Soros's Political ‘Hit Man' Brock Takes Aim at McCain

Capital Research Center ^ | April 15, 2008 | Matthew Vadum

[vadum]

David Brock, the president and CEO of the George Soros-funded character assassination factory, Media Matters for America (MM), which euphemistically describes its mission as "comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media," isn't even pretending to be nonpartisan or fair anymore. Brock has assumed the chairmanship of Progressive Media USA (PMUSA) and in that role will spearhead "a four-month, $40 million media campaign centered on attacks on Sen. John McCain," the Politico reports. "We're a little behind where we need to be," Brock said last week of the fledgling group's fundraising following a Manhattan meeting with Soros, the left-wing philanthropist, and Paul Begala, the ubiquitous TV talking head and longtime Democratic Party operative. As a 501(c)(4) organization, PMUSA doesn't have to disclose its donors, the articles notes, adding that Brock said he will form a related 527 group, Progressive Media Action, so the campaign can take in donations from unions and other sources.

According to Brock, who is author of the new book, Free Ride: John McCain and the Media, presumptive GOP presidential nominee McCain is a shameless flip-flopper who's gotten a pass from an adoring media. Brock says reporters have "fallen down on the job" when covering the Arizona senator and are "in love with John McCain." PMUSA, he says, can help do what journalists ought to be doing while Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama duke it out for the Democratic nomination. "Brock's words, and his unpaid chairmanship, reflect alarm that Democrats are missing an opportunity to define McCain, even as the presumptive nominee tours the country telling his own story," writes the Politico's Ben Smith.

Conservatives ought to welcome Brock's refreshing honesty. At last he has publicly unmasked himself as a partisan political operative, as opposed to a mere liberal ideologue. Such candor from Brock, the self-described former "right-wing hit man" turned left-wing hit man, is a rare occurrence indeed. (For more on Brock's mendacity see Rondi Adamson's profile of Media Matters. Although Adamson's report is thorough, it barely skims the surface of Brock's various deceptions. For more on Brock and his tall tales, a good place to start is the "Articles and commentary" section of Wikipedia's entry on Brock.)

It's worth noting here that media content analysis, at least as it applies to political news, has traditionally been concerned with the detection of bias, as opposed to functioning as a means of stamping out views with which the content analyst may disagree. Brock seems likely to bring his unique brand of media content analysis -which involves mau-mauing the media into mouthing the politically correct platitudes that pass for profound insights on the far left- to his anti-McCain campaign.

Media Matters relies on what could be called a Leninist approach, complete with paid professional revolutionaries, in an ongoing effort to shame Americans who deal in ideas into embracing, or at least not opposing, their political agenda. This tack motivates the faithful and silences opponents.

These perpetually humorless PC language enforcers are doing their best to alter political discourse by trying to make certain words and the ideas they represent socially unacceptable. Readers of NewsBusters need hardly be reminded that when such ideas are expressed in major media outlets, MM leaps into action, marginalizing those who express them, and urging activists to write complaint letters and e-mails. In some cases, the group tries to have the offender removed from the media outlet (e.g. Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter).

Astonishingly, Media Matters continues to vigorously deny that it is funded by George Soros, but the group's denials, which rely on hairsplitting, evasion, and shall we say, ‘lawyerly' use of language, are hard to believe. When denying receiving money from Soros, MM typically notes that there is no actual paper trail proving Soros funds the group, but self-servingly leaves out powerful circumstantial evidence that suggests Soros funds MM at least indirectly. (Examples of the Soros dance appear here and here on the MM website.)

It has been reported that MM has received at least $7 million under the auspices of the Democracy Alliance, a Soros-led consortium of wealthy liberal donors that matches donors to causes the group considers worthy. The $7 million donation, which may have come from one or more Democracy Alliance members including Soros himself, is also referenced at page 117 of The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics, by Matt Bai, a book published in 2007 by Penguin Press. In addition, Democracy Alliance founder Rob Stein acknowledged his consortium's role in directing funding to Media Matters. During a panel discussion held by the Hudson Institute's Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal on November 30, 2006, Stein responded to a question from fellow panelist Byron York about "the media organizations in which your partners were putting their money - which ones were they?" Stein responded by saying (see page 22 of PDF): "The major media organization that has been publicly identified is Media Matters. But there are some others, now, that we have funded."

If George Soros is not funding Media Matters, the group certainly expends significant resources to defend him. A search I just performed on MM's search page for George Soros (with his name sandwiched in-between quotation marks as "george soros," and without "start" and "end" dates) generated 235 hits. That's a lot of defense for Media Matters to be playing, especially for someone who remains virtually unknown except by politics junkies and those interested in finance.

Much better known figures on the left haven't been discussed as frequently on the MM website, according to searches conducted the same way. A search for Arianna Huffington generated just 31 hits. Here are the numbers I got when searching the names of other noteworthy figures on the left using MM's internal search engine: Bill Maher got 36 hits, Hugo Chavez got 64 hits, and Jimmy Carter, who is in the news frequently, got 158 hits. (Note: Admittedly, this might not be the most scientific approach, but it does at least provide a snapshot of MM's priorities. Also, all these figures, obtained April 14, 2008, are subject to change as MM's site is updated.)

Could Media Matters be less interested in discussing these other figures because they don't rely on them for funding?

(crossposted at NewsBusters)

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

The enemy within.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

["Brock, who is author of the new book, Free Ride: John McCain and the Media..."]

Bet that's a page turner.

