How George Soros Bought Tom Perriello

Posted on October 31, 2008 by Shaun Kenney

I’ll have to admit — I was a bit intrigued by Tom Perriello’s candidacy in the 5th District.  As a fellow Catholic, I assumed that Perriello was a “stealth pro-lifer” running under the Democratic Party’s radar.  After all, as a practicing Catholic, Perriello is duty-bound to repeal a host of pro-abortion legislation.  Perhaps Democrats in the 5th hated Goode so very much, they were willing to trade their radical pro-abortion position away?

I haven’t quite given up on the idea that Perriello isn’t 100% committed to repealing Roe v. Wade if he had the chance.  After all, he’s a Catholic — and Perriello has been very careful not to wander too far off the reservation.

…until you see who’s funding his campaign.

First of all, you have to appreciate how innovative Perriello’s campaign really is.  A local with New York values bringing the most leftist of progressive values to the heart of Redstate Virginia?  Impossible, right?
Not in 2007 when the Perriello campaign was being actively discussed as a model on TPM.  Of course, the idea of selling Perriello as a pro-life Catholic Democrat rankled more than a few, so just to beef up Perriello’s left-leaning bona fides, here’s what TPM contributor Nathan Newman had to say:

Tom is a good friend of mine but he is also one of those folks who walks the walk on international justice. For the last few years, when he wasn’t helping launch various progressive religous (sic) left efforts (Faithful America, Catholics for the Common Good) or launching his global MoveOn-like avaaz.org, he’s been spending months and even years in Sierra Leone, Darfur and Afghanistan, talking to regular folks about how to restore sanity to lives racked by violence and oppression. He missed attending my wedding because he had previous engagements in the back hills of Afghanistan interviewing warlords and their victims, while thinking about a moral approach to counter-insurgency.

You could see the conversation now:  “Don’t worry fellas! Perriello’s one of us! Coddling terrorists, out-thinking General Petraeus on counterterrorism (keep in mind this was written nine months after “the surge” was implemented), and most importantly building up leftist progressive organizations like Catholics for the Common Good.  That’s our boy, Tom Perriello!”

Catholics for the wha?  Never heard of it?  You might be surprised who’s behind it.
You see, Catholics for the Common Good (as opposed to those Catholics who are opposed to the common good… not bad, eh?) isn’t some fly-by-night operation.  It’s part of a vast, co-ordinated effort to play politics with the Catholic vote, convince otherwise pro-life voters that what the Church teaches on abortion isn’t as important as other issues, and in general create as much confusion behind the scenes as possible.
Perriello helped build it.  George Soros helped fund it.
Soros probably doesn’t need an introduction, but just in case there are any questions about what the Catholic community thinks about Soros’ pet project, here’s a taste from the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights:

Catholic League president Bill Donohue exposes the nexus between George Soros and two left-wing Catholic groups, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Catholics United:

“In 2003, after left-wing mogul George Soros blamed Jews for anti-Semitism, the ADL branded his comments ‘obscene.’ Two years later, I accused him of anti-Catholicism when his group, MoveOn.org, posted a picture of a smiling Pope Benedict XVI holding a gavel outside the U.S. Supreme Court, along with the following inscription: ‘God Already Has a Job…He does not need one on the Supreme Court.’

“Why is this relevant? Because this same bigot is connected to two apologists for abortion rights, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Catholics United. In 2006, Soros’ Open Society Institute gave Catholics in Alliance $100,000 (double the amount he gave in 2005), and in the same year Catholics in Alliance listed Catholics United on its 990 as an organization with which it has a formal relationship. John Podesta, who runs the Soros-funded organization, Center for American Progress, admits that he works closely with Catholics in Alliance and Catholics United. The Center for American Progress is also the sponsor of Faith and Public Life.

“Why would any Catholic organization take money from a man like George Soros? Because legitimate sources of revenue aren’t available? And why would Soros have any interest in funding Catholic groups? He doesn’t give the Catholic League any money, and if he offered, I would refuse it.

“The reason Soros funds the Catholic Left is the same reason he lavishly funds Catholics for Choice, the pro-abortion group that has twice been condemned as a fraud by Catholic bishops: they all service his agenda, namely, to make support for abortion rights a respectable Catholic position. On October 17, Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput accused Catholics in Alliance and Catholics United as doing a ‘disservice’ to the Catholic Church. He’s right. And now we know what really makes them tick.”

In fact, individuals and organizations holding Soros’ opinions on Catholic social teaching have been condemned over 100 Catholic bishops across the United States, including Perriello’s Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good.

So the question is now boiled down to constituent parts.  Perriello’s close association with Catholics in Alliance is well known, even self-promoted.  Less pronounced is George Soros’ equal coziness with Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, and his aims in doing so.
Whether Perriello’s pro-life position as understood by his Catholic faith (ending abortion by repealing pro-abortion policies) is shared by George Soros isn’t really a question of rhetoric.  It’s not shared at all.  
The question voters in the 5th District get to ask is whether candidate Tom Perriello, a man who sold out to George Soros once, will sell out to him again?
That’s a special interest we can’t afford representing us in Washington.  Soros’ can take his puppet and his faux-Catholic organizations and walk.  My faith — and the very clear teachings of the Catholic Church on abortion and social justice — is not for sale.
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