Showing posts with label glenn beck. Show all posts
Showing posts with label glenn beck. Show all posts

Thursday, 16 June 2011

Glenn Beck to shed his tears at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem - Will Sarah Palin join him?


Glenn Beck is taking his circus to Jerusalem. Ynetnews reported:

Tens of thousands of excited Israelis and Americans, music performances, appearances by local and international celebrities, senior politicians and a live broadcast that will reach millions of viewers – this is just some of what is in store for Glenn Beck’s upcoming rally “to restore courage,” which is set to take place on August 24 in Jerusalem.

Beck has been leading a publicity campaign for the event over the past few weeks, urging his viewers and listeners to fly out to the Holy Land.

But some politicians are less than excited about it, according to Newser:

Glenn Beck can't seem to get much traction on his upcoming political rally in Israel. So far, not a single leading GOP presidential candidate has expressed interest in attending the pro-Israel demonstration organized by the ousted Fox mega-mouth. As of now only former Democratic vice presidential contender Joseph Lieberman and long-shot Republican candidate Herman Cain plan to participate, reports the Washington Post. Mitt Romney, Newt Gringrich, Michele Bachmann and Mike Huckabee don't plan to attend, even though an Israeli news publication has announced they'll be there.

There's no mention of Sarah Palin in this article, but the Washington Post dedicated one sentence to her:

There was no word on the plans of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who is still weighing a 2012 presidential bid. Palin was a featured guest at Beck’s rally on the Mall last summer.

A writer on the Jerusalem Post was not terribly impressed, although he was under the impression that some of the chief wackos would attend.

So wackos like Beck and Palin and Bachmann love us – but only as long as we go on fighting their enemies. If we ever make peace with them, our dear, devoted Republican friends will not be amused. Neither will the likes of Danny Danon, of course, so the American Right and Israeli Right have become the closest, most natural of allies.

Incidentally, who, more than anybody else, forged this covenant? Netanyahu, starting about 30 years ago, and along the way gaining the admiration of every major crackpot, Islamophobic evangelical preacher, from the late Jerry Falwell to Pat Robertson to John Hagee and on.

Sarah Palin hasn't confirmed her attendance, but if she does, we can expect to see that Star of David hanging around her versatile neck again...


Sarah has been awfully quiet since she denied screwing up the Paul Revere story and proceeded to mangle it even  further. Apparently, she's scheduled to appear on Judge Napolitano's program on Fox Business Network later on tonight.

Thursday, 28 October 2010

Blinded by Sarah Palin: Why David Brock and others shouldn't expect responsible behavior from Sarah Palin - UPDATE!


Sarah Palin & David Brock

David Brock, CEO of "Media Matters for America", is an expert as far as right wing hypocrisy and propaganda is concerned. Many of you will know his fascinating life story. He was a part of the right-wing attack machine in the 1990's, when he rose to fame with the publication of the propaganda book "The Real Anita Hill." He wrote for the "Washington Times" and the "The American Spectator", before he recognized the true nature of his actions and converted in the most convincing manner:

In July 1997, Brock published a confessional piece in Esquire magazine titled "Confessions of a Right-Wing Hit Man", in which he recanted much of what he said in his two best-known American Spectator articles and criticized his own reporting methods.

Brock directly addressed the right-wing "machine" in his 2004 book, The Republican Noise Machine, in which he detailed an alleged interconnected, concerted effort to raise the profile of conservative opinions in the press through false accusations of liberal media bias, dishonest and highly-partisan columnists, partisan news organizations and academic studies, and other methods.

He tells his personal story in his memoir "Blinded by the Right" and criticizes the "conservative media machine" in his book "The Republican Noise Machine." His work on the latter book led him to found Media Matters for America, a non-profit organization that describes itself as a "progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media."

"Sourcewatch" reports:

In his book The Republican Noise Machine, Brock writes that in the last 30 years hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in building a right-wing media infrastructure that "has penetrated, pressured, co-opted, and subdued the mainstream media into accommodating conservatism."

He continues: "A deliberate, well-financed, and expressly acknowledged communications and deregulatory plan was pursued by the right wing for more than 30 years--in close coordination with Republican Party leaders--to subvert and subsume journalism and reshape the national consciousness through the media, with the intention of skewing American politics sharply to the right. The plan has succeeded spectacularly."

