Citing Investor's Business Daily, Hannity repeated Soros funding falsehoods
SUMMARY: On Hannity's America, Sean Hannity asserted: "The left-wing group Media Matters denies that Soros gives them any funding, but IBD [Investor's Business Daily] suspects they may be getting his money indirectly through third parties." As Media Matters has repeatedly and exhaustively demonstrated, philanthropist George Soros has never given money to Media Matters, either directly or through another organization.
On the September 30 edition of Fox News' Hannity's America, during a segment on the purported "money man behind" MoveOn.org, host Sean Hannity asserted: "Billionaire George Soros considers himself a philanthropist and his Open Society Institute gives money to causes around the world. But some of his vast fortune is also used to finance radical groups like MoveOn.org and others." Hannity went on to refer to the Democracy Alliance -- a progressive organization described by The Washington Post as a "cooperative for donors, allowing them to coordinate their giving so that it has more influence" -- as "elite and highly secretive." Hannity continued: "And talk about secretive: The left-wing group Media Matters denies that Soros gives them any funding, but IBD [Investor's Business Daily] suspects they may be getting his money indirectly through third parties." Hannity then aired a clip in which IBD contributor Monica Showalter said of Media Matters: "One thing we do know is they haven't opened their books, and nobody knows how accurate or not it is. I think if I were Soros, I would be very embarrassed to say I gave anything to Media Matters." In fact, as Media Matters has repeatedly and exhaustively demonstrated, Soros has never given money to Media Matters, either directly or through another organization, including the Democracy Alliance.
As Media Matters documented, a September 20 Investor's Business Daily editorial, reprinted on CNNMoney.com, falsely claimed that Soros "has financed spin outfits such as Media Matters that specialize in providing distorted conservative political statements as grist for leftist politicians and media."
From the September 30 edition of Fox News' Hannity's America:
HANNITY: Welcome to Hannity's America. Thank you for being with us. I am Sean Hannity. Now, last week in Washington, the House joined the Senate in condemning the offensive MoveOn.org ad that slandered the American commander in Iraq. But there were some Democrats who choose not to denounce the unfair attack on General [David] Petraeus. We decided to find out why they are afraid of the group MoveOn.org.
[begin video clip]
HANNITY: This controversial ad bashing the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq was just plain wrong. But it did prove one thing: that Democrats on the Hill are definitely afraid of MoveOn.org. The liberal group has launched smear campaigns before, but when they went after General Petraeus, almost every single Democrat clammed up.
So what are they afraid of? Maybe it's the money man behind MoveOn. Billionaire George Soros considers himself a philanthropist, and his Open Society Institute gives money to causes around the world. But some of his vast fortune is also used to finance radical groups like MoveOn.org and others.
Investor's Business Daily recently published a series of editorials about just where the smear financer's money is going.
SHOWALTER: He gives away $400 million -- about 417 was this year. It's always in that neighborhood. About 74 or 75 million of that goes into U.S. programs. Among those, there are what appear to be legitimate charities. For instance, he funds after-school programs in New York City. But quite a few are groups that are said to be civil society that are, in fact, political pressure groups.
HANNITY: In fact, left-wing group MoveOn.org became a lot bolder once Soros put in his two cents, or should I say $2 million?
SHOWALTER: They themselves have told us, "Yes, it was only 2.5 million." But that's what built them from a very fringe organization into a group that claims membership of 3 million members.
HANNITY: George Soros says he's all for democracy and is an advocate of, quote, "open societies," but some of the organizations that he gives money to aren't always fair or forthcoming, like the elite and highly secretive Democracy Alliance.
SHOWALTER: A group of Democrats who were very frustrated by John Kerry's loss, and they wanted to come up with a new kind of way of funding it -- funding the means of creating, say, a Democratic victory in future elections. The admission fee was something like $200,000. So it's very secretive, and if you go to their website, it's very bare bones. It just names a few projects that they fund. But this group is well worth watching because you don't know who they're funding until after they're funding it.
HANNITY: And talk about secretive: The left-wing group Media Matters denies that Soros gives them any funding, but IBD suspects they may be getting his money indirectly through third parties.
SHOWALTER: One thing we do know is they haven't opened their books, and nobody knows how accurate or not it is. I think if I were Soros, I would be very embarrassed to say I gave anything to Media Matters. Their whole premise is to say that the media is right wing, which is very hard to understand. Why would they say that? And they do that -- you can consider it right wing if your center of gravity is very far left.
HANNITY: So money is driving the issues, and the public doesn't know about it until it's too late. That's democracy?
