George Soros Quotes
Now that I have called you on your false accusation, you are using additional smear tactics.
Soros, George. Letter to Dennis Hastert. 2 Sept. 2004.
In a 1980 South Carolina congressional campaign Democratic candidate Tom Turnipseed accused Atwater of masterminding anonymous phone calls to voters revealing the fact that, as a teenager, Turnipseed had received electroshock therapy. Atwater told the press:
A critical difference between English and American law is that truth is an absolute defense in the U. S. but is not in Great Britain. In the case of public figures, "the great," even truth is not required in U. S. law. It is not against American law to slander public figures as long as it is not malicious.
This quotation is the root of a great dilemma for all politicians who are attacked on a personal level. Most slanders are soon forgotten. The politician who reacts and publicly counters the slander inevitably does two things. More people become aware of the slanderous charges then there is a public battle over it, and the media tend to report the contest and hence the slanderous charge for a longer period of time than if it were uncontested. However sometimes the undefended charge is perceived as being true especially if it is a major charge. If the politician does not defend, the charge can get accepted and damage the politician’s standing. In the Kerry-Bush Prudential campaign, Kerry had the edge until the so-called Swiftboat Veterans made up a fictitious tale of Kerry, a decorated war hero, being a coward in the Vietnam war. Kerry thought the charge so preposterous that he didn’t bother to defend it. His lack of reaction was taken by much of the public as his admission of the charge. Kerry’s hero image was destroyed by a large enough proportion of the electorate that the electoral votes shifted to Bush, even though Kerry had the most votes by far. For each politician, the decision must be made for each charge and there is no clear way to know in advance which is the better strategy when a false charge is made.
George Soros, HonFBA is a Hungarian-born American billionaire investor and philanthropist. As of March 2021, he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundations, of which $15 billion have already been distributed, representing 64% of his original fortune, making him the "most generous giver" (in terms of percentage of net worth) according to Forbes.
