Posted on 10/29/2004 10:41:24 AM PDT by 50 Cal
WASHINGTON – Billionaire investor, donor to radical causes and political activist George Soros, speaking at the last-hurrah event of his whirlwind anti-Bush tour, told a luncheon audience at the National Press Club: “Now that I am at the end of my tour, I am not reassured. ... The race is too close for comfort.”
“I embarked on the tour because I was worried that the dramatic deterioration in Iraq did not produce the decisive lead for John Kerry I had confidently expected,” Soros conceded.
Story Continues Below
Asked what he will do if George W. Bush wins another term, Soros lamented: “I shall go into some kind of monastery. If we endorse him [Bush], my next question will be ‘what’s wrong with us?’”
Competing for attention at the National Press Club was a contingent from the National Legal and Policy Center that has been shadowing Soros during his recent appearances in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida.
At a separate press conference, the Center announced the formation of its “Soros Truth Squad,” touting the fact that just hours before, it had filed suit with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaining of the activities of two nonprofit organizations that hosted Soros’ current round of anti-Bush speeches.
Also the subject of formal complaint by the Center: Soros himself. The Center alleges that Soros has failed to report “significant travel, public relations and other costs associated with his speaking tour.”
During the Center’s presentation, a representative who came over from the Soros luncheon contingent shouted out that the allegations against Soros were false. Peter Flaherty, the president of the Center, countered that Soros had not yet been served with the complaint, so how could the gentleman know it was falsely based?
Meanwhile at the luncheon, NewsMax was on hand to ask Soros about the just-filed complaint. With no small amount of irony, Soros replied: “It’s a shady group supported by a shady billionaire. ... I think I was well within my rights under the First Amendment.”
The Soros luncheon was crashed by a heckler who grabbed the microphone and held up a picture of his dead son – apparently the victim of a drug overdose (Soros supports the legalization of marijuana, the use of methadone and even the clinical dosing of addicts with heroin).
A couple of burly men in suits wrestled the man roughly out of the ballroom, smacking him into a door jam before resuming their stations to the left and right ends of the head table.
Soros stayed on topic. “Some people have a false understanding of where I stand [on drugs]."
Soros opined that Kerry was going to win Ohio, owing in no small measure to the 850,000 newly registered voters there. He added that he hoped the Republican “voter suppression” would not dampen the grass-roots movement against Bush he has been fostering during his round of speeches.
“I am very concerned about the election being dependent on the courts. Knowing who will be president on November 2 is rather slim,” Soros said. “It’s all very demeaning of the democratic process in this country.”
Conceding that his hope for a “Democrat landslide” has gone by the boards, his only direct remark about candidate Kerry was that he knew him personally and that he would make “a good president.”
Another tepid endorsement of Kerry came as he explained that, in his opinion, Kerry understood that “offense is not necessarily the best defense if it offends those whose allegiance we need. John Kerry is aware of this other dimension. ... He is nuanced because reality is complicated. ...
“John Kerry won all three debates but President Bush invokes his faith and that inspires his followers. ... Bush has shown that he is incapable of recognizing his mistakes. He insists on making reality conform to his beliefs even at the cost of deceiving himself and deliberately deceiving the public.”
“We have been spared a terrorist attack at home, but it is quite a stretch to attribute that to the invasion of Iraq,” Soros argued. “The insurrection in Iraq, however, is a somber reality and it doesn’t make us safer at home. Our security, far from improving as President Bush claims, is deteriorating.”
Soros concluded: “If we elect President Bush, the war on terror will never end. The terrorists are invisible, therefore they can never disappear. It is our civil liberties that may disappear instead.”
Meanwhile, back at the “Soros Truth Squad,” Flaherty noted emotionally: “God is right here at the National Press Club! ... I wonder if he has embarked on his tour because he wishes that he were the candidate, instead of Kerry?”
Next time keep you money in your pocket. A fool and his money are soon parted.
Just goes to show, money can't buy everything!
S'okay. I'd rather that jerk not have it anyway!
Ah......if there's been NO attacks within our boarders, how are we less safe? What am I miss'n here?
Yo, Georgie, what's this 'we' crap, Keemosabee!?
Per the usual, the lib knows what's best for you and I.
MV
He and the rest of the idiots in the D party are having their eyes opened to the fact that put their money on a losing horseface.
"“I embarked on the tour because I was worried that the dramatic deterioration in Iraq did not produce the decisive lead for John Kerry I had confidently expected,” Soros conceded. "
An oddly telling quote.
Do you ever wonder where the terrorists in Iraq are getting all their cash from?
Isn't George Soros a convicted felon in France? I believe if he goes back there he's due some hard time bustin' rocks. GW wins, let's deport him.
What you mean "we", Kemosabe?
After next Tuesday, be nice to see the SEC open an investigation of Georgie Porgie..
“I shall go into some kind of monastery. If we endorse him [Bush], my next question will be ‘what’s wrong with us?’”
MUSIC to my ears! I'd like to NEVER hear from him again in ANY form.
I smell the Soros RAT when I see gas prices almost double in three months.
I smell the Soros RAT when I see the MSM throwing every possible smear they can dredge at the President.
I even smell the Soros RAT when I see the chaos and pandemonium in Iraq, which I believe is funded at least in part by him.
The State Department should have packaged his sorry billionaire carcus in a trunk and sent it back to Russia with Love.
He's wanted by Russia for currency tampering, but State won't extradite him.
Whasssup. George! I thought he was going to dedicate 'his entire fortune' to defeating GW - Last I heard, he had only spent a trifling 25 million out of his billions, and I bet he is mad over wasting that!
What a buffoon.
Thank goodness CFR has removed the stain of money from politics...
Us? US!?!
What an arrogant, LIBERAL remark (now lets all hold hands and sing Kum ba yah)
I caught that too. Do you get the impression that a lot of the terrorist funding in Iraq will dry up after Nov. 2nd?
GMTA
yep.
And I'm guessing that oil prices will drop like a rock after november 2nd as well.
If by monastery he means Russian prison I think that is where he should go.
Such a defining description of the modern "Hate America" liberal. The only thing that matters is political power for liberals, all else be damned.............
You gotta wonder about that. Of course, it is no surprise that rooting for the death of US soldiers in no way to endear himself to the American public.
George Soros is the Lyndon LaRouche of the new Millenium. After this, no candidate will be able to survive being even distantly associated with him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.