[Rob112586]

Here’s the thing. You can make fun of McCain’s age, and it should be an issue IMHO (also one reason I never took Ron Paul seriously as a candidate, and he’s a year younger I believe). But you can’t just keep making cracks about McCain’s age for months. The problem for the Dems is that everything you can critisize McCain for (lobbyist puppet, open borders, NWO, campaign finance, ect) are basically Democrat planks. So it’s use the fact that only 25-30% still approve of the war McCain intends to stay in forever (let alone any new wars he may start), and hope to God or whoever liberals pray to that it doesn’t become about domestic issues because Dems lose out everytime.

[marron]

The money is wasted. Anything you could say, bad, about McCain I’ve probably said a dozen times, and meant it.

All the Dems had to do was run at minimum a candidate who was an honest patriot and I’d have gladly sat this one out, I could very happily skip this election.

But all they could do was run candidates whose great debates are about who will order the more complete and humiliating retreat. Too much is at stake to let either of these buffoons into office.

I’m not voting for McCain, I’m voting for Petraeus to complete his mission. Brock can say what he likes about McCain, I’ll probably agree with most of it, most of it will probably be true. But McCain is the only one left in the race who has even a clue about how to complete the military work left in front of us.

[Brilliant]

Precisely what is the difference between this and Soros giving the money directly to the Obama campaign? It’s directed at a particular candidate, and should be treated as an illegal campaign contribution. Otherwise, they should simply repeal the campaign finance laws.

[popdonnelly]

Neither Soros nor Brock are worth two cents to me.

[TommyDale]

Hit “man” is stretching it just a bit.

[TigersEye]

Soros's Political ‘Hit Man' Brock Takes Aim at McCain

That's kind of ungrateful of Soros isn't it?

John McCain funded by Soros since 2001

John McCain Gets Soros Cash

McCain/Soros by Rabbi Areyh Spero

McCain-Soros Toppled GOP Candidates Nov. 21, 2006

Soros' "Reform" (an article about Soros‘ instrumental hand in McCain/Feingold)

John McCain: George Soros' Useful Idiot?

Through The Weeds; John McCain, George Soros and the Reform Institute

McCain’s Reform Institute donor list:

Reform Institute greatfully acknowleges Sen. McCain as past Chairman:

[Hardastarboard]

"comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media,"

I want that job. 10 minutes a day and you're done. Easy money.

[rfp1234]

Hit Fairy

[Golden Gate]

GOP Primary 2008: Need Fresh Faces & New Talent = Gregg Cunningham / Jason Lewis - (KTLK FM, MN) GOP should try Gregg Cunningham / Jason Lewis -(KTLK radio-MN) 2008 = Tried the Rest, Now the Best!

Gregg Cunningham Conservative Republican Gregg's civilian & military bio (Click to page; then scroll down to bio...)

Jason Lewis Leading Conservative Spokesman Radio Talk Show Host 100.3 FM KTLK News Talk, Twin Cities, MN Jason Lewis Bio

  Gregg Cunningham   earned a BA degree from The Pennsylvania State University and a JD degree from The Ohio Northern University School of Law where he served as executive editor of the Law Review.  He is the co-author of a handbook on attorney misconduct entitled “Ethics And Discipline In Ohio” (Ohio State Bar Foundation, 1976).

He is a former two-term Member of The Pennsylvania House of Representatives where he introduced legislation which ended public funding for abortion. He was also a prime sponsor of the Abortion Control Act which was litigated before the U.S. Supreme Court in Thornburgh v. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He later helped direct the ballot initiative campaign which stopped public funding for abortion in Colorado.

During the first Reagan Administration he served as a political appointee in the U.S. Department of Education and later in The Office of Legislative Affairs with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. He next served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for Los Angeles.

He is a retired U.S. Air Force Reserve Colonel with six years of active duty service and twenty-five years in the ready reserve. He is also a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War.




  Gregg Cunningham   is a retired U.S. Air Force Reserve Colonel with six years of active duty service and twenty-five years in the ready reserve.  He is a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War. 

After leaving active duty, he served as an aircraft maintenance officer and later as a military lawyer with units of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard. He then served as an intelligence officer with the 140th Tactical Fighter Wing of the Colorado Air National Guard.

During temporary duty assignments at the Pentagon, he helped coordinate drug enforcement policy for the National Guard Bureau and provided staff support (Political Military Affairs) for the Commanders in Chief, Major Commands/Joint Chiefs of Staff War Game. 

He spent the last eleven years of his military career assigned to the Pentagon, first as a Logistics Plan & Program staff officer and then as an intelligence officer with the Checkmate Division of the Air Force Staff and then in the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Readiness. During the former assignment he helped plan the logistical support for the air campaign conducted during the Persian Gulf War.

[Golden Gate]

FYI - Post # 12

GOP Primary 2008: Need Fresh Faces & New Talent = Gregg Cunningham / Jason Lewis -(Talk Radio, MN)

Link to Thread: GOP should try Gregg Cunningham / Jason Lewis -(KTLK radio-MN) 2008 = Tried the Rest, Now the Best!

[WashingtonSource]

Hit “Man”? There’s nothing “man” about this screaming queen whose has the integrity of a street whore in the middle of the Depression.

[TigersEye]

Jason Lewis? I love when he fills in for Rush. He really has a head on his shoulders. Sometimes I think Rush picks his guest hosts because they will say things he can’t. Jason Lewis is tops in that category. As I listen I am constantly saying things like “yes!!!” and “you’re darned right!”