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The same reason the Kochs are the boogeymen of the left (not even the far left. Pelosi and others attended a conspiracy movie about the Kochs, and they have bee

The same reason the Kochs are the boogeymen of the left (not even the far left. Pelosi and others attended a conspiracy movie about the Kochs, and they have been chastised in the Will Ferrel movie "The Campaign." Not to mention how they were accused of things from Maddow & co back in 2009.) People need a boogeyman because the real world is far too complex to comprehend, so having puppeteering bad guys is easier to deal with than reality of people actually having genuine beliefs that you don't agree with. There definitely is some Antisemitism, though I don't think that's the main driver, the left also chastises Sheldon Adelson, who is also jewish.

ModernMech 8y ago
This is a false equivalence. The Kochs are blamed by the left for the vast amount they spend in politics, which is something they actually do. The right blames Soros for insanity, like funding a migrant caravan from South American, or for funding crisis actors to pretend school shootings are happening. That's insanity. There's a clear difference here.
- hueving 8y ago
  The only clear thing is your bias. People on the left also blame Kochs for insane consipiracies and people on the right criticize Soros for the money he spends on politics. Which you get exposed to depends on your echo chamber. Echo chambers don't share the rational arguments of their opposition because nobody wants to think the outgroup has a point.
  - jimjansen1 8y ago
    Equating Soros and the Kochs is literally insane. Edit: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/10/donald-trump-george-soros-caravan https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/10/donald-trump-george-... Please find me an example of Obama publicly endorsing a left wing conspiracy theory about the Koch brothers. I'll wait.
    - root_axis 8y ago
      I agree, but you do a disservice to the argument when you make blanket conclusions without elaboration or evidence.
    - partiallypro 8y ago
      Obama singled out the Kochs in 2015. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/08/26/war-words-obama-v-koch-brothers/32423959/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/08/26/war-... Pelosi and Reid attended a conspiracy movie about the Kochs in 2014 https://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/harry-reid-nancy-pelosi-koch-movie-106735 https://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/harry-reid-nancy-pelo... Funny how we forget. I don't deny Trump is the loudest, he is Trump after all. But I could pull up Maddow, Moyers, etc episodes about the Kochs that are similar to how Tucker, Hannity etc have treated Soros. Trump has also attacked the Kochs (as has Tucker, Brietbart, etc,) fwiw. The Kochs are for DACA, for example. The simple fact is, none of these men (the Kochs or Soros) are "evil," they believe in what they believe and they put their money towards it. Simple as that. And because of that they are boogeymen to each side; since somehow each side thinks they (Soros & the Kochs) have some huge influenced...and having worked in DC circles myself and having various friends that have worked on the Hill...that's just totally false. They all WISH they had that power, and honestly if they did the world would probably be a lot simpler. Real politics is a lot more like Veep than it is House of Cards. That's not as thrilling as people want, but it's the truth.
      - ModernMech 8y ago
        > The simple fact is, none of these men (the Kochs or Soros) are "evil," they believe in what they believe and they put their money towards it. Simple as that. It's one thing for Obama allege the Koch brothers are spending millions to advance an agenda in Congress. It's quite another for Trump to allege George Soros is funding a migrant caravan containing elements of terrorists, gang members, smallpox, and leprosy to invade the US southern border. That's why I'm saying its a false equivalence.
        partiallypro 8y ago
  - ModernMech 8y ago
    I'm always willing to hear outside opinions. I try to consume a variety of news sources. The reason I can so easily cite insanity coming from the right is because a man was moved to kill almost a dozen people just two weeks ago because of his ideas about Soros funding a caravan. That's not really something I picked up "in my echo chamber". Can you point to anything from the left even approaching that kind of level of insanity?
    - southphillyman 8y ago
      >Can you point to anything from the left even approaching that kind of level of insanity? Unfortunately their go to right now, and probably for the next x number of years, is the guy who shot up the Republican baseball game. No doubt there are extremists on both sides, one side just seems to have way more
    - jayess 8y ago
      Man shooting up a baseball game of Republican congressmen while screaming "this is for healthcare!"
      - ModernMech 8y ago
        I'm not saying the there aren't nuts on both sides. Of course there are. This was about conspiracy theories. That some people in government are trying to take away healthcare isn't a conspiracy. That the Koch brothers are funding politicians who are trying to take away healthcare isn't insane. That George Soros is funding a migrant caravan of invaders is a conspiracy theory. This theory was amplified by both the President and Fox News, so it's hard to claim it's not even a mainstream theory.
    - tropo 8y ago
      I don't know why you'd characterize that shooter as "the right". He really hated Trump. He was a socialist. There are a lot of these cases, where a violent person is unjustly tagged as "the right". When someone can't be crammed into that mold, they are dropped from the news. A prime example is the youtube office shooter, who was a female muslim immigrant. As soon as the demographics became clear, the news dropped the story like a hot potato.
albedoa 8y ago
the left also chastises Sheldon Adelson, who is also jewish. I'm trying to connect this with the words preceding it. Do you think the left chastises Adelson for anti-Semitic reasons?
- jayess 8y ago
  Apparently, if you decide to oppose someone and that person happens to be Jewish, then yes, you are now anti-semitic.
- partiallypro 8y ago
  In some cases, maybe, I do think anti-Semitism is bipartisan. But I don't think it's the driving factor for either the left or right (in the US,) that's more of the fringe. I would be willing to bet most people who know of Soros and don't like him, have no clue he's jewish.
zjaffee 8y ago
Except George Soros, and the Koch brothers are absolutely corrupt individuals who exert political influence to insure they don't get in trouble as they incite turmoil (both economic and environmental) around the world for their personal profit. Namely, Koch's being the owners of one of the largest oil companies, and Soros engaging in economic terrorism in south east asia.

