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The Spectacle Blog
Erick Erickson thinks that Jane Mayer’s New Yorker profile of the billionaire Koch brothers is part of a coordinated effort by Obama and left-wing journalists to discredit the Koch family and their efforts in funding pro-libertarian groups and developing the Tea Party movement.
I’m not sure about Erickson’s speculation, but it’s hard not to notice that Mayer’s article paints an grim portrait of the Koch brothers without actually reporting anything objectionable that they might have done. For instance, here is how the article (headline: “Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama”) describes the Kochs’ efforts to promote libertarianism:
In Washington, [David H.] Koch is best known as part of a family that has repeatedly funded stealth attacks on the federal government, and on the Obama Administration in particular.
If that is how you describe peaceful, lawful activism, then what words are left to describe, for instance, the actions of al Qaeda, which funded an actual stealth attack on the federal government?
Later in the article, Mayer writes that “the Mercatus Center released a report claiming that stimulus funds had been directed disproportionately toward Democratic districts; eventually, the author was forced to correct the report, but not before Rush Limbaugh, citing the paper, had labelled Obama’s program ‘a slush fund…’”
Mayer is referring to Veronique de Rugy’s working paper. It is not accurate to claim that de Rugy was “forced to correct” the paper. A better description would be that she “voluntarily, in the spirit of transparency, improved the paper and found that her initial results still obtained.” You can read a less tendentious account of that episode here or de Rugy’s own explanation here.
View all comments (41) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Joseph Lawler
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Pete| 8.23.10 @ 2:53PM
I think this is going on everywhere in the mainstream media; a coordinated misinformation effort led by the white house. For example, I read an AP article the other day that talked about Japan considering a new "stimulus" where the author went on to tout the undisputed benefits of "stimulus" by government. Made me pretty sure Osama is considering another taxpayer funded payoff.
Layne | 8.24.10 @ 4:28PM
Pete, you are correct. I see it everywhere. Our own tax dollars are being used in a flood of propaganda. It seems that stories about "problems' suddenly appear right before legislation is introduced that supposedly solves them.
Stan| 8.23.10 @ 3:07PM
They also went after Conrad Black, Henry Greenburg, and several other high profile conservative donors too. It shows that the commies will do anything to keep power.
Annie Oakley| 8.23.10 @ 6:22PM
Yes, and they like to use the DOJ or attorneys general to do it!
Anyone else remember Hillary's "VAST RIGHT WING CONSPIRACY" and targeting Richard Mellon Scaife? I do! Of course the mere fact that Billy Bob was "pulling a Tiger" and lying under oath to prosecutors about it was immaterial to the professional Left.
Nothing to see here...move along.
Nate| 8.23.10 @ 3:26PM
Mr. Lawler,
I suppose journalistic decorum might allow you to describe an article you think is unfair as an "assault," but to describe it as a "violent assault" shows poor judgment and a rash abandonment of integrity.
Mayer, in contrast, is a journalist of rare integrity. You should take a minute to check out the number of people at the Pentagon, for example, who agreed to speak with her on the record about topics related to fighting terrorism in the past 10 years.
My suggestion is that you learn to control yourself a little. You can be an irresponsible blowhard, like Glenn Beck, or you can be a journalist. You cannot be both. Hard work and a marked willingness to reform may get you somewhere.
kingsmill| 8.23.10 @ 3:36PM
Nate, have you been sent to bore us?
DXR| 8.24.10 @ 12:24PM
Nate- who changes your diapers? FYI- it's starting to stink son...
Jeff| 8.23.10 @ 3:40PM
Mayer is a journalist of rare integrity who can't even be bothered to get her facts straight (in this case, regarding Veronique de Rugy's study).
Nate| 8.23.10 @ 4:16PM
Well .... maybe.
If by "us" you mean those who blissfully dwell in a Fox Newsopia of race-baiting and bloodsport, of those who cannot be bothered to read or learn anything about the topics upon which they opine, then yes, I've come to bore you. Maybe if your appetite for entertainment wasn't so intemperate you'd be able to participate in political discourse with some level of intelligence.
tonypal| 8.23.10 @ 5:05PM
Dear Mr. Nate,
I suppose someone who lectures someone else about journalistic decorum might allow you to describe a network you think is unfair as engaging in "race baiting," but to describe it as engaging in a "bloodsport" shows poor judgment and a rash abandonment of integrity.
shawn| 8.25.10 @ 12:44AM
you DO bore me Nate
Nate| 8.23.10 @ 4:18PM
Jeff --
I haven't read this piece. Frankly, I'm going to have to assume Mayer's got her facts right. That is, barring evidence to the contrary, I'll assume she's done a heck of a job fact-checking, but if it turns out that she's gotten something wrong, fine.
My point was that describing what she's done as a "violent assault" lacks dignity, and you haven't given me any reason to think otherwise.
