George Soros

The Times:

How Vilification of George Soros Moved From the Fringes to the Mainstream

Why is Soros a lightning rod? Eventually the Times kind of admits that being a huge donor to one party can have that effect:

“He’s a banker, he’s Jewish, he gives to Democrats — he’s sort of a perfect storm for vilification by the right, here and in Europe,” said Michael H. Posner, a human rights lawyer and former State Department official in the Obama administration.

Mr. Soros has given his main group, the Open Society Foundations, $32 billion for what it calls democracy-building efforts in the United States and around the world. In addition, in the United States, Mr. Soros has personally contributed more than $75 million over the years to federal candidates and committees, according to Federal Election Commission and Internal Revenue Service records.

That qualifies him as one of the top disclosed donors to American political campaigns in the modern campaign finance era, and it does not include the many millions more he has donated to political nonprofit groups that do not disclose their donors.

By contrast, the network of conservative donors led by the billionaire industrialist brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch, who have been similarly attacked by some on the American left, has spent about $2 billion over the past decade on political and public policy advocacy.

Obviously, vilifying the Koch brothers is de rigeur on the left. But does mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, who is Jewish and pro-Israel, get the same attention from the left? I would say not but don't dare me to prove it.

But *IF* Adelson is less vilified, why might that be? Well, if I were a Dem strategist looking for Scary Republican Moneymen I would pick the Kochs over Adelson for obvious reasons: The Kochs are Big Oil and the whole party can unite against that. Adelson is pro-Israel - the BDS Democrats will scream at him while waving Palestinian flags, but obviously that is not the face the party wants to present to a key part of its donor base.

Which takes us to a problem: Soros is Jewish. It is pretty clear that, regardless of how Trump really feels about neo-Nazis and anti-semites, he has done a miserable job of denouncing them and they are far too comfortable with him. (I still have flashbacks to his "Who's David Duke?" moment on the campaign trail. A younger, more embittered me, with chronic pain and a hip replacement on the far horizon. Good times!).

Consequently, Trump's critics argue he needs to take special care in choosing his words because the neo-Nazis hang on every one of them. This leads to what seem to some to be absurd double standards - the Times can headline the word "globalist" and have a columnist (Roger Cohen, possibly Jewish) who had a a column by that title but when Trump uses the same word it is an anti-semitic dog whistle. Troubling, although we have all become accustomed to rappers and those of the appropriate skin tone dropping the N-bomb while others should not.

However, how important is the rhetoric of our leaders in inciting violence? We can think back to a time when Democratic leaders were embracing Black Lives Matter and ruminating about racist, violent cops at a time when BLM nut-jobs were shooting cops. With many others, I certainly said back in Dec 2014 that people like NYC Mayor deBlasio needed to modulate their rhetoric based on their audience:

All too often when our friends on the left stage a protest it turns violent. At which point, we hear explanations about how it was hijacked by a radical fringe and we are all supposed to be surprised.

Maybe one day these leaders on the left will achieve a better understanding of their base.

Sauce for the goose I guess, although I don't see stuff like these authentic voices of urban rage on the right. Actually, do follow that link for a torrent of BLM apologists who insist that political rhetoric bears no responsibility for later violent acts. Good ammo for a 'gotcha' game, and yes, I deplore the violent imagery of "ammo". I'm imagining my Nerf gun locked and loaded, but whatev.

Mollie Hemingway had a good piece on the ebb and flow of the blame game from the MSM perspective. Sarah Palin caused the Gifford shooting, Obama/deBlasio didn't cause the various police executions and (she did not presciently predict this) Trump caused the synagogue shootings.

ERRATA: Cohen's "The Globalist" column has a 2004 headline rich with irony:

Globalist : Dirty word 'liberal' boasts a proud history

By ROGER COHEN  OCT. 27, 2004

When they came for the word "liberal" I said nothing...

Actually, he said something, but it didn't help. And eventually they came for 'globalist'.

 

Comments

[Frau Indianerherz]

Dave (in MA) - Scary!You can wake up one day and discover you are RA-S.

[henry]

sudden explosive antisemitism campaign explained:

MAJORDAN
‏ @realmajordan

MAJORDAN Retweeted George Papadopoulos

OMG. It was Israel.

George Papadopoulos
‏ @GeorgePapa19

If my sources were correct in April 2017, largest channel on network tv and one of the two most powerful newspapers in America, and I had a FISA on me; if that country is named, it will rock one of the most important alliances the US has because of Obama DOJ misconduct. No Russia

https://twitter.com/realmajordan/status/1058062655733293058?s=12

[jimmyk]

Reminds me of de Blassio's becoming Italian.