Investor's Business Daily has also found out that some of Soros' money has gone toward issues that could actually help terrorists.
SHOWALTER: Soros has funded left-wing lawyers who've taken up cases, for instance the Guantánamo military tribunals. Apparently, they won that case. And Soros funded the Georgetown group that took the side of the detainees. And the way they justified it was that, "Well, this increases civil liberties." But in reality, that's highly arguable. You don't know to what extent -- it increases civil liberties for terrorists, but it does not increase civil liberties for Americans.
HANNITY: So let's see: A powerful man with billions of dollars who promotes ultra-left-wing causes, who would even protect terrorists if it would help his cause is the financial backer of MoveOn.org.
SHOWALTER: I think the fact that the Democrats did not want to cross with MoveOn was probably a sign that they don't consider MoveOn just a fringe activist group, they consider it somebody that has very strong ties. And I think this functions to suppress thought, to suppress independent thought. They don't want to upset the guy who may well fund their presidential campaign, who may be critical towards them at a critical moment. So, the intimidation factor based on the money and the fact that politicians need money is where you have to raise questions.
HANNITY: Last year, Soros appeared right here on the Fox News Channel with my friend Neil Cavuto, who hammered him about his ties to left-wing groups and a radical agenda for America.
SOROS: I really became engaged in domestic politics in 2004 because I felt that the single most important thing I could do to make the world a better place is to help get President Bush out of the White House.
HANNITY: At the end of the day, George Soros might be the most powerful man in left-wing politics. Hand in hand with MoveOn.org, they have pushed their radical agenda and launched vicious attacks. He's a man with the checkbook. He's the man behind the curtain. He's the smear financier.
[end video clip]
HANNITY: And many thanks to Investor's Business Daily for contributing to that report.
Which again misses the point: Even if Soros did fund MMfA, who cares?
-except for the fact that MMfA would've lied about it.
I'm with you. Did I miss something? Is there some reason Media Matters would want to HIDE funding from Soros?
None whatsoever. Soros' money is as good as anybody's.
Frankly, I'll be MMFA wishes he would throw them a few grand every now and then.
It's nothing to hide, and nothing to be ashamed of. What the wingnuts are trying to do is make it one or the other, or both.
Not sure why, to be honest. Soros is a bootstraps/self-made-millionaire-type. He's rich, white, and financially successful. He's the GOP's wet dream.
I guess they just hate him because all that money funds progressive causes, not the Right Wing smear du jour.
They're jealous, really.
I think a lot of it is they're trying to do a character attack so they have a boogeyman-of-the-left who is assumed to be so evil that all you have to do is mention his name and an outfit is tainted.
It's like Richard Mellon Scaife--all you have to do is say he's involved in something and for the left that's proof positive that source has no credibility whatsoever.
Key difference: Scaife is known to have funded lying, far-fetched conspiracies in The Arkansas Project and think tanks that are notorious for twisting data and coming to absurd ideology-based conclusions (which are more like presuppositions). I've looked at everything nonpartisan I can get my hands on and I STILL can't figure out what's wrong with George Soros??? Could someone please enlighten me??
Just amazing that even though MMFA claims Soros does not give them money , it is repeated. And why MMFA gets upset about it is beyond me. I think Soros is a good man. Yet MMFA seems to treat him like a outcast.
MMFA is simply doing what they state they do: report media misinformation. This is misinformation. I fail to see how MMFA is "treating" Soros like anything, and to not report the misinformation because of a so-called connection to the site would be odd to me.
Sures, if Soros had his hand in MMFA, only Fox and the 20%ers really care. Isn't there more pressing news, like Romney’s ties to Venezuela and Iran? Fox is the most non-reporting "news" source ever.
I have seen Paul Waldman say in an interview (forget exactly where) that they would be happy if George Soros gave them money, but it just happens to be the case that he hasn't.
Concern-troll much?
It's amusing that your interpretation of MMFA's reporting on this topic paints Soros as an "outcast."
The point here is that the Right is lying about a relationship between Soros and MMFA.
LY...
ING.
I don't get any kind of impression one way or the other of how MMFA feels about George Soros himself.
Unless you can make some kind of cogent argument as to how you reached this rather ambiguous conclusion of yours...I'll be over here...holding my breath.
No they dont. You miss the point. MMFA EXISTS to point out conservative media misinformation. Saying Soros funds MMFA is not true thus misinformation by definition.
HANNITY: In fact, left-wing group MoveOn.org became a lot bolder once Soros put in his two cents, or should I say $2 million?