I wanted to give this short introduction, because David Brock made a personal plea - to Sarah Palin. If somebody like David Brock makes a personal plea, a person who knows the viciousness of the right-wing machine through experience, who admitted his mistakes and has since worked tirelessly to correct them (comparable for example with Frank Schaeffer) is it obvious that he is dead serious.

David Brock said on October 26, 2010 in an interview with Laurence O'Donnell on MSNBC:

"Sure, yes. I mean, the concerns that we raised in the op-ed that you cited today, one, Glenn Beck incited an attempted assassination plot against innocent employees of the Tides Foundation in San Francisco.

But that`s not all. There`s a history here as Ilyse said -- he has attempted to poison in effigy Nancy Pelosi on his set. That led to a death threat by a guy in San Francisco who threatened to burn her house down. That guy`s mother said he gets all his ideas from FOX News.

And let me give you a personal one. Dick Morris is on the air every night on FOX News raising money for his political activities. One of his consultants after "Media Matters" fact-checked one of their ads and found it false tweeted that our staff should be curb-stomped. OK?

So, there`s a whole pattern here what`s going on. And I think the question is what to do about it.

So, I think there -- this is how we get to Sarah Palin. Basically Beck, Beck`s erratic, he either won`t or can`t control himself even after he loses a hundred advertisers, so you can`t go there.

(...)So, Sarah Palin, right now, in our view, needs to step up. She needs to step up because she`s a leader of the Republican Party, of the conservative movement. She`s a Tea Party favorite. She is the one person in this country right now, today, who in the national interest, just in the moment to put partisanship aside, could pull this country back from the precipice of another Oklahoma City. And that`s what a real leader does, that`s what we`re asking.

As you know, you know, Bill Buckley, back in the `60s, divorced the conservative movement from the John Birch Society, and called it idiocy and paranoia. So, there`s precedent for this.

And Sarah Palin is a leader. We`re now going to find out what kind of leader, what she`s made of, and whether she`s going to do it. And I`m telling you, we`re going to find out.

We published this piece this morning. We heard nothing today. I hope she`s watching the show tonight.

If we hear nothing in the morning, I am personally going to call Sarah Palin. I`m going to ask Michael Keegan of PFAW to join me on that call and we`re going to make a personal plea to her to stop this insanity."

To which Laurence O'Donnell responded:

"David, what you just laid out sounds to me like an absolutely brilliant political strategy, political posture for Sarah Palin to adopt at this moment in this kind of atmosphere. She would get so much credit for a move like that without, I think, costing her anything from her right wing base."
Watch:




I knew exactly what I was going to write even before I read that Sarah Palin responded:

It's obvious that even the most critical people in the media out there still have not understood the true nature of Sarah Palin.

That might sound quite harsh, and of course we cannot expect from David Brock in a public plea to expose all his deepest "inner thoughts" about Sarah Palin. In addition, it's apparent that this was also an attempt to "draw Sarah Palin out in the open."

But still: The first mistake here is that he tries to talk to Sarah Palin as if she is an intelligent and rational human being. Sarah Palin is anything but that.

Sarah Palin is a person who through an almost impossible set of coincidences was thrown in the national spotlight, when John McCain made the fateful decision to choose her as his running mate. Palin then appeared to be a "hockey mom" to many people - a folksy woman who had insufficient knowledge about political issues, but who to some people still might have seen to a certain degree "likeable", "approachable", and as her followers love to obsess about, "real."

The depiction by Tina Fey of Sarah Palin as a folksy, naive country girl might not have helped Sarah to win the election, but it certainly helped Sarah to hide her true nature - which even afterwards wasn't discovered by some people after Sarah barricaded herself behind facebook, twitter and Fox News. In reality, Sarah Palin is an enthusiastic, self-obsessed redneck who always chose the right-wing fringe as her allies, and whose viciousness and vindictiveness became legendary in Alaska.

This is not a person who will distance herself from the right-wing fringe. Sarah Palin is the EMBODIEMENT of the right-wing fringe, concealed by a "pretty face", and that's why she is so dangerous.

Her "answer" to David Brock today on the Glenn Beck radio show therefore was utterly predictable - she told Glenn Beck that she "stands by him":



Transcript via Media Matters:

BECK: We have Sarah Palin coming on in just a few minutes, just to respond to the gauntlet thrown down by Media Matters on I think a cable access program last night. And it is an amazing thing because this is somebody taking care of you and having to protect you every step of the way.

