Posted on 08/30/2021 12:09:43 PM PDT by BurgessKoch
There were rumors in the summer of 2018 that an audiotape was circulating that would send shockwaves through the think tanks of Washington and the conservative intellectual movement in particular. A top Google executive had been recorded telling his fellow employees that Google generously donated to conservative think tanks and magazines to dampen criticism of their anti-conservative bias. In essence, Google was buying off Conservatism Inc. and the GOP establishment to stay silent while Google monitored, harassed, and excluded Trump supporters. If true, the tape sounded like a smoking gun: incontrovertible evidence of the corruption and double-dealing of Conservatism Inc. that would permanently discredit it with Republican voters.
I was told that the tape had been offered as an exclusive to the Wall Street Journal. Months went by, and nothing happened. (There were rumors during that time that Big Tech lobbyists were trying very hard to get the Wall Street Journal to kill the story.) Then I began to get a series of messages from various anonymous sources that the organizations that were guilty of taking Google money to stay silent included: the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), the Cato Institute, CPAC, the Weekly Standard and the National Review. (A weak article appeared on September 27th by John McKinnon in the Wall Street Journal but it hardly mentioned the tape or its implications.) This was, needless to say, a huge story: was it possible that the entire conservative intellectual movement was being bought off by Big Tech companies?
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(Excerpt) Read more at emeralddb3.substack.com ...
The funny thing is that Goldberg, Hayes, and French were probably the biggest Never Trumpers in the place. Lowry actually became one of his biggest defenders.
Sit tight. The Charles Krauthammer Institute of effete pseudo-intellectual Snobbery will be in touch.
WFB should have done a better job in selecting his successors.
I recently got around to recycling my stacks of old NR magazines. When it became obvious that NR was no longer conservative, I canceled my subscription.
What kind of magazine dumps Mark Steyn?
“WFB should have done a better job in selecting his successors.”
Agreed.
unlessuntil there’s a public link to this putative “audiotape” it doesn’t exist ...
This conclusion doesn't make any sense. The neocons weren't seeking to "rebuild", they were trying to keep the lights on while draining every nickel out of what was left of the subscriber base.
She doesn't understand how much self-delusion both French and Jonah are made of. They thought they could Axios their way out of Null Reviled.
She should be celebrating NR's demise not writing pieces that kvetch about Twitter beefs. Lame as all hell...
I think you’re being a smartass, but that is a little funny.
For the record, I was not a fan of Krauthammer. He was a blowhard and when he came on, I changed the channel.
Even worse were the FNC countless tributes to him after he died. I saw his biography once, and that was enough. They must have shown it a hundred times or more. It wouldn’t surprise me if they still are.
National Review showed us who they were with the “Against Trump” cover.
I know Glenn Beck did a mea culpa, maybe but did any of the rest?
Particularly Katie Pavlich, did she ever admit she was wrong?
How about Mr. Meghan McCain?
“The tape had been offered as an exclusive to the Wall Street Journal.” The tape simply supports the conclusion that some conservatives do not support patriotic Americans which everyone knows is true and makes me feel pity for the individuals in the group of “some conservatives” who are fakes and losers.
The recording also offers candid insight into Google’s efforts to stop or water down two then-pending pieces of legislation, most notably a bill aimed at inhibiting sex trafficking that also removed some protections shielding internet companies from liability for the content on their platforms. “We've worked really hard behind the scenes for the last nine months to try to modify that bill, to slow it down,” said [Google Director of U.S. Policy] Kovacevich.
That is 100% accurate about Google throwing money around trying to squash that bill.
Is this “tape” a huge bombshell like the ones Lin Wood claimed to have?
Many of you who follow me on Twit know my thoughts on this.
NONE of these guys-—Frenchfry, Goldburger, Geraghty, Hayes, Kristol-—were ever, ever conservatives. They were the paid Washington Generals of the media/cocktail circuit.
Their job was to show up, state the “conservative position” that EVERYONE KNEW would never become reality. Then at the end, grin like baboons, and say, “Of course, we know that’s not going to happen.” They then walked off with their thirty pieces of silver.
The problem arose when Trump arrived on the scene. Even before he was president, these dill-wads knew he meant what he said. They knew if it was humanly possible Trump would enact into policy and law those things he actually said.
And that terrified them.
It got worse after the election and he DID those things.
Do don’t be fooled. None of these toadstickers were ever conservatives in their lives. They were court jesters performing.
Surely there are “real conservatives” who show up, state conservative positions that will never become a reality, and are contented with that. Modern conservatism was based on free market ideals that had little chance of becoming a reality. That’s what “real conservatism” was for every long time.
I spoke w/ Goldberg at a “conservative” event in DC in the late 90s as he was becoming the anointed one.
Arrogant p.o.s. I’ve not been surprised by anything he’s said or done since.
Frankly, the rest of the 90’s DC conservatives were just a bunch of tools. Only a few that I met stood out, like Balint Vaszony, Walter Williams (not of DC), and ... uhm, can’t think of anyone else who wasn’t a self-serving fraud.
Thankfully, I after found FR.
Btw, great article. Thanks for posting.
Had an NR subscription from 1980 to 2017.
Finally could not take the TDS.
Breitbart covered it 2 years ago
Thanks! I definitely trust Breitbart. In addition to reading them, they have news programs on the Patriot (Sirius XM) station that I listen to.
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