Jim Hake Spreads His Wings

Wonderful, big-hearted citizen of the world (or not) Jim Hake, founder of the glorious Spirit of America "charity", has announced a New Media Venture:

My partner Ambassador Mark Palmer and I recently started a new enterprise to create and invest in commercial, independent media enterprises (television, radio, Internet) in "emerging democracies."

Palmer is already an advisor to SoA, which provides some gung-ho, all-American, good ole boy background on him (actually it is all cut-and-pasted from his State Department write-up).

Palmer is a VP at Freedom House, whose members include arch neo-con R. James Woolsey and Diana Villiers Negroponte. Palmer is also author of a book, Breaking the Real Axis of Evil - How to Oust the World's Last Dictators by 2025:

If the reader is looking for a philosophical tract discussing various theories of the promotion of democracy, Breaking the Real Axis of Evil will be a disappointment. Palmer does not offer an abstract vision of a distant and fuzzy future; he offers a handbook for the promotion of democracy across the world... Palmer does not reject the use of force to promote democracy. In fact, he values the credible threat of its use... Palmer is not afraid to argue for the establishment of new international framework in favor of democracy.

Palmer argues that we don't need to replace institutions like the UN, we just need to " ensure that they work the way they should." Is anyone else thinking neo-con yet?

A former speech-writer for Henry Kissenger, among others, Palmer also has considerable interests in the private sector. According to one informed source:

Mark Palmer is President of Capital Development Company and Building, which provide equity capital and expertise in the development of new enterprises in the Washington, DC area. He is founder and co-owner of Central European Media Enterprises, Ltd., a group of commercial television and radio stations broadcasting from Prague, Bratislava, Bucharest, Warsaw, Budapest, and Kiev. He is also founder and CO-owner of the 1 million square foot American Business Center at Checkpoint Charlie Friedrichstrasse Berlin.

Hake promises more details of their new joint venture soon. I can't wait...