Other Columns by Cliff Kincaid
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As the U.S. gets hits by another hurricane, the Cindy Sheehan media circus is blowing into Washington, D.C. On Saturday she's a featured speaker at a communist-organized "anti-war" rally. On Sunday, she's scheduled to speak at a national conference of the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA). Other speakers include Democratic Reps. Lynn Woolsey and Barbara Lee, co-chairs of the 61-member Congressional Progressive Caucus. One PDA slogan is "Get out of Iraq now." Lee holds the distinction of being the only member of Congress to vote against the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan after terrorists based in that country hit America on 9/11.

Americans supporting our troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and around the world are holding their own rallies and events beginning Friday and continuing into the weekend. You can find out more about these activities at (web site)

If past coverage is any guide, the major media will deliberately ignore the involvement of communists in organizing the "anti-war" protest. They will focus instead on celebrity speakers such as actress Jessica Lange, the flamboyant George Galloway, Ralph Nader and, of course, Sheehan. But if we had anything approaching an investigative press, the communist role is something that would be exposed. It is a classic case of Marxists using front groups to manipulate innocent people.

The top leaders of International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism), the group organizing and paying the full costs of the stage, sound and setup at the rally, come out of the Workers World Party. This is a group so extreme in its adulation for anti-American dictators that honest liberals like David Corn of The Nation magazine have recoiled in dismay over how many people on the left associate with them.

The immediate aim is to defeat the U.S. in Iraq by creating the impression that the American people are tired of the war and want to withdraw U.S. troops. The long-term objective is to destroy the American way of life.

On the matter of Iraq, Accuracy in Media (AIM) analyst Roger Aronoff has produced a remarkable film, "Confronting Iraq," which forcefully argues that the war is not only justified but necessary if we are to assure America's survival. The film is important, now more than ever, because our media are extremely angry about the administration's Iraq policy and want to do whatever they can to undermine it. The anti-administration bias aside, the media still have an obligation to tell the truth about the nature of this "anti-war" movement and whether ordinary people want to show up to a rally organized by people openly sympathetic to some of the lunatics and thugs that make up America's avowed enemies.

Some would argue that it's a sign of America's strength that we permit communists to openly demonstrate on U.S. soil against American policies. But it's a sign of the weakness and corruption of our media that the key role being played by the communists is being carefully concealed from the American people. I have covered several of these demonstrations and the major media typically ignore not only how communists organize the demonstrations but how their followers are openly visible, with banners, signs and books, on the grounds of the event. One would have to be deaf, dumb, and blind to ignore the communist role. Our media pretend to be deaf, dumb and blind.

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