Now that several gay kids are dead, the Mormons arrive to rub salt in the wounds

Typical. Pathetic. Read the rest of this post...

The mechanism: How the rich buy journalists

In his penultimate post at Harpers, Ken Silverstein follows up on his investigation of the paid speaking gigs of David Broder and Bob Woodward.

What emerges shows pretty clearly how people like Broder are "incentivized" to align their interests with those who, for example, have a strong belief in "the destructive effects of the estate tax to families and their businesses."

Speaking gigs lead to sejours at "retreat(s) open exclusively to ... client family members," which lead, apparently, to posh-friendly articles suggesting that what's good for "ultra-high net worth families" (to pick one gig's crowd) is also good for those "small people" whose interests people like Broder can always instantly feel, like an itch on the back of their leg, but higher up.

If this were a novel, the plot would almost be trite (time for a sex scene near the scented Cleopatra Asp Pond in the retreat's back corner). But in real life, it smells like the real deal. A taste:

Last May, Broder was the keynote speaker at a May 19 to 21 conference sponsored by GenSpring Family Offices, “a leading wealth management firm for ultra-high net worth families. With over $20 billion in assets under advisement, GenSpring…is trusted by more than 700 of the world’s wealthiest families to oversee or manage important aspects of their financial lives.” GenSpring is an affiliate of SunTrust Banks, which lobbies congress. The conference, called the “Men’s Retreat,” was held at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida. The conference offered “an opportunity for men to learn and network together, attend and participate in provocative and timely meetings covering the gamut of wealth related topics presented and facilitated by key GenSpring experts as well as select guest speakers who are renowned experts in the fields of finance, communication, health, and wealth preservation.” ...

Among the panelists was Patricia Soldano, a lobbyist who heads up GenSpring’s office in southern California and who is president of the Policy and Taxation Group, “an organization that educates on the destructive effects of the estate tax to families and their businesses.” In other words, the conference Broder spoke at was not only hosted by a business with significant interests in Washington, but the group’s lobbying agenda was a notable component of the event.

Broder writes about financial reform and tax policy with some regularity. Last July ...

How's that for a teaser? The piece isn't long, but it's meaty, and includes some Woodward dish as well. Be sure to click the embedded links if this stuff interests you.

It's a club; we're not members. Our Betters and their propagandists are.

Silverstein is leaving his Harpers day job to do investigative journalism somewhere other than Washington. It's the Obama–Clinton reflux, as he explains in his farewell. (For one of the most prescient pieces on Senator Obama, click here. It's what drew me to Ken's work.)

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It's started — Carpet-bombing congressional races

It began with a test — MN Forward dumping $150,000 got from Target, Best Buy, et al., into the Minnesota governor's race. Then News Corp gave $1 million to the Republican Governors Association. And now it's started in earnest. Perfectly legal collection groups funneling totally anonymous money — in potentially unlimited amounts — to take out Congressmen and Senators they don't like.

That's Pete DeFazio's situation in Oregon. He represents Eugene, a liberal bastion in a state that includes large chunks that are culturally similar to Idaho. Note DeFazio's description of his opponent at 10:40 in the clip — "a corporate shill ... living on Social Security ... on a survivalist compound in a corner of my district." More about Art Robinson here, including his ties to Christian Reconstructionism.

The segment says it all:



Who knows who Robinson's financiers are? Given his ties to Christian Reconstructionism, it could be west coast billionaire fanatic Howard Ahmandson, one of the biggies behind Prop 8. Kindred spirits find each other. Or any of perhaps dozens of crazed right-wing billionaires, now poised to rule our electoral-season airwaves. If money is speech, big money is carpet-bombing.

Imagine the possibilities, drowning election after election in endless propaganda. If you have profits in the billions to throw around, or a mega-billion estate that daddy just handed you as he died, you could take out, say, 10 unfriendlies per election cycle for about $30–50 million per cycle. It's a target-rich environment; the rewards would be huge; the money well spent. And after five or ten cycles of this, only in the propaganda would the country look the same as before.

Thank you, Mr. Roberts. You served your masters well. I vote you straight to Satan's mouth for this betrayal.

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Hilter, Obama and Marx - oh my!

Dana Milbank has a nice article in today's Washington Post about Glenn Beck's Hitler fetish. Below he explains who Beck tried to link Obama to... well... it isn't terribly clear.

And finally, on Sept. 18, 2009, Beck delivered proof of the nefarious link between the two presidents: the "Tree of Revolution."

