Well, I finally finished 'Blinded by the Right'.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400047285/qid=1146091413/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-2509577-8802238?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

It's very disturbing. Not just in revealing a lot of nuts and bolts about how the Right Wing propaganda machine operates (and their job is a whole lot easier with the prominence of Fox news now), and the incredible influence of just a few individuals like Richard Mellon Scaife in funding so much of the damned thing.

But it's also very disturbing in considering the actions of the author. How could he go to such depths, and be such a persistent and valuable pawn to the Right Wing, even after it began to become clear how poor a fit he was for that movement?

For the unfamiliar, David Brock, the author, who currently runs the very good site mediamatters.org, started and spent most of his career as a literary hatchet man for the Right Wing. During most of that time he was a closeted gay.

The guy fell into the Right Wing movement partially as a reaction to a negative impression of the campus leftists at Berkeley where he was a student, among other things, and then was just a warrior within that camp, it seems, as much out of momentum and spite as anything else, having identified with that group. I think his role in those days was actually rather significant, he wrote a book trashing Anita Hill, and published the article igniting the "Troopergate" fiasco which, through a Byzantine series of twists, eventually led to Monicagate, the Starr investigation, and impeachment.

Not so much a judgemental thing, but I came away from the book with a feeling that the guy has a lot to atone for. It made me wonder, if he hadn't been outed after publishing the Troopergate article, and then had an eventual falling out with his "movement" (he finally had to be fired by the American Spectator, the RW rag that he worked for), whether he'd still be doing their dirty work.

It also made me wonder about Ariana Huffington. In the book, she comes across as a Machiavellian, manipulative, power hungry gossip maven who was a major player for the righties, which is pretty much consistent with the impression I had of her from that time. I've still not seen in writing an explanation of her change in alignment, even though I will concede that she's written some very good articles since "the change".

I wonder a lot about the motives of some of these folks.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. I just read it a few weeks ago too, and I must say

I agree with everything you've said. I do hope Brock is able to atone for his sins and feel 'clean' again.

:)

[annabanana]

3. After listening to many many appearances on Al Franken's

show, and seeing the truly excellent work that is done at mediamatters.org, I believe that he is well on the road to redemption.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

19. I do like him...so I'm glad to hear that.

:)

[acmejack]

2. I wonder about a lot of prominent people like that

who have had these changes of heart and have reaped piles of cash from both sides of the political fence. One must wonder if they are truly sincere or merely shrewd ly cynical capitalists. From what they were capable of in their previous incarnation as a righty, one must be somewhat leery...

[Disturbed]

4. I read it.

It shows to what depths the RW will go to garner power. Now that they have it they won't let it go without a viscious fight. Dems, for the most part, do not have the stomach for the kind of War that the RW perpetrates.

[oldtime dfl_er]

5. I read it too

Now I'm reading "Fooled Again" by Mark Crispin Miller, which reiterates what you're saying. The Republicans can, do and will continue to do, anything and everything to control the country.

http://www.cafepress.com/scarebaby/1097640

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

7. Well, someone like Huffington has no need for cash from either side, from

what I could tell. But seriously, I wonder if some of these folks just relish combat, for one side as much as the other.

Even if the motives are not sincere, I actually don't think it matters much as long as valuable service is done, and there isn't an opportunity to sabotage the works at a critical time.

It's like those threads about Ed Schultz. Even if he were a total phoney who just became a liberal radio host because it was easier to carve out a niche and make a living there than on the right, as long as he's saying good things and not damaging the cause, it's all good.

[AllieB]

6. I think Brock is sincere in his conversion

his background drove him to conservative politics initially, but I think he woke up.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

22. Oh I think he is too. But it's not just the fact that he was on the

"wrong side". Some of the actions performed, such as helping perpetrate what amounted to an act of blackmail by one wingnut onto another, to score brownie points, don't reflect well regardless of which side one is acting on.

I realize the book is his confession, and he didn't have to own up to all those deeds. But it still is disturbing.

[cushla_machree]

8. same feeling

I read that book and my impression of arianna was that of an opportunist. I don't really know why she switched, she just did. Maybe she was just a repub because her husband was, who knows. Its all about power and influence. she found some on the other side, so she jumped ship.

As for brock, i have a hard time understanding his actions. But that might be because i just cannot fathom the other side of the political fence. But, as a progressive, we should be willing to take the ones who come over from the dark side. Isn't that the point, to educate people? to welcome them in?

[NYCGirl]

14. These passages from Wikipedia might help you understand Arianna better:

Marriage

She met Michael Huffington at a 1985 party hosted by Ann Getty in San Francisco. She married him in 1986, and they moved to Washington when he was appointed to the Department of Defense. They later established residency in Santa Barbara, California, in order for him to run for the U.S. House of Representatives, which he narrowly won. She divorced him in 1997, three years after he narrowly lost the 1994 race for the U.S. Senate seat from California to Dianne Feinstein. Michael Huffington, a conservative who had publicly opposed gay rights during his political career, abruptly announced in 1998 that he is bisexual. A 1999 Esquire article by David Brock, claimed that Arianna Huffington "entered the marriage ... with full knowledge of sexual interests in men." The financial terms of their divorce agreement remain undisclosed. Huffington chose to continue using her former husband's last name.


