s attackers.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ICLEI spokesperson Celina Plaza wrote in an email that the organization prefers to “focus on positive support for local sustainability”. She added that, for the most part, “local sustainability initiatives enhance the health and economy of communities, and those who oppose these initiatives are often not acting in the best interest of citizens”.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But anti-Agenda 21 sentiment may also be galvanizing some pro-sustainability activists. Kevin Wilhelm, CEO of Seattle-based Sustainable Business Consulting, said that he helped form the Washington Business for Climate Action, an association of business leaders committed to climate advocacy, after he realized that the conspiracy-minded anti-sustainability activists in his state were “much better organized” than those who supported the goals of Agenda 21.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We’ve now recruited 183 businesses,” Wilhelm said. “We’re pushing back to say, ‘Look, there is a huge business opportunity and a huge business risk here [related to climate change] and we need to take action.’”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mitchell Silver, former president of the American Planning Association, a nonprofit professional organization dedicated to urban planning, said that those making wild claims about the dangers of sustainable development are on the losing side of the argument.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“What I want to hear from opponents of sustainable development is where are you going to put 50m new housing units over the next few decades?” he told Reuters in 2012. “So far, I haven’t gotten an answer to that question.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Citing his state’s failed anti-Agenda 21 bill, Arizona state senator Steve Farley says that there is a <b>growing awareness among business-minded Arizona Republicans that their Tea Party-aligned colleagues are hurting the state’s business interests.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Sometimes these conspiracies get a life of their own and those people you depend on to support your tax-cutting majority sabotage you [by] destabilizing the overall economic climate,” Farley said. “But you can’t just say that these folks are in the margins. These folks are in the center of power.”</font></div></div></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><p><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Policy_Center"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Policy_Center</font></a></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">American Policy Center</font></h1><div id="bodyContent"><div id="contentSub"><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The <b>American Policy Center</b> (APC) is a far-<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Right-wing" title="Right-wing">right wing</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_tanks" title="Think tanks">think tank</a> run by PR man <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tom_DeWeese&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Tom DeWeese (page does not exist)">Tom DeWeese</a>. The APC, which is based in Washington D.C., describes itself as a "privately funded, nonprofit, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=501%28c%29%284%29" title="501(c)(4)">501 c (4)</a>, tax-exempt grassroots action and education foundation dedicated to the promotion of free enterprise and limited government regulations over commerce and individuals."<sup id="cite_ref-About_0-0" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Policy_Center#cite_note-About-0" title="">[1]</a></sup></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">APC states that it "focuses on the issues of environmental policy and its effect on private property rights; national federal computer data banks and their effect on individual privacy rights; the United Nations and its effect on American national sovereignty; and federal education policy and its effect on local schools and parental rights."<sup id="cite_ref-About_0-1" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Policy_Center#cite_note-About-0" title="">[1]</a></sup></font></p><table id="toc" class="toc" summary="Contents"><tbody><tr><td><div id="toctitle"><h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Contents</font></h2><span class="toctoggle"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[<a class="internal" id="togglelink">hide</a>]</font></span></div><ul><li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Policy_Center#Board_of_Directors"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Board of Directors</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Policy_Center#Board_of_Advisors"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Board of Advisors</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Policy_Center#American_Policy_Foundation_Board_of_Directors"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">American Policy Foundation Board of Directors</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Policy_Center#Contact_details"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Contact details</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Policy_Center#Articles_and_Resources"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">Articles and Resources</span></font></a><ul><li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Policy_Center#Sources"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">5.1</span> <span class="toctext">Sources</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Policy_Center#Related_SourceWatch_Articles"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">5.2</span> <span class="toctext">Related SourceWatch Articles</span></font></a></li></ul></li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table><p><a name="Board_of_Directors" id="Board_of_Directors"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></a></p><h2><span class="mw-headline"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Board of Directors</font></span></h2><ul><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Thomas A. DeWeese, President</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dr. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bonner_Cohen" title="Bonner Cohen">Bonner Cohen</a>, Vice President</font></li><li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Meredith&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="John Meredith (page does not exist)"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">John Meredith</font></a></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Melissa_Reed&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Melissa Reed (page does not exist)">Melissa Reed</a>, Secretary</font></li></ul><p><a name="Board_of_Advisors" id="Board_of_Advisors"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></a></p><h2><span class="mw-headline"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Board of Advisors</font></span></h2><ul><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rep. