Covert Cadre: Inside the Institutenfor Policy Studiesnby S. Steven PowellnOttawa, IL: Green Hill PublishersnIcane Kirkpatrick has given us twonuseful ways to think about that segentnof the American intelligentsia thatncontinuously finds fault with virtuallyneverything this country does: they arenthe “blame America first” crowd andnthe believers in “moral equivalency.”nAfter reading S. Steven Powell’s penetratingnstudy, Covert Cadre: Inside thenInstitute for Policy Studies, it seemsnclear that a new vocabulary is needed.nIf some of the nation’s critics “blamenAmerica first,” it is because many ofnthem “hate America first,” i.e., theynfind the political, economic, social, andncultural institutions of America morenoffensive than those existing anywherenWilliam A. Donohue is the author ofnThe Politics of the American CivilnLiberties Union.nOPINIONSnBeyond Moral Equivalencynby William A. Donohuen”The triumph of demagogies is short-lived. But the ruinsnare eternal.”n— Charles Peguynon the globe. It is not “moral equivalency”nthey seek to promote, butn”moral malfeasance” — they hope tonconvince the world of the immoralitynand venality of everything American.nThere is no better example ofnthe “hate America first” crowd thannthe Institute for Policy Studies (IPS).nFounded in 1963 by Richard Barnetnand Marcus Raskin, two disenchantednmembers of the foreign policy establishmentnin the Kennedy administration,nIPS has spent the past quarterncentury trying to undermine the foundationsnof American society and destroynits defensive capabilities. Givennseed money by the Stern Family Fund,nIPS has long depended on the SamuelnRubin Foundation for the lion’s sharenof its revenue, and has received generousncontributions as well from the likesnof the Playboy, Ford, and MacArthurnFoundations.nThe late Samuel Rubin was a membernof the Communist Party and anwealthy businessman, a capitalist whontook the millions he made from Faber-nnnge cosmetics to discredit the very systemnthat made him stinking rich. Hisndaughter, Cora, as well as her husband,nPeter Weiss, has been faithful to thenfamily tradition, working through IPSnto sabotage American security interestsnand disable the economy that supportsntheir subversion. It is no exaggerationnto say that IPS is the most respectablenmainstream left-wing institution innAmerican history. It even enjoys taxexemptnstatus.nThe strong language used to characterizenIPS is deliberate: it is designed tonprovoke readers to understand that wenare not simply dealing with yet anotherncase of the unintended evil caused bynwell-meaning but deluded intellectuals.nWe are dealing with planned, organized,nintended effects engineerednby people who are neither wellmeaningnnor intellectuals. IPS personnelnare strategists, activists who arensometimes engaged in the war of ideas,nsometimes in breaking the law, andnsometimes in giving succor to ournadversaries. It is a mistake to think thatnJANUARY 1989/29n