Ahmanson, H

<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><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">an 3 23</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman">the </font><font face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4">American Conservative (TAC) is cutting senior editor Rod Dreher's column was recently published for the last time after 12 years of success, Vanity Fair reports.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4">Per Vanity Fair, according to two sources familiar with the matter, the column's extensive stint —<b> described as one of the most bizarre diatribes in opinion journalism — came to an end after "one particular reader" believed Dreher's posts "had simply gotten too weird."</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Vanity Fair reports:</font></div><div style=""><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">
</font></div><div style=""><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4">That disgruntled reader was<b style=""> Howard Ahmanson Jr., </b>the heir to a California banking fortune and the sole benefactor of Dreher's six-figure salary at TAC, which is published by American Ideas Institute, a nonprofit. This unique funding arrangement—a single donor choosing to cover one writer's entire salary—was paired with an even more unusual editorial arrangement: Dreher was allowed to publish directly on TAC's site without any revisions or legal oversight, according to the two sources.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">READ MORE: 'Not a difficult decision': Ohio paper nixes 'Dilbert' cartoon after Trump-supporting creator's racist rant</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The sources noted the first clear "red flag" Dreher waved, in Ahmanson's opinion, occurred in 2021 when the writer published a blog "debating circumcision," saying, "All us boys wanted to stare at his primitive root wiener when we were at the urinal during recess, because it was monstrous. Nobody told us that wieners could look like that.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Moreover, Vanity Fair reports:</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div style=""><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">He has warned that so-called sissy hypnosis porn is 'profoundly evil;' detailed the 'formal' Catholic exorcism of a friend's suicidal wife; and recalled—in unsettling detail—the time he witnessed a Black classmate's uncircumcised penis</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">One of the knowledgeable sources paraphrased Ahmanson, saying, "At some point, he basically decided, 'This is too weird.'" He decided, "'I don't want to read this or pay for this anymore.'"</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4">Dreher said he will likely carry his beloved blog to a Substack, while remaining an editor at large with TAC.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">READ MORE: 'Will not tolerate': New York Times warns its journalists amid criticism of reporting on transgender people</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Vanity Fair's full report is available at this link (subscription required).</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
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</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">by Harvey Wasserman</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">OCTOBER 9, <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">2006</span></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>J. Kenneth Blackwell, the man who stole Ohio’s 2004 presidential election, was out campaigning October 4, 2006 with a man widely viewed as one of America’s leading white supremacists. Blackwell is an African-American.</b> </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">He is also the Republican nominee for governor of Ohio. As Secretary of State, he was the GOP point man for stealing the 2004 presidential vote that gave George W. Bush a second term. As co-chair of the state’s Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, Blackwell engineered a complex strategy of confusion, disenfranchisement and theft that mirrored what was done by Katherine Harris in Florida 2000. Harris was rewarded with a safe Congressional seat, and is now the Republican nominee for U.S. </span>Senate. Polls show Blackwell trailing between 12-20 points in his gubernatorial race, but few Ohio insiders doubt his ability to steal the necessary votes, if he can get away with it. Currently, Blackwell operatives are stressing that he’s “only 12 points down” and that they believe the race will tighten significantly by Election Day. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Blackwell toured the state with Larry Pratt, author of ARMED PEOPLE VICTORIOUS, which advocates the creation of militant right-wing militias.</b> Pratt has spoken and shared platforms in the past with Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi Aryan Nation members. He was forced to take a leave of absence from Pat Buchanan’s 1996 presidential campaign over charges of white supremacist and anti-semitic views. Pratt’s 150,000-member Gun Owners of America is proudly to the right of the National Rifle Association. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">According to the Columbus Dispatch, Pratt says he couldn’t be a racist because he is campaigning with Blackwell, an African-American. Blackwell is “our kind of guy,” says Pratt, in reference to Blackwell’s support of gun owners’ rights. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4">Blackwell campaign spokesperson attorney Eric Seabrook, conceded on Sunday, October 8 to the Khari Enaharo show listeners on 98.9FM radio that Pratt was a white supremacist but, he stressed “it was all about the gun rights issue.” </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">But this is not the first time Blackwell has lined up with extreme right-wing backers boasting racist and anti-semitic roots. Earlier this year Blackwell posted on his website a picture of himself addressing the <b>Council for National Policy.</b> The CNP has deep “neo-fascist” and Ku Klux Klan ties according to Chip Berlet of the Boston-based Political Research Associates. In addition to right wing extremists such as Jerry Falwell, Phyllis Schlafly and Pat Robertson, the CNP embraces a broad spectrum of powerful, reactionary bigots. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Among them are members of the Ahmanson family, major funders of extremist publications and<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> electronic voting machines</span>. The Ahmanson’s financial and political ties are thoroughly intertwined with both ES&S and Diebold, mainstays of the electronic hardware used to steal the Ohio vote. Among their associates are Bob and Todd Urosevich, whose executive and programming work has helped shape the two voting machine companies. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Others associated with the CNP include:</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Richard Shoff, a former Ku Klux Klan leader in Indiana.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">John McGoff, an ardent supporter of the former apartheid South African regime.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">R.J. Rushdoony, </span>the theological leader of America's "Christian Reconstruction" movement, which advocates that Christian fundamentalists take "dominion" over America by abolishing democracy and instituting Old Testament Law. Rushdoony's Reconstructionalists believe that "homosexuals . . . adulterers , blasphemers, astrologers and others will be executed," along with disobedient children.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4">Reed Larson, head of anti-union National Right to Work Committee.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Don Wildmon, TV censorship activist and accused anti-Semite.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Lieutenant-Colonel <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Oliver North, Major General John K. Singlaub and other principals from the Iran-Contra Scandal.