SHOWALTER: They themselves have told us, "Yes, it was only 2.5 million." But that's what built them from a very fringe organization into a group that claims membership of 3 million members.
HANNITY: George Soros says he's all for democracy and is an advocate of, quote, "open societies," but some of the organizations that he gives money to aren't always fair or forthcoming, like the elite and highly secretive Democracy Alliance.
SHOWALTER: A group of Democrats who were very frustrated by John Kerry's loss, and they wanted to come up with a new kind of way of funding it -- funding the means of creating, say, a Democratic victory in future elections. The admission fee was something like $200,000. So it's very secretive, and if you go to their website, it's very bare bones. It just names a few projects that they fund. But this group is well worth watching because you don't know who they're funding until after they're funding it.
HANNITY: And talk about secretive: The left-wing group Media Matters denies that Soros gives them any funding, but IBD suspects they may be getting his money indirectly through third parties.
Where is the misinformation? MoveOn acknowledged receiving $2.5M from Soros. Is that a lie because of who said it?
Visit www.democracyalliance.org, is the characterization of that site not accurate? There is little detail, and only the BoD and staff are listed.
MMFA denies any Soros funding but IBD "suspects" otherwise? Is that a falsehood because you don't believe people have the right to be suspicious?
Through repetition, rightwing misinformation metamorphoses thus: suspicion>allegation>accepted (erroneously) as fact. This is especially true on talk radio or Foxoganda, where the appeal is to emotion rather than reason. Why does the right make such constant use of ad hominem attacks? Because if they make their opponent the other, they have prejudiced the listener against him/her, and it is unlikely that his/her argument will get a rational hearing.
Wouldn't shock me in the least if MMFA received money from Soros.
But I also wouldn't care.
Soros is not some evil terrorist...is he? ;-)
Why, haven't you heard? He was a nazi colloborator, for cryin' out loud! He personally poured the zyklon b into the shower vents and rummaged through the luggage of the dead to amass the fortune he has. He even attends amerinazi events!
Which is why I don't understand the right on this, unless they are mad that one of their own is giving money to the enemy?
...unless they are mad that one of their own is giving money to the enemy?
Personally, I think that's precisely it.
Just my opinion.
I wonder at what point does litigation beccome come a viable option. Maybe a class action suit against Sean Hannity/Fox by all the various people and groups he's slandered over the years. And then one against Clear Channel, abc radio, Limbaugh, all the traitors.
I think you have to prove damages, which would really just rail home the point that it doesn't matter, reputation-wise, if Soros is affiliated or not.
In Right Wing World, if a lie is told enough times it becomes true.
The worst part about all this, it's only a distraction from the fact that many right-wing groups receive lots of $$$ from Richard Mellon Scaife, so by creating this "Soros is funding (fill in the blank,)" they divert away from the fact that Scaife has funded, and is still funding, some of the scummiest right-wing groups out there.
"In Right Wing World, if a lie is told enough times it becomes true"
Nope, not even in the right-wing world. If a lie is told enough it becomes BELIEVED. It NEVER becomes the truth.
I think his point is that rightwingers BELIEVE if they tell a lie often enough it becomes true
Hey Sean, when are you going to tell us about this:
"Freedom’s Watch, a deep-pocketed conservative group led by two former senior White House officials, made an audacious debut in late August when it began a $15 million advertising campaign designed to maintain Congressional support for President Bush’s troop increase in Iraq.
Founded this summer by a dozen wealthy conservatives, the nonprofit group is set apart from most advocacy groups by the immense wealth of its core group of benefactors, its intention to far outspend its rivals and its ambition to pursue a wide-ranging agenda. Its next target: Iran policy."
[link to www.nytimes.com]
Yet if the started a website called Media Matters Sucks, Meda Matters Sucks could claim they didn't get a nickle from any of the 12 wealthy convervative "philathropists".
Get how it works now?
Soros gave $2.5 million to MoveOn and Freedom's Watch spent $15 million on an ad campaign lobbying Congress to maintain support for the Iraq surge.
Seems about even doesn't it?
It's such a clever attack, Fox sets up Soros as a straw/boogie man, and then lies about his connections to other organizations. No one wants to sue them about it, because they'd have to show that association with Soros harms them in some way, but there's nothing wrong with Soros, he does good and important work. And the reverse is also true; Soros doesn't care if he is associated with MMFA, even though it isn't true, because MMFA is a good organization. Where's the harm?
But for the intended audience, which really doesn't care about the truth of things, that just wants to be enraged, they'll eat this stuff up.
If Soros gives money to middlemen "Non-profit organizations" and those companies then are directed to give money to MMFA -- George Soros is giving money to MMFA through Agents.