I've been watching "Bodyguard" on Netflix. In one scene one of the Brit pols is speaking to the Home Secretary (who the main character David is guarding) and refers to him as her "little monkey." David interrupts and says "I'm mixed race," to embarrass him. Later the Secretary says, "Are you really? I had no idea." And he just says, "No, ma'am." It was a funny little moment. Good series, incidentally, at least so far.

[Jack is Back!]

So what are the new corrupt, fraudster,beatdown, Dem chairs going to do?
Refer the banks to the DoJ, like the GoP did to Holder for contempt? Where did that go?

Impeachment? Goes nowhere in the Senate.

Freeze the FISA investigations? They don't control the DoJ or FBI or CIA, although it appears Trump doesn't either.

They can threaten all they want, and they can issue subpoenas, and keep the executive busy sending people up to the hill to testify, or Trump could exercise Executive privilege.

I don't see them do more than helping Trump and the GOP in 2020. While they are in control of the house, their presidential candidates are on the trail, showing America how opposed they are to all the new jobs, rising salaries, better furtures, etc.

No. The best thing that can happen to the Dems is as a minimum maintain the status quo and hope they don't take the House.

[Miss Marple]

I am back from early voting which was VERY crowded. This is good, because the south side of Indy is Republican.

Touch screen with print out of how you voted, which you seal in an envelope and sign, along with two elections inspectors, one from GOP and one from the rats. Very efficient operation, everyone friendly.

I refused to vote for unopposed democrats and asked if that was ok, which it was. (These were municipal offices. One was for Marion County Auditor!! Seems to me the GOP could have at least made an effort.)

[Captain Hate]

I refused to vote for unopposed democrats and asked if that was ok, which it was. (These were municipal offices. One was for Marion County Auditor!! Seems to me the GOP could have at least made an effort.)

Nothing says "Failure Theater" like not even competing in contests, particularly county wide.

[Miss Marple]

I love GOP humor:

For those on tablets:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DjeCMK6UUAErN0U.jpg

[Pinandpuller]

Maxine is going after (((Bankers))).

[Pinandpuller]

Now the East Side of Milwaukee.

Is a special kind of place

They got your payday lenders

They got your real big spenders

And ooh the girls look nice

[Miss Marple]

Captain Hate,

I totally agree. The only thing I can think of is that they didn't want to have an auditor in office because of the absolute waste of money and no doubt also corruption from our dem mayor.

The other two were Center Township offices and I can sort of see it since that is the black, heavily dem township and a GOP candidate would stand NO chance, plus if it were a black GOP candidate he would probably be harassed.

[jimmyk]

Nothing says "Failure Theater" like not even competing in contests

This happens all the time in blue hells. I can understand no one wanting to waste time running against entrenched Dems in 95% Dem districts, but they should have to face some opposition, and sometimes they even have to respond and defend their positions.

In 2016 someone we knew ran against Nadler, and used the campaign to attack Nadler for supporting the Iran deal. Nadler had to defend it, and had to spend a bit of money. He still won 80-20 (it's the UWS after all), but it was good that he faced some opposition.

[Texas Liberty Gal]

Kindergarteners in PE so I’m trying to catch up. I was very pleased to see that both Israel and Egypt are supporting the Prince Is it MSB? I always got the syllabus mixed Up. If Haley can’t be US Ambassador Heather is the next best thing

[Porchlight]

I find Papadopoulos's tweets to be near-incomprehensible. If anyone has a TLDR summary link I'd appreciate it.

[jimmyk]

MBS = Mohammed bin Salman

[Miss Marple]

I hate this weather. 44 and RAIN, pouring rain!

If it's going to be cold and wet, I wish the temps would drop a few degrees and then we could at least have snow, which isn't so gloomy and depressing.

[Texas Liberty Gal]

Thx jimmy k. At least I had the right letters😊

[Miss Marple]

https://securitystudies.org/khashoggi-case-analysis-of-an-information-operation/

This takes you to the executive summary. The full report is on a pdf file which is linked in the article.

A good question: Why was the murder of the head of Interpol a one-day story while the WaPo columnist's death was covered for weeks?

[Pinandpuller]

If Dems win the house Nancy gets eaten by sharks so win/win.

[Pinandpuller]

Say 'Jews' three times and Mr DCSCA appears. He is from New Jersey.

[Miss Marple]

ChiTown alerted me to this:

You win an annoying visit! And you win an annoying visit! https://t.co/gqoo5tPhOT

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) November 1, 2018

[maryrose]

TLG:
I bet you had a fun day with those little ones.