Political work and changes

In 1996, she and liberal comedian Al Franken participated in Comedy Central's coverage of the 1996 presidential elections. For her work, she and the writing team of Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher were nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Program.

Huffington's shift in political ideology was inspired by her Left, Right & Center colleague, Robert Scheer, her friend Al Franken and her perception that the Republican Party does not do enough to help the "less fortunate."

In 2000, she instigated the 'Shadow Conventions', which appeared at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia and the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. To one of the attendees at the Shadow Convention in Philadelphia, State Rep. Mark B. Cohen of Philadelphia, "the subjects of the Shadow Convention—campaign finance reform, reform of America's drug laws, fighting the causes of poverty, reducing corporate influence on the political process—showed that she had come a long way from her days as a Gingrich backer while remaining a registered Republican."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arianna_Huffington

[DURHAM D]

9. I do not for one minute think David would have come over to

the other side if he had not been shunned by the Washington establishment that he loved so much.

Several years ago a friend of mine met him in Rehoboth and they started dating. He told me who he was dating and that he was sort of famous, although my friend had never heard of him. I gave my friend way more than a bucket full of bad news about David's politics and activities. I told my friend that I understood that Scaife had paid David to trash the Clintons and that was nasty hard nosed politics and they are public figures but I would never ever forgive him for what he did to Anita Hill - who happens to be a former neighbor of mine. I put him in the same category as Roy Cohen, J.Edgar Hoover and Terry Dolan.

David and I had a back and forth conversation for several weeks conducted through my friend. David was trying very hard to explain his actions. A few weeks later David indicated he wanted to come down and visit and have dinner with me. I did not respectfully decline - I said "Not only No but hell No - I never dine with homophobs".

They stopped dating after a few more weeks - you know how boys are. Anyway now, after his book, I would have dinner with him but he still has a whole lot of explain' to do.

[ldf]

10. and of course there are always those people

who go out of their way to plant suspicions about anyone who has changed their views.

david brock went through a personal journey.

whether you like the way it occurred or not is irrelevant.

but now he is exposing the dark underside of the republicans and their smear machine.

but that could never be good enough for some.

i always wonder about the motives of those poor souls.

:shrug:

[NYCGirl]

11. Have you read this book by David Brock — it's even better:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307236897/sr=8-4/qid=1146106887/ref=pd_bbs_4/002-4372558-4777654?%5Fencoding=UTF8

From Publishers Weekly
The author, once notorious as a conservative attack-journalist trashing the likes of Anita Hill and the Clintons, repudiated his past in the confessional Blinded by the Right. In this blistering j'accuse, Brock mounts a less gossipy and more systematic assault on the right-wing media juggernaut of think tanks, publishers, talk radio shows, Web sites and cable networks. He treats it as a disciplined political movement, inspired by Communist subversion techniques, bankrolled by a handful of right-wing zillionaires through corporate and foundation spigots, tightly yoked to the Republican policy agenda and masterminded by arch-conservative Grover Norquist at weekly strategy meetings. By Brock's account, it constitutes a seamless propaganda machine conveying dubious scholarship, Republican talking points and antiliberal smear campaigns from think tanks and Internet rumor mills to the FOX News and talk radio echo chambers and thence through a network of conservative pundits into the quality press. Meanwhile, Brock charges, the mainstream media, cowed by spurious charges of "liberal bias," have abandoned their role as objective arbiters of truth in favor of an uncritical airing of partisan ideology in the name of "balance." The result, he says, is a public discourse in which the line between fact and opinion is blurred, poorly funded liberal voices get shouted down, "no issue can be honestly debated and no election can be fairly decided." Brock's critique echoes that of other liberal media critics like Eric Alterman and Al Franken, and cannot be accused of nonpartisanship. He is dismissive of the conservative nostrums whose purveyors he pillories, and his biting takedowns of Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and their ilk show he hasn't lost his taste for blood. But Brock's incisive, well-supported analysis and his street cred as an apostate from the conservative press make this a spirited challenge to the contemporary mediascape

[CarolNYC]

18. Yep,

I finished reading that aobut a month or so ago...Should be required reading for all...

[AlCzervik]

12. That was my first ever read about the other side, than and Fortunate son.

i used to keep Blinded next to me when i watched cable shows and looked up whateever pundit was on in the index.

[Jade Fox]

13. Both Brock and Huffington .....

have done major atoning.

Brock runs Media Matters, one of the best MSM media watchdogs out there, and Huffington Post rocks. Arianna Huffington's columns on Judy Miller simply knocked me out, and Miller finally resigned shortly after they appeared.

