Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right
By Anne Nelson
You’d not be wrong to think that the right is highly organized, well financed, coordinated, disciplined, and targeted on a few cultivated issues. All you need do is watch any of the rightwing outlets, Bolt, Fox, Salem, or Sinclair; read any of a variety of websites the likes of the Daily Caller and Breitbart; seek information from certain colleges like Hinsdale and Liberty; or tune into any number of radio programs, particularly if you live between the coasts. When you do, you will hear coordinated messages on topics engineered to vex the right, among them traditional energy, anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ+ rights, claims America is a Christian nation, public education, and most anything proclaiming the federal government inefficient, or worse.
Just an assortment of like-minded Americans? Just a coincidence that the messaging on topics is the same, even down to the catch phrases? Just an accident? You don’t have to be an intrepid reporter like Anne Nelson to know none of it is accidental. However, piecing together exactly how this happens, that does take considerable effort, research, and doggedness. You’ll find that in this revealing roadmap to how the right, especially the religious right, have put together a powerful and very effective network of operatives who have succeeded in remaking much of American government, both local and federal, into a machine that runs counter to the wishes of a majority of citizens.
The root organization behind goes by the placid name of the Council for National Policy. It had its origins at the outset of the Reagan administration, founded by Tim LaHaye and the religious right to promote fundamentalist beliefs. As it grew, it attracted others with conservative and libertarian viewpoints, and lots of money, including the Koch brothers. Why have you not heard of this powerful organization of influential people? Because it works hard to keep both its membership and activities secret. But its reach is vast, as it supports organizations such as the Family Research Council, Turning Point USA, the American Family Council, and numerous other right leaning and conservative endeavors.
As to why you should want to know more about the CNP and its affiliated partners: because if they get their way, you will find yourself living in a pluto-theocracy. If that sounds like an exaggeration, then look around you, look at what is happening in Republican dominated states, like Oklahoma (detailed by Nelson in this book), North Carolina (where the legislature in aggregating all power to itself), and maybe your own state. Start by reading Shadow Network. w/c
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