The major media are desperate to avoid scrutiny of how or where leftist billionaire George Soros is getting the tens of millions of dollars that he is using to finance anti-Bush advertising campaigns and pro-Democratic Party political efforts before the November 2 election.
The reluctance is partly explained by Soros' media ties. He has been an investor in the Times Mirror Company, which merged with the Tribune Company. This media conglomerate today publishes 13 daily newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, and Newsday. The company's broadcasting group includes 26 television stations.
But Soros is linked to literally dozens of other businesses and corporations, some of them off-shore and beyond the reach of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the federal agency that subjects American companies to disclosure and oversight.
On the face of it, Soros has acted in a deceptive manner. He promoted passage of the McCain-Feingold campaign reform law, supposedly to restrict the ability of special interest groups to influence the race for the White House. But he then took advantage of a notorious loophole in the law through which he has provided massive funding of controversial "527" organizations, designated as such under the Internal Revenue Code. These groups can receive and spend unlimited amounts of money on the presidential contest. They are required to report their expenditures but their funders, such as Soros, are under no obligation to identify where their money is coming from. This opens the door to foreign money and foreign manipulation of the U.S. presidential election.
It could be "Chinagate" all over again.
The Republicans, supposedly the party of "fat cats" and Big Business, are being vastly outspent in this area.
Much of the background and history of Soros, who emigrated to the U.S., is not known. His fortune was made through manipulation of international financial markets and foreign currencies, a field that is still largely unregulated. He has controversial investments in places like Colombia, where the banks have been penetrated by drug cartels eager to launder their drug money.
Though he is frequently described by the media as a "philanthropist," Connie Bruck in a 1995 New Yorker article described a different side to Soros, a "threatening" side. "He is portrayed as someone who has always tended to live by his own rules, and will change those when it suits him; who can be offended if a leader of a country where he is involved philanthropically is insufficiently subservient; who will consort with an autocratic regime in order to see his programs carried out; and who is intent on imposing his influence generally on an ever-expanding area of the world," she said.
Known as "the man who almost broke the Bank of England," Soros engaged in a complex financial transaction that resulted in the Bank of England losing billions of dollars defending the British pound before having to devalue it. He is essentially a manipulator of money, able to bet that currencies of nations will rise or fall while he makes billions in the process. The Soros Quantum Fund is registered offshore, based in the Netherlands Antilles, and closed to U.S. citizens and residents. However, Soros, who became an American citizen, "managed to make himself an exception," Bruck reported.
Soros Breaks Nations
Such financial operations devalue national currencies, undermining the retirement savings and pensions of ordinary people. To atone for the damage he has done to the global financial system, Soros has endorsed a "Tobin tax," named after a Yale University economist, to regulate and tax the international currency markets. The proceeds, amounting to billions or even trillions of dollars, would go to international agencies such as the U.N. But this tax would affect the pensions, savings accounts, IRAs, and mutual funds of ordinary Americans who also trade currencies and make investments abroad.
It is possible that Soros could use his wealth and power to speculate against the dollar in order to destabilize the U.S. economy in the weeks before the presidential election
Nevertheless, at the far-left "Take Back America" forum in June, Soros was photographed greeting Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who introduced him to the group. She told the crowd that, "we need people like George Soros, who is fearless and willing to step up when it counts."
At the 2004 conference of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Ethan Nadelmann of the Soros-funded Drug Policy Alliance was asked about his association with Soros and the billionaire's attempt to put Kerry in the White House. The questioner asked, "Are we going to get some Supreme Court justices out this?" Nadelmann modestly answered, "We will see," and cautioned that it may be difficult to deliver "all the goods."
The "goods" include creation of a system under which government and corporations would legalize, dispense and advertise hard drugs, much like tobacco or alcohol, and even supply addicts with needles and drug paraphernalia. This campaign would be sold as an effort to reduce the harm associated with the criminal use of narcotics but it would undoubtedly increase the use of drugs and make more people, especially children, into drug addicts.
Nadelmann advises young people to be open about their marijuana smoking, saying, "Take the chance and come out of the closet about your drug use. The transformation in the way homosexuals are treated in the United States was due to the fact that they came out...Well, sixty or seventy million Americans have smoked marijuana. One day there should be a national tell-mom-and-dad-I-smoke-pot day! Or tell your kids! That type of thing can make a huge difference."
Ann Druyan told the NORML conference that "responsible marijuana smokers" have to act politically this year. She spoke about her "lifetime of smoking marijuana" and how the "sacred drug" had "enhanced my 20-year marriage to my husband," the late Carl Sagan. Asked for her political presidential preference, she said, "Anybody but Bush. Kerry."
It is significant that Soros picked Aryeh Neier, a former national director of the ACLU, to run his Open Society Institute (OSI). It was Neier who admits persuading Soros to fund a range of "drug-policy activities." The ACLU itself favors the legalization of all drugs—even heroin and crack cocaine—and opposes virtually all measures taken to curtail drug use.
