This year, there is a special birthday in liberal media. The Nation – the longest consecutively published weekly magazine – is turning 150; and in celebration, it published its longest issue [1] to date. Included was a reprint of the magazine’s Founding Prospectus [2] from 1865:
The Nation will not be the organ of any party, sect or body. It will, on the contrary, make an earnest effort to bring to discussion of political and social questions a really critical spirit, and to wage war upon the vices of violence, exaggeration, and misrepresentation by which so much of the political writing of the day is marred.
In defiance of the founding statement, The Nation has always proudly proven itself to be an “organ” of extreme liberalism. During FDR’s presidency, for example, The Nation consistently placed itself to the left of his New Deal policies [3] – never convinced that they were radical enough.
Today, The Nation boasts strong ties to liberal, billionaire George Soros. When combined, three prominent leaders at the liberal magazine have direct ties to more than $20 million of Open Society Foundations donations.
According to The New York Times, the publication is a “journal of fiery leftist opinion.”
The Nation’s current mission, according to its Facebook [4] page, is to “take an active part in constructing a more progressive society” and to “inspire progressive social change.”
In 2010, president of the publication Teresa Stack, told The New York Times [5], “We’re as much of a cause as we are a business.” She continued, “It is a passionate mission rather than a strict bottom-line managed business.”
David Dinkins, former Democrat mayor of New York City praised the left-wing magazine saying, “Throughout its 150 years, The Nation has endured as “the flagship of the left” and has served as a beacon for those dedicated to the promotion of liberal ideals.”
It’s so liberal that the last leader of the Communist Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev gushed in its anniversary issue. He said, [6] “It is very important that a magazine that stands for left-wing, progressive ideas has an audience in America.”
This “left-wing, progressive” magazine most definitely does have an audience in America. In the past twenty years, The Nation surpassed a print subscription of 100,000 [7], and is now approaching 200,000.
The Far Left Leaning of The Nation Comes From Within
The leadership for “the flagship of the left” is dominated by liberal and progressive thinkers. So who exactly are these people and what do they have to say?
The New Netherland Institute described [8] The Nation’s current editor and publisher, Katrina vanden Heuvel, as “one of the primary voices of American political liberalism.”
In 2010, Heuvel criticized Obama [9] for being too compromising – stating that without a president who will stand up for the ideals that he ran on, “the progressive worldview becomes muted, and the conservative worldview validated.”
She added, “what I will never shy away from criticizing the president for - is his willingness to compromise on principle.”
In a Washington Post [10] opinion piece following the 2015 State of the Union address, Heuvel openly encouraged the president to defy the Constitution by using “executive actions to move the country forward.”
Heuvel has also been recognized by Planned Parenthood. In 1994, they gave her the Maggie Award for Media Excellence [11] in response to a pro-abortion piece she wrote for The Nation. In the last six years, Planned Parenthood has awarded four of its Maggie Awards [12] to either The Nation or its contributing writers.
In April 2015, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a far left progressive, turned to Heuvel [13] for input on his “Contract With America” that focused on progressive economic objectives, according to Rolling Stone.
The Nation’s Washington correspondent John Nichols is just as obviously left-wing as Heuvel. In a recent column [14] discussing the senate minority leader position, Nichols wrote that, “Reid has not always been effective as a communicator of progressive positions or strategies ... What Democrats should be looking for now is a Senate leader who will be absolutely progressive and absolutely effective.”
Nichols has also openly promoted Senate Minority Leader Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, as presidential prospects. He has also repeatedly written in favor of the government creating a “Robin Hood tax,” using the deceptive language of the highest income earners paying their “fair share.” [15]
To see the extreme bent of The Nation, you need look no further than the special 150th anniversary issue, in which Socialist Seattle City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant wrote [16] – in all seriousness – that the left ought to be reinvigorated through “embracing socialist ideals.”
In that issue, New York magazine columnist Michael Tomasky proposed similar aspirations [17] for the Democratic Party promoting the idea of creating a labor party, or at least using labor party politics to get “better” Democrats.
If that isn’t enough proof, simply review the “Movement [18]” section of The Nation’s website to see just what sort of “progressive social change” the magazine promotes. It actively rallies for radical environmentalism and so-called “Climate Justice,” socialism, anti-capitalism and a whole host of other destructive, anti-American policies.
The Nation has Close Ties to Soros Dollars
It is no secret that The Nation has one of the most liberal biases in America. So it was not surprising that leading staff at The Nation also had direct ties to George Soros [19] – the paycheck-writer of the left.
Heuvel, for example, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations [20] and has served on the boards on five other organizations which have received a total of nearly $6.5 million from Soros since 2000.
Senior contributing writer Michelle Goldberg is also a senior correspondent for The American Prospect—a magazine aiming to “advance liberal and progressive goals.” The American Prospect received $1,380,000 in donations from Soros’s Open Society Foundations since 2001. Goldberg was also frequently published by Alternet, which is a member of the Media Consortium which has also received funding from Soros.
The connections between Soros and The Nation seeped into other areas as well. Deepak Bhargava, a member of The Nation’s editorial board, is on the US Programs board [21] of Soros’ Open Society Foundations. Bhargava is also the executive director of Center for Community Change [22], which received $12,150,000 from Soros in the last fourteen years.
These are not the only individuals in leadership at The Nation with direct links to Soros. But put together, these three individuals were in leadership of organizations that received $20 million from the Open Society Foundations combined.
In addition to having staff crossover, Open Society Foundations and The Nation have co-hosted various [23] events [24].
The Nation vigorously supports Soros in print, too. In their December 2003 article [25], The Nation defended Soros against well-deserved criticism for past funding decisions. The article argued that Soros was merely trying to challenge the supposed “prevailing ideological winds” of conservatism in Washington, and then went on to declare, “How fortunate for us that he [Soros] cares enough about his adopted country to do what he can to reverse them.”
Where other news sources may attempt to disguise their liberal bias, The Nation proudly parades its loyalty to socialism, progressivism, and extremism. And with a circulation of nearly 200,000 and its 150 year legacy, its anti-American ideas are often given more attention than they ever deserve.