Last week, while the media focused on the spectacle in Denver, the country’s most influential conservatives met at a hotel in downtown Minneapolis for a group introduction to Sarah Palin. They are members of the Council for National Policy, an ultra-secretive cabal that networks wealthy right-wing donors together with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy. Members have included Tony Perkins, James Dobson, Grover Norquist, Tim LaHaye and Paul Weyrich. At a secret 2000 meeting of the CNP, George W. Bush promised to nominate only pro-life judges; in 2004, then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told the group, “The destiny of the nation is on the shoulders of the conservative movement.”
Though Dobson and Perkins were reportedly at the recent CNP meeting in Minneapolis, a full roster of guests would be nearly impossible to require. The CNP deliberately operates below the radar, going to excessive lengths to obscure its activities. According to official CNP policy, “The media should not know when or where we meet or who takes part in our programs before or after a meeting.” Thus the CNP’s Minneapolis gathering was free of reporters. I only learned of the get-together through an online commentary by one of its attendees, top Dobson/Focus on the Family flack Tom Minnery. (Watch it here)
Minnery described the mood as CNP members watched Palin accept her selection as John McCain’s Vice Presidential pick. “I was standing in the back of a ballroom filled with largely Republicans who were hoping against hope that something would put excitement back into this campaign,” Minnery said. “And I have to tell you, that speech by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin — people were on their seats applauding, cheering, yelling… That room in Minneapolis watching on the television screen was electrified. I have not seen anything like it in a long time.”
Minnery added that his boss, Dobson, has yearned for a conservative female leader like Margaret Thatcher to emerge on the American scene. And while Palin is no Thatcher, “she has not rejected the feminine side of who she is, so for that reason, she will be attractive to conservative voters.”
The members of the Council for National Policy are the hidden hand behind McCain’s Palin pick. With her selection, the Republican nominee is suddenly — and unexpectedly — assured of the support of a movement that once opposed his candidacy with all its might. Indeed, while Dobson once said he could “never” vote for McCain, he recently issued a statement Palin an “outstanding” choice. It is likely that Dobson, the single most influential figure in the Christian right, will emerge in short order as a maj
5 Comments Received
September 3rd, 2008 @10:30 am
Isn’t that special? I think I’m the first person to link Palin with the Church Lady….but I’m giving it to you FREE!
Also up for grabs: These gems of mine–ALL FREE!
Fox is developing a new sitcom Starring John McCain as “The King of Beauty Queens!”
The Themesong, sung by “The McCainiacs” is “Insane McCain on the Membrane”
Go McCain/Churh Lady ‘08!
….and you’re welcome.
September 4th, 2008 @12:19 pm
Hi Max. Just curious, do you know when and where this CNP meeting took place? Also the video you link to with Minnery doesn’t exactly place Minnery at the CNP convention. Do you have any more info about the CNP meeting to make a corroboration?
September 11th, 2008 @3:53 am
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September 20th, 2008 @4:43 pm
Hello,
I am researching Sarah Palin’s ties to the Religious Right, and I want to be sure about my facts. Did the CNP meet WITH Palin, or did they merely meet to discuss Palin?
If you have any information about previous contacts between Palin and any members of the RR, please let me know. I’ve watched the RR’s “stealth candidates” in action on a local school board and I fear that Sarah has all the earmarks of being in that league only writ large!!
Thanks!!
Ken Schei
Founder: Atheists for Jesus
Author: Rescuing Jesus (and America) from the Religious Right
October 7th, 2008 @9:33 am
Dear Mr. Blumenthal. At the present time on your website your very important article on the CNP/Palin connection (http://maxblumenthal.com/2008/09/test/#more-345) ends abruptly:
The members of the Council for National Policy are the hidden hand behind McCain’s Palin pick. With her selection, the Republican nominee is suddenly — and unexpectedly — assured of the support of a movement that once opposed his candidacy with all its might. Indeed, while Dobson once said he could “never” vote for McCain, he recently issued a statement Palin an “outstanding” choice. It is likely that Dobson, the single most influential figure in the Christian right, will emerge in short order as a maj
You might want to correct the posting on the website, but in any case, I would be dleighted if you could send the rest of the article to me (see below). Thanks very much. Keep up the great work. With every good wish, Dr. Steven Jonas
Steven Jonas, MD, MPH is a Professor of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University (NY) and author/co-author/editor of 30 books. He has also published numerous articles and reviews in both the academic and the lay literature on health policy, health and wellness, and athletics. On politics Dr. Jonas is a http://www.TPJmagazine.us Contributing Author; a regular Columnist for the webmagazine Buzz Flash; a Special Contributing Editor for Cyrano’s Journal Online; a Contributing Columnist for the Project for the Old American Century, POAC; and a Featured Writer for Dandelion Salad http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/.
In his book The New Americanism (1992, available at http://www.amazon.com), Dr. Jonas presented his proposal for that “new vision and mission” for the Democratic Party that so many, for so many years, have been urging it to find. A new vision and mission are obviously needed with increasing urgency as with increasing speed and determination the Georgites drive our nation towards frank theocratic fascism, even as the Democratic Party seems to have found an effective new voice for the 2008 election. Dr. Jonas found what he considered to be the needed vision and mission in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
He is also the author of The 15% Solution: A Political History of American Fascism, 2001-2022. Under the pseudonym “Jonathan Westminster” this book was originally published in 1996. It was republished with a New Introduction in 2004. Under Georgite rule, major elements of the “fictional non-fiction” scenario of this work of “future history” have, most unfortunately, become all too real. The 2004 edition is available at http://www.barnesandnoble.com (search with the book title) and http://www.xlibris.com (click on “Bookstore,” then “Search” with the title). Both versions are available at http://www.amazon.com (go to “Books;” search with the title).
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