The Other McCain

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‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory

Posted on | November 25, 2013 | 76 Comments

Lisa Graves is a Democrat Party hack who apparently believes it should be illegal to be a conservative, and who thinks that cooperation between conservatives is therefore a criminal conspiracy. Graves used to work for Democrat Sen. Patrick Leahy and the ACLU, but since 2009 has worked for the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), a left-wing Wisconsin outfit whose funders include George Soros:

The website www.Banksterusa.org, for example, claims it wants “to be your go-to site for updates on the financial services re-regulation fight in Congress and for progressive net-roots campaigning against the big boys on Wall Street.” . . .
BanksterUSA.org is “part of the Center for Media and Democracy,” funded to the tune of $200,000 by the Open Society Institute, the charity arm of lefty investor George Soros.

While taking money from Soros — a billionaire international financier — Graves and the CMD claim that money is a corrupting influence in politics if that money goes to conservatives: The Wisconsin Club for Growth is “at the center of a tangled web of dark money“!

This bizarre paranoid nonsense is all part of a dishonest smear against supporters of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who defeated a well-funded recall attempt by Democrats and their Big Labor allies in 2012.

A special prosecutor, evidently connected to the Democrat district attorney of Milwaukee County, has begun issuing subpoenas to conservative groups in an investigative fishing expedition that “suggest the government may be pursuing a theory of illegal campaign coordination by independent groups during the recall elections,” according to a Wall Street Journal report last week.

Walker’s name has been mentioned as a 2016 GOP presidential candidate. He is up for re-election as governor next year. How convenient, then, that Lisa Graves and her Soros-funded CMD are promoting this smear against Walker. M.D. Kittle reports:

If Madison’s Center for Media and Democracy has its way, government investigators armed with subpoenas may soon raid the homes and offices of conservatives across the country in a national campaign that began right here, in the Democrat-controlled Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office.
Beginning with a press conference last week and promising a yearlong coordinated effort, CMD has spent several days speculating on the links between free-market political organizations. Any kind of cooperation among those groups to elect a conservative – for example, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker – is evidence of wrongdoing, CMD suggests in a rambling post on its website. . . .
Multiple sources tell Wisconsin Reporter that CMD’s claim is the basis of the Milwaukee DA’s investigation into about 100 people representing some 29 conservative and libertarian groups.
Despite CMD’s assertions, there’s no law barring cooperation among political groups. That fact may derail the Milwaukee DA’s probe, now headed by special prosecutor Francis Schmitz.
It was left to a reporter to make that point during last week’s CMD conference call.
“Why should we be surprised conservative-funded groups are funding conservative causes?” the reporter asked. Doesn’t the same thing occur on the left?
The answer, according to CMD executive director Lisa Graves: Yes, but the left is morally superior in its motives.
“The question of conservative funders versus liberal funders, I think, is a matter of false equivalency,” Graves responded. “Quite frankly a number of these (corporate donors) like Koch Industries … they’re advancing not just an ideological agenda but an agenda that helps advance the bottom line of their corporate interests. That’s quite a distinct difference from some of the funders in the progressive universe.”
At the heart of CMD’s campaign is the suggestion that conservative political groups cannot legally work together. Liberal groups? That seems to be okay.

Read the whole thing at Watchdog.org. Where do people get the idea that “corporate interests” are evil in a way that liberal interests (including the interests of George Soros) are not?

Idiots like Lisa Graves need to use a better quality of tinfoil in their hats. You can’t stop CIA brain-control waves with cheap tinfoil.

 

Category: Conspiracy Theories, Wisconsin

Comments

76 Responses to “‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory”

  1. CHideout
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:08 am

    ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory: Lisa Graves is a Democrat Party h… http://t.co/lPH860oUm2

  2. Resista38176897
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:08 am

    ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory: Lisa Graves is a Democrat Party h… http://t.co/J34ZIbGeeb

  3. jwbrown1969
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:08 am

    ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory: Lisa Graves is a Democrat Party h… http://t.co/1IKaMb3PkY

  4. Lockestep1776
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:08 am

    ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory: Lisa Graves is a Democrat Party h… http://t.co/E4xUFr37vy

  5. Citzcom
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:08 am

    ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory: Lisa Graves is a Democrat Party h… http://t.co/qaUf3tuc7k

  6. rmnixondeceased
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:17 am

    Graves responded. “Quite frankly a number of these (corporate donors) like Koch Industries … they’re advancing not just an ideological agenda but an agenda that helps advance the bottom line of their corporate
    interests. That’s quite a distinct difference from some of the funders in the progressive universe.”     (Emphasis mine).
    What about the progressive funders not included in the some mentioned in her statement? Is that the same as saying that some progressives are not evil intentioned nihilists?