Of course you can't, you're not smart enough to figure things out on your own. So George Soros, and Media Matters, and the Tides Foundation, and all of them are here to help you. Because you're a danger. You're a danger to the country. Bring Sarah up. Is Sarah on the phone? Hi Sarah, how are you?

PALIN: Hey, good morning Glenn. How are you?

BECK: Good, where are you?

PALIN: I am at my kitchen table in Wasilla.

BECK: I don't know how you travel. I mean, it's crazy the amount of travel that you do.

PALIN: How do I travel, yes. Airplanes.

BECK: Okay, I don't think you need-- Okay, really. All of a sudden, Bill Maher, talking down to me. Okay. Sarah, I want you to hear this. This is the head of Media Matters, and I just -- I want to give you the opportunity to distance yourself. Here it is. No, here it is.

[BEGIN AUDIO CLIP]

BROCK: Basically, Beck, Beck's a radical. He either can't or won't control himself, even after he loses a hundred advertisers, so you can't go there. Murdoch was asked at a shareholder's conference a couple weeks ago about Beck, shareholder concerns about Beck, he said he doesn't agree with everything that goes on the Fox News Channel, but he's standing with Beck. Ailes recruited Beck to do this. He's standing with Beck.

So that leaves you with sponsors. So People For [the American Way] has backed up a Tides Foundation call with Media Matters called Drop Fox to ask for advertisers to take responsibility for this rhetoric. I was recently told by a member of the Murdoch family that if you could effect the bottom line, you might get attention by the News Corp. board.

But the truth is, we can't wait for that, so Sarah Palin, right now, in our view, needs to step up. She needs to step up because she's a leader of the Republican Party, of the conservative movement, she's a Tea Party favorite. She is the one person in this country, right now, today, who in the national interest, just in the moment, to put partisanship aside, could pull this country back from the precipice of another Oklahoma City. And that's what a real leader does, that's what we're asking.

[END AUDIO CLIP]

BECK: Sarah? As the leader now, of the GOP, as a Tea Party favorite, as somebody that they don't always agree with, but they respect, as a real leader: It's time. It's time to make choice.

PALIN: Well these silly and ironic men. This is ironic, that they're the same folks that are insisting that, you know, that I should be ignored because I am the irrelevant hockey mom--

[CROSSTALK]

BECK: No, no, no, no, no, you are, as an American citizen, for the national interest, you are the only one that can do this.

GRAY: That can stop him.

BECK: That can stop me.

GRAY: You've got to stop him, Sarah.

PALIN: Okay, okay, so Glenn. From my kitchen table in Wasilla, here's the deal.

BECK: Yeah.

PALIN: Now, we know, Glenn, you're up against one of the richest and self-suggested most powerful men in the world--

BECK: Spooky dude.

PALIN: George Soros, right?

BECK: Spooky dude.

PALIN: Yeah. The extreme left-wing king is, with many, many minions, that's what he is.

BECK: Yes.

PALIN: So, you know, when I speak of your love of our Founding Fathers, and how you are helping to educate Americans about respecting our nation's history so that we don't lose what makes America exceptional, and the far, far left mouthpieces, they're twisting and perverting that message. No, what I do, I go back to what Abraham Lincoln said about standing with anybody who stands right. You stand with him when he stands right, you part with him when he goes wrong. I stand with you Glenn.

BECK: No, no, you've got to stop. You're the only one. You're like Obi-Wan Kenobi. Sarah Palin, you're our only hope.

PALIN: Yeah.

BECK: Did you ever think you'd see the day, Sarah, when Media Matters would be calling you the only hope for America? I mean, that's incredible. It's sad. We were deciding-- We were trying to decide if it was laughable or kind of sad, pathetic, kind of like that smelly kid in third grade that everyone looked around and looked at and went, "That's kind of sad."

PALIN: Yeah, it's a little bit of both, I think. I see more humor it in though, and it shows, though, how pathetic their argument is that they would be that desperate as to reach out to me to say, you know, that you need to stop Glenn Beck, you know, you need to stop what they perceive as incitement to violence. Glenn, you know I abhor violence. I know you do. Hating war, hating civil war, and praying for peace, and wanting peace and freedom for our kids in a civil society. That is the mission here, is explaining to Americans what the threats are to our peace and to our opportunities and to our freedoms in America.

BECK: Yeah.

