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| Fifth Column |
| Everything you need to know about George Soros |
| 2004-02-12 |
| Is it me, or is he the embodiment of everything the left claims to oppose? He’s the literal embodiment of an amoral business type who uses his cash to influence the politics of nations he doesn’t like. .com had a really great bit on him when Shevardnadze fell. IN many James Bond films, 007 must battle some megalomaniac tycoon who plots to dominate the world by toppling governments and triggering wars. It’s always some nasty Right-winger, of course. In Tomorrow Never Dies, for instance, the filmmakers thought it would be a hoot to cast my boss, Rupert Murdoch, in the black hat. How the Leftists who dominate Hollywood must have sniggered at the slur. How odd, then, to find those same Hollywood liberals this week cosying up to the very billionaire who most resembles that Bond villain – currency speculator George Soros, fresh from toppling his latest president, this time in Georgia. And how predictable – to those with an eye for history – to find that Soros is no Right-winger, but a preacher of the New Age Left. You may remember Soros as the American financier who, in 1992, bet $20 billion that the British pound would fall, and made a $1.5 billion profit in one day. Or you may remember how he made another fortune when Asia’s financial markets crashed in 1997 – a disaster that Malaysia’s then leader, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, accused Soros of having caused for cash. Some Australians have a sweeter reason to remember Soros. Top drug experts such as Melbourne’s Dr Nick Crofts and Sydney’s Dr Alex Wodak have received grants from his Lindesmith Foundation, which aggressively promotes their brand of "harm minimisation". Soros’s Open Society Institute also organised a petition to the United Nations demanding an end to the "war on drugs", and had it signed here by Victorian Treasurer John Brumby, drug adviser Professor David Penington, High Court judge Michael Kirby and a gabble of our politicians. OF course, Australia is only one of 50 countries in which Soros works. And his meddling here is nothing given what he’s just done in Georgia. Georgia has long been led by President Eduard Shevardnadze, the former Soviet Union’s foreign minister under Mikhail Gorbachev. Soros, who spends $1 billion a year to promote his vision of the "Open Society", was a Shevardnadze supporter, but fell out with him, calling him a crook. He then backed Georgia’s former justice minister, Mikhail Saakashvili, and spent some $4 million on a protest movement against the president. His organisations brought in experts in "non-violent revolution" from Serbia, gave $700,000 to an activist group that bussed in protesters, and financed an anti-government TV station and newspaper. It worked. Last month, protesters smashed into Georgia’s parliament, yelling – probably correctly – that Shevardnadze had stolen the elections a month ago and must quit. Shevardnadze fled, and Saakashvili looks set for leadership. True, this may turn out to be a victory for democracy. But it also looks like a victory for a foreign tycoon and his sponsored mates. Indeed, the editor-in-chief of the Georgian Messenger newspaper this week said: "It’s generally accepted public opinion here that Mr Soros is the person who planned the Shevardnadze overthrow." Shevardnadze says he’s certain of it. NOR is this the first time Soros undermined a foreign government. From 1991, he spent up to $100 million on activists campaigning against the president of Serbian-dominated Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic. He was also a huge donor to Human Rights Watch, and with six of his associates sat on its advisory committee on Europe. In the early 1990s, the Kosovo Liberation Army began killing officials in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo. Its tactic was brutally simple: to provoke Serbian troops into retaliating so violently that the horrified West would intervene to give Kosovo independence. It worked – not least because the HRW condemned Serbia’s reprisals so noisily that it boasted it had helped to inspire NATO’s bombing of Serbia. After NATO’s "victory", Soros gave money to the United Nations’ new International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and paid for training for its judges and prosecutor. He also paid two American law faculties to help the prosecutor find evidence against Serbia’s suspected war criminals – and Milosevic. Yes, Milosevic is repulsive. But is it healthy for a billionaire like Soros to be so involved in triggering a war, creating a court and then helping to prosecute in it the leaders of the regime he’s worked so