NewsReal Upset It Can't Tell Lies With Impunity Topic: Horowitz
In a Sept. 22 NewsReal post, unapologetic gay-basher Kathy Shaidle purports to detail "George Soros’ 8 Most Despicable Acts." Her rant, however, has been interrupted by the facts, and NewsReal isn't happy about it.
As part of the first "despicable act" Soros purportedly did, Shaidle quoted from a column by Ezra Levant claiming that Soros "collaborated with the Nazis." That is a libelous distortion of what Soros actually did as a 14-year-old during World War II, which was pose as the godson of a Hungarian official who oversaw the confiscation of property from Hungarian Jews. The Canadian newspaper that first published Levant's column has retracted it because it "contained false statements about George Soros and his conduct as a young teenager in Nazi-occupied Hungary."
Shaidle claimed that Levant relied in part "upon research conducted by David Horowitz," but doesn't mentiont that Horowitz got it wrong too.
Soros, understandably, wanted to correct the record, which resulted in a fit of all-caps typing by NewsReal. The headline of Shaidle's post now parenthetically adds that it was "UPDATED AFTER THREAT BY SOROS’ LAWYERS", and the space where the Levant excerpt was located now states:
EDITOR'S NOTE: THIS EXCERPT FROM LEVANT'S COLUMN HAS BEEN REMOVED AFTER KATHY SHAIDLE RECEIVED CORRESPONDENCE FROM SOROS' LAWYERS. NO WORD YET ON IF SOROS' LAWYERS HAVE CONTACTED MEDIA MATTERS FOR REPRINTING THE EXCERPT TOO AT THEIR WEBSITE HERE.
The unnamed editor appears not to understand the difference between uncritically repeating a lie, which Shaidle did, and repeating a lie as part of correcting it, which is what Media Matters did.
Shaidle's post now begins with another editor's note:
Editor’s Note: This post has been revised since it was first published. Because its author, Kathy Shaidle, is Canadian she is not protected by the same first amendment and libel laws that Americans are. Thus despite the fact that the information she presented has floated around the American blogosphere for years and was published in David Horowitz and Richard Poe’s The Shadow Party, because of where she lives Soros’ goons were able to target her with legal threats. That is the nature of the totalitarian personality we’re dealing with here.
Really? It's "totalitarian" for someone to respond to lies being told about them and to try and correct the record?
It seems Shaidle and NewsReal are upset that they aren't allowed to tell lies with impunity about people they don't like. The right to be above the law that they seem to be asserting is much more "totalitarian" than Soros' actions.
FrontPageMag Tries to Solve The 'Obama Problem' Topic: Horowitz
The last time we heard about the "Obama problem," the solution was a military coup.
The latest effort to solve the "Obama problem" comes from FrontPageMag's David Solway. He writes in an Aug. 23 column:
Regular readers of this site need not be reminded of Barack Obama’s countless gaffes, aberrations, indulgences, prevarications, poor decisions, shady dealings and worrisome patches of biographical obscurity. These blemishes have been rehearsed in article after article to the extent to which we can say that, by this time, the issue of his competence and bona fides should have reached critical mass. Nevertheless, for the fence sitters, the undecideds or those of a different political persuasion who out of curiosity occasionally scan the conservative media, it might be expedient to revisit the Obama problem and set down a brief summary of the president’s track record.
And who does Solway choose as his sources for this examination? Jerome Corsi and Pam Geller. Solway tries to offer a weak defense: " Corsi has been viciously attacked as a liar and a 'discredited, fringe bigot,' but his defense of his allegations is point-device." But Corsi actually is discredited, a bigot, and a liar, and his defense of his book also included corrections.
Solway then unleashes a massive bill of particulars that he described as a "lengthening rap sheet of Obama’s character defects, equivocations, dissemblings, bad judgments and actions harmful to the integrity of the nation." On this list are things the previous president also did, like taking alot of vacations and "puerile blaming of the previous administration for his own inadequacies."
Finally, Solway gets down to brass tacks: "Nobama is the watchword. How to do this in indeed the question." He manages to stay within the legal and constitutional, unlike his fellow "Obama problem" commiserant, Newsmax's John L. Perry. But he also repeats Tom Tancredo's baseless claim that "the president’s refusal to enforce immigration law [is] an impeachable offense"; in fact, border enforcement is at record high levels.
But staying with the legal and constitutional doesn't preclude Solway from descending into a fit of Obama derangement:
In any event, there should be little doubt by this time that Barack Obama is a grave security threat to the United States. He is, as Sowell argues, a president the country may not survive. And still many of us are disinclined to grasp how truly dangerous this man is, for he is not just another Democrat seeking the privilege of power but a crypto-Marxist who hauled his buckets from the wells of the left (e.g., Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, which, as James Lewis points out, he “taught his ACORN followers in all his Community Agitator classes in Chicago”), a clear Islamo-sympathizer and a man who gives every indication of intensely disliking the country he was elected to serve. He is not simply naïve, misdirected, frivolous, unprepared for office, partisan and ignorant—he may be all these things—but, to quote Pajamas Media CEO Roger Simon, he may also suffer from “a serious personality disorder.”
