Paul Grubach Replies...

Paul Grubach’s response to IHR Board Member Harvey Taylor’s Defense of Mark Weber and the Current IHR

Dear Harvey,

Thank you for your 2/4/09 email that defends Mark Weber. I must respectfully disagree with just about everything you write. Mark Weber’s leadership of the IHR has been a disaster, and it is high time that you and the other IHR Board members publicly face up to this and do something about it.

1. Harvey wrote: “I have been shocked at the hysterical and unfair responses to Mark Weber’s
recent piece titled “How Relevant is Holocaust Revisionism. ” Mark is supposedly lazy, he talks on the phone, he surrenders, he is only concerned about attacking Israel, he is overpaid, and the IHR/LSF Board of Directors are stooges. Perhaps I missed it, but I did not see one fair critique. What I did see reflects poorly on those who complained.”

Grubach responds. Okay, I stand corrected on one thing. Mark Weber may not be “lazy.” As former IHR Editor Ted O’Keefe pointed out, Mark is vigorous and animated–but he is plagued by an inability to get his work done. This negative characteristic has haunted much of his career, and because of it the IHR is teetering on the brink of disaster. There is much evidence that supports this viewpoint.

Many years ago Mark was suppose to write a book, The Final Solution: Legend and Reality. He never finished the book. He just could not take this important project to completion.

From 1995 to 2001, the Journal of Historical Review (JHR) was under Mark Weber’s command, and it witnessed a large drop in subscriptions. One of the reasons for this is because Weber just could not get it published on time. Another reason is that he was publishing old reprints from the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Mark just could not do his job of producing new and original material for the JHR. I could go on and on about the deficiencies of the JHR during Weber’s control of it. To make a long story short, during the years the JHR was under Mark’s command, it steadily declined in quality until it reached the point that it was virtually worthless.

Here we have a clear case of Mark Weber’s negative characteristic- -his inability to get his work done–doing enormous damage to the IHR. Because of his inability to produce a quality JHR on time, it disappeared. Former editor O’Keefe hit the nail on the head when he said that the JHR was the most important of the IHR’s publications. It was the engine that pulled the entire IHR train. And Mark Weber’s inability to get his work done derailed that train.

You see Harvey, when a man is paid for doing a poor job, he is overpaid. From 1995 to 2001, Mark was paid for doing a poor job, for presiding over the destruction of the JHR. Ergo, contrary to what you say, Weber was overpaid during those years.

A IHR employee was in a position to observe first-hand what Mark Weber does all day. Here is what a former employee wrote in a widely circulated email: “We have known many of the people who have worked there [the IHR] in the past, and from each, the story was the same: There were many things the IHR could have done to enhance its status and stability, but the director [Mark Weber] stifled any serious suggestion of improvement or modernization, choosing instead to talk for hours on the phone, file away endless newspaper clippings, and type out lengthy correspondence on his computer.”

Directly contradicting what you say Harvey, Mark Weber does waste a lot of time on the phone, and the former IHR employee confirmed that. If Weber spent less time on the phone and more time creating new and original essays, or preparing a weekly Internet radio broadcast, then he would get more important work done.

2. Harvey wrote: “Mark Weber has the full support of the LSF/IHR Board of Directors.”

Grubach responds. This is to be fully expected. Just as Willis Carto controlled the IHR Board during the productive Carto era, so too does Mark Weber have virtual control the IHR Board during this unproductive Weber era.

In fact, Weber learned how to control the IHR Board from Carto’s errors. One of the reasons that Carto was ousted is because he was not on the IHR Board. The very crafty Weber put himself on the IHR Board, so as to make it very difficult if not impossible to get rid of Weber. You and I both know that any Board Member who is opposed to Weber will be asked to step down. I offer the case of former IHR Board Member Robert Berger Lynch as evidence for this. He opposed Weber and company and this was one reason as to why he was asked to step down.

3. Harvey wrote: “Among the unfair and false things that are being said by some about him [Mark Weber] is that he is getting $50,000 a year from the IHR. As a board member of the IHR’s parent corporation (LSF), I can set the record straight on this. The LSF board has authorized for Weber an annual salary of $50,000, he has never taken it.”

