Mark Dankof to Howard Phillips: A Violation of the 8th Commandment Requires a Public Apology

January 20, 2012 by ppjg

Mark Dankofs America by Mark Dankof It appears, then, that Mr. Timmerman and his Foundation for Democracy in Iran are very well placed indeed to gain a great measure of influence and power should the US institute force regime change in Iran. Iranian members of his organization could reasonably expect high political office as appointees of any occupation authority in the same way that Ahmed Chalabi and Iyad Allawi were in Iraq. The parallels are obvious providing shaky evidence and allegations of a WMD program to help foment a war that catapults them into political office. __________________________________________________

I am reminded today of the spring of 1969, when I was confirmed in a traditional German Lutheran Church in Dayton, Ohio, after

two years of catechetical instruction. In those days, the class had to memorize many Bible passages, and entire sections of Luthers Small Catechism. This rigor included the memorization of the 10 Commandments, and the brief written expositions on the meaning of each provided by the 16th century Father of the Reformation. The 8th Commandment, and Luthers subsequent explanation, are simply as follows: Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness Against Thy Neighbor. [8th Commandment] What Does This Mean? [Luther's posited question] We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, nor defame our neighbor, but defend him, speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything. [Luther's Answer] In the annotations provided by Edward W. A. Koehler in the version of Luthers Small Catechism published by Concordia Theological Seminary Press in Fort Wayne, Indiana, we read the following supplementary comment on Luthers exposition: False witness is making an untrue statement and making it with the intention of harming a reputation. With this in mind, Howard Phillips, the founder of the Constitution Party and the Chairman of Washingtons Conservative Caucus, has borne public false witness against me in an article penned by Zionist sock puppet Kenneth R. Timmerman in the ironically named Accuracy in Media (AIM). Timmermans piece, entitled Tehran TV Loves Ron Paul, is clearly directed against Press TV/ Iran, and against American conservatives who have appeared on that network to publicly state their opposition to an Israeliprovoked American war with that country. Philip Giraldi, Paul Craig Roberts, Paul Sheldon Foote, Mark Glenn, and I are among those Mr. Timmerman has in his gun sites. But most interestingly of all, Timmerman has drawn Howard Phillips into participation in

a hit piece designed to hurt the Presidential candidacy of Congressman Ron Paul of Texas (R-TX). Why? The public professional and political connections of Kenneth R. Timmerman may explain exactly why. The online news service, The Newshoggers, informs readers that: Mr. Timmerman is also Executive Director of the Foundation for Democracy in Iran, an organization which he co-founded with PNAC founding member Peter Rodman, who is currently United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs and some prominent Iranian dissident figures. As such, you might expect (and you would be right to do so) that this Foundation has the ear of the Bush administration, GOP members on the Hill and prominent neoconservative thinkers. The Foundation has a distinctly secular bent, unsurprising given Mr. Timmermans negative opinions of the Islam in that country, and is dedicated to assisting regime change in Iran. More surprising, perhaps and not mentioned in any official bio is his presence on the Advisory Board of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) an honor he currently shares with Rep. Eric Cantor, Michael Ledeen, Jack Kemp and Richard Perle. Past Board members include Vice President Dick Cheney, US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith. A heady and powerful grouping. JINSA, it has been alleged, is closely allied to neoconservative advocates of pre-emptive regime change and to the AIPAC group which is currently embroiled in a spying scandal. It appears, then, that Mr. Timmerman and his Foundation for Democracy in Iran are very well placed indeed to gain a great measure of influence and power should the US institute force regime change in Iran. Iranian members of his organization could reasonably expect high political office as appointees of any occupation authority in the same way that Ahmed Chalabi and Iyad Allawi were in Iraq. The parallels are obvious providing shaky evidence and allegations of a WMD program to help foment a war that catapults them into political office.

