Jennifer Rubin, formerly of Commentary and now blogging at The Washington Post, has discovered that Think Progress played the race card against the Koch brothers, who back libertarian and conservative causes, by claiming that the Koch brothers “are simply fulfilling their father’s legacy” in opposing integration.
Rubin took a look at Think Progress’ source — a WaPo news article — and was upset to discover that Think Progress had twisted the story to demonize the Koch brothers as racist whereas the facts in the WaPo story showed otherwise:
This is rotten stuff indeed. Listen, the Koch brothers are rich guys and don’t need to be adored, nor do you have to agree with their politics to find the guilt-by-parenthood gambit quite noxious. What is more, the swamplands seem to have picked the wrong smear to hurl at these guys. A little checking (Google – what a great invention!) shows that Koch Industries gives money to “programs to recruit and mentor multicultural students.” That’s not all. The supposedly nefarious Koch brothers (if you take the time to read through the 32-page brochure on their philanthropy) give to “National Black Arts Festival, a non-profit cultural institution based in Atlanta that celebrates the contributions of people of African descent and their impact on world cultures.) Oh, there is more. If you hop over to the Georgia-Pacific (a Koch company) website, you find the president of its philanthropic foundation is African American. And you then also find that the company is giving to Youth Entrepreneurs of Atlanta….
In other words, Think Progress misrepresented The Post’s story and mislabeled two individuals as racists. All in a day’s work in the left blogosphere, I suppose.
Welcome to our world, Jennifer.
Twisting facts into absurd strings so that the end result paints Tea Parties and conservatives and libertarians as violent and racist extremists is the reason to be of Think Progress.
Here’s the link to all my prior posts about Think Progress and you will see how they play the game.
Think Progress doesn’t “lie” as such (although their video about the Tea Party probably could be called a lie). Rather, Think Progress takes disconnected facts, none of which in and of itself is untrue, and reaches a conclusion which is untrue, frequently using an inflammatory headline which is contradicted by the body of the post, (added) such as this prior post about one of the Koch brothers.
So don’t be upset, Jennifer. Be angry, and keep posting about Think Progress, and not only when it misrepresents a WaPo article.
Update: Now it makes sense. I’ve noticed that Think Progress has been out for the Koch brothers of late. It turns out that Think Progress is just the leading edge of an emerging war on the Kochs, Progressives to ‘uncloak’ the secret financers behind the Tea party (emphasis mine):
Progressive and liberal activists are planning at the end of the month to confront the secretive billionaire family that finances the so-called Tea party movement and a host of other right-wing causes and institutions.
“Our government is supposed to be of, by and for the people. So are you ready to take it back?” an invitation for the “Uncloaking the Kochs” event asked.
The Sunday, Jan. 30 event thrown by Common Cause, a nonpartisan, grassroots organization, aims to educate attendees in California on the Koch brothers who will be strategizing nearby with their mega-wealthy allies to win the 2012 elections. Afterwards, activists will rally in Rancho Mirage.
“We can’t sit back while a few billionaires destroy the fragile fabric of democracy and the protections that are so necessary for the health of our society,” Jodie Evans of CodePink told Alternet. “It is time for the progressive community to gather together and say no more, and what better place than where the Koch brothers are plotting their next moves.”
Panel discussions will feature Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary; Van Jones, founder of Green for All; Erwin Chemerinsky, UC Irvine Law Dean; Lee Fang, Center for American Progress blogger and Koch Brothers expert; and DeAnn McEwen, co-president of the California Nurses Association.
Lee Fang blogs at Think Progress which is owned by the Center for American Progress (run by John Podesta), and was the author of the race accusations which so upset Rubin. Fang apparently is the person Think Progress has designated to get the Koch brothers. We’ll see how that works out.
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