In the spring of 2001 I read an excerpt from "Blinded By the Right" in Esquire magazine. In it Brock said that the Right-wing in this country knows the majority of Americans don't share their values, so they have made the decision to do whatever it takes to get into power. The hair stood up on the back of my neck when I read that, and it hasn't gone down since. That's when I knew we were in serious trouble.

[mitchtv]

15. The Huffington Campaign against Feinstein

Hit , at the time, a new low in ethics. She was in it to the hilt. I have always felt that she owes the people of California an apology for her part in it. I sure like her now, however.

[Nevernose]

16. Honestly? I thought it was boring. Didn't finish it.

Maybe I'll give it another try, or, as another poster suggeseted, I'll give "The Republican Noise Machine : Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy" a read.

I think maybe the problem is that I already KNOW the media's corrupt, and I read or see examples on a daily basis. Maybe it would be useful in arguments with Republicans, but I mostly skip those these days except for my closest, most red-voting friends.

Or maybe I was in a weird mood when I first tried to read it.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

21. It does get a bit boring in the middle...

and picks up towards the end, with more inside info. (that's what kept me reading)

[tabasco]

17. My mom read that book and said it was very good.

She knew just how rotten the republicans were.

I am going to Amazon right now and getting a copy.

[wookie294]

20. Could Brock's gay orientation have turned him Republican?

I wonder if some gay people feel "inadequate" about being gay (thanks to right-wing bigotry) which then turns them into becoming the exact OPPOSITE of their true self. They attempt to deny their gayness, and how better to deny your gayness than to become a right wing Republican? I wonder if Brock was a Republican because of this? If so, it must be torturing to deny your true self like that. I do think he's turned into a hero at this point. I hope he's at peace and totally happy! He deserves it!

[ConsAreLiars]

23. Your assumption that people do not learn or change may be true

as far as your personal experience is concerned. Certainly, a lot of people never question the assumptions they learned to accept in childhood. Your wish to cast doubt on their motives says a lot more about your expectations that people are cast in some rigid mold and incapable of growth than it does about the reality of human growth and transformation.

I prefer to base my opinions on what people actually do, rather than some such an ideological assumption that change is impossible. But then again, your own experience may be that learning and growth is not possible.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

24. I don't assume that people don't learn or change. Because Brock's book

is a very personal one about his own journey, he does make a lot of effort to analyze his own journey through the bowels of the RW machine to where he is now, there is so much detail that some sense of this comes across although it's still hard for me to consider the degree of self hate that would allow one to be a slime merchant for people who basically hate you (Brock, as a gay man).

I read it primarily to find out details about how the RWers operate their spin machine. But it left me with a very disturbed feeling about the protagonist and what it must be like to be like that, and have no friends providing influence away from such a path.

In Huffington's case, I just haven't seen anything in writing from her that explains such a remarkable change from major player on the right to her current status, from her own perspective.


I'm more than happy for people to change, and I wish a lot more of the country would do so. No one owes me or anyone else an explanation for making such a change, but it would be nice. When people like Huffington, who from her writing (both as a RWer and now) are apparently gifted wordsmiths, make such a remarkable change from a major player on one side to another, it seems odd when they haven't written much of substance on such a huge turning point.

[ConsAreLiars]

25. I can't speak about Huffington, but I thought Brock did a great job

of describing the "grooming" process used by Toensing, DeGenova (sp?) and the Scaife funded operatives of the fascist right. And of how he broke with that cult and the delusional worldview that had held him captive for so long. And of why he was susceptible in the first place. A very valuable expose of how those sleazy Cons work.

If you didn't undertand how they work, and how he broke with them, read it again. I really don't remember anything about Huffington other than as a peripheral figure, so maybe I should read it again also.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

26. There's a lot about her towards the end. One thing that struck me very

much is how much influence just ONE man, Richard Mellon Scaife, has had through funding so much RW media, muckrakers in Arkansas, "think tanks" etc.

I honestly worry, a LOT, that with so much money (billions) simply vanished out of the Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority and not being sought, that the RW machine can fund their activities and elections for a generation without the Scaifes and Abramoffs. Although they'll still need to launder the money I suppose.

[ConsAreLiars]

27. A good, and chilling, resource for how these monsters are funded is

at the PFAW site: http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=2052

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

28. Thanks. Is PFAW the organization Norman Lear started?

[ConsAreLiars]

30. Not sure about the origins, but a valuable resource (n/t)

[TexasLawyer]

29. Brock's Media Matters for America

goes a long way toward atoning for his sins. But I agree that he has a lot to answer for.

Thanks for the book report. This is yet another book that I own but have not yet read.

[FrenchieCat]

31. I don't think he would have written such a book, if he didn't feel that

was part of his atonement. In fact, he wrote two books, in the hopes of exposing what he most likely realized he hated most within himself....not being Gay, but being a hypocrite.

I think he is doing proper reperation for whatever role he played.....

I forgive him.