  7. rsmccain
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:21 am

    ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory http://t.co/Zs6Z0lksi7 Hat-tip: @wisconsinreport #tcot

  8. ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory : The Other McCain | Dead Citizen's Rights Society
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:22 am

    […] Read the rest … […]

  9. rsmccain
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:27 am

    Join the “dark money” conspiracy: Link my blog! http://t.co/Zs6Z0lksi7 @instapundit @lanceburri @vadum @rdbrewer4 @JammieWF @FranklinCenter

  10. rsmccain
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:30 am

    PARANOIA: “Idiots like @TheLisaGraves need to use a better quality of tinfoil in their hats.” http://t.co/Zs6Z0lksi7 cc @WisconsinReport

  11. mooseandskwerl
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:33 am

    RT @rsmccain: PARANOIA: “Idiots like @TheLisaGraves need to use a better quality of tinfoil in their hats.” http://t.co/Zs6Z0lksi7 cc @Wisc…

  12. instapundit
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:34 am

    RT @rsmccain: Join the “dark money” conspiracy: Link my blog! http://t.co/Zs6Z0lksi7 @instapundit @lanceburri @vadum @rdbrewer4 @JammieWF @…

  13. SHAWSBLOG1
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:35 am

    RT @rsmccain: Join the “dark money” conspiracy: Link my blog! http://t.co/Zs6Z0lksi7 @instapundit @lanceburri @vadum @rdbrewer4 @JammieWF @…

  14. DanRiehl
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:35 am

    RT @rsmccain: Join the “dark money” conspiracy: Link my blog! http://t.co/hr1X7MI8Tn

  15. mooseandskwerl
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:35 am

    RT @DanRiehl: RT @rsmccain: Join the “dark money” conspiracy: Link my blog! http://t.co/hr1X7MI8Tn

  16. rdbrewer4
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:36 am

    RT @rsmccain: Join the “dark money” conspiracy: Link my blog! http://t.co/Zs6Z0lksi7 @instapundit @lanceburri @vadum @rdbrewer4 @JammieWF @…

  17. JammieWF
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:40 am

    RT @rsmccain: Join the “dark money” conspiracy: Link my blog! http://t.co/Zs6Z0lksi7 @instapundit @lanceburri @vadum @rdbrewer4 @JammieWF @…

  18. Kevin Trainor Jr.
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:42 am

    Kevin Trainor Jr. liked this on Facebook.

  19. OwainPenllyn
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:44 am

    ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory http://t.co/Q5Y2N3uaW9 via @rsmccain #tcot

  20. OwainPenllyn
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:46 am

    @TheLisaGraves #Wi #Dem Party hack who believes it should be illegal to be a conservative http://t.co/zz3X6gQ5eI #tcot

  21. Neo
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:47 am

    Caught a Bill Moyers show on PBS with guest, Harry Giroux (I think).

    He would have declared Lisa Graves to be part of the “Liberal Center” (which includes Barack Obama) that has sold out to the billionaires and the bankers.

  22. OwainPenllyn
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:47 am

    @/TheLisaGraves #Wi #Dem Party hack who believes it should be illegal to be a conservative http://t.co/zz3X6gQ5eI #tgdn

  23. RufusChoate
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:48 am

    Isn’t Soros a convicted felon for insider trading in France? Does the irony that a person convicted of using confidential and private information about a corporation for personal profit is considered a trustworthy and honest source of funding for the Left? Orwellian? Yes.

  24. vadum
    November 25th, 2013 @ 10:57 am

    RT @rsmccain: Join the “dark money” conspiracy: Link my blog! http://t.co/Zs6Z0lksi7 @instapundit @lanceburri @vadum @rdbrewer4 @JammieWF @…

  25. nofixedabode
    November 25th, 2013 @ 11:01 am

    RT @rsmccain: ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory http://t.co/Zs6Z0lksi7 Hat-tip: @wisconsinreport …

  26. ZEPHYR5_
    November 25th, 2013 @ 11:01 am

    RT @rsmccain: PARANOIA: “Idiots like @TheLisaGraves need to use a better quality of tinfoil in their hats.” http://t.co/Zs6Z0lksi7 cc @Wisc…

  27. nofixedabode
    November 25th, 2013 @ 11:04 am

    RT @rsmccain: PARANOIA: “Idiots like @TheLisaGraves need to use a better quality of tinfoil in their hats.” http://t.co/Zs6Z0lksi7 cc @Wisc…

  28. Katiescarlet2
    November 25th, 2013 @ 11:04 am

    ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory http://t.co/MnWLthftdw

  29. McKinleyPitts
    November 25th, 2013 @ 11:06 am

    ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory http://t.co/zLYBUsxfCK

  30. Coondawg68
    November 25th, 2013 @ 11:11 am

    RT @rsmccain: ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory http://t.co/Zs6Z0lksi7 Hat-tip: @wisconsinreport …

  31. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    November 25th, 2013 @ 11:15 am

    Bill Moyers is the biggest whore of them all. He prattles his moral superiority while milking PBS and donors for all its worth.

  32. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    November 25th, 2013 @ 11:15 am

    I thought big money in politics was a bad thing?

  33. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    November 25th, 2013 @ 11:18 am

    Where do people get the idea that “corporate interests” are evil in a way that liberal interests (including the interests of George Soros) are not?

    I assume they get those ideas from the same source that suggests peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are racist?

