As I wrote earlier this week, given the depth of his political involvement on behalf of Republican candidates it’s hardly surprising to find that casino mogul Sheldon Adelson is in the crosshairs of the liberal media these days. Adelson’s billions are derived from vastly profitable — and entirely legal — gambling enterprises in Las Vegas and Macao, China but there is an ongoing effort to depict him as a shady character with whom politicians should not associate. The investigation about possible bribery of Chinese officials, which the New York Times spread over their front page on Tuesday, is a serious matter but the allegation remains more a matter of assumptions of misbehavior than any proof. But that has not stopped Democratic groups from trying to brand Adelson as toxic or even repeating other outrageous and palpably false charges about him for which some have been forced to apologize. Now the Times has escalated the campaign with an editorial calling on Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to distance themselves from Adelson and, no doubt, not take any of his campaign contributions.
The hypocrisy of the left’s assault on Adelson is so obvious it barely needs to be mentioned. Adelson is not nearly as shady a character as left-wing financier George Soros, whose activities have included international currency manipulation that sent some countries over the edge in the past. No one questioned whether it was wise for John Kerry to accept Soros’s money in 2004 as part of the billionaire’s crusade to defeat George W. Bush. Nor did anyone question his contributions to the Democrats’ successful get out the vote campaign in 2008. The Times did not speculate then whether Soros’s real agenda involved his business interests, as they do now about Adelson. Instead, they took him at his word that his commitment was ideological. The only real difference between the two is that Soros backs left-wing politicians and causes while Adelson has dedicated his financial resources to supporting Israel and conservatives.
As proof of its allegation that Adelson is up to no good, the Times editorial regurgitates the same story that was the only truly damning aspect of their several-thousand-word investigative feature. Ten years ago, Adelson called then House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and persuaded him to shelve a largely meaningless Congressional resolution that opposed China’s hosting the 2008 Olympics because of their dreadful human rights record.
The Delay story is interesting because it is supposed to depict how Adelson uses his power to affect policy but it does nothing of the kind. Adelson and Delay were in the wrong here but even if the resolution had passed, it would have changed nothing about the Olympics or U.S.-China relations. Treating Adelson as if he’s the sole reason for the decision to put aside our concerns about Chinese human rights abuses and concentrate on doing business there gives him too much credit. That’s a political trend that predated the phone call to DeLay and for which both parties and the entire American business community is to blame. As the recent story about the way Romney dismissed Adelson’s requests that he promise to pardon convicted spy Jonathan Pollard or immediately move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem demonstrate, all his money buys him is access, not results.
The irony here is that unlike many large political contributors it’s clear that Adelson is not doing this to advance his personal interests but the ideas and people he supports. Israel’s security has been Adelson’s obsession and it has led him to not just give money to opponents of President Obama but to a raft of important Jewish and Israeli charitable causes. Indeed, if he was not an opponent of Obama and his policies toward Israel, there’s little doubt that the Times would have no interest in his activities and would merely refer to him as a philanthropist.
The goal of liberals in painting Adelson as a villain is to gain a tactical advantage in the fall election since his money is helping the Republicans. But their case against him rests more on assumptions about gambling and the corrupt business culture of China than on proof of anything he has done. Adelson’s legal campaign contributions are no more sinister than those of rich liberals who line up to pay for the right to hobnob with President Obama at parties in Hollywood and New York.
Adelson may be an easy target but the campaign to demonize him using language about politicians being “in thrall” to him has an unpleasant odor of prejudice. Instead of Romney worrying about associating with Adelson, the Times and the Obama campaign need to be careful about the way they are playing into traditional stereotypes about Jews and money and libels about the “Israel Lobby.”
Is Soros trying to influence US into a war?
Maybe not now, but ultimately yes as he pushes for his dream of Global Governance by the UN when the USA has been reduced to a basket case economically and a banana republic security wise as Obama is desperately trying to accomplish now.r nA war for survival.
