It’s strange that Media Matters’ founder David Brock was once the zeitgeist of the conservative movement some thirty years ago.
Brock had authored “The Real Anita Hill” in the early 1990s and took Hill to the proverbial woodshed while also resurrecting and defending Justice Clarence Thomas.
I still have that book in my collection … I remember getting the copy as part of some promotion/subscription I signed up for that was advertised on the Rush Limbaugh Show.
I suspect then and now, David Brock was always about David Brock.
He was the kind of guy -- no lie -- who used to walk through DC with a cane. Not because of an infirmity, but for style and attention.
When we at Fox started taking them seriously -- which could have endangered MM's non-profit status, given their behavior, they eventually declared victory and went back to writing daily press releases about Fox.
But … I still wonder what made him cross over to the dark side?
I am always fascinated by the stories of former liberals, Democrats, left wing progressives, or whatever you want to call them, who have that Road to Damascus moment and become conservative.
I realize that the reverse also occurs. But when faced with logical reasoning, and analyzing cause and effect, and the unintended consequences of poorly reasoned ideas, I am surprised when someone like Brock goes from solid conservative to hard leftist. And I am not saying that the conservative movement is perfect, but it is very much more grounded in reality than the left is.
I remember during this 90s era another high profile conservative who also went hard left … Arianna Huffington. Her then husband ran a serious GOP campaign for US Senator in California during the early to mid 1990s. He lost … but Arianna quickly became an acolyte of the then new House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his GOP conservative takeover of Congress in 1994.
A few years later she flipped and went far leftist, creating her now left wing namesake The Huffington Post.
Anyways … as a rational (hopefully) and lifelong conservative, I am fascinated when somebody transforms from left wing to conservative. I am also quite puzzled when somebody goes from conservative to left wing.
All of this is reminiscent of that Churchillian quote about anyone under 30 years having no heart and anyone over 30 years having no brain. Political activists like Brock and Huffington seem to operate in reverse of Churchill’s adage.
It's easier to understand when someone changes party, like Ronald Reagan, but keeps their values essentially intact and cites the party as having changed. I think we're seeing that today from the former "leftist" people like Elon Musk. Liz Cheney might be good example on the right.
For the ones who, in their middle ages, who have a wholesale conversion, perhaps the answer is: they're all about attention.
It's certainly the case with Brock and certainly the case with Arianna. Yes, she was a Republican, but she was also a New Age hippie priestess, so she probably wasn't reading much Thomas Sowell. I recall her columns back in the day being outstanding, so much so that it was, and is, difficult for me to believe she actually wrote them.
I was good friends with Andrew Breitbart at the time, who worked with her for a bit, before and even as "the" conservative on Huffpo, which he helped found and then quit when they drove him crazy. He'd tell me about how when she'd say something liberal, she could hang out with the celebs and cool kids of L.A. That doesn't happen for conservatives.
And, like the sinner-turned-preacher, people love a conversion to their side. Someone who's seen the light. So going from right to left gives you a bit push on the celebrity scale.
If I had no morals or concern with my beliefs, I could probably be a regular CNN/MSNBC guest talking about the evils of Fox and conservative media. I think they'd love me. :)
I cannot seem to locate the op-ed column she had written at the time, but Huffington had penned a devastating column that was published in the San Diego Union-Tribune that shamed the Clinton Administration for allowing Democrat donor and former Ambassador Larry Lawrence to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
I was living in San Diego back then and I regularly read and subscribed to the SD-UT.
Anyways … her column basically lambasted Clinton and his cronies for allowing Lawrence (who at the time I believe also owned the historic Hotel Del Coronado) to be buried at Arlington, despite Lawrence not being qualified for burial in that select cemetery; Lawrence had served in the Merchant Marines.
Huffington’s column, if I remember correctly, essentially said that Lawrence’s presence there (as a buried corpse) was dishonoring the heroes buried there and that he should immediately be dug up and moved somewhere else. Ouch!
Here’s a link (at the end) that does allude to another column that she penned going after Lawrence’s widow with claims that she had also slept with Slick Willy.
I think you’re right about some well established conservatives going left, perhaps selling out for fame, fortune and attention, and getting accolades from the leftist Hollywood and the Big MSM crowd.
I also vaguely remember Huffington began appearing as a guest panelist on Bill Maher’s then politically incorrect cable show, so her transformation to the left had already occurred.
Last thought … Ann Coulter also got her first exposure and following fame as a right-wing columnist and pundit on Maher’s show too. I think she and Maher have a long working relationship, despite their political differences. Coulter has vehemently turned against Trump, I suppose because he didn’t build the wall fast enough to her liking. Coulter still writes as a conservative though, but she has nothing good to say about Trump.
Here’s that link with some more inferences about the Lawrence scandal, or “Gravegate” as I kinda remember Huffington calling it …
I wouldn't support shutting them down, but do think they completely abuse their 501(c)3 non-profit status, which allows donors to deduct those donations. That should be revoked, given their violations of the non-profit law.
It’s strange that Media Matters’ founder David Brock was once the zeitgeist of the conservative movement some thirty years ago.
Brock had authored “The Real Anita Hill” in the early 1990s and took Hill to the proverbial woodshed while also resurrecting and defending Justice Clarence Thomas.
