WSJ Defends Paranoid Rich Guy Who Thinks the Poor Are Nazis, Naturally
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page has come out swinging in defense of Tom Perkins, the 82-year-old venture capitalist who compared what he called the persecution of the rich in America to the persecution of the Jews in Nazi Germany.
Perkins, who co-founded the firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in the 1970s, made his explosive comments in a letter to the WSJ over the weekend. “I would call attention to the parallels of fascist Nazi Germany to its war on its ‘one percent,’ namely its Jews, to the progressive war on the American one percent, namely the ‘rich,’ ” he wrote.
An epic Internet freakout ensued. Fortunately, the gallant WSJ op-ed page, owned by News Corp., where Perkins was until recently a board member, came to his rescue.
The Nazi comparison was “unfortunate,” admitted the WSJ’s editorial team, in a piece pubbed late Wednesday night. But the WSJ also declared Perkins’ larger point — that the super-rich are demonized by the press and “liberals” — right on target. The outraged response to his letter proves the point, the WSJ triumphantly noted.
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