The Kochs have never been able to master subtlety, having been much better at secrecy. But now that the internet has exposed them for the megalomaniacs they are, they've
decided to clean up their image. Rather than doing so gradually, like by maybe easing up on their plan to absorb the entire government—federal, state, and local—into Koch Industries, they've decided to recast themselves as the next wave of civil rights leaders. No,
really.
DANA POINT, Calif. — Billionaire industrialist Charles Koch on Sunday compared the efforts of his political network to the fight for civil rights and other “freedom movements,” part of a growing effort by the organization to emphasize its commitment to the plight of the disenfranchised.
During remarks to 450 wealthy conservatives assembled in the ballroom of a lavish oceanfront resort, Koch urged his fellow donors to follow the lead of figures such as Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Look at the American revolution, the anti-slavery movement, the women’s suffrage movement, the civil rights movement,” Koch said. “All of these struck a moral chord with the American people. They all sought to overcome an injustice. And we, too, are seeking to right injustices that are holding our country back.”
Can you bring a slander class action suit on behalf of dead people?
I think they profoundly misunderstand how fighting injustices works. Making billionaires paying some more in taxes and making sure that their industries don't destroy the earth really doesn't count as an injustice against them. It's kind of hard to cry "oppression" when you own most of everything. Actually, they probably understand that. What they don't understand, clearly, is that the American people are unlikely to buy this load of crap.
Particularly when that load of crap is coming from the mostly male, mostly white, all-Republican, all tea party candidates they're promoting. Here's the lineup from this weekend's moneyfest: Jeb Bush, Sen. Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Marco Rubio, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. That's along with various and sundry male lawmakers. Suffice it to say, this wasn't a group that looked like America. So good luck, Koch men, in convincing the nation that unbridled pollution, ending the minimum wage, killing Social Security and Medicare and taking away people's health insurance is all about giving then freedom.