PALIN: That is what I see you doing, and that is why I support what you are doing.

BECK: Sarah, I can't tell you how disappointed I am in you. I really - I thought you were going to take this moment to lead. I really did. But now, now Sarah -- and I want you to understand this -- now Media Matters is going to come out against you and they're not going to like you anymore. They like you so much, but now they're going to have to isolate you too. Oh boy.

PALIN: Yeah because here's the [inaudible] They were on my side.

BECK: They've been on your side. It's like the -- it's like that abortion doctor said on TV the other day. Women only have abortions because they care about motherhood. They're only destroying you or trying to destroy you because they love you so much.

PALIN: There we go with the Orwellian -- up is down, twisted around

BECK: Two plus two equals six.

PALIN: There you go and I'm the idiot. Yeah.

GRAY: Sarah, if you change your mind, we have David Brock's number over at Media Matters. He's waiting for phone call -

BECK: He doesn't have a lot to do.

David, it's time to expose the REAL Sarah Palin. She is not a "leader." She is not a rational, intelligent person to talk to. It's time to end the great charade.

+++

UPDATE:


"On Tuesday, I asked Sarah Palin to use her influential voice to stop attempted incidents of domestic terrorism incited by right-wing extremists like Glenn Beck. By telling Beck, 'I stand with you,' Palin -- Fox News' star contributor -- now associates herself with acts of violence and the insane conspiracy theories and hate speech behind them.

Rather than seize the opportunity to act in the national interest and do her part to prevent a major tragedy like the Oklahoma City bombing, Palin called into Beck's show to call me 'pathetic.' While Palin and I don't agree on much, I honestly believed we shared the view that the incitement to violence by a powerful media outlet was a national crisis that transcends the partisan divide. Sadly, I was wrong."

In addition, "People For the American Way" president Michael B. Keegan, who joined Brock in asking Palin to repudiate Beck, said:

"For someone who was so quick to smear Obama for 'palling around with terrorists,' Sarah Palin doesn't seem to take threats of violence too seriously when they're generated by her own pals and allies. Even the last few days have seen disturbing thuggery in states around the country. This shouldn't be a partisan issue. Democrats, Republicans, independents and even tea party members should be able to agree that inciting listeners to violence isn't acceptable. It's profoundly disappointing that someone laying the groundwork to run for president doesn't agree with that."

These are very good and necessary statements.

It's time for people to wake up and recognize the real character of Sarah Palin. This could be the beginning.

+++

PLEASE RE-TWEET:

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Saturday, 23 October 2010

The secret meetings of Koch Industries revealed: Plotting the Republican victory and the corporate domination of America


As a person who writes for a blog which is sometimes accused of promoting the "conspiracy theory" that Sarah Palin is not the biological mother of Trig, it's refreshing for me to see the REAL conspiracies exposed. But these do not concern that birth of a baby in Alaska. These are the plans which are plotted by the rich and powerful, in order to maximize wealth and power. The plans that the general public or Sarah Palin courted "little guy" doesn't usually hear about.

So we are incredibly grateful to "Think Progress" who have obtained and analyzed a document that proves how Koch Industries uses their vast resources in order to ensure the Republican victory in the 2010 elections and secretly "rallies the troops" in business, politics and media. This document makes it blatantly obvious that the "elites" are in fact the ones who are pulling the strings, when at the same time the Republican "stars" like Palin and Beck try to blame the "elites" for the current economic problems - the DEMOCRATIC elites, of course. This is all just a huge scam, and these new revelations are hugely embarrassing for everybody involved.

And the "little guy" is the last thing these people care about.

Other media outlets report this story as well, for example Salon, Huffington Post and The New York Times. However, it's not my impression that this story is real "frontpage news" - which is a mistake, as it's in my opinion one of the biggest scandals we have heard about this year.

It is already known that Koch Industries organize regular meetings in order to influence politics, as Think Progress writes:

"In 2006, Koch Industries owner Charles Koch revealed to the Wall Street Journal’s Stephen Moore that he coordinates the funding of the conservative infrastructure of front groups, political campaigns, think tanks, media outlets and other anti-government efforts through a twice annual meeting of wealthy right-wing donors."