[Miss Marple]

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/mccaul-caravan-migrants-trump/2018/11/01/id/888989/

Biggest show of force Rep. McCaul has ever seen.

[Porchlight]

Yep

[maryrose]

Rain predicted for Election Day and that includesFlorida, Georgia, Ohio and Indiana.

[Porchlight]

The leftist NPCs have very similar responses on all these early voting Twitter threads?

"Why do you make stuff up?"

"You're just making stuff up now"

"This is made up like all the other stuff you post"

Etc.

[Bernardi Dr la paz]

Yes its prince Salman now the times has put their money on prince Ahmed. The head chopper in chief.

[Bernardi Dr la paz]

Most likely it was Israel or Cyprus, those were the countries he was dealing with

[Porchlight]

Good news, maryrose. As we have seen with our own lyin' eyes, Trump supporters have zero problems waiting in line in the rain and cold.

Dem voters who have been too lazy to vote prior to Election Day on the other hand....

[Bernardo de la paZ]

And in Cyprus, you have the Turkish angle which brings us back to the anti Israel side of this info up.

[Old Lurker]

Jimmy, there are so many answers to your question, and it is not just in NYC it is everywhere. DC and my hood in Arlington are having the same problems.

I will expand some in a later response.

Here is one anecdote from some experience here. Arlington used to be business friendly. Now as James and Janet will attest, the county now has a thirteen story office building filled with departments which all want to have a say in our new tenants. Ten years ago a new tenant could get a building permit for a commercial use in less than a month. I signed a Lease in January after negotiating with the tenant for four months during which time his architect completed his drawings. So when we signed the Lease, he submitted his completed plans and application. It still has not been issued. So this guy has more than a year and a lot of money invested, and still is not under construction. We gave him six months of free rent to account for that process and it obviously was not enough. If the deal falls through, then we have to start all over. All my neighbors see is a vacant store and they must think I am nuts.

Oh. My real estate taxes on that property have gone up TEN TIMES the rate of inflation in the last ten years, and because commercial tenants have to reimburse the Landlord for his share of those taxes, a lot of tenants are scared to death to put their money at risk in Arlington County because the county itself is killing the retail market.

That's just a quick "here's one answer" but there are more, including your baliwick...access to bank credit.

Trust me, I would love to fill my retail vacancies. I have owned these properties for more than thirty years and used to replace tenants in three months or less. Today we plan on two years from the last rent check to the next one.

[Porchlight]

Michael E. Newton ‏ @MichaelENewton1

Why aren't more ppl paying attention to #WestVirginia senate race? The #Republican share of votes cast is +1.9% from 2016 while the #Democrat share is down 2.5%. We are seeing a R+4.4% shift vs 2016 in the state Trump won his largest %age.
#earlyvoting #WVSen #Election2018 #MAGA

12:58 PM - 1 Nov 2018

https://twitter.com/MichaelENewton1/status/1058085886796025856

Chart at link.

[Miss Marple]

ChiTown says it isn't Cypris because they are allied with Turkey and Russia.

[Bernardo de la paZ]

Well its israel then, two different devices that's why the the different avatar

[jimmyk]

Thanks, OL. I guess the economist's usual question is "Why not just lower the rent?" but I realize it's not so simple. The Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto famously wrote that to start a small business that would take about 2 days of bureaucracy in the US takes 2 years in Peru. We are gradually becoming more like a 3rd world country.

[Miss Marple]

https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=wh

Link to live stream from White House. President is to make remarks about the border crisis at 4:15.

[jimmyk]

Mayor Bane obviously cares so deeply:

Hales-Tooke refused to shake De Blasio’s hand over the treatment of his friend. He also criticized the mayor for his “boilerplate” address, according to the Post.

“I didn’t hear a thing about the lives, the people. Nicholas Cleves was born and bred in New York. He loved this city. His mother’s destroyed by this,” he said.

He added: “I thought that was what this was about, that this is a moment where we would say . . . ‘You know, we care, we really do care,’ but I didn’t get the feeling. [The mayor] said this attack has been in our hearts for a year . . . Really? Do you believe that?”

https://www.dailywire.com/news/37860/bill-de-blasio-attends-memorial-terror-attack-ashe-schow

[Miss Marple]

I messed up. ChiTown says half of Cyprus is controlled by Erdogan, the other half is controlled by Russia via their banks that the EU swiped oligarch euros to bail in.

He thinks it's a Shimon Peres supporting faction in Mossad.

[DrJ]

OL,

I'm curious: how is your former neighborhood in Arlington doing now that NSF has moved to Alexandria? Is the Front Page even in business any longer?