hard to topple? Who elected him? Who holds him accountable? And now, of course, we’ve signed up to the International Criminal Court that Soros spent millions lobbying for – a court which, under its rules, must consult groups of the kind Soros himself funds. So far, you may argue, Soros has acted against only thugs and tyrants. But now he’s moving against the leader of the world’s greatest democracy, US President George W. Bush. Last month, Soros declared that "America, under Bush, is a danger to the world", and defeating the president was now "the central focus of my life". He said he would give $13 million – the largest individual political donation in US history – to America Coming Together, a far-Left group of pro-Democrat activists, and up to $4 million for a Left-wing think tank. Another $6 million would go to the radical MoveOn.org protest group. "I’ve come to the conclusion that one can do a lot more about the issues I care about by changing the Government than by pushing the issues," Soros said. Soros could say that without fussing many journalists because which of them fears the Left? Imagine the uproar if Rupert Murdoch had said it instead. Still, I can understand why Soros isn’t content with simply "pushing the issues", given what happened when one of his companies in 1986 bought Spectrum 7, an oil outfit owned by George Bush, whose father was the then US Vice-President. "We were buying political influence," Soros said bluntly. Sadly, the Bushes didn’t play ball with that bit of issue pushing, and "it didn’t come to anything". But this new tack already seems to be buying results. Just this week, the wife of Larry David, creator of Seinfeld, invited Hollywood’s elite to a "Hate Bush" event for the Soros-sponsored Americans Coming Together (and never mind that mixed message). And here we see the newest threats to democratic government in this globalised world – of celebrity activists, unaccountable "rights" groups and messianic tycoons from Soros to Ted Turner, all so terribly sure of their virtue. Mix them up and who knows what the explosion will do. It could destroy a tyranny, or distort a democracy. There’s no predicting which, because the targets are as idiosyncratic as the whims of George Soros, a man with far more dollars than sense, and fewer restraints than either. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #51 LOL, Rodney. |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2004-2-12 1:37:21 PM |
| #50 NMM? You forgot your medication again. |
| Posted by: Korora 2004-2-12 1:14:02 PM |
| #49 Well this just proves my earlier point that NMM doesn't read any of the posts on rantburg anymore, or for that matter the news I think. He's reduced to flying spittle. |
| Posted by: Valentine 2004-2-12 1:08:27 PM |
| #48 I think we should watch him carefully, and catch him donating to a political party. After that, ban him from the United States, from any dealings in the United States, and from owning any resources or property in the United States. This is where the majority of intellectual property originates, and intellectual property is the cash cow of the future. If he's unable to get in on the ground floor on intellectual property, his fortune will gradually drain away. We also need to watch surrogates, and stomp on them as hard and as fast as we find them. George Soros is an intellectual pimple with an ego of Mount Pinatubo. With enough careful prodding, he'll explode. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-2-12 12:58:43 PM |
| #47 he only needs to be wrong once to lose his shirt. While I wouldn't underestimate him, I still think his arrogance is a good way to bring him down. The Administration should set him up with a few inside deals and the promise of his billions to those who screw him. |
| Posted by: B 2004-2-12 11:00:44 AM |
| #46 I'd almost be willing to bet that Soros is going to try to hasten the decline of the dollar for his own gain and to try to hurt GWB. He was on Maria Bartiromo's show the other day talking about how Japan and China own so much US debt and how the fact that China's currency is tied to the value of the US dollar will put a lot of pressure on China, etc., to sell (or no longer buy) US treasuries. He is probably shorting the US$ in hopes of moving the $ further downwards. |
| Posted by: Tibor 2004-2-12 10:49:31 AM |
| #45 Wow, I must have missed some really bad news for the Demos. Bush's Guard records and letters from people who knew him while he served were published yesterday. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-2-12 10:43:36 AM |
| #44 sometimes he is a good verbal pinata Well, impersonating a pinata is a felony in California... trust me I know. |
| Posted by: The Motorist Rodney King 2004-2-12 10:27:32 AM |
