Category Archives: Media

UPDATE II (2/26/2017): Napolitano-Koch Connection? (Sixth Sense)

Left-Liberalism And Progressivisim, libertarianism, Media, Old Right, Political Correctness, The State

As you all know, I was no fan of Freedom Watch, which, in my opinion, had that distinct CATO/Beltway, left-libertarian bent. The following item, via LewRockwell.com, seems to lend credence to the Napolitano-Koch connection:

“Last year, [Koch-allied board members] used their shares to place two of their operatives — Kevin Gentry and Nancy Pfotenhauer — on our board against the wishes of every single board member save for David Koch. Last Thursday, they used their shares to force another four new board members on us (the most that their shares would allow at any given meeting); Charles Koch, Ted Olson (hired council for Koch Industries), Preston Marshall (the largest shareholder of Koch Industries save for Charles and David), and Andrew Napolitano (a frequent speaker at Koch-sponsored events). Those four — who had not previously been involved with Cato either financially or organizationally — were likewise opposed by every member of our board save for Gentry, Pfotenhauer, and David Koch. To make room for these Koch operatives, we were forced to remove four long-time, active board members, two of whom were our biggest donors. At this moment, the Kochs now control seven of our 16 board seats, two short of outright control.”

UPDATE I (March 7): My sixth sense doesn’t often fail me. I sensed something fishy about Napolitano. Was he intertwined with the Kochtopus or what? No wonder every women on Freedom Watch was from the (CATO run, as we find out) Independent Women’s Forum.

Read “Cato and the Kochs.”

UPDATE II (2/26/2017): The Rockwell link has disappeared. Fishy? But here is another hyperlink that suggests Andrew Napolitano was being pushed at CATO by lefty moguls, the Koch Brothers.

“Cato and the Kochs” by Will Wilkinson:

It seems clear enough that the Kochs are trying to take over by stacking the board. I have no idea what they’re up to, but judging from their board nominees and appointees, it doesn’t look at all good. On the other hand, the hand-wringing over the new Koch-nominated board members–Ted Olson, Andrew Napolitano, Nancy Pfotenhauer, and Kevin Gentry–strikes me as overwrought. It’s worth noting that David Koch has been on the Cato board for years, the whole time I was employed there and more, and I don’t remember anyone once suggesting he was an ideological or strategic danger to Cato’s mission. But suddenly he’s an existential threat! Cato and Cato’s chairman Bob Levy didn’t seem to have a huge problem with Ted Olson, a Solicitor General under G.W. Bush, when he was at Cato arguing for gay marriage on constitutional grounds. Andrew Napolitano is a stout libertarian who put a ton of Cato guys on Freedom Watch, his recently cancelled show on Fox Business. Cato executive VP David Boaz seems to get along pretty well, ideologically and otherwise, with Napolitano in this recent clip. …

“A stout libertarian” of The Left: That’s Judge Napolitano, at least until recently.

A Genuine Journalist in MSM: Jack Tapper (Vs. Jay Carney)

Barack Obama, Fascism, Journalism, Media

Jake Tapper of ABC News is an unusual journalist; he has questioned the Obama administration, and, in particular, on the matter of the suppression of journalistic freedoms stateside.

Via Media(somethingoranother):

At Wednesday’s White House press briefing, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney praised the journalists (Marie Colvin, Rémi Ochlik and Anthony Shadid) recently killed covering the violent unrest in Syria. ABC News’ Jake Tapper then asked Carney about the discrepancy between how the Obama administration treats journalism internationally versus domestically.
The White House “keeps praising these journalists who’ve been killed,” Tapper said, but that is inconsistent with the administration’s actions within the U.S. He asked, “How does that square with the fact that this administration has been so aggressively trying to stop aggressive journalism in the United States by using the Espionage Act to take whistleblowers to court?”
Tapper went on to detail how “this is the sixth time you’re suing a CIA officer for allegedly providing information in 2009 about CIA torture. Certainly that’s something that’s in the public interest of the United States.” Previously, the act had only been used three times in history.
Plainly, Tapper stated, “There just seems to be disconnect here. You want aggressive journalism abroad; you just don’t want it in the United States.”

Tapper has a history of “subversion.”

The Superman Behind ‘Endorse Liberty’ Super PAC

Elections, libertarianism, Media, Ron Paul

“The four Republican candidates raised $21 million combined. The super PACs supporting them raised $22 million.” [Via PBS]

Ron Paul has “raised over $2 million. His super PAC raised over $2 million.”… the guy who is backing him is interesting. His name is Thiel. “He was an early investor in Facebook. He was actually portrayed in the movie ‘Social Network’ as the angel investor in that movie.”

Thiel’s a 44-year-old guy, worth lots of money. And he’s given something close to three-quarters of all of the money that has gone in to Endorse Liberty. And he is a very devout libertarian, very much a hands-off, government-hands-off-business kind of a guy.

No wonder mainstream media mumble about the identity of Ron Paul’s mysterious, magnificent backer. Peter Thiel is the quintessential Randian hero. READ more about him here.

Thiel has, naturally, arrived at one of the central themes of “Into the Cannibal’s Pot.” To quote Theil: “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible. … While I don’t think any class of people should be disenfranchised, I have little hope that voting will make things better.”

It’s a shame he walked back the anti-franchise statement.

Paul Babeu Is a Patriot (and a Babe)

Homosexuality, IMMIGRATION, Left-Liberalism And Progressivisim, Media, Republicans

Paul Babeu, writes the Washington Watcher at VDARE.COM., “has always said exactly the right thing about immigration—both legal and illegal. Unlike most politicians, he seemed to have a real grasp of the issue beyond just saying ‘I oppose amnesty and want to secure the border.'”

I’d be far less guarded about Babeu, who has also recently reiterated his fidelity to Ron Paul libertarianism with respect to gay marriage. Babeu, “Pinal County Sheriff and Republican primary candidate for Arizona’s 4th Congressional District,” is being slandered in the liberal pulp and pixelated press because a jilted lover (Babeu is gay) is spreading unverified stories about him, tales these outlets are only too pleased to propagate.

The Phoenix New Times is a far Left Open Border rag that has often made dishonest accusations against Arizona patriotic immigration reformers. (Including, repeatedly, VDARE.com). Its article about Babeu is filled with interviews with various immigration lawyers who served up lines about how it was all is indicative of an “atmosphere that’s been created politically in this state, so that if you get angry at someone who is Hispanic, you immediately jump down to the level of threatening to deport him” blah blah.

[VDARE.COM]

“Babeu’s acknowledgment that he is gay came after a story in the Phoenix New Times, an alternative weekly magazine that quoted a former lover as saying Babeu threatened his immigration status if he revealed their relationship. Babeu denied claims he tried to threaten the man, a former campaign volunteer. He said the accusations were an attempt to hurt his political career. The legal status of the man, identified only as Jose by the New Times and Babeu, was unclear. His lawyer said he was unavailable for comment but might be available in a few days.” (HuffPostPolitics)

Comparisons to the Anthony Weiner worm are being made. The latter is married. Babeu is single.

I guess I would question the wisdom of engaging in an affair with the wrong man, but when it comes to affairs of the heart, who among us has not similarly stumbled? The fact that Babeu is the consummate macho, disciplined and dedicated ex-military man might have contributed to the pressures of reconciling the personal and the public. Such stressors lead to mistakes.