</span></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">After a public uproar, Blackwell pulled his CNP photo off his website. But he has thus far made no similar backtrack on Larry Pratt. “We’re happy to have his support,” says a campaign spokesman, reported the Dispatch. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Blackwell supporters continue to predict he will make a “last-minute surge” to win the governor’s race. Making no visible moves toward the mainstream, Blackwell may well be banking on two bottom lines in Bush-era electoral politics: loaded guns and rigged voting machines. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman are co-authors, with Steve Rosenfeld, of WHAT HAPPENED IN OHIO?, just published by the New Press. Fitrakis is an independent candidate for governor of Ohio, endorsed by the Green Party.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Howard F. Ahmanson, Jr.</b> "is founder and president of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Fieldstead_and_Company&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Fieldstead and Company (page does not exist)">Fieldstead and Company</a>, Inc., a private philanthropy working in national and international relief and development, education, the arts, family and children's concerns, and religious freedom issues worldwide. Born in Los Angeles in 1950, Ahmanson, is a graduate of Occidental College in that city and holds a master's degree in linguistics from the University of Texas at Arlington.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Ahmanson is a member of the board of both the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_M._Perkins_Foundation" title="John M. Perkins Foundation">John M. Perkins Foundation</a> in Jackson, Mississippi, and The <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Claremont_Institute" title="Claremont Institute" class="mw-redirect">Claremont Institute</a> of Claremont, California. A frequent writer on public policy issues, Ahmanson has been published in the <i><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Los_Angeles_Times" title="Los Angeles Times" class="mw-redirect">Los Angeles Times</a></i>, <i>Philanthropy</i>, and <i>Religion and Liberty</i>, among others.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Recent projects include a four-year series of conferences on holistic development co-sponsored with <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Food_for_the_Hungry" title="Food for the Hungry">Food for the Hungry</a> International, held in <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Thailand" title="Thailand">Thailand</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Zimbabwe" title="Zimbabwe">Zimbabwe</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ecuador" title="Ecuador">Ecuador</a>, and the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Philippines" title="Philippines" class="mw-redirect">Philippines</a>; support for Harambee Christian Preparatory School, and inner city school in Pasadena, California; and an international photo exhibit and book on the victims of wary in Nagarno-Karabagh. Among current projects are support for music education for elementary students in public schools in Orange County, California; sponsorship of Stanley Spencer: An English Vision, a retrospective exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Contemporary Art in Mexico City, and the Palace of Fine Art in San Francisco; and funding for the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, twenty-eight volumes of patristic commentary on the Bible to be translated into seven languages, e.g., German French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, and Mandarin Chinese." <a href="http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=23&isFellow=true" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=23&isFellow=true" rel="nofollow">[1]</a></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Married to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Roberta_Ahmanson&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Roberta Ahmanson (page does not exist)">Roberta Ahmanson</a>.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Reclusive multimillionaire who is the benefactor to numerous right wing causes. This includes the <i><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Chalcedon_Report" title="Chalcedon Report">Chalcedon Report</a></i>, a right wing magazine that has made news with vicious anti-gay articles.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Howard F. Ahmanson Jr is not a well-known name in the United Kingdom. Indeed, neither is it in his home country, the United States. However, this secretive and extremely wealthy man is, arguably, the most influential Christian religious fundamentalist in the English-speaking world today...</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"For years Ahmanson funded <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rushdoony&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Rushdoony (page does not exist)">Rushdoony</a> and his <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Chalcedon_Foundation" title="Chalcedon Foundation">Chalcedon Foundation</a> and, indeed, was on its board from the mid-1970s until 2001. Ahmanson has never repudiated that he believed in what Rushdoony was promoting. Indeed Ahmanson and his wife were at Rushdoony’s bedside when he died in 2001.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Admittedly, Ahmanson is on record as saying in 2004 that he had rejected Rushdoony’s view that gays should be stoned to death. However, that was 30 years after his association with Rushdoony started...</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Ahmanson is a member of the secretive <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Council_for_National_Policy" title="Council for National Policy">Council for National Policy</a>, an elite group of politically conservative national leaders who meet several times a year to coordinate their efforts on a common agenda...</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"In 2004 he and his wife co-operated with The Register (a US publication available online) in a five part interview...</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Ahmanson also contributes heavily to the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Discovery_Institute" title="Discovery Institute">Discovery Institute</a>, the 'intellectual' flagship of the Intelligent Design movement, and the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=George_C._Marshall_Institute" title="George C. Marshall Institute">George C. Marshall Institute</a>, which disputes research indicating that human activity contributes to global warming.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Ahmanson's views are considered controversial enough that two Republican candidates, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Linda_Lingle&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Linda Lingle (page does not exist)">Linda Lingle</a>, governor of Hawaii and Virginia Congressman <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Frank_R._Wolf" title="Frank R. Wolf" class="mw-redirect">Frank R. Wolf</a> returned his contributions to their campaigns...</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Some of Ahmanson's donations are channelled through the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Fieldstead_Foundation" title="Fieldstead Foundation">Fieldstead Foundation</a>, which is a subspecies of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ahmanson_foundation&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ahmanson foundation (page does not exist)">Ahmanson foundation</a> ("Fieldstead" is Ahmanson's middle name). The Fieldstead Foundation funds many of the travelling and speaking expenses of the DI's shining stars." <sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Howard_F.Ahmanson,Jr.#cite_note-0" title="">[1]</a></sup> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,Jr" class="external text" title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,Jr" rel="nofollow">wiki</a></font></p>