A confidential report prepared for groups opposed to the Soros agenda of legalized drugs states that Soros wants to become the "Shadow President" of the U.S. and that John Kerry will "sit on Soros' lap and take his wishes into account—since it is Soros' money that has made him president." That will translate into influence for Soros domestically and internationally, since he strongly opposes the Bush policy of preemptive U.S. action against terrorists and hostile regimes.
Defending Soros
Speaking for the Soros apologists in the media, Paul Krugman of the New York Times in a September 3 column acted horrified that House Speaker Dennis Hastert had suggested that Soros was getting money from "drug groups" and from mysterious "overseas" sources.
To Krugman, Hastert was suggesting that Soros was being funded by illegal drug cartels, and this was a subject that wasn't even worth considering. Krugman was also offended by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's suggestion that Soros wants to spend $75 million to defeat Bush "because Soros wants to legalize heroin."
Ignoring his well-documented funding of the drug legalization move-ment, Krugman con-veniently forgot to mention that Soros' investments include a major stake in Banco de Colombia, one of Colombia's biggest banks. Soros purchased his interest in the bank at a time when the Drug Enforcement Administration, in its study, "Colombian Economic Reform: The Impact on Drug Money Laundering within the Colombian Economy," was documenting how major drug kingpins were taking advantage of the liberalization of the economy to put illicit drug revenue into legitimate businesses. The report stated: "U.S. and Colombian Government authorities have evidence of drug proceeds being deposited in every major bank in Colombia... A Colombian source indicated that many banks and businesses are owned covertly by principal members of the Cali cartel."
Krugman described Soros merely as someone who has been busy "promoting democracy around the world." This is a formulation that appears frequently in the pro-Soros press.
But Soros' limited funding of anti-communist movements during the Cold War pales in comparison to his frightening transformation into a "neo-Marxist" who favors a socialist one-world government, to quote Jeffrey T. Kuhner, a writer and commentator whose work has appeared in the Washington Times, Investor's Business Daily, and The Ripon Forum, a magazine representing liberal Republicans. The magazine labeled Soros "The Lenin of the 21st Century."
Kuhner says that the billionaire, who has a kooky "messiah complex" and wants to run the world, has become "a ferocious critic of the war in Iraq" who believes that America has "degenerated into a militaristic fascist empire."
In an interview with AIM, Kuhner expressed alarm that the so-called "mainstream media" have largely ignored the financial role of Soros in the election campaign while devoting an excessive amount of coverage to a small group, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, that is running anti-Kerry ads. The media have given Soros "a free pass," he says.
While officials of the Democratic Party are attacking the Swift Boat veterans and even attempting to censor their anti-Kerry commercials, financed by average $64 donations, Kuhner said Republican officials have been timid in telling the story of how Soros is "almost single-handedly bankrolling the Democratic Party" with millions of dollars and has "a dangerous far-left agenda."
Tens of millions of dollars from Soros have gone to MoveOn.org, Americans Coming Together, and the Center for American Progress. MoveOn.org is the group that posted a political commercial comparing President Bush to Hitler. Soros himself made the same comparison and then denied that he had done so.
In addition to legalizing drugs, the Soros agenda includes open borders, euthanasia, further restrictions on the second amendment right to keep and bear arms, and homosexual and abortion rights.
Kuhner adds, "The liberal media are playing a very dangerous game. They desperately want to get Kerry elected and they will do whatever it takes, even if it means looking away from his controversial sources of funding."
Kuhner says the media should be asking Kerry a simple question—whether he agrees with the Soros agenda. "Kerry has never once said anything bad or negative about George Soros," he points out. The question posed on the cover of Kuhner's Ripon Forum magazine is whether Kerry would become a Soros "puppet."
There is no question that the insidious groups pushing acceptance of illegal drugs want to see Bush defeated. The September/October issue of High Times magazine, which is dedicated to glorifying illegal drugs, has an article, "10 Reasons to Get Rid of Bush." One of the reasons cited was, "No legalization of pot [marijuana]" under Bush.
Soros is also underwriting attempts to enlist ex-cons and felons to vote for the Kerry-Edwards ticket. Chris Uggen, the most prominent national advocate of allowing ex-cons to vote, has been a research fellow at the Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute (OSI). He believes that "felon disenfranchisement" prevented Al Gore from winning the 2000 presidential election and the Democrats from picking up seven U.S. Senate seats.
In the campaign to assist those who commit crimes against Americans, a Soros grant was given to Linda Evans, who was pardoned by Bill Clinton for her involvement in the Weather Underground terrorist group. The Baltimore, Maryland, branch of the OSI on May 12 hosted Bernardine Dohrn, another former member of the Weather Underground, at a forum on criminal justice issues. Dohrn, today is an associate professor and director at Northwestern University's Children and Justice Center.
On the August 29 edition of Fox News Sunday, Speaker Dennis Hastert attempted to bring up the subject of Soros and his mysterious money.
Referring to the millions of dollars that Soros has provided to controversial "527" groups which can spend unlimited amounts of money to defeat Bush, Hastert said that "we don't know where the money comes from" and that, "For all we know, funding for some of the 527s might come from foreign sources or worse."