  34. rsmccain
    November 25th, 2013 @ 11:25 am

    RT @OwainPenllyn: ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory http://t.co/Q5Y2N3uaW9 via @rsmccain #tcot

  35. rsmccain
    November 25th, 2013 @ 11:25 am

    RT @DanRiehl: RT @rsmccain: Join the “dark money” conspiracy: Link my blog! http://t.co/hr1X7MI8Tn

  36. Quartermaster
    November 25th, 2013 @ 11:38 am

    Only if it’s from Conservatives.

  37. JoyKeller1
    November 25th, 2013 @ 11:45 am

    ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s #Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory http://t.co/n8kg5H0dTE

  38. robertstacymccain
    November 25th, 2013 @ 11:53 am

    Remember that Bill Moyers worked for LBJ, one of the most legendary corrupt Democrats in the long history of corrupt Democrats.

  39. joethefatman1
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:02 pm

    ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory http://t.co/Ypd7TISjD4

  40. Johnny Alamo
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:07 pm

    All you need to know right here: she’s as lefty as they come. Plus she’s a highly-placed lefty.

    http://www.topwonks.org/experts/lisa-graves/

    Lisa Graves: Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief, Center for Media and Democracy

    Publisher, ALECexposed.org, PRWatch.org, SourceWatch.org, and BanksterUSA.org, and President of the Board of Directors of the Bill of
    Rights Defense Committee

    Lisa is the Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy, a national investigative watchdog group that launched the award-winning investigative project ALECexposed.org in 2011, and that publishes PRWatch.org (CMD’s original reporting site), SourceWatch.org (its specialized encyclopedia of front groups), and BanksterUSA.org (its site on Wall Street and economic reforms).

    CMD focuses on exposing corporate PR spin and efforts to influence policy and the media and it specializes in exposés on corporate-funded front groups such as shadowy groups running ads to influence elections nationally. CMD also does local reporting in Wisconsin, where CMD is located and was founded. Lisa joined CMD is late 2009. Since she joined CMD, it has won an I.F. Stone Award from the Park Center, a Sidney from the Hillman Foundation, and other investigative journalism awards.

    She has testified as an expert before both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. She has also appeared as an expert on CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, CNBC, BBC, C-SPAN, Democracy Now!, the Thom Hartmann Show, Al Jazeera America, and other TV news programs as well as numerous radio shows, including National Public Radio, Pacifica Radio, and scores of others. Her analysis has been quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, The Associated Press, Reuters, USA Today, The Nation, The Progressive, In These Times, Mother Jones, Vanity Fair, Congressional Quarterly, Roll Call, National Journal, Legal Times, Newsday, Wired, and the Texas Law Review, as well as online in The Huffington Post and countless other blogs.

    She previously held a career post at the U.S. Justice Department as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Policy/Office of Policy Development where her portfolio included leading the office’s gun policy work and being managing editor of the National Integrated Firearms Violence Reduction Strategy; working with the White House as the leader of DOJ’s Working Group on Judicial Nominations vetting potential nominees; helping to revise asylum rules; helping to implement the trafficking in persons legislation and the Children’s Health Insurance Program; aiding public-private efforts to reduce hate crimes and youth violence.

    See more at: http://www.topwonks.org/experts/lisa-graves/#sthash.02KekkhM.dpuf

  41. instapundit
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:07 pm

    RT @rsmccain: ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory http://t.co/Zs6Z0lksi7 Hat-tip: @wisconsinreport …

  42. Shutterbugfun
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:09 pm

    ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory http://t.co/sDXIgt2sid

  43. Wombat_socho
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:11 pm

    Never forget the message of this inspirational poster!

  44. richard mcenroe
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:12 pm

    Remember he was LBJ’s cut-out man for IRS harrassment of LBJ’s political enemies.

  45. Wombat_socho
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:13 pm

    “Bill of Rights Defense Committee”? Now there’s some weapons-grade irony for you.

  46. BredRightAndTrue
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:19 pm

    “Why should we be surprised conservative-funded groups are funding conservative causes?” the reporter asked. “Doesn’t the same thing occur on the left?”

    The answer, according to CMD executive director Lisa Graves: “Yes, but the left is morally superior in its motives.”

    Millions-upon-millions-upon-millions of mutilated and dead babies, anyone? The lies, hubris, and hypocrisy of leftists is astounding. Far from surprising, but downright astounding all the same.

    And, to think this fugly, commie cow most likely uttered this deceitful nonsense with a straight face. *smh*

  47. screwtape1a12
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:24 pm

    RT @rsmccain: ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory http://t.co/Zs6Z0lksi7 Hat-tip: @wisconsinreport …

  48. newagerain
    November 25th, 2013 @ 12:33 pm

    RT @rsmccain: ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory http://t.co/Zs6Z0lksi7 Hat-tip: @wisconsinreport …

  49. rsmccain
    November 25th, 2013 @ 1:07 pm

    RT @Katiescarlet2: ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory http://t.co/MnWLthftdw

  50. rsmccain
    November 25th, 2013 @ 1:07 pm

    RT @Citzcom: ‘Dark Money’! ‘Corporate Interests’! The Left’s Wisconsin Conspiracy Theory: Lisa Graves is a Democrat Party h… http://t.co/…