However, the details of these meetings were not public. This has now changed:

"While the Koch brothers — each worth over $21.5 billion — have certainly underwritten much of the right, their hidden coordination with other big business money has gone largely unnoticed.
ThinkProgress has obtained a memo outlining the details of the last Koch gathering held in June of this year. The memo, along with an attendee list of about 210 people, shows the titans of industry — from health insurance companies, oil executives, Wall Street investors, and real estate tycoons — working together with conservative journalists and Republican operatives to plan the 2010 election, as well as ongoing conservative efforts through 2012.
According to the memo, David Chavern, the number two at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Fox News hate-talker Glenn Beck also met with these representatives of the corporate elite. In an election season with the most undisclosed secret corporate giving since the Watergate-era, the memo sheds light on the symbiotic relationship between extremely profitable, multi-billion dollar corporations and much of the conservative infrastructure. The memo describes the prospective corporate donors as “investors,” and it makes clear that many of the Republican operatives managing shadowy, undisclosed fronts running attack ads against Democrats were involved in the Koch’s election-planning event."

I believe in the power of documents, and this memo, which can be downloaded HERE, is incredibly powerful, as it completely exposes the secretive Koch Brothers, their strategies and the network which they have "accumulated."

Right at the beginning of the document, Koch Industries make it clear that they are on a mission, and they are announcing the next meeting to be held in Palm Springs in January 2011:


"If not us, who? If not now, when?"

Memo 1

Memo 2

Conveniently, Koch Industries explain exactly what their "Goals & Missions" are - and don't forget about "confidentiality and security":

"In order to understand issues and develop strategies more effectively, the proceedings of these meetings are confidential. The meetings are closed to the public, including media. Please be mindful of the security and confidentiality of your meeting notes and materials."

Well, dear Koch brothers, I guess that somebody didn't follow your instructions this time.


Memo 3

Then follows the agenda of the previous meeting in Aspen in June 2010, where in a plush environment the strategy for the elections in November was discussed in great detail:


Memo 4

Memo 5


Memo 6


Memo 7



Memo 8



Memo 9



Memo 10



Memo 11


Then follows another fascinating piece of information - Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas were "featured" at previous meetings:

Memo 12

How can this be reconciled with the fact that Scalia and Thomas were also involved in the landmark decision "Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, in which the Supreme Court was holding that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited under the First Amendment?

The list of attendees at the meeting in Aspen in June 2010 is long, and is a clear indication of the immense power which is behind these meetings: Business leaders are secretly meeting with the leaders of "front groups" as well as with journalists, for example from Fox News (Glenn Beck, Nancy Pfotenhauer), the conservative outlets National Review and Weekly Standard and Charles Krauthammer from the Washington Post. I don't believe that any journalist who attends such a secret meeting would be capable of "independent" reporting, and the involvement of Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas in earlier meetings is even worse.


Name(s)

Industry

Notes

Jack and Rose Marie Anderson

Finance

Culver Corp, Rose Marie and Jack R. Anderson Foundation- Financial Advisor

Neil Anderson and Amy Fisher-Smith

Runs Rose Marie and Jack R. Anderson Foundation

Phil and Nancy Anschutz

Investment

Industrialist, Owner, Weekly Standard, Examiner newspapers

Cliff Asness

Investment

AQR Capital Management

Nate and Lynda Bachman

Finance

The Bachman Group-Financial Advisor

Whitney Ball

Think Tank

Owner of a firm that helps corporations give anonymous gifts to front groups

Michael Barone

Media

Fox News

Frank and Kathy Baxter

Banking

Ambassador Frank E. Baxter is Chairman Emeritus of Jefferies and Company, Inc., a global investment bank focusing on mid-cap companies.

Steve and Betty Bechtel

Engineering

Owns the Bechtel Group (Corporation), Largest engineering company in United States

Glenn Beck

Media

Fox News

Bernard and Margaret Blasingame

Manufacturing

President and owner of Aqua Dynamics Systems, Inc

Alan and Lisa Boeckmann

Oil

CEO Fluor Corporation

Boysie Bollinger

Shipping/Commerce

Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Bollinger Shipyards

Patrick and Paula Broe

Real Estate

Founder and CEO of Denver-based real estate asset management firm, The Broe Group

Arthur Brooks

Think Tank

President, American Enterprise Institute

David and Ann Brown

Think Tank

Heritage Foundation

John Bryan

Bob and Martha Buford

Oil

C. Robert Buford has been President and owner of Zenith Drilling Corporation

Tim Busch

Shelby and Nell Bush

Energy

Vice President, Legal and Administration – Hillwood Energy

Tim Carney

Media

Political Columnist, Washington Examiner

Charlies and Marla Chandler

David Chavern

Lobbyist

Executive Vice President and COO at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

John Childs

Insurance

Chairman and CEO of J.W. Childs and Associates

Paul and Lea Clifton

Runs Robert and Marie Hansen Family Foundation

Susie Coelhoe

Media

founder and CEO of Susie Coelho Enterprises Inc.