| #43 #28 German plutocrats were quite at ease with Adolph Hitler. |
| Posted by: Tancred 2004-2-12 10:07:46 AM |
| #42 If Soros had a cat we could call him Ernst Blofeld. The thing that concerns me is he is so open about his plans and he isn't even a citizen (other than of the world I suppose). Is it hyperbole or does he really think he has the kind of pull it would take to sink a 2 Trillion + economy? As far as NMM. Sometimes he has a point, sometimes he can be the genesis of a good debate, sometimes he is a good verbal pinata. Today ain't it. Sad actually. |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2004-2-12 9:17:17 AM |
| #41 Just to clarify (though I doubt that it's necessary), I don't work for Rupert Murdoch. |
| Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-2-12 9:05:32 AM |
| #40 Tokyo, I'm not so sure it's accurate to call Soros' activities in central Europe and elsewhere "non violent". More accurately, he foments violence through 3rd parties. He also plays the currency & other markets and, given his history of shorting currencies, does best when there is chaos in the world. So he gets to have it both ways: he creates chaos to profit from, but isn't held accountable in any way for what he does. |
| Posted by: anon 2004-2-12 9:01:41 AM |
| #39 Wow, I must have missed some really bad news for the Demos. NMM is even less coherent than usual! What happened NMM? Your momma not let you rub your little chubby on her last night? Fucking waste of human flesh. FOAD |
| Posted by: AllahHateMe 2004-2-12 8:48:00 AM |
| #38 sigh..I'm just sitting here...clicking the refresh button ...hoping someone will give me a quote. It's starting to ruin my day. By the way, GK - I think the way to bring Soros down would be to capitalize on his arrogance and sense of invincibility. While I'm not sure how to do that in his case, that's what always brings his type down. |
| Posted by: B 2004-2-12 8:05:25 AM |
| #37 Hey, NMM, I have a $20 bet on the line which should be a slam dunk for a real smart guy like you. $20 ...for Fred's tip jar. |
| Posted by: B 2004-2-12 7:52:14 AM |
| #36 Good heavens our ex-house troll seems to be imploding. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-2-12 7:46:34 AM |
| #35 Ignore Mike Moore. Before NMM hijacked this discussion, the issue of George Soros hijacking elections was on the table. Andrew Bolt's (not Dan Darling's) Herald Sun column concluded that that Soros, or Soreass, is an unpredictable man with far more dollars than sense, and fewer restraints than either. Obviously his money can have an impact on the 2004 elections. Question is how to counteract his maniacal influence. |
| Posted by: GK 2004-2-12 7:41:19 AM |
| #34 Oh, and by the way dumbass--you didn't address the issue of you working for that Australian Scumbag Um, NMM you idiot, that's not an issue. That's an ad hominem attack, irrelevent to the issue presented. Not that I expect you to be able to tell the difference; you appear to be as bright as a burnt out bulb. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-2-12 7:05:23 AM |
| #33 NMM is not good debate training. You could find better Lefty debaters pretty easily. I don't consider myself to be a very good right-wing hawk debater. But some people are just incoherent. I sometimes get frustrated with the quality on my own side of the debate, although Rantburgers are generally top-notch. |
| Posted by: Tokyo Taro 2004-2-12 5:42:34 AM |
| #32 djohn66: Perhaps its like training, dealing with someone like NMM is a great way to cut one's teeth on liberal "arguments" Besides, encouraging him to post just displays badly on NMM and his side of the "argument." I have ot use quotes when referring to NMM's arguments because as you have noted, there ain't none. Its just childish name calling. Which helps his opposition to no end. |
| Posted by: Ben 2004-2-12 4:58:57 AM |
| #31 NMM is a F*cking Idiot,will always be a F*cking Idiot.I don't know why you guys argue with the F*cking Idiot. p.s sorry for the swearing |
| Posted by: djohn66 2004-2-12 4:36:45 AM |
| #30 The Economist has a review of his new book, "The Bubble of American Supremacy: Correcting the Misuse of American Power By George Soros" A two word review "get real" |
| Posted by: tipper 2004-2-12 3:48:55 AM |
