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DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS IN THE US TODAY
Since 1973 the heirs of the Socialist Party tradition have been the Democratic Socialists of America. The largest socialist group in the country (about 11,000 members) and the US affiliate of the Socialist International, DSA has focused its attention more on building the socialist movement in the US, and raising the same kinds of socialist issues as their predecessors. For years, DSA has worked to build a socialist presence within organized labor, and the President of the AFL-CIO, John Sweeney, is a member. Now the organization is working with the House Progressive Caucus in the US Congress, headed up by independent socialist congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT). DSA claims two members of the House of Representatives as members, Danny Davis (D-IL), and Major Owens (D-NY).
The other camps of the 1973 split in the Socialist Party have continued to exist, but became more political clubs than active organizations. The Social Democrats USA (about 150 members) have pursued their bizarre combination of traditional positions on economic issues and right-wing positions on foreign policy (e.g.- supporting the Contras in Nicaragua, as well as almost all US military actions around the world), and have been isolated by those to their right as well as their left. The former left wing of the party took the party name, calling itself the Socialist Party USA (about 500 members) It has continued to run educational presidential campaigns, but has no ballot status and is not recognized as a national political party.
The Weekly Standard has a long article about Saddam Hussein and his regime paying off journalists and politicians. It starts by recounting the Galloway documents. It notes the villa in Portugal is valued at $400,000.It goes on to detail how Middle Eastern and European journalists have been on his payroll for progaganda. Finally toward the end we get U.S. references and, in particular, to Ritter and McDermott:
"Al-Khafaji first came to public notice after revelations that he gave former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter $400,000 to produce a film that criticized the United States for its role in the inspection process. Al-Khafaji, who is listed as a "senior executive producer" of the film, arranged meetings for Ritter with high-level officials in Saddam's government, a feat New York Times magazine writer Barry Bearak found "impressive." Ritter had previously been an outspoken critic of Saddam Hussein, and issued dire warnings about the status of the Iraqi dictator's weapons of mass destruction. His sudden flip--he is now a leading apologist for Saddam's regime--and revelations about Ritter's 2001 arrest for soliciting sex with minors have fueled speculation about the nature of his relationship with al-Khafaji."
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"On October 25, McDermott received a check for $5,000 from Shakir al-Khafaji. The money, first reported by Amy Keller in Roll Call, had been deposited in an account for the McDermott Legal Expense Trust, a fund the congressman set up to pay legal bills in a lawsuit brought against him by Rep. John Boehner."