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Sam_Rohrer&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Sam Rohrer (page does not exist)">Sam Rohrer</a> - Pennsylvania Legislature</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Steve_Symms" title="Steve Symms">Steve Symms</a> - U.S. Senate (Ret)</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dr. Bonner Cohen - Senior Fellow, Lexington Institute</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Peter_Ford" title="Peter Ford">Peter Ford</a> - Radio Talk Show Host</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Phillip_Abbott_Luce&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Phillip Abbott Luce (page does not exist)">Phillip Abbott Luce</a> - Author (in memoriam)</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Beverly_K.Eakman&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Beverly K. Eakman (page does not exist)">Beverly K. Eakman</a> - Author</font></li></ul><p><a name="American_Policy_Foundation_Board_of_Directors" id="American_Policy_Foundation_Board_of_Directors"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></a></p><h2><span class="mw-headline"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">American Policy Foundation Board of Directors</font></span></h2><ul><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Thomas A. DeWeese, President</font></li><li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Alan_Caruba" title="Alan Caruba"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Alan Caruba</font></a></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Melissa Reed, Secretary</font></li></ul><p><a name="Contact_details" id="Contact_details"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></a></p><h2><span class="mw-headline"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Contact details</font></span></h2><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">70 Main Street
Suite 23
Warrenton, VA 20186
Phone: 540-341-8911
Fax: 540-341-8917
Email: ampolicycenter AT hotmail.com
Web: <a href="http://www.americanpolicy.org/" class="external free" title="http://www.americanpolicy.org" rel="nofollow">http://www.americanpolicy.org</a></font></p><p><a name="Articles_and_Resources" id="Articles_and_Resources"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></a></p><h2><span class="mw-headline"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Articles and Resources</font></span></h2><p><a name="Sources" id="Sources"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></a></p><h3><span class="mw-headline"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sources</font></span></h3><ol class="references"><li id="cite_note-About-0"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">↑ <sup><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Policy_Center#cite_ref-About_0-0" title="">1.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Policy_Center#cite_ref-About_0-1" title="">1.1</a></sup> <a href="http://www.americanpolicy.org/about/main.htm" class="external text" title="http://www.americanpolicy.org/about/main.htm" rel="nofollow">About the Center: Statement of Purpose"</a>, American Policy Center, accessed March 2008.</font></li></ol><p><a name="Related_SourceWatch_Articles" id="Related_SourceWatch_Articles"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></a></p><h3><span class="mw-headline"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Related SourceWatch Articles</font></span></h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Think_tanks" title="Think tanks"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">think tanks</font></a></li></ul><div id="catlinks" class="catlinks"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>: <span dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Category:Think_tanks" title="Category:Think tanks">Think tanks</a></span> | <span dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Category:United_States" title="Category:United States">United States</a></span> | <span dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Category:Co-sponsor_of_the_Heartland_Institute%27s_International_Conference_on_Climate_Change%282009%29" title="Category:Co-sponsor of the Heartland Institute's International Conference on Climate Change (2009)">Co-sponsor of the Heartland Institute's International Conference on Climate Change (2009)</a></span></font></div></div></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">------</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><p><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/09/992856/-Wingnut-Watch:-Tom-DeWeese-and-the-American-Policy-Center?detail=hide"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/09/992856/-Wingnut-Watch:-Tom-DeWeese-and-the-American-Policy-Center?detail=hide</font></a></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><div class="meta"><p class="date"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sat Jul 09, 2011 at 09:14 AM PDT</font></p><h2><a id="titleHref" href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/09/992856/-Wingnut-Watch:-Tom-DeWeese-and-the-American-Policy-Center"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Wingnut Watch: Tom DeWeese and the American Policy Center</font></a></h2><p class="author"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">by <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/user/xaxnar">xaxna</a></font></p><div id="mutility" class="utility"><table class="stats"><tbody><tr><td class="statpermalink"><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/09/992856/-Wingnut-Watch:-Tom-DeWeese-and-the-American-Policy-Center?detail=hide"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">permalink</font></a></td><td class="statcomments"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div class="article-body"><div id="intro"><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> Are you an environmentalist? Like sustainable growth? Historic Preservation? You'd better watch out for <strong>Tom DeWeese</strong>. It's hard to keep track of all the crazy coming from the right wing these days. That doesn't mean we can ignore them though.
One of the things they do much better than people on the left is organize and fund their craziness. One reason for that is, of course, is that it's a lot easier to be crazy if you have lots of money - and there's something about having lots of money that does make people crazy. Or sociopathic. Or both. You don't get to be a rich S.O.B. (or B.) by playing nice and sharing. Not in the America of today.
