Oil billionaires Charles and David Koch
Mother Jones has
obtained the audio from the latest of the secret fundraising and strategy seminars held by brothers Charles and David Koch from an attendee of the session.
"We have Saddam Hussein," declared billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, apparently referring to President Barack Obama as he welcomed hundreds of wealthy guests to the latest of the secret fundraising and strategy seminars he and his brother host twice a year. The 2012 elections, he warned, will be "the mother of all wars." [...]
During his welcoming remarks, Charles Koch warned his guests that the 2012 elections are nothing short of a battle "for the life or death of this country." He then acknowledged the individuals and families who had given more than $1 million to the brothers' efforts—though he misspoke, saying "more than a billion," earning a huge laugh from the crowd. "Well, I was thinking of Obama and his billion-dollar campaign," Koch said, to more laughter and cheers. "So I thought, 'We gotta do better than that.'" (Forbes pegs the brothers' personal net worth at around $22 billion apiece.)
The BRAD BLOG has the full transcript, and the litany of $1 million donors to the cause of fighting the "mother of all wars," defeating President Obama.
Here's a question: Will calling Obama Saddam Hussein be as horrifying to the folks at Fox News as Teamsters' President James Hoffa calling Republicans "son of bitches." Yeah, right.
2:59 PM PT: At POLITICO, Ben Smith questions the transcript.
But it's possible to hear the transcript a bit differently: The word "as" isn't in the transcript, but as I hear the (ambiguous) line, Koch is quoting Saddam here, not comparing Obama to him. In that version, the quote reads:
"We have, as Saddam Hussein [said] this is the Mother of All Wars," Koch is quoting Saddam, rather than making a comparison between him and Obama.
That's the interpretation Philip Ellender, head of government and public affairs at Koch Industries, argues for.