David Brock

David Brock (born 1962) is a homosexual liberal activist. Brock formerly wrote for the conservative American Spectator and authored a book entitled The Real Anita Hill. In the book Brock alleged Judge Clarence Thomas's accuser, Anita Hill, was gay. After a cathartic heroin detox in a psychiatric ward, Brock came out of the closet as a gay liberal activist. With Soros money Brock founded Media Matters for America in 2004 to defend Bill Clinton's legacy, promote Hillary Clinton for president, and attack their critics. Brock also founded American Bridge 21st Century and related organizations.

Since the founding of Media Matters, he has led the charge against conservatives and Fox News Channel, which he publicly declared war on. In February 2012, The Daily Caller ran a story outlining Brock's "erratic behavior" based on sources within his organization and Media Matters' close coordination with the President Barack Obama White House and liberal news organizations.

Within the 90 page 3-year strategic plan Brock distributed to Media Matters' donor base and potential contributors, the document reveals that the non-profit entity has an enemies list which includes organizations like Fox News, Cato Institute, Heritage Foundation and several other organizations. The list also targets numerous individuals and executives such as Rupert Murdoch, Roger Ailes, Peter Theil, Richard Mellon Scaife and more .

Further deviating from its tax exempt status, a recently discovered internal strategy memo from Media Matters Senior Fellow Karl Frisch to David Brock and Eric Burns, suggests that Media Matters "hire private investigators to look into the personal lives of Fox News anchors, hosts, reporters, prominent contributors, senior network and corporate staff,” as well as "look into contracting with a major law firm to study any available legal actions that can be taken against Fox News, from a class action law suit to defamation claims for those wronged by the network. I imagine this would be difficult but the right law firm is bound to find some legal ground for us to take action against the network.”

Media Matters and Israel

Media Matters has come under attack by the influential Simon Wiesenthal Center for supporting bloggers who promote "dangerous political libels" and "toxic anti-Jewish prejudices". According to the Center, Media Matters Senior Foreign Policy Fellow MJ Rosenberg "has repeatedly smeared Jewish groups such the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee as “Israel Firsters.”"

In a Twitter post by MJ Rosenberg, he called Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "terrorist".

At a gathering of pro-Israel supporters held at the University of Pennsylvania in early February 2012, noted liberal Democrat and high-profile lawyer Alan Dershowitz was quoted as saying that Media Matters could cost President Barack Obama the 2012 presidential election.

Media Matters and Gun Control

Media Matters is a staunch supporter of anti-gun legislation over the years and writes frequently on the subject on its website. In fact, Media Matters has taken $400,000 in donations from The Joyce Foundation specifically for the purpose "to support a gun and public safety issue initiative" Over the years The Joyce Foundation has actively supported gun control programs and has donated tens of millions of dollars to numerous anti-gun initiatives. President Barack Obama served on the board of Joyce Foundation from 1994 to 2002.

Ironically, recent reports have revealed that the Media Matters personal assistant to founder and Chairman David Brock carries a concealed Glock handgun when Brock goes out in public, so as to protect Brock. Washington DC is known as having some of the strictest gun carrying laws in the United States, so carrying a legally concealed weapon within that city would be extremely rare for a private citizen.

Failure

Brock has raised tens of millions of dollars for the activist groups he's led. In 2010 alone he raised $23 million for various groups associated with Media Matters. Notwithstanding backing from Hillary Clinton, George Soros, wealth hedge fund managers and liberal foundations, he has been unsuccessful. Since Media Matters’ founding in 2004, Fox News Channel's ratings have soared. Their revenues have grown dramatically since then as well and Fox News is close to turning a $1 billion profit. Also, Brock's efforts to establish American Bridge 21st Century as a force within the Democratic Party have also failed. He was forced to dramatically scale back his initial vision of an organization to rival Karl Rove's hugely successful American Crossroads. American Bridge 21st Century has been relegated to an opposition operation supporting political campaigns and organizations.

Brock's other failed endeavors include Equality Matters, which Brock declared would be a “new communications war room for gay equality, Equality Matters, will expose right-wing bigotry and homophobia wherever we find it”. Equality Matters launched in late 2010 and is already nearly defunct.

Suspicion Among Democrats

Despite his support among several liberal backers, according to the New York Times “there is suspicion among some Democratic operatives that Mr. Brock is more interested in promoting himself than his cause”. President Obama and his team continue to harbor ill will toward Brock and his efforts, especially since Brock was such a rabid supporter of Hillary Clinton and not Obama during her failed run for President in 2008.

The MSNBC – Media Matters Connection

Media Matters for America is a very popular source of information within MSNBC's prime time lineup. Some might argue MSNBC is a de facto mouth piece for the organization.

In prime time alone, since 2005 Media Matters has either been booked as a guest and/or mentioned on the network nearly 200 times. Media Matters has been particularly popular with MSNBC's producers during the last 2 years. Below are some interesting tid bits about Media Matters and its growing relationship with MSNBC's prime time programming:

• 197 guest appearances and/or on-air mentions on MSNBC's prime time since January 2005
• Of the roughly 390 broadcast evenings on MSNBC since July 2010, Media Matters has either been booked as a guest and/or mentioned on air 26% of the possible broadcast evenings (1 out of every 4 days).
• In 2011, on average, a Media Matters representative appeared on MSNBC at least once per week
• Eric Boehlert has been the most popular Media Matters representative on MSNBC, accounting for 43% of all Media Matters appearances on the cable network
• The Ed Show is the most popular show for Media Matters representatives, accounting for 72 Media Matters guest appearances since 2009

In another connection, MSNBC and NBC News Presidential Historian Michael Beschloss is married to Afsaneh M. Beschloss, a Ford Foundation Trustee and Media Matters supporter.

Brock Has Become Wealthy Since Starting Media Matters

Since 2004, Brock's wealth has grown substantially to the point he was able to afford to purchase, along with his boyfriend and restaurateur James Alefantis, a $1.75 million townhouse in the exclusive Embassy Row section of Washington DC. This purchase has further fueled the speculation that Brock's conversion from conservative to liberal activist is more self-serving than anything.

Authorship

Brock is the author of numerous magazine and newspaper articles, and at least four books:

• The Real Anita Hill. Free Press. (1993)
• The Seduction of Hillary Rodham Clinton. (1996)
• Blinded by the Right. The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative. (2002)
• The Republican Noise Machine: Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy. (2004)

Education

• University of California, Berkeley - 1985

External links

• The New Book-Burners: Kathleen Kennedy Townsend Teams With David Brock For Fundraising