FWIW, I just ran across one I hadn't heard of before: Tom DeWeese. At the risk of giving him and his organization exposure, I thought it worth putting up a post here so we can be on the watch for him and his message. If you're serious about wanting to deal with major problems the world is facing - growth, energy, climate - you need to know about DeWeese. Because he's bound and determined to keep anything effective from being done. He's a classic case of Libertarian paranoia gone toxic.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(more)</font></p></div><p class="divider-doodle"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><div id="body" class="article-body"><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> If you're someone interested in seeing your local community adopt policies that save energy, conserve resources, and plan for the long run, Tom DeWeese is there to make sure it's not going to happen. He'll turn you into a communist/internationalist/socialist seeking to tell people what they can and can't do. He'll accuse you of brainwashing their kids, trying to take away their guns, driving jobs out of town, and just about anything he can get away with. He'll help organize all of the local low-information, paranoid folks to stop you. And he'll portray it all in terms of <em>doing the Right Thing, the Patriotic Thing, the American Way</em>.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> If you're not prepared to keep him from framing the issues that way, you're going to get hammered - and odds are the local opinion makers, politicos, and media will fall for it. He's got money behind him and lots of practice, so be warned and be prepared.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> Here's a sample of DeWeese from an email I got via another Right Wing 'news' operation I follow to keep track of things like this. The message was sent out to raise membership and funds. I'm adding emphasis for some of the key points:</font></p><blockquote><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Agenda 21 is a threat coming from the United Nations that is invading every city and town in the nation. <strong>It leads to control over private property, energy use, water use; it means government will control how hot your shower may be, how much air conditioning or heat you may use, controls on owning and using your car, controls on food production, controls on population growth, and so much more.</strong></font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> <strong>The policy of Agenda 21 comes in many names, such as Sustainable Development, Smart Growth, historic preservation, diversity, open space, heritage areas and comprehensive planning.</strong></font></p><p><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It all means locking away land, resources, higher prices, sacrifice and shortages and is based on the age old socialist scheme of redistribution of wealth.</font></strong></p></blockquote><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> Here we go, the standard wingnut propaganda machine at work. Take the kind of activities you want to target, and tie them to things with strong negative emotional connotations. Frame them in a context to make them appear threatening. Make people scared so they stop thinking rationally. That's how you create a mob mentality - and then lead that mob around by the nose where you want them to go.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><blockquote><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Agenda 21 is being implemented in your community by a hoard of Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with private political agendas. <strong>They surround your elected officials and pressure them to accept these policies.</strong></font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> The most prominent NGO is called the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). More than 600 American cities are paying dues to ICLEI to set up Agenda 21 <strong>plans and policies that control your life</strong>.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Through the enforcement of non-elected boards, councils and regional governments, Agenda 21 is the blueprint to turn your community into a little soviet.</strong> Our nation is being transformed into a centrally-controlled planned economy – the exact opposite of America’s unique Republic.</font></p></blockquote><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> There you go again: stir up the locals with talk of a global conspiracy where evil outsiders come in to overturn the lives of normal people, deprive them of their rights and their property.
The American Policy Center is one of those organizations the right uses to push it's agenda. I haven't dug into it's financials to find out where its funding comes from, or much about DeWeese, but the hallmarks of a right wing astroturf organization are all over this. I suspect if you follow up their <a href="http://americanpolicy.org/about-us/board-of-advisors/">board of advisors</a>, the links would be fascinating.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> The email goes on to boast about what DeWeese is doing:</font></p><blockquote><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As a direct result of APC’s efforts, we are winning some astounding fights.</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Let me give you just a sample of what has happened across the nation in battle after battle in local communities to <strong>remove ICLEI and stop the spread of Sustainable Development</strong> – in just the past 6 months:</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In February, Carroll County, Maryland elected <strong>5 new county commissioners. Their first act was to close the county’s Sustainable Development Office and fire its manager.</strong> They then ended their contract with ICLEI and rejected the county’s ICLEI-written comprehensive development plan – telling the planning commission to re-work it to protect property rights and<strong>assure the plan was in compliance with the U.S. Constitution</strong>.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Carroll County Commissioner Richard Rothschild called me soon after his election and told me it was APC materials that he used to educate the other commissioners and lead the fight.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Also in February, Amador County, California was the second community to reject its contract with ICLEI and begin to dismantle the Sustainable Development policies that had been put in place. <strong>The effort was led by the “Mother Lode Tea Party.”</strong></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In March, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania became the third community to reject its ICLEI contract and send them packing. The effort was again led by local activists Ruth Miller and Maggie Roddin, armed with APC materials. I had talked several times with these leaders before they led their successful effort.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In April, Edmond, Oklahoma became the fourth community to reject ICLEI and its policies. <strong>The Edmond City Council was confronted by nearly 200 citizens demanding that the city end its contract with ICLEI.</strong></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In May, Las Cruces, New Mexico became the fifth community to out ICLEI and I have been invited to be the keynote speaker at a conference there this summer, sponsored by the group that led the ICLEI fight.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In June, Spartanburg, SC became city number 6 to oust ICLEI by a city council vote of six to zero.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Also in June, Albemarle County, Virginia Board of Supervisors voted
