A short piece in Politico (Democrats to plot strategy at private conference) lets us know of an upcoming private meeting to be held by Democrats. The event, organized by the Atlas Project and titled Atlas Debrief: Putting 2010 into Perspective, is pitched by its organizers this way: “Join Atlas as we discuss the lessons of 2010 and start planning for 2012.” The meeting is closed to the press.
It will be interesting to see how coverage of this event compares to coverage of last month’s meeting of conservatives in Palm Springs. When Democrats hold closed-door meetings, it will probably be described in the press — if it receives much coverage at all — as “planning.” When conservatives meet — especially if organized by Charles and David Koch — it’s sinisterly described with loaded terms like “political,” “shadowy,” “secrecy” — and worse.
A coalition of left-wing advocacy groups protested the conservative meeting. Will there be a protest at this Washington meeting of liberal activists? I doubt it. Those who advocate for freedom are quite willing to let others meet as they choose.
Washington Post continues to misinform
Related to this, a recent opinion piece in the Washington Post by Katrina vanden Heuvel continues to misinform — or lie — about appearances by two United States Supreme Court Justices. In the piece, she writes “Scalia and Thomas have also come under fire for appearing at political retreats hosted by Tea Party financier Charles Koch before the Citizens United case came before the court. Even if the case was not pending, the justices showed poor judgment in attending an event that raised a troubling perception of conflict of interest.”
In an oblique way complete with an “even if,” she’s raising a charge about Scalia and Thomas that has been thoroughly discredited by anyone who can read a calendar, as this Politico article reports.
The charges vanden Heuvel raises have been shown to have all the gravity and credibility of a publicity stunt played out by the left-wing advocacy group Common Cause.
It’s also not accurate to label Charles Koch a “Tea Party financier,” as shown here. And the meetings that are the subject of the Scalia and Thomas complaints were hosted by the Federalist Society, although they were held in conjunction with Koch-organized events. Also, it was the Federalist Society that reimbursed the justices’ expenses.
It’s a wonder why a mainstream newspaper like the Washington Post prints articles like this. But as we’ve seen, the Washington Post doesn’t care much for accuracy.