[...]
America’s allies, from Taiwan to Ukraine to Israel and the United Arab Emirates are feeling profoundly at risk as a result of Obama’s fecklessness or intentions. Indeed, Obama has effectively abdicated America’s role as the guarantor of the free world. But it is America itself that is in direst jeopardy from the operations of a president who governs at a great distance from the people. It is as if a majority of electors and salon intellectuals hurtled down the rabbit hole and found themselves in a sinister wonderland whose gaudy illusions they foolishly took for reality. Many have been chastened and are now scrambling to climb back out.
Sounds like Solway is just itching to call for a military coup if he thought he could get away with it.
David Swindle maintains the David Horowitz cult of personality in an Aug. 8 NewsReal post devoted to "The 10 Most Important David Horowitz Books to Read":
One of the most common queries I’ve gotten from NewsReal Blog readers and bloggers alike is some guidance on which of David Horowitz’s books to read. Which are the most important? Which will help them understand his political approach and analysis of the Left the best? Which will be most useful in their own political fights?
It’s not an easy question as different people have different interests and will be moved by different books. Never the less, I’ve decided to create this guide listing what — in my personal opinion — are the ten most important of David’s books to read — and I’ve ranked them in order.
Thanks for sharing. Not quite the wonk-Tiger-Beat tone of previousposts, but still yet another reminder that it's still all about the increasingly Lenin-like visage of Chairman David.
NewsReal Declares Levin-Palin Re-Engagement 'A Coup for the Left' Topic: Horowitz
In one of the dumbest blog posts we've seen in a while, Ann Kane uses a July 17 NewsReal post to go on a tirade about the re-engagement of Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin, declaring it "A Coup for the Left."
How so? It's all the fault of that homewrecker Kathy Griffin! Kane helpfully explains:
Scenario: Sarah Palin’s seventeen-year-old daughter comes home and tells her she’s pregnant. Sarah takes it hard, and tells her they will handle it. Her daughter plans to marry the father of the child.
Within months of Palin losing the election, Levi dumps her daughter for a forty-nine year-old leftist foul mouth comedienne, Kathy Griffin, who has a highly public relationship with him. Then he poses nude for Playgirl magazine.
At Palin’s convention debut, Levi was obviously caught up in the fanfare. Griffin, aka, hovering vulture looking for her next prey in her crusade to wipe out decency from civilization, swept in on Levi, and took advantage of his fifteen minutes of fame. Griffin saw in Levi a messenger from whom she could launch her vitriol against Sarah Palin.
Just one little problem: There was never a relationship between Johnston and Griffin. The New York Daily News article Kane links to as evidence of the alleged affair clearly states the two "never actually dated" and it was all a "comedic charade."
But forget the facts -- Kane is on a roll:
Celebrities like Griffin hate the wholesome goodness of Palin. She tried to destroy the former Alaska governor by seducing the her star struck future son-in-law. Now that Levi’s going to marry Bristol nonetheless, what’s Griffin going to do, fade into the background? I doubt it. Heaven forbid the Palin clan should let Levi, with his despicable past, into their home again.
Um, yeah. Glad to see the standards for being a NewsReal blogger remain as highasalways.
NewsReal Blogger Likens Obama to Charles Manson Topic: Horowitz
Here's some five-alarm Obama derangement from NewsReal's Kathy Barkulis:
Charles Manson claimed he was trying to start a race war when he killed Sharon Tate and the others in Los Angeles 40 or so years ago but knew nothing about starting one. The people who are doing a good job of trying to start a race war now were barely out of diapers when Manson went on his killing spree. Attorney General Eric Holder, President Barack Obama, and the New Black Panther Party have joined forces to make sure that divisions remain between the races, and it’s all in the name of voter intimidation and getting Democrats elected. Or is there something else brewing too?
[...]
It is stunning that the first African American President and the first African American Attorney General are going to use their historic places in history to stick it to the white man.
Barkulis' entire premise, in addition to being hateful, is entirely baseless: The Bush administration, not the Obama administration, declined to charge the New Black Panthers, and the so-called whistleblower she's relying on is a right-wing activist with no firsthand knowledge of the claims he's making.
We've previously highlighted the cult-of-personality aspect of NewsReal, run by the David Horowitz Freedom Center mainly, it appears, for the glory of David Horowitz.
Another thing on the subject is worth mentioning: The avatar for NewsReal's Twitter account is, yes, the increasingly Lenin-like visage of David Horowitz. Which results in things like this (copied from TweetDeck):
FrontPageMag Repeats Bogus Obama-Soros Conspiracy Theory Topic: Horowitz
A June 22 FrontPageMag article by Tait Trussell repeats the conspiracy theory that President Obama is calling for a moritorium on oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in order to benefit George Soros:
Could this be merely a happy coincidence for George Soros, the major financial backer of Obama’s presidential campaign who also has $811 million invested in the Brazilian oil company, Petrobras? Wasn’t it enough of a payback to Soros when the Obama Administration loaned up to $10 billion to Petrobras? Soros, with his far left-wing organization, MoveOn, is called the Godfather of world socialism. But most relevant currently is that he has been an enthusiastic proponent of global warming and environmental liberalism. He has urged adoption of a global carbon tax. Could it be more than coincidence that his position is strikingly similar to what Obama called for in his June 14 Oval Office speech on the Gulf oil spill and future energy actions?