The "So What?" is that Soros thinks "the greatest way he can help the world" is to remove Republicans from Office.
Allow me to use some intellectual dishonesty and quote MMFA's movie, "The Myth of the Liberal Media."
"If you want to know about the media's bias, you need to look at its institutions." - Noam Chomsky. Well, MMFA is funded and institutionalized by liberal hacks.
"The "So What?" is that Soros thinks "the greatest way he can help the world" is to remove Republicans from Office."
So what?
"The "So What?" is that Soros thinks "the greatest way he can help the world" is to remove Republicans from Office."
Didn't American voters think the exact same thing in 2006 and are likely to vote Republicans out of office again in 2008?
I don't understand your problem with some one supporting the right wing or progressives as long as they're up front about it and base their arguments on facts rather than propaganda.
Copious, I heard from a credible source (Paris Business Review) that you receive funding from the Prince of Darkness. Care to refute that if you dare?
Allow me to use some intellectual dishonesty...
Uh, you've been doing that ever since you showed up here. Why ask for permission now?
ZING!
So where is the proof that Soros told anyone to give money to MMFA? And why exactly would he be hiding donations from MMFA? I'm pretty sure if he called and offered donations they would accept.
The intellectual dishonesty is YOURS and it is copious. Unless you can cough up some evidence that Soros DIRECTED them to give money to MMFA then you basically have no point. Got evidence? No? Imagine my suprise. You do know how absolutly WORTHLESS your posts are dont you?
CD, when you begin your entire premise with the word "if", you realize you don't have a very solid foundation, don't you?
(probably not)
I don't about MMFA but George Soros pays me to post here...got a pool table from him for Christmas, too. Anybody else...?
Oh, BTW...Sean Hannity is a lying sack of you know what.
SHOWALTER: ... I think if I were Soros, I would be very embarrassed to say I gave anything to Media Matters. Their whole premise is to say that the media is right wing, which is very hard to understand. Why would they say that?
I don't think he has a concept of the word "embarrassment", and don't they have monitors in that studio?
HANNITY: So let's see: A powerful man with billions of dollars who promotes ultra-left-wing causes, who would even protect terrorists if it would help his cause is the financial backer of MoveOn.org.
Or?
HANNITY: So let's see: A powerful man with billions of dollars who promotes ultra-right-wing causes, who would even protect murderous dictators if it would help his cause is the financial backer of FoxNews.Soros is out to destroy the America we have. He is a Socialist and supports left wing groups, either directly or indirectly!
Hey I know how copiousd can really get to the bottom of the "Who's funding Who" question. He should give BillDO a call and ask if he can use his crack investigative team to get to the truth. Shouldn't be hard for the BillDO team to either prove it one way or the other. ;-)
Don't listen to Sean. He's a complete idiot. Fox News has declared war on Media Matters. Well let the games begin with this little gem.
Hey Media Matters:
Did you know that the president of News Corporation is José María Aznar, former president of Spain?
That’s not all folks, he has connections with the Bush Administration and the War in Iraq.
Check out the links and put two and two together.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030222-2.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN3024506620070930
I will provide further News Corporation/Fox News dirt.
Not to worry! Only someone who has no moral rudder would embellish a story like that based on "but IBD [Investor's Business Daily] suspects they may be getting his money indirectly through third parties." I am telling you, the entire right wing radicals are running out of juice and have been driven to this sort of supposition and innuendo. YOU HAVE TO BE DOING IT RIGHT to get to them like you are doing. Perhaps he makes this assumption (and we all know what that is) because he is on the take from the right wing wackos. Nah, even that, although believable, is a baseless idea just like Hannity"s.. Keep up the good work. Sites like yours may be the reason that Progressives are doing so well this election cycle. The entire far right group is in total disarray.
Maybe they're angry that Soros is "betraying" the billionaire club by not backing Bush and Co...
It's a classic smear job aimed at destroying George Soros, who, last time I looked, was just as much an American citizen at William J. O'Neil, the far-right wing owner of Investor's Business Daily.
Soros's money is just as green as O'Neil's money, and that of the various wingnuts who fund right-wing causes. If Media Matters were to get funding from Soros, there would be nothing whatsoever wrong with it. By "defending" itself against the newspaper's lie, Media Matters implicitly supports the smear campaign against Soros.
Someone should take a closer look at Investor's Business Daily and especially the background of its founder. Mr. O'Neil is a sketchy character who failed twice in the mutual funds business and runs a stock tip sheet disguised as a newspaper. His business is a joke, and so are his opinions.