Hypocrisy in action

I've mentioned many times before that I distrust both the Democratic and Republican parties equally. That distrust extends to the extremes of both the Left and Right wing of politics in general. I've found that the more extreme someone's views, the less balanced and sane that person is likely to be. Someone who spends their time ranting and raving about 'Bushitler', and demanding the impeachment of everyone who approved of the invasion of Iraq, is just as bad as someone who rants and raves about President Obama being a Muslim, and/or a closet Communist, and/or not eligible to be President.

I therefore find it cynically amusing when the extremist partisans of one side call out the extremist partisans of the other side. The latest example of this brouhaha is typical. My online buddy Gay_Cynic posted this morning about a call at DailyKos, that bastion of progressive opinion, to boycott goods produced by firms associated with the Koch family because of their support for right-wing causes. The author cites a ThinkProgress article about how terrible the Kochs are for supporting non-progressive things. (A New Yorker article provides more information, if you're interested in such things.)

What's funny about all this nonsense is that ThinkProgress, which has 'exposed' the Kochs and their terrible, oh-so-nasty right-wing leanings, says this about itself:

Think Progress is a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. The Center for American Progress Action Fund is a nonpartisan organization. Through this blog, CAPAF seeks to provide a forum that advances progressive ideas and policies.

How it can claim that the Action Fund is 'nonpartisan', and keep a straight face, I don't know. Wikipedia describes the Center for American Progress as "a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization" - hardly 'nonpartisan' in anyone's book. Furthermore, it points out that one of the individuals funding the organization is none other than George Soros, who's as much of a bogeyman to the Right as the Koch family is to the Left. He's cited as funding both the Action Fund and the organization as a whole.

My question for the DailyKos author is this: why is it perfectly in order for George Soros to fund Left-leaning individuals, organizations and causes to his heart's content, but not in order for the Koch family to do the same for Right-leaning individuals, organizations and causes? Why boycott the products of firms associated with the Koch brothers, just because you don't like their politics? If you expect to have the freedom to voice, support and exercise your political freedoms, and have George Soros fund your efforts, why are you trying to deny the same freedom to to those with whom you disagree, and deny their supporters the right to fund their efforts?

Pot, meet kettle. Kettle, pot.

Peter