| #29 It seems that NMM mistook the author's (Bolt's) disclosure about working for Murdoch to mean that the poster, Dan Darling, works for News Corp. Unless Dan does too. Am I missing something or is NMM being a fool? But NMM has a point. I hate Soros too, but there is something deeply hypocritical about a News Corp. employee decrying the undue political influence of a billionaire. His little disclosure doesn't change that fact. Furthermore, Soros's influence in the Balkans and the Caucus, appears to be generally positive! Aiding pro-Democracy movements in Eastern Europe strikes me as a good deed, even if the history of high-stakes influence peddling is unsavory. Helping anti-Milosevic movements is hardly nefarious and the article becomes totally muddled by complaining about all of these deeds, while simultaneously conceding that Milosevic and Scheverdnadze probably needed to be deposed. The author sounds like one of those anti-War types admitting that "yes, Saddam was a monster, but..." Soros's unforgivable blind spot is the Middle East (and also a lefty weakness for favoring transnational institutions). Apparently, he doesn't care about promoting his "Open Society" in lands where Islamic extremism and Arab nationalism reign supreme. I read his recent essay in the Atlantic Monthly which is a synopsis of his forthcoming book, "The Bubble of American Supremacy." I wanted to post the article here for fisking but it was like 10 pages and every sentence so full of &*%t that I couldn't even bother to ridicule it. Psycho-analyzing Soros is tempting. I don't buy that "self-hating" stuff. He could be going senile as a result of age and the isolation from everyday life that all billionaires no doubt experience may have destroyed his common sense. He's still living in Sept. 10th world where Kofi Annan could have saved us from al-Qaida and negotiated a fair deal with the Taliban. I suspect that he suffers from "Liberation Envy." With a billionaire's inflated ego, he probably believes that it is he himself alone who has saved and spread Democracy in Eastern Europe. He believes that his non-violent model is the only model and is ideologically blinded to the role of war in establishing tyranny and fighting tyranny, be it in his native Hungary or Serbia or Iraq. |
| Posted by: Tokyo Taro 2004-2-12 3:38:50 AM |
| #28 A little Googling gave me me this link - 'Among very wealthy donors, Democrats reigned supreme. Contributors of $1 million or more gave 92 percent of their money to Democrats, and 8 percent to the GOP.' |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-2-12 3:11:15 AM |
| #27 I think the world really needs a nefarious, sinister, conspiratorial, manipulative, preternaturally intelligent billionaire. I volunteer, but someone will have to donate the billion. What are Sam Walton's heirs up to these days? |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-2-12 2:57:51 AM |
| #26 You sure are .com--nothing to contribute but personal animosity--you must have a very sad life |
| Posted by: NotMike Moore 2004-2-12 2:51:07 AM |
| #25 What a waste of time. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-2-12 2:48:06 AM |
| #24 .com--as usual you're personal attacks are pathetic and childish--for once in your sorry ass posts address an argument or contribute something |
| Posted by: NotMike Moore 2004-2-12 2:38:40 AM |
| #23 And I bet he saved more in taxes under the GOP tax cut than we both paid last year--tax cut for the rich....it's a GOP thang |
| Posted by: NotMike Moore 2004-2-12 2:36:04 AM |
| #22 Dean's finished. Weasley's finished. Surprise! NMM's on a bender. Inability to focus, irrelevance, trite spew repetition, and vile personal attacks are the hallmarks of his posts. The topic is Soros. He has pledged to "do everything in my power to make certain George W Bush is not re-elected." That suffices, in my book, as worthy of serious attention. Yet here we are wading through NMM's regurgitated bile in the form of personal attacks on DD, who is one hell of a contributor and highly valued here. Fuck this noise. NMM. Sigh. You're an overgrown child with no socially or intellectually redeeming values, not to mention your obvious lack of proper toilet training. Look, you've shit all over yourself, again. Fred - NMM's personal attacks and pointless posts have become a distraction and have no value. I request that you log and ban his gutless ass. Henceforth and for-fucking-ever. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-2-12 2:35:21 AM |
| #21 As a citizenship of convenience that Newtie passed a special law for--that old ass is too busy fucking his 32 yo wife and laughing at morons that support his billionaire lifestyle |
| Posted by: NotMike Moore 2004-2-12 2:34:26 AM |
| #20 phil_b, political donations by income is not exactly a good way of analysing the trend, while you may be correct, it is an oversimplification, you will also find that people on higher incomes will use other vehicles to make donations (such as companies, trusts etc) |
| Posted by: Igs 2004-2-12 2:33:47 AM |
| #19 but those with complete brains call it Fox..... |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-2-12 2:33:08 AM |