<ul>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Director, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Discovery_Institute" title="Discovery Institute">Discovery Institute</a></font></li>

</ul>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Contents</font></h2>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Howard_F.Ahmanson,Jr.#External_links"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></font></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Howard_F.Ahmanson,Jr.#Resources_and_articles"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Resources and articles</span></a>

</font><ul>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Howard_F.Ahmanson,Jr.#Related_Sourcewatch_articles"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">2.1</span> <span class="toctext">Related Sourcewatch articles</span></font></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Howard_F.Ahmanson,Jr.#References"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">2.2</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></font></a></li>

</ul>

</li>

</ul>

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

<h2><span class="mw-headline"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">External links</font></span></h2>

<ul>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Steve Benen, "<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20040323030339/http://www.dangerouscitizen.com/Articles/1090.aspx" class="external text" title="http://web.archive.org/web/20040323030339/http://www.dangerouscitizen.com/Articles/1090.aspx" rel="nofollow">From Genesis to Dominion</a>", Americans United for Separation of Church and State, 2000, accessed February 6, 2008.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Steve Benen, "<a href="http://www.au.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5582&news_iv_ctrl=0&abbr=cs" class="external text" title="http://www.au.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5582&news_iv_ctrl=0&abbr=cs" rel="nofollow">The Discovery Institute: Genesis Of 'Intelligent Design'</a>", Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, May 2002, Accessed February 6, 2008.</font></li>

