This is the same AG that blocked the court ordered release of two people who had been wrongfully imprisoned for decades. This was like two people in as many weeks, just a month or so ago. What the hell is going on with Missouri?
Does a news article contain a question mark? Then it’s not a news article.
How Right-Wing Billionaires Infiltrated Higher Education
The key, Pierson explained, was to fund the conservative intelligentsia in such a way that it would not ‘raise questions about academic integrity.’ Instead of trying to earmark a chair or dictate a faculty appointment, both of which he noted were bound to ‘generate fierce controversy,’ he suggested that conservative donors look for like-minded faculty members whose influence could be enlarged by outside funding.”
“They must be given grants, grants, and more grants in exchange for books, books, and more books. [To be clear, books written by the Ivy League professors Olin bought; not books for students]
They know their ideas are bad for us and they’re forcing them through anyway. I’m sure nothing we don’t already imagine, but the linked excerpt from Jane Mayer’s Dark Money brings receipts.
I’ve had this setup and would recommend but since I’ve switched from OpenVPN to Wiregaurd I’m getting constantly hit by cloud flare verification s and captchas… and my IP hasn’t changed once since. Wondering if that’s just the environment now or specific to my protocol change. Any readers’ experiences?
He’s a Mellon. I couldn’t figure out how they’re related, but Richard Mellon Scaife is a big part of the reason we’re in the political mess we are today day. Americans distrusted corporations in the 1970s - tobacco, Dow Chemical, Nader’s Unsafe at Any Speed… also low income inequality. In response, future SCOTUS Justice Powell - who was on the board of Philip Morris and close friends with GM’s general counsel wrote what was intended to be secret memo for members of the US Chamber of Commerce:
‘Attack on American Free Enterprise System’ was written to transform corporate America into a “vanguard.” Contents include “the American economic system is under attack… [enemies are] perfectly respectable elements of society…the college campus, the pulpit*, the media, the intellectual and literary journals, the arts and sciences, politicians.” Capitalists need to wage “guerrilla warfare” against those seeking to “insidiously” undermine them. “Capture public opinion by exerting influence over the institutions that shape it - academia, the media, the churches, and the courts - to control debate at its source.” Said donors should demand a say in university hiring and curriculum and “press vigorously in all political arenas.” Key to victory is “careful long-range planning and implementation” with a “scale of financing available only through joint effort.” The memo spurred the ultra-conservative foundations to weaponize their “philanthropic” giving to “fight a multi-front war of influence over American political thought.”
The Coors family heeded the call first, followed by Mellon Scaife who massively overshadowed the Coors’. These foundations, that only existed for inheritance tax avoidance, were weaponized right at this moment… two months before Powell was nominated to The Court.
That’s how close we came to living in a good timeline.
And I’m only 1/4 of the way through Jane Mayer’s Dark Money; maybe just a tip of an iceberg. I’d suggest it’s required reading for every American. I should add Mayer is also responsible for unmasking Clarence Thomas in Strange Justice, the source for nearly everything we know about his grotesque history. I haven’t read it.
*this was pre-Moral Majority, but not by much.
In case readers wants a journalist’s take instead of the subject themselves, link below. I think anyone noticing the hyperbolic way she spoke in the interview would quickly be seeking out a non-first-person perspective. The interviewer didn’t even allude to the pre-existing controversy around this lady, what terrible journalism.
This anecdote from the article is technically hearsay, but I for sure buy that a person who uses language like she does is the same kind of person who’d write this:
Aylo also shared a screenshot with The Independent of a post it said Mickelwait shared then deleted on X, describing her husband as a “trained sniper who can consistently hit a target 1360 yards away.”
Her Rommate, Luzer Twersky, has a fascinating name.
We have gods in America. No other way to describe billionaires with unending resources that can be pointed at whatever whim they want, coupled with no consequences for anything they do.
It’s seeming like a tide of unthinkability bias is awashing the country. Maybe there’s a better word for the phenomenon where one just can’t contemplate what could be a really bad problem. Or if one can, ‘oh but [the grim outcome] is so far down the road…’
The tragic state of our institutions.
Judicial Branch- no longer legitimate; captured
Executive Branch- teetering on the ballot; captured (extent depending on one’s politics.)
Legislature- so captured it needs no further mention.
Press- owned by the folks that captured the other branches.
Safety nets and regs: being systematically dismantled by the illegitimate judicial branch to the benefit of the capturing parties.
Porn has too much influence and control in terms of content.
Would you expand on this? I’m interested to know what’s being referred to.
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dynamic_generals
joined 6 months ago
For anyone without a New Yorker subscription, these journalists are podcasters. This investigation is season 3 of In the Dark. I found it worthwhile and recommendable, which I admit understates the lengths they went to in unearthing the story.