Tucker Carlson’s fishwrap should be ashamed of itself for putting out such low quality garbage. His reporters Alex Pappas and Will Rahn were supposed to do some research and come up with a hit piece on David Brock and Media Matters. All they came up with was some anonymous and possibly fabricated quotes that accuse Brock of suffering from mental illness, using cocaine, hiring bodyguards, having his personal assistant carry a Glock, and behaving erratically and sometimes tyrannically at the office. Oh, and, shockingly, they report that the White House has formal and informal contacts with Media Matters!
I have no idea whether or not there is any truth to the allegations about Mr. Brock. I have several friends who work for or do consulting work for Media Matters and I’ve never heard any rumors that would support this reporting.
There is also nothing in the lengthy article that casts doubt about the accuracy of Media Matters as a source of information. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the organization agrees with the White House and nearly all Democrats that Fox News is an organ of the Republican Party. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that MSNBC often behaves in a similar way toward the Democratic Party. It should be remembered, however, that MSNBC is owned by General Electric Comcast and is only interested in liberal politics as a brand, and not because they have any genuine commitment to progressive politics. Fox News wants to make money, too, but they’ve created a model that can make money while serving the GOP at the same time.
And let’s look at what we’re dealing with here:
Foster Friess, the man helping bankroll Rick Santorum’s Super PAC, was right behind him on the stage Tuesday night as the former senator basked in the glow of having won Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado.
Friess also has another sideline: funding the Daily Caller.
The Wyoming mutual-fund executive helped conservative commentator Tucker Carlson launch the political website in 2010 with a $3-million investment, and has since funneled more cash to the Caller in a second round of financing.
Does that create a problem for the Caller, whose lead story on Wednesday featured a picture of a beaming Santorum under the headline “Tuesday Treble”?
“Foster is the greatest investor in the history of journalism,” Carlson told me. “There’s only upside when dealing with Foster. Foster’s only requirement for us is that we come pheasant hunting with him once or twice a year. He doesn’t even send us pieces.”
Friess, a Christian philanthropist, is the leading benefactor of the Red White and Blue Fund, the independent group backing Santorum, according to the New York Times. Carlson says he ran into Friess at a Santorum event in Iowa and “had no idea he was even there.”
But surely having the longtime Republican donor play sugar daddy for both a top presidential candidate and Carlson’s website creates a perception problem?
“I have zero interest in what people think about that,” Carlson says. “There’s not a conflict of interest or an appearance of a conflict. Foster has not sought to influence our coverage in any way.”
Right-wing evangelical businessmen can bankroll presidential candidates and create their own newspapers and websites to put out whatever message they want, no matter how scurrilous. It seems like David Brock and Media Matters couldn’t ask for a better example than this hit piece to use in their efforts to fundraise from small donors and Democrats who want to somehow try to even the playing field.
As for Tucker Carlson, I have it from reliable sources that he dabbled in necrophilia while in college and was expelled from prep school for sexually assaulting the headmaster’s daughter. A couple of friends told me this during a night of heavy drinking, but they asked that I withhold their names because they don’t have the balls to go on the record.
See how that works?