4–2 to reject its contract with ICLEI. I spoke there just two months ago.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Daily I receive notes and calls from leaders in communities across the nation who seek to be the next city to <strong>defeat ICLEI and Sustainable Development.</strong> Currently there are battles waging in Titusville, Florida; Cleveland, Tennessee; Waterloo, Iowa; Wabash, Indiana; Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska, Elkhart County, Indiana; Santa Cruz, California; San Antonio, Texas, Chesterfield County, Virginia, and many more.</font></p><p><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">APC has been involved in almost every one of these fights. If not directly, at least activists are using APC materials and articles to educate the community and engage in the battle.</font></strong></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And for the very first time I am getting phone calls from elected officials who want to talk to me about these policies they are being forced to put into place. They want to understand and learn how to fight back.</font></p></blockquote><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> You can find more just by going to the APC website, and searching DeWeese on the internet. Here's <a href="http://www.worldviewweekend.com/worldview-times/bio.php?authorid=55">a biography</a> with links to some of his messages. Here's how it starts:
</font></p><blockquote><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tom DeWeese is one of the nation's leading advocates of individual liberty, free enterprise, property rights and back-to-basics education. For over thirty years he has fought against government oppression.</font></blockquote><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
If you want a slightly different perspective on DeWeese and those like him, you'll find him in <a href="http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2008/winter/earth-worship">this report</a> from the <a href="http://www.splcenter.org/who-we-are">Southern Poverty Law Center</a>.
</font><blockquote><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Shaw's fearful call to arms against environmentalism was sucked in whole hog during the Ninth Annual Freedom 21 conference held in a Dallas-area Crowne Plaza hotel. Co-hosted by the Texas Eagle Forum, a hard-line Christian Right organization, and<strong>the anti-"New World Order" American Policy Center (APC)</strong>, the three-day convergence included such right-wing heavyweights as the error-prone conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi, gay- and feminist-hating Phyllis Schlafly, and the far-right Constitution Party's presidential candidate, Chuck Baldwin.</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One former popular Freedom 21er was disinvited. Bob Barr, a former conservative Republican congressman from Georgia, was <em>asked not to return by the head of APC</em>, <strong>Tom DeWeese</strong>, <em>because Barr had talked to Al Gore about global warming</em>.<strong>"This is not some nice little debate," DeWeese said he told someone in Barr's office. "This is war."</strong></font></p></blockquote><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> DeWeese and APC are just one more patch of nasty on the quilt of Wingnut crazy spreading across America. While posing as a grass-roots organization, want to bet how much of his money comes from people like the <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries/">Koch Bothers</a>? <a href="http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/listorganizations.php">Exxon-Mobil</a>? All the usual suspects lurk in the shadows while people like DeWeese make a lot of noise about defending 'little people' - while <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2003Q2/fish.html">screwing them over instead</a>.</font></p><blockquote><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Similar rhetoric came from Tom DeWeese, a long-time PR professional who runs a think tank called the American Policy Center that specializes in appeals to the looney fringe of the far right. DeWeese called the government's water policy "an attack on sanity itself. It lacks all rationality. It is an attack on these farmers, but it is also yet another example of the way radical environmentalists continue to attack on the most essential elements of the West's economic life; farming, ranching, mining and the timber industries. It is ultimately an attack on every American's property rights because ownership of any land anywhere can be destroyed by simply asserting that an endangered species exists on it or may at some time use it. ... The agenda of these radical environmentalists is aimed directly at the destruction of our nation's economic base."</font></blockquote><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Repeat:</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> If you're someone interested in seeing your local community adopt policies that save energy, conserve resources, and plan for the long run, Tom DeWeese is there to make sure it's not going to happen. He'll turn you into a communist/internationalist/socialist seeking to tell people what they can and can't do. He'll accuse you of brainwashing their kids, trying to take away their guns, driving jobs out of town, and just about anything he can get away with. He'll help organize all of the local low-information, paranoid folks to stop you. And he'll portray it all in terms of <em>doing the Right Thing, the Patriotic Thing, the American Way</em>.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> If you're not prepared to keep him from framing the issues that way, you're going to get hammered - and odds are the local opinion makers, politicos, and media will fall for it. He's got money behind him and lots of practice, so be warned and be prepared.</font></p></div></div><div class="tags"><h4><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tags</font></h4></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p></div></div><div id="bodyContent"><div id="bodyContent">
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