When the Tea Party started gathering the LaRouchies showed up at their rallies. The Tea Party was blamed for the then novel Obama as Hitler posters. When Occupy Wall Street was spreading across the country the LaRouchies showed up at occupations. Fox News used those same Obama as Hitler posters to claim that Occupy Wall Street was Antisemitic. Now a Front Page diarist here has fallen victim to that same confusion.
The diary on the Rec list makes the implication that Occupy Wall Street has somehow assimilated Lyndon LaRouche's cult of personality. That the two movements have merged citing some dubious claims made in a piece by Allison Kelkenny. Her piece also points out how the two groups tend to mix like oil and water.
Harlem Gives Occupy Tense Reception
Occupy couldn't exactly kick out the LaRouchies, so they instead shifted the OWS protest several feet down the sidewalk to create space between themselves and the banners that quickly became a much-loathed target for some of Harlem's residents, though many individuals seemed annoyed anyone had turned out to protest the president, regardless of their ideological stripe.
LaRouchies started showing up at Occupy Seattle in Westlake square. They always stood at the far end of the square from Occupy Seattle encampment, and never took part in any GA or mingled with the occupiers. We started gathering volunteers to stand in front of the LaRouchies with their Obama as Hitler signs with our own signs. I took part in this screening effort a couple of times. More than a few heated exchanges between the two groups took place Eventually they got discouraged and stopped showing up.
Occupy MN: LaRouchies!
TeaPartiers crashing the joint? Of course not. LaRouchies, the Westboro Church of political gatherings. They’d steamed everyone up, but they were trying to find a common ground. You want Glass-Steagall? We want Glass-Steagall! You want an end to the Patriot Act? So do we! But everyone had a problem with the Hitler mustache. I think reductio ad adolpho is the stupidest type of political placard, and just because the other side did it for eight years doesn’t mean it’s time for them to get a taste of their own medicine. (But still. Snort.)
LaRouchies have become to political protests all across the spectrum what the Westboro Baptist Church has become to military funerals.
Remember how MinistryOfTruth responded to Bill Kristol smearing O.W.S. as antisemitic?
I am in Seattle, Madison and Milwaukee are beautiful and Bill Kristol can suck my dreidel
How dare this gutless unscrupulous hack besmirch this anti-corporate greed and political corruption movement as anti-semitic? The wingnut outrage machine has claimed that nazi's support #ows. It shows just how desperate they are to defeat this righteous movement, and since facts aren't on their side they ahve reverted predictably to Nazi Tourettes.
Conflating the LaRouchies message with Occupy Wall Street's is absurd. While a few similarities do exist we need to keep in mind that the two groups couldn't be more different. The LaRouchies are a top down cult of personality with a fascistic political philosophy. Occupy Wall Street is a consensus building community that rejects following a single leader, that a very progressive political philosophy.
Update
This comes from Occupy Harlem in reply to the critics of this demonstration:
Nellie Bailey Discusses the Critics of the Obama Demonstration
Much more diabolical are attempts to suggest protesting Lyndon LaRouche extremists were part of the Occupy Harlem protest. This is a blatant lie! NYPD herded all protesters into the same pen across the street from the Apollo Theater. In mic check after mic check the LaRouchites were denounced again and again, even derisively called out as “looney tunies!” In particular, the Occupy crowd took on the LaRouchites’ politically inept portrayal of Obama as Hitler. Occupy protesters in no time physically separated themselves from the LaRouche group, a point conceded in Allison Kilkenny's "In These Times" report.