Jeff| 8.23.10 @ 5:07PM
Mayer says Veronique recanted; she didn't. She also makes it sound like Veronique was somehow forced to reopen her study when, in fact, she quite cheerfully agreed to do so after Nate Silver questioned her methodology. This is pretty shabby journalism.
HomeTheaterGuy| 8.24.10 @ 9:46AM
Mr Nate:
Your actions are typical of Liberals.... This knee jerk reaction to disagree with the right no matter the subject is and staunchly stand up for the source even when you HAVEN'T read the article or taken the time to research the content... How can you so stand so strongly for something that you know nothing about? But, then again this is what we see from liberals...especially the liberals in congress as they stand up strongly and champion legislation that they NEVER READ or RESEARCH!!!!
Burn4344| 8.24.10 @ 12:48PM
Nate,
It is amazing how you talk of integrity and dignity, yet you openly admit you "haven't read this piece", so why are you even commenting? That not only shows your lack of integrity but your ignorance as well. I am not supporting or arguing any point you are trying to make, just the simple fact that either way, you haven't the knowledge to do so. Why don't you take the 3 minutes or less to read the "piece" before commenting.
Tim*| 8.23.10 @ 4:26PM
Dear Ms. Mayer,
I suppose journalistic decorum might allow you to describe The Koch Brothers , who you think are unfair as " waging a war " but to describe them as a " Covert Operation" shows poor judgment and a rash abandonment of integrity.
My suggestion is that you learn to control yourself a little. You can be an irresponsible blowhard, like ObamaBoy Nate , or you can be a journalist. You cannot be both. Hard work and a marked willingness to reform may get you somewhere.
Thank You Mam.
Purple Lips| 8.23.10 @ 5:40PM
"My suggestion is that you learn to control yourself a little. You can be an irresponsible blowhard, like Glenn Beck, or you can be a journalist. "
Like. ahem, Dan Rather. Or the folks at Reuters who brought us doctored photos. Or the folks at NBC who brought us the Food Lion scandal. Or the October Surprise. Or the 1992 Bush41 extramarital affair....
Purple Lips| 8.23.10 @ 5:43PM
"...Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama" "
That was taken from Mayers headline. I don't suppose you have a problem with the term "wagin war", do you?
tom| 8.24.10 @ 9:49AM
Nate, how's that kool aide working for you?
Burn4344| 8.24.10 @ 12:52PM
Oh, wait Nate, I get it... you have to first read the comments so you can find out what is in the article.
JB| 8.23.10 @ 4:52PM
I didn't even know the Koch brothers were friendly -- I thought they were in a way adversaries.
Bigger picture is that the Koch brothers are involved with energy production -- epsecially coal. Given Obama's goal to bankrupt the industry, why shouldn't they push back?
Tim*| 8.23.10 @ 5:09PM
These are Charles & David Koch.
The dispute was between Charles and other brother Bill (Dave's Twin) & Freddie joined in on Bill's past lawsuit.
martin j smith| 8.23.10 @ 5:12PM
We are in another phase of political warfare that means that there are coordinated MSM attacks on many fronts. Get your mind mentally set for a lot more of this because there is an election coming up. It is going to get extremely nasty and there might even be LEFT violence or at least provocations.
Senator Republican| 8.23.10 @ 6:57PM
Obama's a Muslim!
Obama's a Muslim!
Obama's a Muslim!
Obama's an illegal alien!
Obama's an illegal alien!
Obama's an illegal alien!
thanks for the skinny| 8.23.10 @ 7:53PM
i didn't know that!
John Moran| 8.30.10 @ 1:56PM
This is, ultimately, the typical 'argument' to anyone who is perceived as being outside of the the tea party's wishes. First always come blanket statements about how the person 'knows nothing' (usually in capital letters), then following that are a string of childish insults (and always with a childish excuses, like 'you started it by being a - insert childish insult), and then will be unveiled (surprise) the intense racial hatred and paranoia about having a black president. To me, that will always be the end of the discussion. The tea party consistently shows itself to be largely a group of paranoid racists, as is evidenced just above. It's on every single list of comments by Tea Party members that I've ever seen. You should be ashamed just for the racism alone, for starters. Answer that seriously, if you can.
MaybeTomorrow| 9.22.10 @ 3:54PM
Dear Senator Republican,
Please stop with your ancient ideals.
You are making the rest of us look like close-minded racist bigots.
Thank you.
Mimi| 8.23.10 @ 8:41PM
I think that their funding is way down for this election. The "O" has been complaining for days about Americans for Prosperity. Now the Jane Mayer story in the New Yorker. I read the 10 page article this am....and then posted this on Yahoo/Buzz
Article is tainted to the liberal-left. Nice to find out that the Liberty, Freedom and God loving crew have some BIG MONEY behind it also.
We all know the DEMS have...SOROS and his billions to devil up the place. Now we read the PATRIOTS can catch a break!!! A whole-hearted...THANK YOU to David and Charles Koch for your love and courageous support for AMERICA.