Bill Cooper and Kristin Tollefson

Finance/Banking

CEO of TCF Financial

Dino and Joan Cortopassi

Joe Craft

Coal

Joseph W. Craft III is president, chief executive officer and director of Alliance Resource Partners LP

Alex Cranberg

Energy

Aspect Holdings, LLC – Chairman

Jeff Crank

Americans For Prosperity / Radio Pundit

AFP State Director

Karl Crow

Policy Analyst

Capital Research Center

Eric Crown and Isabella King

Technology Sales

Sell Technology Equipment

Kevin Crutchfield

Coal

Kevin S. Crutchfield serves as Chief Executive Officer of Alpha Coal Sales Co., LLC.

Ravenell and Beth Curry

Jim and Shirley Dannenbaum

Engineering

Mr. Dannenbaum, Chairman of Dannenbaum Engineering Corporation

Veronique de Rugy

Think Tank

Senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center

Rich and Helen DeVos

Business

Founder and CEO of Amway

Annie Dickerson

Business

CBRE analyst

Ned and Nancy Diefenthal

Jim and Dorothy Patterson

Oil

Gulf Stream Petroleum

Dan and Kellie Peters

Non-for Profit

Daniel S. Peters is president of the Ruth and Lovett Peters Foundation in Cincinnati, Ohio

Tom Petrie

Banking

Co-founder of BofA Merrill Lynch Petrie Divestiture Advisors

Dixon and Carol Doll

Technology

Co-Founder and General Partner of DCM

Karl and Stevie Eller

Advertising

Ron and Kris Erickson

Retail

Ronald A. Erickson is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Holiday Companies

Melvyn and Suellen Estrin

Natural Gas

Director of WGL Holdings INC

Dick Farmer

Peter Farrell

Biomed

Founder of Resmed

Bob Kohlhepp

Manufacturing/Services

Vice Chairman, Cintas Corp.

Charles Krauthammer

Media

Washington Post

Jim and Zibbie Ferrell

Fuel Oil

Ferrellgas Partners, L.P. engages in the distribution and sale of propane and related equipment primarily in the United States.

Dave Fettig

Natural Gas

Tank Craft, Duracraft Fuel energy

Bob Fettig

Natural Gas

Tank Craft, Duracraft Fuel energy

Steve Fettig

Natural Gas

Tank Craft, Duracraft Fuel energy

Jerry and Nanette Finger

Banking

Managing Partner, Finger Interests LTD

Richard Fink

Koch Industries

Director of Georgia-Pacific, EVP of Koch Industries

Budd and Lauri Florkiewicz

Manufacturing

Foam Fabricators

Charlie and Kaye Lynn Fote

Finance

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Fotec Group LLC

Randy and Jean Foutch

Oil

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Laredo Petroleum, Inc.

Foster Friess

Investment

Mr. Foster Stephen Friess is the Founder and Chairman of Friess Associates, LLC

Steve and Polly Friess

Jerry and Leah Fullinwider

Energy/Petroleum

Vice Chairman, Hillwood International Energy, L.P.

Richard and Leslie Gilliam

Coal

Richard Gilliam has been President of Cumberland Resources Corporation since 1993.

Susan Gore

Think Tank

Founder, Wyoming Liberty Group

Oliver and Carolyn Grace Jr.

Med and Telecom

President and chief executive officer of Anderson Group, Inc.,

Judson and Joyce Green

Energy and Med

Mr. Judson C. Green is the President and Chief Executive Officer of NAVTEQ Corp.