Grubach responds. By refusing to take the $50000 per year, I believe Mark Weber is implicitly admitting that his work is not worth such a wage. I give him credit for his honesty on this one.

Under Mark Weber’s leadership, The Journal of Historical Review (JHR) and the IHR’s book publishing arm disappeared. Mark just cannot get the JHR and important books published. Under Mark Weber’s leadership, the yearly IHR conferences disappeared. Mark just cannot find the wherewithal to organize these conferences. Under Mark Weber’s leadership, the IHR newsletter virtually disappeared. For reasons unknown, Mark just cannot produce a regular newsletter.

Mark Weber is an excellent public speaker, one of the best I’ve ever seen. But for reasons that have yet to be fully deciphered, Mark just cannot produce a weekly Internet radio broadcast on relevant topics.

So, Harvey, answer this question: What does Mark Weber do to deserve a $50000 per year salary? Like I said, Weber refused to take $50000 per year because I believe he realizes his work output is not worth $50000 per year.

4. Harvey wrote: “As the 990 tax return by the LSF shows, his [Mark Weber's] gross salary for the fiscal year May 2007 through April 2008 was $43,999, which is not at all unreasonable for a person of his responsibilities who lives in southern California. From this gross salary, Weber tells me, he pays $12,348 annually in child support.”

Grubach responds. Could it be that a wage of $43, 999 for a man like Weber who does very little of any real value is too much? What does Weber do to deserve his $43, 999 per year? Every once in a blue moon he writes a short essay and posts it on his web site, gives a short speech, or sponsors a very small IHR “get-together. ” It appears as though he spends the majority of his time posting newspaper clippings. Is this even worth $43 999 per year?

Even if Mark Weber was paid only $10000 per year, he is still being paid to do very little and a very poor job at that. Even if Mark Weber was paid only $5000 per year, he is still being paid for failing to get the appropriate work done. Mark Weber is being paid to fail at his job, and thus, he is overpaid.

In addition, you failed to mention how Mark Weber took a “pleasure trip” to Virginia during the May 2007 through April 2008 tax year. He attended the American Renaissance Convention in February 2008. He must have spent at least $1000 or more. Did the IHR pay for this “pleasure trip?”

Even if Mark is largely uninterested in making “big money,” the fact of the matter remains is that he is overpaid, and he has made out very well for doing a poor job and next to nothing.

For example, tax statements show he made $43,250 for the 2000 tax year. One of my closest friends is a very productive civil engineer with a Masters Degree. For the same tax year, he made about $45000. In that tax year, he helped build important schools, roads and office buildings.

So, for the tax year of 2000, Mark Weber was paid for doing a poor job almost what was paid to a very productive civil engineer who helped construct very necessary things that our society needs to function.

5. Harvey wrote: “Many times over the years, he [Mark Weber] has taken pay cuts, or had his pay postponed. IHR/LSF owes him thousands of dollars.”

Is this why Mark Weber sends out a continuous stream of IHR solicitation letters, always begging for money, so he can recover for himself what the IHR allegedly owes him?

The IHR owes him thousands of dollars for what? For being a poor leader and doing very little??

By the mere fact that Mark has taken pay cuts and has had his pay postponed further drives home the point that he is a very poor leader. He has led the IHR to the point of financial disaster, as it cannot even pay its bills. Instead of leading the IHR to financial stability, Weber has led the IHR to the brink of financial disaster. A Director that leads his corporation to the point where it cannot even pay its own employees is a bad Director. Thank you, Harvey, for confirming my point.

Grubach’s closing statement. I don’t want to become your enemy, Harvey. I want to work with you to prod Mark Weber to be more productive, because it probably is not possible to get rid of him. And even if the IHR did get rid of Weber, who is there to replace him?

Quite frankly, Harvey, I think the IHR is doomed to destruction in the very near future. But I will make one last attempt to prod Mark Weber to be more productive. This is all that I am asking for.

Paul Grubach