A Vast Right Wing Conspiracy: Consevative Book Sales

Sometimes you have to read between or beyond the lines.
In this case, you have to read beyond the Kate O'Beirne battle to find a couple of nuggets concerning the war waged by the Right Wing.

In her self-described crusade against the latest incarnation of a right-wing bim, Jane at Firedoglake points out another way the Right hijacks the mainstream and pollutes it with propaganda:

1. "The right-wing book business is subsidized by wingnut welfare when conservative foundations buy large quantities of books and either give them away or charge a penny apiece, so the "sales numbers" that put them on the New York Times best seller list for example are hopelessly rigged, making them appear much more popular and influential than they actually are."

2. "Amazon itself is another boon to conservatives, since the Internet giant betrays no ideological bias in selling books....'The rise of Amazon and the chain stores has been tremendously liberating for conservatives, because these stores are very much product-oriented businesses,' observes David Horowitz. 'The independent bookstores are all controlled by leftists, and they're totalitarians--they will not display conservative books, or if they do, they'll hide them in the back.' Says Marji Ross: 'We have experienced our books being buried or kept in the back room when a store manager or owner opposed their message.' She's a big fan of Amazon and the chains."

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