Ken and Anne Griffin

Investment Banking

Founder and CEO of Citadel Investment Group

Gretchen Hamel

Fred and Jane Hamilton

Oil

Mr. Frederic C. Hamilton served as the President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of BHP Petroleum, Hamilton Oil Company and various Hamilton Oil Corporation subsidiaries and affiliates

Bob and Mary Sue Hawk

Communications

President of Hawk Communications

Dick and Ethie Haworth

Retail

Head of Haworth Furniture, Multi-national corporation, 3rd largest corporate furniture company in US

Robin and Barbara Hayes

Government

Former NC Congressman

Dan and Carolyn Heard

Manufacturing

Executive Officer of John H. Carter Co.,

Diane Hendricks

Manufacturing

Husband of Ken Hendricks

Steve and Regina Hennessy

Auto Sales

Auto Sales

James and Heather Higgins

Think Tank

Independent Women’s Forum

Paul Hill

Oil

Paul J. Hill serves as the Chief Executive Officer and has been President of Harvard Developments Inc. since 1978. Mr. Hill serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of The Hill Companies.

John and Joan Hotchkis

Education

Board of Directors for Teach for America UC Berkley

Allan and Kathy Hubbard

Chemicals and Manufacturing

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, E & A Industries, Inc.

Stan and Karen Hubbard

Communications

Executive Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc.

Ethelmae Humphreys

Think Tank

Cato Institute

Manley and Mary Johnson

Political Consultant

Merritt Johnson

Gerry and Priscilla O’Shaughnessy

Oil

Gerald Eugene O’Shaughnessy Co-founded Geopark Holding Limited in 2002.

Michael O’Shaunessy

Technology

Petters Consumer Brands, LLC develops consumer electronics and appliances.

Tim O’Shaughnessy

Media

Hungry Machine, Inc., doing business as LivingSocial.com, is a social discovery and cataloging network.

Marshall Johnson

Kyle and Kirsten Johnstone

Mike and Beth Kasser

Real Estate

President, Holualoa Inc

Ken and Randy Kendrick

Education/Technology

Chairman, Datatel

Phil and Joanna Kerpen

Advocacy Group/Think Tank

VP of Policy, Americans for Prosperity

Gerry and Kathryn Kingen

Restauranteur

Red Robin, Happy Guests Int’ll

Scott Kirkpatrick

Investor

Teton Capital

Charles and Liz Koch

Koch Industries

Chase and Annie Koch

Koch Industries

David and Julia Koch

Koch Industries

Elizabeth Koch

Koch Industries

Bob and Cindy Koch

Koch Industries

Bob Kohlhepp

Manufacturing/Services

Vice Chairman, Cintas Corp.

Dennis Kuester

Banking

Retired CEO of M&I Bank

Andrew Kupersmith

Consultant

MD, Cardiology Consultants

Andre Lacy

Investment

Chairman, Lacy Diversified Industries

Ken and Elaine Langone

Retail

Invemed, Home Depot

Jay and Sally Lapeyre

Services

Laitram Corp

Ken and Frayda Levy

Investment

JLM Investment Mgmt

Tom Love

Retail

CEO, President, Love’s Country Stores

Bob Luddy

Manufacturing

President, Captive Aire Systems

Fred and Marlene Malek

Investment Management

Thayer Capital Partners

Elaine Marshall

Homemaker

Pierce Marshall

Administrative Management

MAROPCO

Preston Marshall

Bill Mayer

Health Care

MD, Mayer & Cope Family Practice

Glen and Diane Meakem

Business Solutions

CEO, Freemarkets Inc.

Ed Meese

Think Tank

Heritage Foundation

Lew and Suzy Meibergen

Goods/Services

President, Johnston Enterprises/WG Johnston Grain Co

Don and Deede Meyers

Attorney

Self Employed

Jerry and Caroline Milbank

Investment Management

CEO/Principal, Milbank Winthrop & Co.

Jack and Goldie Miller

Retail

CEO/President, Quill Corp.

Mark Mix

Advocacy Group

President, National Right to Work Committee

Joe and Mary Moeller

Koch Industries

Vice Chairman

Steve Moore

Media

member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board

David Murfin

Energy

President, Murfin Drilling Co.

