The Most Useful Five Minutes of Bill O'Reilly Ever

I'm back here for a while--I feel like the only blogger in the world who commutes. Ian at Hot Air has kindly put up a great little video of Bill O'Reilly laying out the network of Convicted Inside Trader George Soros funding through liberal organizations--and ultimately, to the leftist "watchdog" group Media Matters. Even if you're not particularly a Billy O fan, this is five minutes well spent. I knew Soros did this sort of thing, but it's very powerful to see it all laid out in an org chart like O'Reilly does here. It's also good to see the names of all these organizations so you'll know who's supporting them.

My quibbles with Bill's presentation are twofold. First, he kind of sneers as he points out that this is "all perfectly legal under McCain-Feingold". As well it should be. Rich SOB's like Soros should be free to give bundles of cash to whatever den of no-account Trotskyite hippies they feel like honoring with their largesse. The gifts should be transparent, and journalists like O'Reilly should point it out so we know what to expect from the recipients, but there's nothing wrong or shameful about Soros backing PAC's, think tanks, or watchdog groups with his ill-gotten fortunes.

The proper response to Soros' left-handed philanthropy, of course, is not to attempt to regulate his donations, but to back conservative institutions of our own. In fact Soros is just aping a conservative strategy himself; rich donors like the Olin Foundation and Richard Mellon Scaife have been building up conservative think tanks for a long time. The way I heard it, Democrats like John Podesta (mentioned in the O'Reilly clip) were jealous of conservative success in the think tank world. (And speaking of the way I heard it, a fellow named John Raisian was the one who, back during the Reagan years, thought up the idea of funding think tanks as an alternative to increasingly inhospitable and irrelevant universities.)

Raisian writes that think tanks have to do principled research in order to prosper:

Although some think tanks are shrill political “hit squads” that exist for the sole purpose of advancing the special pleadings of a narrow interest group, for the most part, think tanks—regardless of their ideological orientation—must produce quality research on issues of broad interest, or they will cease to flourish. A think tank, after all, can only pay scholars/analysts and publish materials if it can persuade foundations, donors, and subscribers to support it financially. No one wants to pay for research that is derivative, sloppy, or poorly organized. And no think tank has prospered by doing so.

Well, Dr. Raisian obviously hadn't heard of Media Matters.

Oh crud, I'm rambling. I had another quibble with O'Reilly...

Ah, yes.

2. O'Reilly neglected to mention that Soros was convicted of insider trading in France.

Finally, let me take this opportunity to point out that if you don't like what Soros is doing, then support the voices that counter him. Tell other people about them, buy from their advertisers, send in money, do what you can. You may not be as rich as Soros, but you can still have an impact.