ModernMech 8y ago

This is a false equivalence. The Kochs are blamed by the left for the vast amount they spend in politics, which is something they actually do. The right blames Soros for insanity, like funding a migrant caravan from South American, or for funding crisis actors to pretend school shootings are happening. That's insanity. There's a clear difference here.

hueving 8y ago
The only clear thing is your bias. People on the left also blame Kochs for insane consipiracies and people on the right criticize Soros for the money he spends on politics. Which you get exposed to depends on your echo chamber. Echo chambers don't share the rational arguments of their opposition because nobody wants to think the outgroup has a point.
- jimjansen1 8y ago
  Equating Soros and the Kochs is literally insane. Edit: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/10/donald-trump-george-soros-caravan https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/10/donald-trump-george-... Please find me an example of Obama publicly endorsing a left wing conspiracy theory about the Koch brothers. I'll wait.
  - root_axis 8y ago
    I agree, but you do a disservice to the argument when you make blanket conclusions without elaboration or evidence.
  - partiallypro 8y ago
    Obama singled out the Kochs in 2015. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/08/26/war-words-obama-v-koch-brothers/32423959/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/08/26/war-... Pelosi and Reid attended a conspiracy movie about the Kochs in 2014 https://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/harry-reid-nancy-pelosi-koch-movie-106735 https://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/harry-reid-nancy-pelo... Funny how we forget. I don't deny Trump is the loudest, he is Trump after all. But I could pull up Maddow, Moyers, etc episodes about the Kochs that are similar to how Tucker, Hannity etc have treated Soros. Trump has also attacked the Kochs (as has Tucker, Brietbart, etc,) fwiw. The Kochs are for DACA, for example. The simple fact is, none of these men (the Kochs or Soros) are "evil," they believe in what they believe and they put their money towards it. Simple as that. And because of that they are boogeymen to each side; since somehow each side thinks they (Soros & the Kochs) have some huge influenced...and having worked in DC circles myself and having various friends that have worked on the Hill...that's just totally false. They all WISH they had that power, and honestly if they did the world would probably be a lot simpler. Real politics is a lot more like Veep than it is House of Cards. That's not as thrilling as people want, but it's the truth.
    - ModernMech 8y ago
      > The simple fact is, none of these men (the Kochs or Soros) are "evil," they believe in what they believe and they put their money towards it. Simple as that. It's one thing for Obama allege the Koch brothers are spending millions to advance an agenda in Congress. It's quite another for Trump to allege George Soros is funding a migrant caravan containing elements of terrorists, gang members, smallpox, and leprosy to invade the US southern border. That's why I'm saying its a false equivalence.
      - partiallypro 8y ago
- ModernMech 8y ago
  I'm always willing to hear outside opinions. I try to consume a variety of news sources. The reason I can so easily cite insanity coming from the right is because a man was moved to kill almost a dozen people just two weeks ago because of his ideas about Soros funding a caravan. That's not really something I picked up "in my echo chamber". Can you point to anything from the left even approaching that kind of level of insanity?
  - southphillyman 8y ago
    >Can you point to anything from the left even approaching that kind of level of insanity? Unfortunately their go to right now, and probably for the next x number of years, is the guy who shot up the Republican baseball game. No doubt there are extremists on both sides, one side just seems to have way more
  - jayess 8y ago
    Man shooting up a baseball game of Republican congressmen while screaming "this is for healthcare!"
    - ModernMech 8y ago
      I'm not saying the there aren't nuts on both sides. Of course there are. This was about conspiracy theories. That some people in government are trying to take away healthcare isn't a conspiracy. That the Koch brothers are funding politicians who are trying to take away healthcare isn't insane. That George Soros is funding a migrant caravan of invaders is a conspiracy theory. This theory was amplified by both the President and Fox News, so it's hard to claim it's not even a mainstream theory.
  - tropo 8y ago
    I don't know why you'd characterize that shooter as "the right". He really hated Trump. He was a socialist. There are a lot of these cases, where a violent person is unjustly tagged as "the right". When someone can't be crammed into that mold, they are dropped from the news. A prime example is the youtube office shooter, who was a female muslim immigrant. As soon as the demographics became clear, the news dropped the story like a hot potato.

albedoa 8y ago

the left also chastises Sheldon Adelson, who is also jewish. I'm trying to connect this with the words preceding it. Do you think the left chastises Adelson for anti-Semitic reasons?

jayess 8y ago
Apparently, if you decide to oppose someone and that person happens to be Jewish, then yes, you are now anti-semitic.
partiallypro 8y ago
In some cases, maybe, I do think anti-Semitism is bipartisan. But I don't think it's the driving factor for either the left or right (in the US,) that's more of the fringe. I would be willing to bet most people who know of Soros and don't like him, have no clue he's jewish.

zjaffee 8y ago

Except George Soros, and the Koch brothers are absolutely corrupt individuals who exert political influence to insure they don't get in trouble as they incite turmoil (both economic and environmental) around the world for their personal profit. Namely, Koch's being the owners of one of the largest oil companies, and Soros engaging in economic terrorism in south east asia.