They Should At Least TRY To Make It Difficult!

From today's Dateline DC, we read a sordid warning story of a politically connected mega-millionaire who buys up a weekly news magazine - and who may be (just may be) planning on using his connections to a political think tank to skew the news.

Yes, it's in the pages of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review but no it's not about Richard Mellon Scaife, the mega-millionaire (billionaire?) who owns the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and who uses his connections to right wing political think tanks to skew the news.

No, it's about Sidney Harman and his ties to the Institute for Policy Studies, his millions, his wife California Representative Jane Harman and his purchase of Newsweek Magazine.

The funniest line in the whole piece is found when the Dateline DC writer (who writes anonymously) says this of the Washington Post's coverage of the story:

As usual, The Post gave us all the news it thought we should know.

As usual, the Trib gives us all the news it thinks we should know in this column. For instance, did you know that there were other prospective buyers for Newsweek?

Chris Potter had the story a few weeks ago, so you should. In that story, after linking back to this blog (thanks Chris, for that you can have my Soros check this week), he quotes this piece in the Wall Street Journal:

A private-equity firm and a publisher of a right-wing magazine are among prospective buyers expected to enter the first round of bidding for Newsweek magazine.

OpenGate Capital, the investment firm that owns TV Guide, plans to formally declare its interest in acquiring Newsweek before Wednesday's deadline for nonbinding bids, according to managing partner Andrew Nikou. Christopher Ruddy, publisher of the conservative monthly magazine Newsmax, said he also plans to bid.

Wasn't it only a few days ago when I pointed out how Richard Mellon Scaife owns 40% of Newsmax?

So Newsmax was in the running (whatever that means) for the purchase of Newsweek and Newsmax is 40% owned by his/her boss at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and yet the writer of Dateline DC sought fit to omit that part from her/his piece on the sale.

All while accusing the Washington Post of omitting salient facts about a story about Representative Jane Harman.

Here's Dateline DC continuing:

As usual, The Post gave us all the news it thought we should know. So we turned to the Los Angeles Times.

It's not as if the Dateline DC writer couldn't have known about Newsmax as it's in the LATimes:

Other bidders included Fred Drasner, a former executive at U.S. News & World Report and the New York Daily News, and investment firm Avenue Capital Group, people familiar with the matter said. Private-equity firm OpenGate Capital and publisher Newsmax Media Inc. also considered buying the magazine.

Do yourself a favor. Go read Dateline DC. See if you can spot the details for the conspiracy theory:

Sidney Harman married to Representative Jane Harman. Jane Harman caught on an NSA wiretap colluding with an "Israeli operative" concerning some Israeli spies.

If you can't spot the conspiracy, here it is:

And now this very well-matured millionaire owns Newsweek. Every sign is screaming that he will continue to let the magazine serve as a conduit for those American policies that match the best policies advanced by Israel.

Nothing like a good Israeli conspiracy to boost Monday's caffeine.