The tree, which Beck illustrated on his ever-present chalkboard, looked to be a sturdy oak. Buried where the trunk sat was Wilson. To the left of Wilson, also in the roots, was Che Guevara, the Marxist revolutionary. To the right of Wilson was Saul Alinsky, the late social radical. Farther up the trunk was SDS -- Students for a Democratic Society, a group that protested the Vietnam War in the 1960s. Above SDS were the words "Cloward and Piven," an obscure reference to two Columbia University academics who in 1966 wrote a Nation magazine article proposing a radical anti-poverty strategy that Beck believes is the basis of an enduring leftist conspiracy to destroy the American economy.

He then unveiled more elements of the arboreal conspiracy: The Apollo Alliance, funded by Soros, wrote Obama's stimulus bill! Apollo's Jeff Jones, along with Obama friend Ayers, "came right from SDS," which is "code language for Marxism," and formed the Weather Underground, responsible for "blowing up the Pentagon"! (Actually, the group blew up a bathroom, but still . . .) ACORN founder Wade Rathke is connected to SEIU because "his brother Dale is at SEIU, we think." (SEIU denies this, and there is no evidence for it.) The whole bunch was inspired by Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, who wanted to "get everyone on welfare, just start racking up the bills so the American financial system would eventually collapse."

In summary, Woodrow Wilson mated with an Argentine revolutionary and a Chicago radical, gave birth to a 1960s antiwar group and a pair of Columbia academics, who in turn spawned ACORN, the SEIU, the Apollo Alliance, the Weather Underground, George Soros -- and Barack Obama.

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Midterm elections still uncertain

Mind you, part of the source is the Republican party. They need to tell their people that victory is uncertain in order to keep turnout high. NYT:

Republicans carry substantial advantages as they move into the final month of the fall campaign, but the resilience of vulnerable Democrats is complicating Republican efforts to lock down enough seats to capture the House and take control of the unsettled electoral battleground.

By now, Republicans had hoped to put away a first layer of Democrats and set their sights on a second tier of incumbents. But the fight for control of Congress is more fluid than it seemed at Labor Day, with Democrats mounting strong resistance in some parts of the country as they try to hold off a potential Republican wave in November.

The chances of a Republican takeover in the House remain far greater than in the Senate, according to a race-by-race analysis by The New York Times. But enough contests remain in flux that both parties head into the final four weeks of the campaign with the ability to change the dynamic before Election Day.

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Sunday morning open thread

Joe is off running the marathon in Maine today. And I'm back in Chicago picking up the pup, who my sister was graciously taking care of during my long travels.

I learned something about dogs this past week. I'd always known that cats give you the cold shoulder treatment when you come back from a trip without them, but didn't know dogs were capable of doing the same. Our dogs growing up used to go NUTS when they'd see us on returning from a long trip. Not my Sasha. Boy was she ticked. I picked her up, and she immediately jumped from my arms to my dad's. It wasn't until later that day that she started warming up, and the next until she became surgically attached to my hit once again.

Now, is it possible that Sasha had an inkling that I was going to soon be toting her around pet shops looking for that perfect Halloween costume? Perhaps.

Other than that, the pup has been in doggy Club Med, hanging out with my parents' dog Kukla, and my sister's dog Carmela, all getting along pretty well. Life with me in DC is a tad more restful than the Aravosis family home, which tends to be a lot of commotion between the multiple dogs and grandkids.

I think the final shock for Sasha is going to be the lack of comfy furniture at my place.  I do have a couch, but I suspect it's not gonna be the same as mom's.  It never is.

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British Conservatives floating plan to increase college tuition

Yes, because leaving families and students with this much debt after graduation has worked out so well in the US. Only the ultra-rich like the former BP CEO who is promoting this could find such a plan a good idea. The Guardian:

A free market in tuition fees in which universities will be free to charge more than £10,000 a year for courses is expected to be recommended by the government's official adviser on higher education next week.

Unveiling the most important report on higher education in decades, Lord Browne will say that universities should be allowed to keep all the income from tuition fees up to an annual level of £10,000. The current cap is £3,290. The Observer has learned that he will also recommend they be allowed to cross that threshold if they pay a rising proportion of the additional income into a central fund. The money could be used to support students from poorer families.

If they are accepted, the radical proposals by Browne, the former chief executive of BP, would amount to the most far-reaching shake-up of higher education in decades and could result in middle-class students leaving university with debts in excess of £80,000. It will be up to ministers how they respond to the plans.

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