[Extraneus]

AVENATTI LAUNCHES FIRST POLITICAL AD, TELLS PEOPLE TO ‘JOIN THE FIGHT CLUB’

The video, almost a minute and a half long, opens with quick shots of different people saying “We the people,” until one says, “Are mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore.”

“Enough with the lies. Enough with the cover ups. Enough with the bigotry. Enough with the misogyny,” those in the ad say, one by one.

Avenatti comes into the picture to say “Stand up. Join the fight club.”

[Pinandpuller]

Nobody knows more about Wisconsin than a California shut in with old newspapers stacked floor to ceiling.

Nobody.

[Extraneus]

Judicial Watch Sues FBI over Failure to Preserve Text Messages

“This lawsuit exposes a massive FBI cover-up of its text messages, which are government records and are, by the thousands, likely to have been deleted and lost by FBI employees,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “And of course, this cover-up conveniently impacts the production of text messages to Judicial Watch and Congress of disgraced FBI officials Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page and James Comey.”

[James D.]

OL, I didn't know all those details, but it jibes with what I see when I pass by shopping centers and strip malls in Arlington.

[Pinandpuller]

Kids in tent cages OMG!

[Pinandpuller]

Who's the chick who sounds like Rosie Perez?

[Pinandpuller]

When they bring rocks we bring rifles.

[maryrose]

Ext:
Foot dragging on the Huber and Horowitz investigations has given these crooks ample time to destroy all the evidence by shredding it or deleting it.
Fitton is right to be upset.
No one appears to be bothered or alarmed by this in the administration , least of all AGSessions and his faithful sidekick Rosenstein.
They both remind me of Mr Peabody and his boy Sherman.
Rosenstein even looks like Sherman.
The so amazing people still implanted at State, DOJ and the FBI are thumbing their noses at Nunes, Jordan , Meadows and the good guy from Florida ,Gaetz. I am beyond dismayed at the lack of alarm that in fact. Most of these perps are going to skate.
I echo Captain’s request of Tom R and RG to define Mueller’s role and the ultimate result of the waste of time Special Counsel.

[maryrose]

The Obama people instead of amazing..

[Jack is Back!]

Great presser which, of course, reveals that the WH press corp is mostly about being adverserial without even a clue as to the law or the responsibility of the CinC.

But they are no match for DJT, and he knows that. I think he enjoys trolling them everytime he allows them to talk.

[maryrose]

Guess what are tough investigators Sessions and Rosie were doing today?
They were at some award ceremony.
No one takes breaking the law seriously.
It really is a complete joke to them.

[Captain Hate]

We are seeing a R+4.4% shift vs 2016 in the state Trump won his largest %age.

Not true; Wyoming had 70.1% for DJT versus 68.7 in West Virginia. Still impressive though...

[maryrose]

Are should be our

[henry]

New thread

[Bernardi Dr la paz]

Heh maryrose, I was the first to notice the resemblance, sessions is more like the sheepdog vs the coyote.

[GUS]

Obama had written in his first book, "Dreams From My Father" (1995), before entering politics, that he had used marijuana and cocaine ("maybe a little blow"). He said he had not tried heroin because he did not like the pusher who was trying to sell it to him.

He could share a cell with KUDLOW. When Obama drops the soap, some EYE TALIAN with a PAD lock will SOCK IT TO HIM. I sure hope the don't cut out his tongue.

[GUS]

Old Lurker, I absolutely feel your pain. Counties and Municipalities elect stupid fuckers like Obama, Pelosi, Waters, Weiner, Rahm Emanuael, who have ZERO idea how business works, and even less of a notion of what the costs of commercial real estate deals are. They couldn't give a flying fuck.

[JMHanes]

henry:

"U.S. authorities accuse Chinese state-owned firm and its Taiwanese partner of stealing trade secrets from chip maker Micron Technology"

Ha! The Trump administration seems to be working from the Chinese template: always accuse the person you're about to negotiate with of some wrong doing or offense to the body politic in order to put him off his stride.

"Obama's claim that WI is 'one of the worst gerrymandered states…. "

NC says, "Hold my moonshine." The unending saga of District 12:

I believe District 12 has a lock on the Oscar for "most gerrymandered district evah." Republicans tried to fix that with a neatly drawn revised map, which was struck down by the NC Supreme Court, for, of all things, being racially gerrymandered. The fact that District 12 was originally gerrymandered by the Democrats for the specific purposes of creating a majority black district was apparently deemed irrelevant.

But never mind, the new, newly revised, districting map was approved by the U.S. Supreme Court, then stayed by a trial judge in another action, whose order was put on hold by the Supremes through the 2018 election….