Ezra Levant, George Soros and Fox News North

Ezra Levant is an obnoxious little man.

Now that that's out of the way, I wanted to throw in my two cents on Levant, George Soros and Fox News North.

There has been an ongoing battle since we first learned that Stephen Harper used taxpayer money to hire Ari Fleischer and take Kory Teneycke to lunch, so he could import an all nasty right-wing nonsense, all the time, Fox News station in Canada.

Teneycke passed his taxpayer funded interview and was chosen to head it up.

And to prove that he could be just as vile as Glen Beck, he attacked anyone not on board with the project, including the wonderful Margaret Atwood.

But then when the advocacy group, AVAAZ started a petition to block special licensing for the station, Teneycke went a little too far, and appeared to have been complicit in some underhanded sabotage. He resigned and has been replaced by someone who isn't nuts.

But Ezra Levant, another Glen Beck wannabe, not content with just attacking Margaret Atwood and AVAAZ, wrote a column attacking one of the philanthropists who has donated to the organization in the past. The billionaire George Soros.

Billionaire George Soros has made a living wrecking the lives of others. Now he wants to mess with Canadians cried Levant.

And in the article he made libelous statements, suggesting that Mr. Soros collaborated with the Nazis in Hungary in 1944, to save himself. He also claimed (not merely suggested but claimed) that Soros stole Jewish possessions and that he was part of a group that actually murdered his own people.

It was pretty out there. It was also completely false. George Soros's only crime as a 13 year old living in a Nazi occupied country, was to pose as a Christian to save himself. He has been very candid about this and you would be hard pressed to find anyone not willing to do the same thing under those circumstances.

It's called survival, not betrayal.

Sun media was forced to apologize, and George Soros is now apparently going to sue both the paper and Levant. Levant should never have written it and the Sun should never have printed it. They knew that but did it anyway. I hope they get nailed to the wall.

So Why Did They Target George Soros?

Many people donate money to AVAAZ, so why did they single out George Soros? I think it's because he donates a lot of money to humanitarian causes and is everything Neocons hate.

- He has been critical of George Bush and called his administration the "Bubble of American Supremacy." Soros said the Bush administration "violated human rights and damaged American security by invading Iraq and deposing the regime of Saddam Hussein. 'The idea that we can impose our will on the world is really just the wrong idea,'" he said, vowing "to do everything in his power to prevent Bush from winning re-election. He grew up under an oppressive regime and saw the damage that Imperialism can do.

- He has been critical of the country of Israel (He is Jewish and not anti-Semitic)

- He provided funds to help black students attend the University of Cape Town in apartheid South Africa.

- Provided funds to a group campaigning against the death penalty

- He is one of 80 wealthy liberals who have pledged to contribute $1 million or more apiece to fund a network of think tanks and advocacy groups to compete with the potent conservative infrastructure built up over the past three decades.

- He has provided funding to help fight climate change

What a horrible "life wrecker".

But Then on the Other Hand we Have Rupert Murdoch

The man that Harper and Teneycke wined and dined to get this station, Rupert Murdoch, is also a billionaire. And he has used his media outlet to not only advance right-wing causes but squelch negative press.

For instance, when he was on the board of Philip-Morris, he routinely withheld any stories that revealed the dangers of smoking. From a 1985 PM internal report: As regards the media, we plan to build similar relationships to those we now have with Murdoch's News Limited with other newspaper proprietors. Murdoch's papers rarely publish anti-smoking articles these days. To sum up, then, on using our natural allies. We have made a start; we have proved that it can be done; we have found that they can be a very effective force; and we intend to do more in the future.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that tobacco can "wreck lives".

And Canadians are not the only ones rejecting Fox "News" style media. The UK is also fighting against the spread of this disease.

Our democracy is under threat if Murdoch wins control of Sky: Britain's great film producer once warned Tony Blair of News Corp's intentions. His fears are now being realised

Media monopoly: It's time politicians said no to Rupert Murdoch Vince Cable must refer the bid for BSkyB to Ofcom

Rupert Murdoch's Sky takeover should be blocked, Vince Cable told: Claire Enders writes to business secretary arguing he should stop News Corp buying 60.9% of BSkyB it does not already own

And let's see if this doesn't sound like what happened in Canada, after it was discovered that Murdoch's News Corp. had hacked phone lines to get what they wanted.

It was all looking so good for Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. Transition to new government achieved with a few favours owed on account of switching sides to support the eventual winner. Better still, a company stalwart at the new prime minister's side – director of communications and key adviser, no less. All in all, really very well placed to manage the political side of News Corp's fortunes as a major (and growing) force in British and international media.

Now scroll back to News International's defence of its conduct. Its position was based on two issues: that phone hacking was restricted to one "rogue" journalist and one private investigator and that the man then in charge – the editor, Andy Coulson – knew nothing about it but nevertheless did the right thing by resigning.

Eerie isn't it?

Layton and Harper are not the Only Strange Bedfellows This Week

Jack Layton and Stephen Harper are not the only high profile celebs to tie the knot this week. Looks like Fox News' Glenn Beck and Fox News North hopeful Ezra Levant were also seen snuggling and whispering sweet nothings.

OK, not really sweet, but they are an item.

Ezra Levant is being sued by George Soros, AVAAZ backer, for a column he wrote in September: Billionaire George Soros has made a living wrecking the lives of others. Now he wants to mess with Canadians. It was over the top and Sun media has since removed it.

Now Glenn Beck has come to the rescue also attacking this progressive philanthropist.

Creepy medieval puppets hung from the ceiling on the set of the "Glenn Beck Program" -- a conquistador, a squire, a witch, and a bearded guy who looked like a cross between Santa Claus and the Fiddler on the Roof. "Make no mistake, we are watching a show," Beck gravely told his audience. That much was obvious enough, but Beck did not mean his own television program. "You have to see who's behind the puppets," he continued, "Who is choosing the puppets and the players? Who's the puppetmaster? George Soros."
Glenn Beck, as usual, trumped them all. He told his audience that Soros has a five-step plan:

1. Create a "shadow government" under the guise of humanitarian aid.
2. Take control of the media.
3. Destabilize the state by building anti-government sentiment. (Yes, Beck attacked his opponent for building anti-government sentiment.)
4. Subvert the American electoral system.
5. Take over the world, of course.

This gives you some idea of what to expect from own Fox News North.

Soros has responded to the Beck nonsense:

Speaking about Beck, Soros told Zakaria, "I would be amused if people saw the joke in it," adding that he thinks Beck is "projecting" the views of Rupert Murdoch, who owns Fox News, and who Soros accused of "telling the people some falsehoods and leading the government in the wrong direction." Soros said he thinks Fox News "has imported the methods of George Orwell, you know, newspeak, where you can tell the people falsehoods and deceive them.

People like Beck and Levant are stupiding (yes I made up the word) themselves out of business. They just get more and more bizarre. Maybe Fox News North will be billed as a comedy, though it could be more aptly called a tragedy.