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ORIGINAL RESEARCHBill Berkowitz Abramoff accomplice right wing Rabbi Daniel Lapin is still in businessEthically-challenged head of Toward Tradition, one of the Christian Right's most reliable Jewish allies, decides to keep the doors of his organization openA funny thing happened to Rabbi Daniel Lapin on his journey to constantly claiming the moral high ground: Toward Tradition, his conservative Jewish organization, got so deeply involved with the shenanigans of the now-jailed Republican Party mega-lobbyist Jack Abramoff -- Lapin's longtime friend and business associate -- that rumors of the organization's demise began to percolate in the media. But despite the rumor that Toward Tradition would shut its doors -- a rumor generated largely by the Rabbi's testimony before a congressional committee -- Lapin has now pledged to keep the organization's doors open. The Senate Finance Committee reported that Toward Tradition and four other organizations may have violated their tax-exempt status by aiding Jack Abramoff clients Before deciding not to pull the plug on Toward Tradition -- which Lapin claims has 31,000 members, half Jewish and half Christian -- Lapin took a few minutes to cheap-shot Barbra Streisand, another old friend. In a column titled "Why The Streisand I Once Knew Was Never Obscene," Lapin scolded the singer for using foul language -- the f-word -- while combating a heckler during a concert in Madison Square Garden in early October. Lapin claimed that Streisand's ill-mannered response must have been a result of her embrace of secular liberalism. "As it turns out," the Jewish Daily Forward tersely noted, "Streisand could just as well have fired off her own statement, under the headline: 'The Rabbi I Once Knew Was Never Under Investigation by a Senate Committee.'" A recent report by the Democratic staff of the Senate Finance Committee titled "Investigation of Jack Abramoff's Use of Tax-Exempt Organizations" "alleges that Toward Tradition and four other organizations may have violated their tax-exempt status by aiding Abramoff clients, quoted Lapin as telling congressional staffers that he was in the process of shutting down his organization because of all the bad press," the Forward reported. In a phone interview with Washington Jewish Week, "Lapin acknowledged that the option [to close Toward Tradition] was at one time considered in the wake of revelations about how former lobbyist and Toward Tradition backer ... Abramoff had utilized the organization to influence a top staffer for then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay." "A lot of energy and resources [were used] to deal with those things," he said, but "it wasn't considered for very long." Closing Toward Tradition "would be a betrayal" of the group's mission and backers, he said. In addition to Lapin's Toward Tradition, the other groups named in the Democratic staff report were Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform; the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, a group, journalist Frederick Clarkson pointed out, that was co-founded by Norquist and Gale Norton before she became Secretary of the Interior; Citizens Against Government Waste; and the National Center for Public Policy Research. Jack's DanielAccording to TalktoAction's Frederick Clarkson, the Democratic staff "report shows via email traffic how Abramoff could count on Lapin to write columns that would cast his clients in a favorable light...[and] highlights [his]...intention to use Lapin to gain a meeting with [Focus on the Family's] James Dobson for Jeff Ballabon of the Channel One Network. On another occasion, Ballabon wrote to Abramoff and Lapin about the draft of a proposed newspaper column that would go out under Lapin's name attacking critics of Channel One's controversial in-classroom commercial television network." The column, titled "Is it immoral to make an honest living? Your children think so," was syndicated by Knight Ridder newspapers, on April 15, 1999. "In email correspondence about the article," Clarkson reported, "Ballabon described the company's critics as 'radical, anti-business operators and academics' and 'outside commie agitators.' Ballabon's idea of 'commies' included the PTA, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Federation of Teachers. The concerns being expressed by groups like these at the time were that the company sold school systems on child appropriate news they provide, along with free equipment to view it on -- but that they really deliver mostly commercials and what little news there is poorly done. They thought that maybe allowing the classroom to be hijacked by commercial interests wasn't such a good idea." According to Clarkson, Lapin's op-ed piece was "evidently part of a ... far-reaching political and PR campaign that sought to head off hearings on the matter" by Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL). In a 2001 story for The American Prospect, journalist Russ Baker wrote: Channel One dumped almost $1 million into a lobbying effort led by former Christian Coalition Director Ralph Reed and the powerful law firm of Preston, Gates, and Ellis--and effectively kept a lid on further action or hearings. Last spring a Shelby-sponsored sense-of-the-Senate resolution opposing commercialization of the schools was blocked by Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas and heavy lobbying by Reed and former New York Senator Alfonse D'Amato. The company has other means of winning support: Channel One's Ballabon insisted on faxing me a mound of positive letters; several from students mentioned free trips to Channel One's Los Angeles production studios. Lapin, a native of Johannesburg, South Africa