It's interesting to note the Time's treatment of another political heavy – John Crozine, ex Senator and Governor of New Jersey, and a major Wall Street bundler for Obama and other Democrats. Line up the article in the Times on Adelson dated August 15 and compare it to the article on Corzine dated August 16 to measure the difference in the vitriol directed at Adelson versus the completely innocuous treatment of Corzine. Then read today's vicious editorial in the Times based on corrosive innuendo and malicious speculation about Adelson's alleged wrong doing in China. The Times has launched a crusade against Adelson with all that implies, but here's the real difference between Adelson and Corzine. When Adelson's company, The Sands Corporation, faltered during the melt down in LasVegas, he put up a billion dollars of his own money to right the ship and save the company. When Corzine's MF Global faltered, he commingled customer funds with MF Global money in violation of every securities law on the books. The way the Times chooses to treat Corzine is so innocuous and off hand that it's not surprising they even put in a plug for Corzine's aim of organizing a new hedge fund. Good luck with that. It would be refreshing if the Times editorial board and its reporters would drop their pretense of reporting the news on non-ideological grounds and end their irrational persecution of Sheldon Adelson. It's the worst kind of anti-semitic dog whistle journalism I've ever read.
As long as Adelson or anyone is on the right, the media goes nuts to demonize them. Wonderful for 0bama, who is supported and probably controlled to a great deal by Soros. Soros is an evil man. A jew who turned in his own people to the Nazis for financial and political gain. He told Steve Kroft on 60 min. "No regrets, it was only business." I often woder about the jews, they seem to have a tendency to destroy themselves from within, but like to blame others for anti-semitism. BTW, do you think Axelrod, who is a jew with communist background, cares about Israel???
I don't regard anyone associated with Obama, Jew or non Jew, as being in the pro-Israel camp. Look, there were Jews in Russia who were loyal communists who still believed Stalin was their friend and savior as they rotted in the dungeons of the Lubyanka prison or were carted off to the Gulags. There were plenty of Jews in America during WWII who thought Roosevelt was doing everything possible to save the Jews of Europe. Who can explain it? I personally believe it's some form of mental illness specific to Jews who through some kind of irrational ideology lose touch with reality.
Good points.
Lies never die, do they? Soros was born in 1930. He was a child during the Nazi occupation of Hungary. He, like many other people, was forced into helping them. But he was only a child. To say that he did it for financial and political gain is the worst kind of lie, one that is both ugly and clearly, demonstrably false. A more honest way to put it is that he was a child under threat of death. n nAlso Soros worked tirelessly for democracy in post-Soviet Eastern Bloc countries. He is a good man who knows what tyranny really looks like, which is why he was so invested in defeating Bush in 2004. Ironic that an article that supposedly is about how terrible it is that Sheldon Adelson is being demonized is basically a craven piece of misdirection that basically aims to demonize George Soros in his place.
Tobin is worried about the stereotype of the wealthy Jew being used to smear Adelson. That's pretty funny since Adelson gives that stereotype a living, breathing reality the likes of which it never had before. In fact, by the end of the year, he will have contributed more to a single campaign than any person in our history. Is that something that Jews should be proud of?
Demonizing George Soros (and he should be) doesn't make Adelson an honest man.
Huh, Demonize Sheldon/ Really??? nEspecially when the facts are all over about what he is giving, he even admits to it, buying the tepub reps and candidates, as well as what the Koch bros. are doing with the teabag funding and the varied far right orgs., no sercret!! nBut alas, the 'blame Soro's for owning the gov.' crowd still haven't found any connection but for his meager, with his wealth, campaign contributions up till citizens united!! nAnd you say the casino owner with hoards of ready cash, most foreign capital, is being 'demonized', Thanks For The Comedy Spot!!!!!
DEMOCRAT POLITICAL PARTY = nihilistic absence of morality. There is nothing democratic about the Democrat Political Party.