Latest DC revelations about Media Matters

The hits just keep on coming. Today's installment of the Daily Caller series "Inside Media Mattes" details a memo sent by MMFA major contributor Karl Frisch to David Brock and other senior staff at the organization that called for, among other things, investigations into the private lives of Fox News personalties and contributors:

"Simply put," Frisch wrote, "the progressive movement is in need of an enemy. George W. Bush is gone. We really don't have John McCain to kick around any more. Filling the lack of leadership on the right, Fox News has emerged as the central enemy and antagonist of the Obama administration, our Congressional majorities and the progressive movement as a whole."

"We must take Fox News head-on in a well funded, presidential-style campaign to discredit and embarrass the network, making it illegitimate in the eyes of news consumers."

What Frisch proceeded to suggest, however, went well beyond what legitimate presidential campaigns attempt. "We should hire private investigators to look into the personal lives of Fox News anchors, hosts, reporters, prominent contributors, senior network and corporate staff," he wrote.

After that, Frisch argued, should come the legal assault: "We should 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."

[...]

At one point, Frisch suggests putting "a mole inside of" the network.

The cloak-and-dagger tactics seemed to make Frisch jumpy. "Fox is likely to retaliate," he wrote. Media Matters should find "ways to protect the privacy of our employees and the security of our office."

David Brock apparently took this warning seriously. By the next year, Media Matters had two security guards in the office, and Brock's personal assistant was carrying a holstered Glock to protect him.

It is a tribute to the success of Fox News that liberals would be so terrified of the network's impact that they would go so far in trying to discredit them. There is no confirmation that any of these suggestions were adopted, but given David Brock's paranoia and hatred, anything is possible.

The hits just keep on coming. Today's installment of the Daily Caller series "Inside Media Mattes" details a memo sent by MMFA major contributor Karl Frisch to David Brock and other senior staff at the organization that called for, among other things, investigations into the private lives of Fox News personalties and contributors:

"Simply put," Frisch wrote, "the progressive movement is in need of an enemy. George W. Bush is gone. We really don't have John McCain to kick around any more. Filling the lack of leadership on the right, Fox News has emerged as the central enemy and antagonist of the Obama administration, our Congressional majorities and the progressive movement as a whole."

"We must take Fox News head-on in a well funded, presidential-style campaign to discredit and embarrass the network, making it illegitimate in the eyes of news consumers."

What Frisch proceeded to suggest, however, went well beyond what legitimate presidential campaigns attempt. "We should hire private investigators to look into the personal lives of Fox News anchors, hosts, reporters, prominent contributors, senior network and corporate staff," he wrote.

After that, Frisch argued, should come the legal assault: "We should 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."

[...]

At one point, Frisch suggests putting "a mole inside of" the network.

The cloak-and-dagger tactics seemed to make Frisch jumpy. "Fox is likely to retaliate," he wrote. Media Matters should find "ways to protect the privacy of our employees and the security of our office."

David Brock apparently took this warning seriously. By the next year, Media Matters had two security guards in the office, and Brock's personal assistant was carrying a holstered Glock to protect him.

It is a tribute to the success of Fox News that liberals would be so terrified of the network's impact that they would go so far in trying to discredit them. There is no confirmation that any of these suggestions were adopted, but given David Brock's paranoia and hatred, anything is possible.