who came to California in the 1970s, has for years been a favorite with conservative Christian evangelicals; appearing at conferences, rallies, on religious television programs, and signing onto hordes of evangelical-generated petitions. He founded the Pacific Jewish Center, an Orthodox synagogue in Venice, California, which, according to Wikipedia, "views itself as functioning as part of the recent Baal teshuva movement, encouraging Conservative and Reform Jews to adopt and return to a more observant traditional Judaism." Michael Medved, a radio talk show host and film critic who is on the Toward Tradition board, was a member of Pacific Jewish Center as was Barbra Streisand and actor Richard Dreyfuss. "Lapin's teachings," Wikipedia points out, "are also aligned with Modern Orthodox Judaism, in that while he promotes observant Judaism, he is strongly in favor of observant Jews having interaction with other faith communities (in his view, mostly conservative and observant Christian communities) and broader political action outside of Judaism." After Lapin left the Center in the early 1990s his brother David took over; he left in 2003 to run the Eshkol Academy. In 2002, Lapin hosted a weekly radio talk show funded by Toward Tradition on KTTH-AM in Seattle. The show was cancelled earlier this year and Lapin took to hosting a Sunday afternoon program on KSFO-AM in San Francisco. "Though he portrays himself as a business guru," Wikipedia points out, "Lapin has not been successful in his business ventures. While in California, he founded an investment company called Commonwealth Loan Company which bought and sold investment loans secured by Californian real estate. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 1992, six months after Lapin moved to Seattle. The company had losses in excess of $3 million dollars, much of which had been personally guaranteed by Lapin. In July 1994, Lapin filed for personal bankruptcy in a Seattle federal court, with more than $3 million in debts." Lapin has long carried water for the Christian right: He was a strong supporter of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ"; he was active around the Terry Schiavo case, supporting the campaign by her parents to keep her alive; is on the frontlines of the Christian evangelical-generated "War on Christmas," heroically claiming that its not offensive to say Merry Christmas; and has denounced recycling as "The sacred sacrament of secularism." He has also been an aggressive critic of liberal Jewish groups; arguing that these groups focus too much on conservative Christian evangelical social issues that they disagree with rather than being grateful to Christian Zionists for their support for Israel. In a post on his website dated August 19, 2006, Lapin described Pastor John Hagee, the founder of Christians United for Israel, as "an American patriot, a great Christian leader, and an esteemed friend of all Jews, particularly me." Lapin's description was prompted by a story in The American Prospect magazine which noted that he had appeared along with Pastor Hagee on the Trinity Broadcasting Network's talk show "Praise the Lord." On the program, Lapin explained the meaning of Purim -- the Jewish holiday that celebrates the day Queen Esther saved the Jews from annihilation -- to the Christian audience. The American Prospect's Sarah Posner pointed out that Hagee's most recent book, "Jerusalem Countdown," claimed "that the Bible predicts a military confrontation with Iran." The book has sold over 500,000 copies, was the No. 1 best seller on the Wal-Mart inspirational best-seller list, appeared on Wal-Mart's list of top 10 best sellers for seven weeks, and also made the USA Today top 50 best-seller list for six weeks. Lapin has also accused the Anti-Defamation League and other liberal Jewish organizations of trying to "driv[e] a wedge between American Jews and Christians." In a post-Mel Gibson-meltdown column, Lapin, while acknowledging that the movie star/director had "provided some financial support to Toward Tradition," cautioned Jews not to rush to judgment about the actor's anti-Semitic ravings. sign in, or register to email stories or comment on them.
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MORE ORIGINAL RESEARCHBill Berkowitz PERC receives Templeton Freedom Award for promoting 'enviropreneurs'Right Wing foundation-funded anti-environmental think tank grabbing a wider audience for 'free market environmentalism' On the 15th anniversary of Terry Anderson and Donald Leal's book "Free Market Environmentalism" -- the seminal book on the subject -- Anderson, the Executive Director of the Bozeman, Montana-based Property and Environment Research Center (PERC - formerly known as the Political Economy Research Center) spoke in late-January at an event sponsored by Squaw Valley Institute at the Resort at Squaw Creek in California. While it may have been just another opportunity to speak on "free market environmentalism" and not the kickoff of a "victory tour," nevertheless it comes at a time when PERC's ideas are taking root.
Bill Berkowitz Neil Bush of Saudi ArabiaDuring recent visit, President’s brother describes the country as a 'kind of tribal democracy' In late February, only a few days after Saudi Arabia beheaded four Sri Lankan robbers and then left their headless bodies on public display in the capital of Riyadh, Neil Bush, for the fourth time in the past six years, showed up for the country's Jeddah Economic Forum. The Guardian reported that Human Rights Watch "said the four men had no lawyers during their trial and sentencing, and were denied other basic legal rights." In an interview with Arab News, the Saudi English language paper, Bush described the country as "a kind of tribal democracy."