| #18 Woo-hoo I knew you'd get on the Jews sooner or later--since they overwhelmingly support the Democrats |
| Posted by: NotMike Moore 2004-2-12 2:32:17 AM |
| #17 NMM, as I recall, Murdoch has taken out US citizenship phil_b re 'is just a variant on the Left's 'If you disagree with us then you must be stupid'' yes, it is an argument often used by the left, it is also an argument often used by the right |
| Posted by: Igs 2004-2-12 2:30:55 AM |
| #16 I do! I like reality TV in general. I also read books on all manner of subjects and I happen to be a published author. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-2-12 2:30:08 AM |
| #15 Tony(UK): Soros is a self-hating capitalist in the same way he's a self-hating Jew. |
| Posted by: someone 2004-2-12 2:29:32 AM |
| #14 PS Phil--for anyone with half a fucking brain it's called Faux News |
| Posted by: NotMike Moore 2004-2-12 2:26:41 AM |
| #13 I don't get how a billionaire can be left wing. Its the Left dirty secret. Rich people are disproportionately Left wing. Especially those who didn't earn their money. Check out political donations by income data for the USA and Australia. Whereas working middle class people are disproportionately Right wing. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-2-12 2:26:10 AM |
| #12 As if phil_b you prolly like the Springer Show even more |
| Posted by: NotMike Moore 2004-2-12 2:25:22 AM |
| #11 Andrew Bolt is arguably the best political columnist in Australia. I like his columns a lot. As for Murdoch 'dumbing down' the US, this is just a variant on the Left's 'If you disagree with us then you must be stupid' psuedo-argument that is extremely tiresome. I'm a bona fide intellectual, and I quite like Fox news. Much better than the excruciating CNN. The BBC excepting its often excellent documentaries, is not much better. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-2-12 2:21:03 AM |
| #10 LMAO, NMM is very uppity tonight! |
| Posted by: Damn_Proud_American 2004-2-12 2:20:18 AM |
| #9 Ho ho!, NMM and DD off to a flying start. As for Soros, I don't get how a billionaire can be left wing. I mean, he makes a load of money, he invests that money, he sees that money create jobs and wealth - with all that leads to such as Science and culture. This is how capitalism works its magic. Therefore I can't see how this fits in with a leftist 'equality in outcome'. 'the state is your friend', 'root causes', 'kumbaya' mindset. I have to go to work now, but I'll check back in later to see how it's all panning out. |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2004-2-12 2:19:21 AM |
| #8 up 51% on what--what's your source moron? |
| Posted by: NotMike Moore 2004-2-12 2:18:04 AM |
| #7 He sleeps very well, wasn't profit up 51%? |
| Posted by: Anonymous2U 2004-2-12 2:15:51 AM |
| #6 I would suggest you register your sorry ass as a foreign agent but oops--forgot that Gingrich got him US citizenship and also allowed him to expand his network |
| Posted by: NotMike Moore 2004-2-12 2:13:09 AM |
| #5 Oh, and by the way dumbass--you didn't address the issue of you working for that Australian Scumbag |
| Posted by: NotMike Moore 2004-2-12 2:11:24 AM |
| #4 If you are truly a college student then your ignorance is truly appalling--I would have bet you were a 50 year old angry white male LOL You admitted to being a Freeper--the people who totally fuck up internet polls and pull childish pranks |
| Posted by: NotMike Moore 2004-2-12 2:09:44 AM |
| #3 NMM, if I'm writing for a paper like the Herald Sun, believe me when I said that I'd be making quite a bit more than I do now as a college student. I'm still trying to figure out what my being a FReeper has anything to do with what it is that I post. It's not like I'm plugging FR at every opportunity and my views are on a number of issues, in actuality, a lot similar to those of liberalhawk than some of the other folks around here. But by all means, believe as you will ... |
| Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-2-12 2:02:16 AM |
| #2 Dan Darling as usual has his head up his Freeper ass--complaining about a billionaire tycoon when he's admitted he works for Rupert Murdoch--the foreigner from Australia who has done more to "dumb down" political discourse and television in general in the USA than anyone in history is just beyond any rational being to countenance! I really wonder how asshats like that sleep at night |
| Posted by: NotMike Moore 2004-2-12 1:58:09 AM |
| #1 I always want to know what kind of car a guy like Soros drives. Not what he is driven in, what he drives. I'd like to see what the celebrities drove to the "hate Bush" thing. What a farce. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-2-12 1:54:33 AM |