<li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">”<a href="http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=23&isFellow=true" class="external text" title="http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=23&isFellow=true" rel="nofollow">Biography</a>”, Accessed January 2007.</font></li>

</ul>

<h2><span class="mw-headline"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Resources and articles</font></span></h2>

<h3><span class="mw-headline"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Related Sourcewatch articles</font></span></h3>

<h3><span class="mw-headline"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">References</font></span></h3>

<li id="cite_note-0"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Howard_F.Ahmanson,Jr.#cite_ref-0" title="">↑</a> <a href="http://www.bcseweb.org.uk/index.php/Main/HowardAhmanson" class="external text" title="http://www.bcseweb.org.uk/index.php/Main/HowardAhmanson" rel="nofollow">Howard Ahmanson</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=British_Centre_for_Science_Education&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="British Centre for Science Education (page does not exist)">British Centre for Science Education</a>, accessed February 2, 2009.</font></li>

</ol>

<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:United_States" title="Category:United States">United States</a></span> | <span dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Category:Religion" title="Category:Religion">Religion</a></span></font></div>

</div>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,Jr">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,Jr</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,_Jr.">.</a></font>

<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Political.2C_cultural_and_religious_financing"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Political, cultural and religious financing</font></span></h3>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Howard and Roberta Ahmansons' personal philanthropic organization is Fieldstead and Company, also known as the Fieldstead Institute, an unincorporated entity which has never had a telephone number.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,Jr.#cite_note-13"><span>[</span>14<span>]</span></a></sup> Fieldstead does not disclose its finances, but in 2004 they gave the <i>Orange County Register</i> a list of the top 20 organizations they support. In order of the total amount they had given up to that point: Fullhart-Carnegie Museum Trust, Perry, Iowa; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drew_University" title="Drew University">Drew University</a>, Madison, N.J.; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Institute" title="Discovery Institute">Discovery Institute</a>, Seattle, Wash.; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claremont_Institute" title="Claremont Institute">Claremont Institute</a>; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St.James_Episcopal_Church" title="St. James Episcopal Church">St. James Episcopal Church</a>, Newport Beach; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_College" title="Calvin College">Calvin College</a>, Grand Rapids, Mich.; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Anglican_Council" title="American Anglican Council">American Anglican Council</a>, Washington, D.C.; Food for the Hungry, Phoenix, Ariz.; Mariners Christian School, Costa Mesa; Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington D.C.; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biola_University" title="Biola University">Biola University</a>, La Mirada, Calif.; Orange County Rescue Mission, Santa Ana, Calif.; The Chalcedon Foundation, Vallecito, Calif.; INFEMIT USA, Washington, D.C.; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Institute" title="Hudson Institute">Hudson Institute</a>, Washington, D.C.; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Vision" title="World Vision" class="mw-redirect">World Vision</a>, Federal Way, Wash.; Maranatha Trust, Washington, D.C.; National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, Cincinnati, Ohio; SEN USA, Hobart, Ind.; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterVarsity_Christian_Fellowship" title="InterVarsity Christian Fellowship">InterVarsity Christian Fellowship</a>, Madison, Wis.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,_Jr.#cite_note-14"><span>[</span>15<span>]</span></a></sup></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ahmanson was the chair of the California Independent Business <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_Action_Committee" title="Political Action Committee" class="mw-redirect">Political Action Committee</a> (PAC) and later Allied Business Pac. Since the 1980s, he has successfully worked with a small number of conservative businessmen and multi-millionaires, principally <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Hurtt" title="Rob Hurtt">Rob Hurtt</a> of Container Supply Corporation, to organize <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_action_committees" title="Political action committees" class="mw-redirect">political action committees</a> and increase conservatives' control of the California state government. Ahmanson and Hurtt created the Capitol Resources Institute, which became a major lobbying force for Christian conservatives in Sacramento. The Ahmansons made political donations to the 1993 California school voucher initiative (which failed) and a 1992 voucher initiative in Colorado. Donations from the Ahmansons, Howard's former associate Rob Hurtt and the PACs they are involved with added up to almost $3 million split between 19 conservative candidates and various causes in 1992. Hurtt himself was elected State Senator in 1994 and became chairman of the Republican campaign committee for the State Legislature.