Sierra Club: Pope, Puppeteer and Excommunication [Brenda Walker] - 10/28/04

Exciting news: the open-borders nutcase who donated over $100 million to the Sierra Club has been outed, one Mr. David Gelbaum who was quoted in la Times saying, "I did tell Carl Pope in 1994 or 1995 that if they ever came out anti-immigration, they would never get a dollar from me."  Sweet.  I'm thinking a title of "The Puppeteer of the Sierra Club" might be appropriate.

The Man Behind the Land, David Gelbaum has shunned publicity while giving millions to preserve California wilderness and teach youths about nature, By Kenneth R. Weiss, LA Times, October 27, 2004

The other Sierra amusement is that I am being excommunicated or at least in the process thereof. I haven't yet read all the details of my many thought crimes from the 15 pages of accusations that arrived by registered mail yesterday. It's not entirely about me, since Fred Elbel is also condemned to a Sierra-less existence, and there were several pages listing his bad thoughts. Fred says that when he gets served his papers that he will scan and put them online. Unclear whether I am allowed a show trial. A full article will follow.

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This was entirely predictable [James Fulford] - 10/28/04

NYT's Tierney quoted "IQ expert" funded by eugenicists,  is the title of press release from  Media Matters for America, a left-wing version of Brent Bozell's Media Research Center.

In an October 24 New York Times "Political Points" column titled "Secret Weapon for Bush?" John Tierney reported that right-wing columnist Steve Sailer concluded that President George W. Bush has a higher IQ than Senator John Kerry, purportedly based on their scores on military tests. [October 21, 2004 This Just In—Kerry's IQ Likely Lower than Bush's! By Steve Sailer] But then, rather than seeking a different view on the suppositions of Sailer -- whom Tierney identifies as a conservative -- Tierney obtained validation of Sailer's findings from University of Delaware "I.Q. expert" Linda Gottfredson. Tierney didn't report that Gottfredson is herself a controversial figure whose research has been funded by the Pioneer Fund, an organization designated a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for its support over the years of the work of white supremacists, eugenicists, and others dedicated to proving the existence of genetic differences between races.

I had forgotten that there was such a thing as Media Matters for America, or what it was, but a post by this bozo reminded me that it was "run by everyone's favorite reformed right-winger David Brock."

The basic principle behind leftish media criticism is that conservatives should not appear in print without being spat on. Furthermore, if possible, they should not appear on television at all. (Did anyone TiVo Steve Sailer's Fox and Friends appearance?)

I suppose we could print a defense of Linda Gottfredson, the Pioneer Fund, and IQ research in general, or skewer the scientific illiteracy behind the phrase "dedicated to proving the existence of genetic differences between races."

As for the SPLC, you can read as much as need to about them here, here, here, and here.

But that's not necessary, because the question of motive in a story like this is not the main one. The main question for journalists is not "Who does this story come from?" but as Matt Welch wrote recently in Reason, "Is it true?"