Walter and Suzette Negley

Mina Nguyen

Larry and Polly Nichols

Energy

Executive Chairman, Devon Energy Corp

Sean Noble

Front Group

Americans for Prosperity

Tim and Teresa Oelke

Advocacy Group/Construction

Teresa – State Director of Americans for Prosperity, Tim – Crossland Construction Corp

Eric O’Keefe

Front Group

Sam Adams Alliance

Kurt and Nancy Pfotenhauer

Media

President of MediaSpeak Strategies/former political commentator on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC and former Senior Policy Advisor and National Spokesperson with the 2008 John McCain presidential campaign

Tim Phillips

Advocacy Group

president, Americans for Prosperity

Ramesh Ponnuru

Media

National Review magazine

Art and Kathy Pope

Goods/Services

Senior Exec, Variety Wholesaler

Russ Roberts

Attorney

Roberts, Ashby & Parrish

Corbin and Barbara Robertson

Energy

President, Quintana Minerals Corp

Richard Roder and Karin Hsu

Construction Management

CEO, Cmt-Construction Management

Gary and Kathleen Rogers

Goods

Former CEO, Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream

Durk Rorie

Manufacturing

United Air Specialists

Chris Rufer

Goods/Manufacturing

Morningstar Company

Peter Schiff and Martha O’Brien

Investor

Schiff: Euro Pacific Capital Inc.,

Steve and Christine Schwarzman

Financial Services

CEO/founder, Blackstone Group

Rick and Sherry Sharp

Retail

Former CEO, Circuit City

Mike and Lin Simmonds

Services

CEO, Simmonds Restaurant Mgmt

Peter Smith

Services

CEO, Service Group of America

Dick Strong

Investment Services

Strong/Corneliuson Capital Mgmt

Michael Sullivan

Investment Services

CR Intrinsic Investors

Ray and Ladeline Thompson

Manufacturing

President/CEO, Semitool

Lynn Tilton

Investment Management

CEO, Patriarch Partners LLC

Dave and Melanie True

Oil

Partner

Steve Twist

Consultant

Rose & Allyn PR Consultants

Jim and Gayla Von Ehr

Research/Development

CEO, Zyvex Corp

Rick and Debra Waller

Manufacturing

Owner, Rollmeister Inc

Peter Wallison

Think Tank

Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

Bill and Sarah Walton

Real Estate

Allied Capital Corp

Lew and Myra Ward

Oil

Ward Petroleum Corporation owns and operates wells. It engages in oil and gas exploration and production. The company was founded in 1963 and is based in Enid, Oklahoma.

Dick Weekley

Real Estate

Weekley Properties

Fred and Susie Wehba

Real Estate

Bentley Forbes Real Estate

Nestor Weigand and Darcy Buehler

Real Estate

JP Weigand & Sons Real Estate

Dick and Mary Beth Weiss

Life Insurance

Wells Fargo, Hawthorne Rances

Howard and Rhonda Wilkins

Insurance

Diversified Insurance

Don and Sue Wills

Oil

Bob Kohlhepp

Manufacturing/Services

Vice Chairman, Cintas Corp.

Bob Kohlhepp

Manufacturing/Services

Vice Chairman, Cintas Corp.

Larry and Lorraine Winnerman

Real Estate

Win Win Enterprises

Joe Woodford

Earl Wright

Finance

AMG Natinal Trust

Karen Wright and Tom Rastin

Energy/Manufacturing

Tom Rastin, vice president of marketing and engineering, Ariel Corp – Karen Wright, Ariel CEO

Cliff and Susan Yonce

Investment Banking

Goldman Sachs

Fred and Sandra Young

Services

Diversified Search, LLC provides senior-level executive and corporate board search services in the United States and internationally. It provides recruitment services for various organizations in consumer and industrial, education, not-for-profit, arts and culture, financial and professional services, business, healthcare and human services, life sciences, media and entertainment, sports and leisure, energy and utilities, private equity, retail, and technology and communications industries.


It's also especially interesting to see that Fred Malek, who is one of the people pulling the strings in the background for Sarah Palin, has attended the event in June 2010.

There are of course many more connections to Sarah Palin: For example, Glenn Beck, Bill Kristol's Weekly Standard and of course Fox News in general are firmly on Sarah Palin's side.

It's fascinating to see the scale of these meetings, which the public never really knew about. The Koch brothers must spend a fortune. But it's certainly worth it: If everything goes according to plan, then the top 3% of the population will make a nice cut, and maybe they can get rid of some of these pesky regulations, so that they can pollute the environment even more (their ambitious goal is to get rid of 90% of all regulations).

The Koch brothers are in fact "political businessmen", as is now more obvious than ever.

And where is the "little guy" in this plan?

He can worship Sarah Palin and watch Glenn Beck and listen to Rush Limbaugh. It's not certain that he will have social security or healthcare, but only evil liberals want these kind of things anyway, not the "real Americans."

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I would like to include again the clip I made about the Koch brothers:



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