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At that time, the GOP was only four seats away from majority control in 1994. This political success has been seen as the result of planning undertaken at the Third Annual Northwest Conference for Reconstruction in 1983 by Wayne Johnson, who, according to <i>The Public Eye</i>,<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,Jr.#cite_note-15"><span>[</span>16<span>]</span></a></sup> helped craft California's 1990 term limits initiative and "managed the campaigns of several Ahmanson-backed candidates in 1992." The Ahmansons supported <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposition_22" title="Proposition 22" class="mw-redirect">Proposition 22</a>, a ban on same-sex marriage in California. Howard Ahmanson contributed $62,500 to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Western_Center_for_Law_and_Religious_Freedom&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Western Center for Law and Religious Freedom (page does not exist)">Western Center for Law and Religious Freedom</a>, which, among other things, aided the citizens and leaders of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kern_County" title="Kern County" class="mw-redirect">Kern County</a> school district defend their choice to ban <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_Years_of_Solitude" title="One Hundred Years of Solitude">One Hundred Years of Solitude</a></i>, a book by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Garc%C3%ADa_M%C3%A1rquez" title="Gabriel García Márquez">Gabriel García Márquez</a>, for its "profanity" and "vulgarity." (Other Ahmanson political initiatives and their results are discussed in Blumenthal's 2004 <i>Salon</i> article.<sup id="cite_ref-Salon2004_2-3" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,Jr.#cite_note-Salon2004-2"><span>[</span>3<span>]</span></a></sup>)</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ahmanson is a major backer of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Institute" title="Discovery Institute">Discovery Institute</a>, whose <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_Science_and_Culture" title="Center for Science and Culture">Center for Science and Culture</a> opposes the theory of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution" title="Evolution">evolution</a> and promotes <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_design" title="Intelligent design">intelligent design</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-wilgoren_16-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,_Jr.#cite_note-wilgoren-16"><span>[</span>17<span>]</span></a></sup></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Through Fieldstead, Ahmanson's wife Roberta, a former religion reporter at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_County_Register" title="Orange County Register" class="mw-redirect">Orange County Register</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,Jr.#cite_note-17"><span>[</span>18<span>]</span></a></sup> has funded and been directly involved with some programs of the Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities (now known as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_Christian_Colleges_and_Universities" title="Council for Christian Colleges and Universities">Council for Christian Colleges and Universities</a>). These include the Washington Journalism Center,<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,Jr.#cite_note-18"><span>[</span>19<span>]</span></a></sup> its Summer Institute of Journalism, and its Fieldstead Journalism Lectures. Fieldstead has funded other Christian journalistic projects such as Gegrapha<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,Jr.#cite_note-19"><span>[</span>20<span>]</span></a></sup> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=GetReligion&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="GetReligion (page does not exist)">GetReligion</a>. A common thread in all of these organizations is a personal friend of Roberta Ahmanson's: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Mattingly" title="Terry Mattingly">Terry Mattingly</a> (www.tmatt.net) who directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, teaches journalism, and writes a weekly column for the Scripps Howard News Service. Roberta Ahmanson recently coedited a book called <i>Blind Spot.</i><sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,Jr.#cite_note-20"><span>[</span>21<span>]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,_Jr.#cite_note-21"><span>[</span>22<span>]</span></a></sup></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ahmanson has donated $1,395,000 through Fieldstead And Co.<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,Jr.#cite_note-22"><span>[</span>23<span>]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,Jr.#cite_note-23"><span>[</span>24<span>]</span></a></sup> to support <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_8%282008%29" title="California Proposition 8 (2008)" class="mw-redirect">California Proposition 8 (2008)</a>, a November 2008 ballot initiative that would amend the state's Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, which had been legalized in a California Supreme Court case earlier in the year. He had been a six-figure donor to California's previous initiative, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposition_22" title="Proposition 22" class="mw-redirect">Proposition 22</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-LAT062908_24-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,Jr.#cite_note-LAT062908-24"><span>[</span>25<span>]</span></a></sup> In late 2008, Ahmanson, worried about the narrowing focus of the California Republican Party (lowering taxes), announced that he switched parties and is now a registered Democrat. <sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Ahmanson,_Jr.#cite_note-25"><span>[</span>26<span>]</span></a></sup></font></p>