In fact, the loan to Petrobras was made by the Export-Import Bank, not Obama. At the time the loan was made, the bank’s Bboard consisted of three Republicans and two Democrats, all of whom were appointed by President Bush.
FrontPageMag Selectively Criticizes Candidates' Falsified Military Records Topic: Horowitz
A June 9 FrontPageMag article by Rich Trzupek denounced Democrats who apparently made false claims about their military service, such as Richard Blumenthal and Phil Hare, as "arrogant." But Trzupek curiously looks over another candidate from Hare's state of Illinois accused of falsifying his military credentials: MarkKirk.
Then again, Kirk is a Republican, so that falsification apparently doesn't count in Trzupek's eyes.
I felt empty when "Avatar" ended. It was as if I had witnessed an angry man's vision of the world, a man who fails to see joy in a child's smile, but who sees conspiracies around every corner. He is a man who sees his fellow neighbor as evil personified.
"Avatar" proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Cameron is not much of a man. He is a child on a never-ending temper tantrum. Like all members of his extreme political faith, he lives in a fairy tale world, and so it causes rage when that carefully constructed vision of how things should be doesn't translate into reality. Perhaps this explains why he's known to be a tyrant himself and why he's had four failed marriages.
When all is said and done, "Avatar" is more about a man projecting his own self-hatred and self-loathing onto the screen than anything else. It's all about Cameron, the man who doesn't trust corporations, who claims that Western culture is ugly, racist and greedy. Yet, at the same time, Cameron is the man behind "Avatar's" stunning box office records and its release on DVD and Blu Ray which made him even richer than he already was.
As an aside, there is a reason why the DVD has no special features and why the Blu Ray, while slightly better, only has the bare minimum: they are planning to release a special edition of "Avatar" shortly before Christmas. This edition will have all the features we missed the first time around. And Cameron, corporations' main critic, knows full well that fans of his films will buy this second edition as well, which means he will make double his profit. In other words, if he wants a conspiracy, he should look in the mirror.
NewsReal may appear to be just another forum, but it's really just another tool in the aggrandization of David Horowitz.
First, there's the actual name of the blog in the nameplate: David Horowitz's NewsReal Blog. Since it's run by the David Horowitz Freedom Center, that's perhaps understandable.
Then there's the Litle Red Book-esque "From the Writings of David Horowitz" category at NewsReal, which hands out daily nuggets of Mao-like wisdom from Horowitz, complete with the ever-more-Lenin-like visage of Fearless Leader. These readings from the master are punctuated with actual blog posts from the man himself.
On top of all this, NewsReal's managing editor, David Swindle, says he's writing a book about "the ideas of David Horowitz." Gee, you think that's how he got the job?
It almost seems as if the Horowitz organizaiton is more a cult of personality than a political machine.
NewsReal Calls Obama's Mom A 'Hippy Sleazebag' Topic: Horowitz
An April 13 NewsReal post by some coward hiding behind the pseudonym "Van Helsing" (really? How unoriginal) describes Barack Obama's mother as a "hippy sleazebag."
That post links to a fuller one by the cowardly author at Right Wing News, where the words "hippy sleazebag" link to a website purporting to have nude pictures of her.
The coward is a sleazebag as well. David Horowitz must be so proud.
Last week, we wrote an item for Media Matters about Ralph Peters' nonsensical fearmongering over "voting rights for illegals" at FrontPageMag. In response, FrontPageMag published a column by Rich Trzupek that engaged in a lot of ad hominem attacks to defend Peters.
Ralph Peters Rants Against A Non-Existent Threat Topic: Horowitz
Ralph Peters served up a special brand of crazy in an April 2 FrontPageMag article, ranting against giving "illegals" voting rights -- something nobody has proposed to do -- and illustrated with a picture of heavily tattooed gang members as an apparent illustration of the "illegals" who would purportedly be given those voting rights.
NewsReal: Health Reform Supporters Like An Abusive Spouse Topic: Horowitz
For almost a decade I worked in a domestic violence shelter. I sat with women who were shaking, bruised and ashamed. They were in utter shock and disbelief at the violence that had just occurred. The names of the people in each woman’s story were different; but the story lines were remarkably the same.
Police responding to domestic violence calls can tell a similar story. Often times, the officer responding to a call finds a calm man sitting on the front porch steps, smoking a cigarette, quietly waiting for the police to arrive. He greets the officers, and coolly explains to them that his wife is inside, ranting and raving. “She’s crazy, out of her mind. I don’t know what her problem is.”
Her problem is she has just realized what has happened to her.
In much the same way, as Americans try to grasp what just hit them...
-- Rhonda Robinson, March 24 NewsReal post, who goes on to claim that "The difference between the anger so many Americans feel right now, is quite different than the hatred and rage that has long been a part of the Left’s political arsenal."
