Perhaps as overcompensation for a presumed liberal bias, the L.A. Times seems to reserve a column specifically for right wing crackpots to spread their nutty propaganda. Today, there is an
attack/smear article about George Soros.
The authors use out of context statements by Soros and mischaracterize both those statements and his life achievements. They say that:
- "It seems that Soros believes he was anointed by God." (No, Soros admitted that in the past he had a "God" complex. So would I, if I were as wealthy as he is. George Bush still maintains that he was selected by God to be President.)
- He "left millions in poverty when their national currencies were devaluated". (Soros profited off of market imbalances, particularly when governments tried to maintain currency valuations which were unrealistic. This is the proper role of arbitrage - to correct market imbalances, which if allowed to fester could create even more hardship. Is this a correct statement, or am I oversimplifying?)
- He is funding Kerry's campaign to the tune of $18 million. (So? What about Scaife? What about Sun Myung Moon? Why is it that only when the wealthy support Democrats that they are attacked for infusing money into politics?)
- "he pumped so much cash into shaping former Soviet republics to his liking that he has bragged that the former Soviet empire is now the "Soros Empire." (This is an interesting way of painting Soros' support of pro-democracy, anti-communist organizations.)
There is more to this article, but I don't have the time to go into it. I would love if someone would write a diary which gave a better breakdown, links, and more information.
We need to write to the L.A. Times and straighten these people out. The L.A. Times seems to devote letter space based upon ratios of submissions. If we overwhelm them with letters, we may be able to get four or five printed, which would draw some serious attention to the outrageousness of this smear attack.
Email address to write to:
letters@latimes.com
ocletters@latimes.com (you may want to use this, if you live in Orange County)
The L.A. Times requires your full name, address, and phone number along with your submission. Use plain text to email, not HTML.