This is neither the first, or the presumably last time that Howard Phillips has been in the unmistakable service of an obvious asset of the Israeli Lobby in the media arena. In the run-up to the 2008 elections, Phillips was publicly promoting Dr. Jerome Corsi as the best Presidential candidate available to the Constitution Party to run in that cycle. Corsi is the author of Atomic Iran: How the Terrorist Regime Bought the Bomb and American Politicians, and a Harvard-educated pundit connected to Joseph Farahs NeoConservative/pro-Zionist World Net Daily. Corsi dropped out of contention for the nomination of Phillipss party only a handful of weeks after appearing on my old radio show on the Republic Broadcasting Network. There, Corsi spoke openly of his regular trips to the Zionist State, and his regular consultations with his political advisors and friends in the Israeli Knesset. Kenneth R. Timmerman and Jerome Corsi are two of the most identifiable figures in the American Neo-Conservative Press working with The Lobby and The War Party. Yet Howard Phillips, the founder of a political movement originally rooted in the disenfranchised Pat Buchanan wing of the Republican Party, is a provable player and participant in their activities, even as Phillips has a longtime track record of rhetorically attacking The NeoCons and The Globalists in a shopworn public profile as an America First patriot. That record includes membership in the shadowy Council for National Policy (CNP), the Trilateral Commission of the American Right. The Internet trail on this is extensive, including Jackie Petrus observations on Phillips in a piece entitled, Wolves in Sheeps Clothing. To purloin Pat Buchanans turning-of-a-rhetorical-phrase at the Republican Party National Convention in Houston in 1992, it would appear that Phillips has pulled off the greatest instance of . . . cross-dressing in American political history. At least until now. When it comes to my U. S. Senate race in Delaware in 2000, Phillips and Kenneth R. Timmerman publish palpable falsehood in the following way: But what about his credential as a former U.S. Senate candidate? Dankof claims on his website that he was the

nominated candidate of the Constitution party in Delaware in 2000. It turns out, however, that the Constitution Party never held a formal nominating process or a party primary, and that Dankof essentially nominated himself to run in that years U.S. Senate race. Anybody can be a candidate just by filing the forms, said Howard Phillips, Conservative Party founder and long-time standard bearer. Mark was never anointed by the Constitution Party; he decided to run by himself. My response is simply as follows. Howard Phillips is a liar. He has violated the 8th Commandment. He owes me a public apology. For the record, 1) Phillips called me personally at my apartment in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in January of 2000 to ask me to run for the U. S. Senate seat in Delaware in the fall of that year. When I decided to run, against my better judgment, Phillips met me at his Washington, D. C. office on a number of occasions to plan out strategy for the operation. This included a move to Claymont, Delaware [across the border from Philadelphia, PA] and a change in drivers license to legally permit me to make the race. 2) There was, in fact, a public caucus of existing Constitution Party activists in Dover, Delaware (an event mentioned in their media in one location at the time), which formally recognized me as the standard-bearer that year. Howard Phillips was in physical attendance at the public caucus, and spoke on my behalf. The papers which were subsequently filed on behalf of my candidacy after the public caucus were filed either by Phillips himself, his staff member Alison Potter at Constitution Party of Virginia headquarters, or the State Chairman of the Constitution Party of Delaware at their behest. I did not file them. 3) Howard Phillips asked Pat Buchanan to formally endorse two Constitution Party candidates for the U. S. Senate that year, in states where the Reform Party had no one on the ballot. One was in Michigan. Mark Dankof in Delaware was the other.

4) At the National Convention of the Constitution Party in Baltimore in 2000, nationally televised by C-SPAN and chronicled in their archives for DVD sale, Mark Dankofs 30 minute address to all of the National Convention Delegates from the podium was featured along with speeches by Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch, Christopher Ruddy of NewsMax, and Mr. Phillips himself. 5) Howard Phillips nationally distributed Issues and Strategy Bulletin formally acknowledged my candidacy in 2000 in a word of expressed appreciation to me as well as his other candidates for Federal offices, after the election was over. 6) As a quid pro quo for my agreeing to run, Howard Phillips issued me a written agreement as an Independent Consultant to research and ghost-write his nationally distributed Senate RollCall Report under Conservative Caucus auspices, for remuneration for a period not to exceed one year. This was designed to cover my loss of income in 2000 when I agreed to devote myself to running, even as I suspended my theological studies at Westminster Theological Seminary in 2000 at Phillips request, to do what I thought was a favor for a friend. Now an ex-friend. Saved e-mails, official letters under Phillipss signature sent to me, as well as what is in the public record from 2000, will corroborate who is telling the truth, if the issue is pressed. As for my ex-friend, I reiterate my request. I demand a public apology for publicly uttered untruth issued with clear malicious intent. There is a simple second second request. If you desire to continue working with War Party stooges to promote World War III on behalf of Israel, Central Bankers, and the New World Order, please cease and desist with your Political Cross-Dressing as an America First patriot and Constitutionalist. Its time to be honest and Come Out of the Closet, Howard. To quote John Lennon in Imagine, Its Easy if You Try. It should be especially easy when youre about to hang it up.

Postscript: The interview I did with Howard Phillips at his Conservative Caucus headquarters in Washington in 1998 for the German Lutheran weekly Christian News, was re-posted by World Net Daily and is ironically entitled The Last Honorable Politician. See also: AUDIO - TUT Podcast January 18, 2012