Hastert said, "You know, I don't know where George Soros gets his money. I don't know where—if it comes from overseas or from drug groups or where it comes from." This came in response to host Chris Wallace asking, "You think he may be getting money from the drug cartel?"
After Soros demanded an apology from Hastert and threatened a libel suit over the remarks, Hastert responded, "I never implied that you were a criminal and I never would, that's not my style." Hastert said "drug groups" was a reference to Soros' involvement in the international drug legalization movement, including organizations such as the Drug Policy Alliance and the Andean Council of Coca Leaf Producers (CAPHC), a group favoring legal cultivation of coca. Mark Falcoff of the American Enterprise Institute describes CAPHC as "a front organization for the coca growers that supply drug traffickers with the raw materials they need to produce cocaine."
Jonathan E. Kaplan of The Hill newspaper, which is influential on Capitol Hill, tried to get Soros off the hook by stating, "Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) say that no company official in Soros's investment fund is involved in a criminal proceeding or a party to a civil proceeding."
But this presents a misleading picture of Soros and his alleged involvement in questionable activities. Kaplan neglected to point out that Soros was convicted of insider trading in France, and that Connie Bruck reported in her 1995 New Yorker article that Soros had been fined $75,000 by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
What's more, Kaplan's defense of Soros ignores his affiliation with off-shore entities operating outside of SEC jurisdiction.
Legally, of course, Soros can promote acceptance of illegal activities. For his involvement in the campaign to legalize drugs, he has been labeled the "Daddy Weedbucks" of the movement by a drug culture magazine.
Soros favors a plan whereby governments would legalize drugs and then tax, control and distribute them. There would have to be an official infrastructure in place to finance drug production and distribution and handle the enormous profits that will be made from legalization. Legalization will not eliminate drug profits, it will only transfer them to government and "legitimate" industries. Soros could be poised to invest in those industries and companies.
It is noteworthy that the Soros-supported Drug Policy Alliance supports "marijuana clubs" currently dispensing the drug, supposedly on "medical" grounds. The federal government has tried to close down these clubs—a policy that could change if Kerry is elected. Several states have passed "medical marijuana" initiatives, attempting to provide the drug under the cover of treating illnesses. Kerry is a supporter of "medical marijuana" and believes in "responsible" drug use.
While an ingredient of marijuana (marinol) has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for medical use, it is ridiculous and dangerous to assume that smoking the marijuana plant, which has even more carcinogens than tobacco, is beneficial. The use of marijuana has been linked to mental problems and even mental illness.
But the "medical marijuana" campaign shows how Soros has successfully used his wealth and power for political purposes.
Deception
When Soros got involved in the effort to legalize narcotics, he instructed his followers to target "a few winnable issues," such as the "medical marijuana" issue. Notes of a forum on "media strategies" held in November 1992 are extremely revealing. "Don't talk legalization," the notes say. Activists were told to avoid admitting they favor legalization because "only 10%—15% of the people favor legalization." Instead, it was advised that they argue against "prohibition" of drugs and "paint ridiculous extremes" by claiming that there are too many people in jail for drug offenses and too much money is being spent on drug prosecutions. Also, they are supposed to focus on the plight of "drug prisoners" wasting away in prison.
Typically, they present the current "war on drugs" as draconian, a huge waste of money and a threat to civil liberties. Legalization is then presented, usually couched in terms of reducing the harm associated with illegal use and procurement of drugs. The audience is never presented with a third option—eradication of drug crops at home and abroad, tougher sentences for users and dealers, and more drug testing.
The next wave of pro-drug legalization propaganda is already in motion, an emphasis on the "human rights" of alleged drug users and traffickers. Ethan Nadelmann told High Times magazine that he "arranged" for Soros to provide $450,000 to Human Rights Watch "for their first-ever project on the abuses of the War on Drugs worldwide." One Human Rights Watch report examined charges that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was complicit in a campaign by the Bolivian police to violate the human rights of drug traffickers.
In the U.S., the Soros campaign to legalize drugs has had a great assist from the Hollywood left. At the 2004 NORML conference, Allen St. Pierre of the NORML Foundation described how various U.S. television programs "have previewed marijuana in a way ultimately positive." He named them as ER, Chicago Hope, the Practice, Sybil, Murphy Brown, Sports Night, Becker, West Wing, Roseanne, Sex in the City, Six Feet Under, Whoopi, Montel, That 70s Show, and the Larry David Show. "These shows are seen by tens of millions of people," he said. "So that's what it's so crucial that we're able to capture—and to demonstrate the change in—culture."
Today, Soros and his allies in NORML and other such organizations stand on the verge of achieving national political power. Their success could mean a radical change in the nation's anti-drug policy.
What You Can Do
Send cards and letters of your own choosing to John Harris of the Post and Chris Matthews of MSNBC. Also, be sure to order the AIM film, "Confronting Iraq."
Mr. John Harris
The Washington Post
1150 15th St. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20071
Mr. Chris Matthews
MSNBC
400 N. Capitol St. N.W.
Suite 850
Washington, D.C. 20001http://www.aim.org/aim_report_print/1982_0_4_0/ |