I still have that book in my collection … I remember getting the copy as part of some promotion/subscription I signed up for that was advertised on the Rush Limbaugh Show.
See: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/190530.Real_Anita_Hill
I suspect then and now, David Brock was always about David Brock.
He was the kind of guy -- no lie -- who used to walk through DC with a cane. Not because of an infirmity, but for style and attention.
When we at Fox started taking them seriously -- which could have endangered MM's non-profit status, given their behavior, they eventually declared victory and went back to writing daily press releases about Fox.
But … I still wonder what made him cross over to the dark side?
I am always fascinated by the stories of former liberals, Democrats, left wing progressives, or whatever you want to call them, who have that Road to Damascus moment and become conservative.
I realize that the reverse also occurs. But when faced with logical reasoning, and analyzing cause and effect, and the unintended consequences of poorly reasoned ideas, I am surprised when someone like Brock goes from solid conservative to hard leftist. And I am not saying that the conservative movement is perfect, but it is very much more grounded in reality than the left is.
I remember during this 90s era another high profile conservative who also went hard left … Arianna Huffington. Her then husband ran a serious GOP campaign for US Senator in California during the early to mid 1990s. He lost … but Arianna quickly became an acolyte of the then new House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his GOP conservative takeover of Congress in 1994.
A few years later she flipped and went far leftist, creating her now left wing namesake The Huffington Post.
Anyways … as a rational (hopefully) and lifelong conservative, I am fascinated when somebody transforms from left wing to conservative. I am also quite puzzled when somebody goes from conservative to left wing.
All of this is reminiscent of that Churchillian quote about anyone under 30 years having no heart and anyone over 30 years having no brain. Political activists like Brock and Huffington seem to operate in reverse of Churchill’s adage.
See: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7441607-any-man-under-30-who-is-not-a-liberal-has#:~:text=“Any%20man%20under%2030%20who%20is%20not%20a,conservative%20has%20no%20brains.”%20―%20Winston%20S.%20Churchill
It's a great question.
It's easier to understand when someone changes party, like Ronald Reagan, but keeps their values essentially intact and cites the party as having changed. I think we're seeing that today from the former "leftist" people like Elon Musk. Liz Cheney might be good example on the right.
For the ones who, in their middle ages, who have a wholesale conversion, perhaps the answer is: they're all about attention.
It's certainly the case with Brock and certainly the case with Arianna. Yes, she was a Republican, but she was also a New Age hippie priestess, so she probably wasn't reading much Thomas Sowell. I recall her columns back in the day being outstanding, so much so that it was, and is, difficult for me to believe she actually wrote them.
I was good friends with Andrew Breitbart at the time, who worked with her for a bit, before and even as "the" conservative on Huffpo, which he helped found and then quit when they drove him crazy. He'd tell me about how when she'd say something liberal, she could hang out with the celebs and cool kids of L.A. That doesn't happen for conservatives.
And, like the sinner-turned-preacher, people love a conversion to their side. Someone who's seen the light. So going from right to left gives you a bit push on the celebrity scale.
If I had no morals or concern with my beliefs, I could probably be a regular CNN/MSNBC guest talking about the evils of Fox and conservative media. I think they'd love me. :)
I cannot seem to locate the op-ed column she had written at the time, but Huffington had penned a devastating column that was published in the San Diego Union-Tribune that shamed the Clinton Administration for allowing Democrat donor and former Ambassador Larry Lawrence to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
I was living in San Diego back then and I regularly read and subscribed to the SD-UT.
Anyways … her column basically lambasted Clinton and his cronies for allowing Lawrence (who at the time I believe also owned the historic Hotel Del Coronado) to be buried at Arlington, despite Lawrence not being qualified for burial in that select cemetery; Lawrence had served in the Merchant Marines.
Huffington’s column, if I remember correctly, essentially said that Lawrence’s presence there (as a buried corpse) was dishonoring the heroes buried there and that he should immediately be dug up and moved somewhere else. Ouch!
Here’s a link (at the end) that does allude to another column that she penned going after Lawrence’s widow with claims that she had also slept with Slick Willy.
I think you’re right about some well established conservatives going left, perhaps selling out for fame, fortune and attention, and getting accolades from the leftist Hollywood and the Big MSM crowd.
I also vaguely remember Huffington began appearing as a guest panelist on Bill Maher’s then politically incorrect cable show, so her transformation to the left had already occurred.
Last thought … Ann Coulter also got her first exposure and following fame as a right-wing columnist and pundit on Maher’s show too. I think she and Maher have a long working relationship, despite their political differences. Coulter has vehemently turned against Trump, I suppose because he didn’t build the wall fast enough to her liking. Coulter still writes as a conservative though, but she has nothing good to say about Trump.
Here’s that link with some more inferences about the Lawrence scandal, or “Gravegate” as I kinda remember Huffington calling it …
https://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/abuse41.htm
G’day Ken.
Need a combined assult on Media Matters by AGs etc to shut down Media Matters organz
Chap 7 the organz
Name names
I wouldn't support shutting them down, but do think they completely abuse their 501(c)3 non-profit status, which allows donors to deduct those donations. That should be revoked, given their violations of the non-profit law.