A few days ago the New York Times reported in the lead position, above the fold, that Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had the votes to become the next Minority Leader in the U.S. House of Representatives. Much is discussed about the Congresswoman, but without a single mention of her executive position in the Progressive Caucus, and the latter's ties to the Socialist International.

Question: If an international organization existed to carry the torch for Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, and if a person running for Minority Leader had past or present ties to such an organization, what are the chances the New York Times would find it irrelevant to the matter at hand?

None. Zero. Nada.

Double standards: Do you remember the Austrian nationalist Jörg Haider? He had no such affiliation. Yet the mere possibility that he might harbor sympathies for National Socialist ideas sufficed to make him, and the country in which he holds office, an international pariah.

The Socialist International carries the torch for Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, V.I. Lenin, Leon Trotzky, and Josef Stalin. Pay no attention to the desperate attempts by socialists to distance themselves from Stalin. For our purposes, it suffices to observe that every single tenet of the Socialist International is the exact opposite of the principles upon which America was founded, and which define the U.S. Constitution.

For our purposes it suffices also to observe that members of the U.S. Congress are required to furnish an oath whereby they will preserve, protect, and defend said Constitution.

DSA/USA, the "Democratic Socialists of America" are the U.S. arm of the Socialist International. They share the symbol of the fist holding the rose, and they share the tasks to be accomplished - in our case, an altogether different America. You may verify all this at www.dsausa.org.

Some time ago - the date is missing from the descriptions - 58 members of the U.S. House of Representatives formed a subdivision of the Democratic Socialists of America and called it the Progressive Caucus. Their statement of purpose, as well as their membership list, formed an integral part of the dsausa web site. The membership list appeared on the screen with the continuous background of the fist holding the rose, should anyone have missed the connection with the Socialist International.

Following the exposure in this newspaper of the Progressive Caucus (November 10 & 11, 1998), action was taken to hide the true nature of the organization, and its membership list was eventually taken off the dsausa web site. In fact, the only listing to be found right now is a web site maintained by Representative Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the only member professing to be a socialist. But interested parties can type "Progressive Caucus" in a search engine, such as Google, and find the dsausa link right up front. The link brings up a screen saying "the page cannot be displayed," but the listing confirms its prior existence.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi has long been, and is now, a member of the Executive Committee of the Progressive Caucus. Her election as Minority Leader would firmly establish the link between the Democratic Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Socialist International.

The U.S. Constitution places no restrictions on political creeds. There is no earthly reason why socialists could not be elected to Congress if The People so choose. There is a question of honesty, though. Candidates for office ought to put their cards on the table.

The Democratic Party has been the permanent or temporary home for an awesome line-up of great Americans, from Thomas Jefferson to Ronald Reagan. The political philosophy known as Socialism was devised to combat and prevail over Anglo-American principles, law, economics. Every version of socialism, from Naziism and Bolshevism to the mildest form of Social Democracy is fundamentally opposed to Anglo-American attitudes.

If the moment has come when the Democratic Party sees no other way "to be different" except by embracing Socialism, that is a sad day for all Americans.

I would not presume to make recommendations to a venerable institution, either in the path it might follow, or with regard to the leader it should or should not elect. But there are standards. These include not only tangible standards, but appearance standards as well. If perchance Ms. Pelosi has been the innocent victim of a socialist conspiracy, drawn into a political maze she had not comprehended, there is still the matter of being a prominent office holder in an organization spawned by the Socialist International. No such person could possibly be desirable as Minority Leader in the United States House of Representatives.

Exactly 40 years ago, the Manchurian Candidate was a movie. Could it be that Thursday next it will become reality?