Bill Berkowitz Newt Gingrich's back door to the White HouseAmerican Enterprise Institute "Scholar" and former House Speaker blames media for poll showing 64 percent of the American people wouldn't vote for him under any circumstances Whatever it is that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has come to represent in American politics, the guy is nothing less than fascinating. One day he's espousing populist rhetoric about the need to cut the costs of college tuition and the next day he's talking World War III. One day he's claiming that the "war on terror" may force the abridgement of fundamental first amendment rights and the next he's advancing a twenty-first century version of his Contract with America. At the same time he's publicly proclaiming how "stupid" it is that the race for the presidency has already started you know that he's trying to figure out how to out finesse Rudy, McCain and Romney for the nomination. And last week, when Fox News' Chris Wallace cited a poll showing that 64 percent of the public would never vote for him, he was quick to blame those results on how unfairly he was treated by the mainstream media back in the day.
Bill Berkowitz American Enterprise Institute takes lead in agitating against IranDespite wrongheaded predictions about the war on Iraq, neocons are on the frontlines advocating military conflict with Iran After doing such a bang up job with their advice and predictions about the outcome of the war on Iraq, would it surprise you to learn that America's neoconservatives are still in business? While at this time we are not yet seeing the same intense neocon invasion of our living rooms -- via cable television's news networks -- that we saw during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, nevertheless, a host of policy analysts at conservative think tanks -- most notably the American Enterprise Institute -- are being heeded on Iran by those who count - folks inside the Bush Administration.
Bill Berkowitz After six years, opposition gaining on George W. Bush's Faith Based InitiativeUnmentioned in the president's State of the Union speech, the program nevertheless continues to recruit religious participants and hand out taxpayer money to religious groups With several domestic policy proposals unceremoniously folded into President Bush's recent State of the Union address, two pretty significant items failed to make the cut. Despite the president's egregiously tardy response to the event itself, it was nevertheless surprising that he didn't even mention Hurricane Katrina: He didn't offer up a progress report, words of hope to the victims, or come up with a proposal for moving the sluggish rebuilding effort forward. There were no "armies of compassion" ready to be unleashed, although it should be said that many in the religious community responded to the disaster much quicker than the Bush Administration. In the State of the Union address, however, there was no "compassionate conservatism" for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Bill Berkowitz Frank Luntz calls Republican leadership in Washington 'One giant whining windbag'On the outs with the GOP, legendary degrader of discourse is moving to California He doesn't make great art; nothing he does elevates the human spirit; he doesn't illuminate, he bamboozles. He has become expert in subterfuge, hidden meanings, word play and manipulation. Frank Luntz has been so good at what he does that those paying close attention gave it its own name: "Luntzspeak."
Bill Berkowitz Spooked by MoveOn.org, conservative movement seeks to emulate liberal powerhouseFueled with Silicon Valley money, TheVanguard.org will have Richard Poe, former editor of David Horowitz's FrontPage magazine as its editorial and creative director As Paul Weyrich, a founding father of the modern conservative movement and still a prominent actor in it, likes to say, he learned a great deal about movement building by closely observing what liberals were up to in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Bill Berkowitz Ward Connerly's anti-affirmative action jihadFounder and Chair of the American Civil Rights Institute scouting five to nine states for new anti-affirmative action initiatives Fresh from his most recent victory -- in Michigan this past November -- Ward Connerly, the Black California-based maven of anti-affirmative action initiatives, appears to be preparing to take his jihad on the road. According to a mid-December report in the San Francisco Chronicle, Connerly said that he was "exploring moves into nine other states."
Bill Berkowitz Tom Tancredo's missionThe Republican congressman from Colorado will try to woo GOP voters with anti-immigration rhetoric and a boatload of Christian right politics These days, probably the most recognizable name in anti-immigration politics is Colorado Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo. Over the past year, Tancredo has gone from a little known congressman to a highly visible anti-immigration spokesperson. "Tancredo has thoroughly enmeshed himself in the anti-immigration movement and with the help of CNN talk show host Lou Dobbs, he has been given a national megaphone," Devin Burghart, the program director of the Building Democracy Initiative at the Center for New Community, a Chicago-based civil rights group, told Media Transparency.
Bill Berkowitz Institute on Religion and Democracy slams 'Leftist' National Council of ChurchesNew report from conservative foundation-funded IRD charges the NCC with being a political surrogate for MoveOn.org, People for the American Way and other liberal organizations If you prefer your religious battles sprinkled with demagoguery, sanctimoniousness, and simplistic attacks, the Institute on Religion and Democracy's (IRD) latest broadside against the National Council of Churches (NCC) certainly fits the bill.
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Daniel Lapin: The Right's favorite Rabbi
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