Mimi| 8.23.10 @ 9:16PM
Just checked BUZZ and conservative support comments are 80% ahead of libs. Maybe there won't be any "LEGS" on the hit piece.
Hank Archer | 8.24.10 @ 1:13AM
Politicians who advocate liberty are the tools and puppets of "special interests" and are therefore stupid, weak and/or corrupt, whereas politicians who advocate statism do so out of compassion and concern for their fellow human beings and are therefore smart, strong and/or heroes.
Lyle @ UltiMAK
August 3, 2010
Mimi| 8.24.10 @ 1:29PM
You stayed up too LATE ...We all know who the corrupt ones are and in Nov. You'll be shown.
Steve| 8.24.10 @ 9:54AM
I have worked for a KII company. They were extremely fair and merit based. I can see why the left would hate the s out of them
Ms222| 8.26.10 @ 3:26AM
OMG, the minions are of the opinion that the multi-billionaire Koch family are funding movements that aren't self-serving.
Those dumber than dumb boots on the ground are just what the puppet masters aka Koch brothers planned. The mind-control game is in
high gear.
The billionaires/millionaires increase in numbers, the poor get poorer, and the middle class shrinks as the masses are manipulated by the power and greed of many of the wealthiest Americans.
GaryA| 8.26.10 @ 5:56PM
Amen!
GaryA| 8.26.10 @ 5:44PM
What really must rankle the "free marketeers" who defend oil billionaires like the Koch's, whose political "donations" just coincidentally happen to promote their profit-driven anti-environmental agendas (which worked pretty well in the Gulf of Mexico, oui?) is what Mayer says about, Charles Lewis, "the founder of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan watchdog group, said ... “The Kochs are on a whole different level. There’s no one else who has spent this much money. The sheer dimension of it is what sets them apart. They have a pattern of lawbreaking, political manipulation, and obfuscation. I’ve been in Washington since Watergate, and I’ve never seen anything like it. They are the Standard Oil of our times.”
There's rich irony in the Koch's getting the lower middle classes to rush to defend the billionaires, despite the fact that it was the lower and middle classes who were the principal victims of the deregulatory madmen (including the Kochs) who encouraged/brought us catastrophes from Continental Bank, Longterm Capital Management, Enron, the financial collapse, etc.
Gary
Read more http://www.newyorker.com/repor.....z0xkaFJZ5S
ernie1241| 8.27.10 @ 9:56AM
One fact overlooked in the New Yorker article by Jane Mayer is that Charles Koch was a member of the John Birch Society until 1968.
Charles Koch and JBS National Council member Robert Love placed a full-page ad in the Wichita KS Eagle newspaper in May 1968 entitled "Let's Get Out of Vietnam Now" -- which resulted in their resignation from the JBS -- at the request of JBS founder, Robert Welch.
Koch and Love wanted the U.S. to withdraw from Vietnam but the JBS had obtained almost a million signatures on a Vietnam petition advocating a winning policy and withholding aid to Communist countries -- so Robert Welch apparently thought Koch and Love had undermined the JBS position.
Koch resigned immediately but Robert Love initially hesitated. He was convinced to resign by fellow JBS Council member William Grede. Grede also asked Charles Koch to help convince Love to resign.
fuck| 8.30.10 @ 5:12PM
The comments above are either made by trolls or really fervent ideologues. (I'm leaning more toward the former.)
you| 8.30.10 @ 5:16PM
Pawns in a game.
Simple poor people| 8.31.10 @ 4:10PM
God forbid the average joe and men of great wealth share any interest in the concept of liberty lest it be the rich using the poor.
democracy| 9.5.10 @ 11:30AM
Misinformation? Propaganda? The Republican party apparatus, conservative "think" tanks like the Heritage Foundation, publications like this one, Fox News, and conservative ideologues like the Koch Brothers are masters of both.
Conservatives will say and do almost anything to promote government of, by and for the rich. Worse, they cannot admit that their supply-side policies have failed miserably for most Americans while lavishing favored tax treatment and million- and billion-dollar incomes on the top one percent, an upward funneling of wealth nearly unprecedented in American history.
The Kochs exemplify the example. They likely pay less tax as a percentage of income than do their secretaries. Yet even that is too much for them. They stand accused of illegally and stealthily trading in securities and avoiding taxes on the trades. Some of those funds were then allegedly used to purchase art or to make charitable gifts (for which tax deductions were presumably taken). The Kochs helped to smear John Kerry withe Swift Boat ads.
Legitimate public policy ideas and discussions really should be based on facts.
But whether its Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin or John Boehner, Joe Miller or John McCain, the Washington Times or American Spectator, conservatives pummel the facts and twist the truth, and lie.
Too bad the "Party of Lincoln" has lost its moral compass and abandoned government of the people, by the people, and for the people.