The sort of myopic foolery of which Washington is made …
In an otherwise half-sensible Washington Post editorial about the megaphone of wealth in our political discourse (“Mr. Soros’s Millions”), the Post editorialists lets this sentence fly …
For Democrats thrilled with the Soros millions, imagine conservative financier Richard Mellon Scaife opening his bank account on behalf of Mr. Bush.
Yes, imagine that.
Perhaps <$Ad$>whoever wrote this clunker needs to familiarize themselves with Mr. Scaife’s giving to myriad conservative causes (think tanks, publications, pressure groups, etc.) throughout the 1990s, and before, and since.
Those of course contributed significantly to the Republican victories in 2002, and in other elections — just as Democrats hope that Soros’ largesse will contribute to hoped-for future triumphs.
The shoe momentarily finds itself on the other foot and suddenly the Post is gripped with the need to reform the non-existent disclosure requirements for giving to think-tanks and other forms of quasi-political giving. (Perhaps they should pick up a copy of John Judis’ The Paradox of American Democracy: Elites, Special Interests, and the Betrayal of the Public Trust to get their footing.)
Read the editorial, let the fullness of the myopia roll over you, and you’ll learn a lot about how elite opinion works in this city, and its essential corruption.
A Special Thanks to TPM reader DL for the tip.
