Inside the Mind of an Oligarch – Sheldon Adelson Proclaims “I Don’t Like Journalism”

If you’ve read any of my articles over the past several years, you will be well aware of my disdain toward a small group of individuals I refer to as oligarchs, and their destructive influence on America and the world at large. When people hear “oligarch” they probably automatically assume I simply mean billionaires and other extraordinarily wealthy people, but as with most things in life, it’s not that simple.

In a nutshell, while many oligarchs are extremely wealthy (or have access to extreme wealth), not all people with extreme wealth are oligarchs. The term oligarch is reserved for those with extreme wealth who also want to control the political process, policy levers and most other aspects of the lives of the citizenry in a top-down tyrannical and undemocratic manner. They think they know best about pretty much everything, and believe unelected technocrats who share their worldview should be empowered so that they can unilaterally make all of society’s important decisions. The unwashed masses (plebs) in their minds are unnecessary distractions who must to be told what to do. Useless eaters who need to be brainwashed into worshipping the oligarch mindset, or turned into apathetic automatons incapable or unwilling to engage in critical thought. Either outcome is equally acceptable and equally encouraged.

These oligarchs and the centralized institutions they control pose the greatest threat to humanity at this time. I’m not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that the entire balance of the planet depends on their defeat. A world created in their image will be at best a technocratic, fascist dictatorship, and at worst end in a nuclear holocaust.

Think I’m taking this too far? Take a look at the opinions of these two billionaires. One is Haim Saban, a so-called “Democrat,” the other, Sheldon Adelson, a so-called “Republican.” Both incredibly influential, both completely fucking insane, although Adelson makes Saban look like Gandhi.

First from Israel’s oldest daily, Haaretz:

Billionaire casino mogul and conservative donor Sheldon Adelson said Sunday that the Palestinians are a made-up nation which exists solely to attempt to destroy Israel.

At the conference, which also featured top Democratic funder Haim Saban, Adelson also said Israel would not be able to survive as a democracy: “So Israel won’t be a democratic state, so what?” he asked Saban, adding that democracy, after all, is not mentioned in the Torah, and recommended that the country build a “big wall” to protect itself, saying, “I would put up a big wall around my property.”

Saban and Adelson should buy The New York Times together in an effort to bring more “balance” to the newspaper’s coverage of Israel and the Middle East, Adelson suggested to wild applause. Adelson already owns Israel Hayom, a free Israeli newspaper widely seen as reflecting the positions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is considered close to Adelson, and, more recently, news website NRG and religious newspaper Makor Rishon.

“I don’t like journalism,” Adelson said, highlighting what he said was the media’s insistence on focusing on the empty half of the glass.

See what a sociopath this guy is? He claims he doesn’t like journalism, yet owns a newspaper and wants to buy the New York Times. I suppose it makes sense. The best way to rob a bank is to own one, and the best way to destroy journalism is to own a propagandist newspaper.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post does a great job of showcasing how these two will basically handpick the 2016 Presidential candidates from both phony political parties:

The billionaire political kingmakers planning to bankroll much of the 2016 presidential campaign spoke out together Sunday with blunt warnings on key issues for their respective parties.

Haim Saban, a media mogul and close Democratic ally of Hillary Rodham Clinton, criticized President Obama’s outreach to Iran, declaring that “we’ve shown too many carrots and a very small stick.”

Sheldon Adelson, a casino magnate who is likely to tap into his fortune in an effort to elect a Republican to the White House, upbraided many in the GOP for their opposition to legalizing millions of undocumented immigrants. Without a comprehensive overhaul, he said, the country would not be “the America that I’m proud to live in.”

Adelson, 81, and Saban, 70, have gained enormous political power in the new era of super PACs and unlimited contributions, and both made it clear during a rare joint appearance Sunday before an audience of several hundred Israeli Americans that they intend to assert that power during the next presidential campaign and beyond with policy demands for their candidates. In particular, they vowed to press both sides for a more hawkish approach to the Middle East.

Still, Saban said that he thinks Clinton would repair the relationship and that he has told her he would spend “whatever it takes” to propel her into the White House. That includes giving millions of dollars to Priorities USA, a super PAC that helped Obama in 2012 and is revving up to aid Clinton in 2016.

Adelson countered, “Why don’t you and I go after the New York Times?” Saban said that he has “tried over and over to buy it” but that the family-owned Times is not for sale. Adelson quipped, “There is only one way to fight it: money.”

While Saban will do “whatever it takes” to get oligarch coddler Hilary Clinton into the White House, Sheldon Adelson will do whatever it takes to make sure no candidate with libertarian leanings or a less aggressive foreign policy ever gets the GOP nomination. I highlighted this threat earlier this year in the post: Neo-Con Republicans Make Pilgrimage to Vegas to Kiss the Ring of Oligarch Sheldon Adelson. Here’s an excerpt:

The case of Adelson exhibits all these issues of corruption and eccentricity. Much of his current fortune is recent and derives from the Macao casino, and Adelson has admitted to “likely” breaking Federal rules against using bribes to do business in other countries. (A reference to allegations that his company was involved in rewarding legislators of the Chinese Communist Party for supporting his Macao project.) There was a time when this admission alone would put the donor off limits for mainstream politicians.

 Adelson has a right to vote and advocate for his candidates. But the idea that he and his like should choose the next president is too awful to contemplate. One person, one vote isn’t one person, $100 million worth of votes. That isn’t democracy…

Both Christie and Bush are cut from the same mainstream Republican cloth: well liked by the donor class and viewed suspiciously by conservative activists. If they both compete in 2016 — and to be clear, neither has decided on a bid —they’ll be fighting for the roughly same slice of the Republican pie, and perhaps more importantly, many of the same donors.

But as Christie stumbled, Bush soared. The former governor was feted at a private dinner on Thursday to kick off the weekend. The dinner was held at Adelson’s private airplane hangar.

The key takeaway from this post is to showcase what goes on within the minds of oligarchs. It doesn’t matter which fake party they claim to adhere to, at their core, they both express a hatred for democracy by utilizing their vast fortunes to singlehandedly drive key policy decisions. But don’t take it from me. They said it in their own words.

Oligarchs comes in all shapes and sizes. From all nations, from all ethnicities and from all religious dogmas. They key way to identify an oligarch is by their combination of extreme wealth and a burning desire to remake society in their image (no matter what that image may be) in an anti-democratic and tyrannical manner.

Their mindset and tactics epitomize the worst qualities humanity has to offer, and represent the enemy of human progress on this planet.

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

Follow me on Twitter.