Saturday, April 23, 2011

Koch Brothers Caught Telling Thousands of Employees How to Vote

The Nation magazine has revealed that Koch Industries sent a letter to most of its 50,000 employees dated October 4, 2010, just prior to the November mid-term elections, strongly advising them on whom to vote for and warning them of the dire consequences should they choose to vote otherwise. As a result of the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling last year, corporations are now legally allowed to pressure their workers to adopt their political views. Koch Industries is run by the billionaire brothers, Charles and David Koch, who have helped bankroll the Tea Party movement and dozens of other right-wing causes, including the recent attacks on public sector employees and unions going on in many states. Let's not forget the prank call Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took when he thought he was speaking to David Koch, which revealed what they were actually up to. It doesn't matter that the caller was fake, the intentions of these hard right politicians being funded by the Kochs and other wealthy donors is not. Then last week when Walker was called in front of congress, thinking he was going to be greeted as a hero by the Republican congressional majority, the Democrats actually took no mercy on him when they forced him, under oath, to admit that his union busting bill does nothing for Wisconsin's budget.

I don't think this story is getting as much coverage as it should be. A friend of mine thinks this right wing hysteria we're on right now is just a bump in the road, part of a cycle. I'm not so sure. In the past, there wasn't a 24/7 right wing propaganda network spewing nothing but ideological talking points. Our media wasn't entirely owned by five large corporations controlling the information we have access to. We didn't have a majority right wing SCOTUS. And while I obviously wasn't there during the last big fight between the people and the corporations, I'm willing to bet even the timid ones who didn't get directly involved weren't actively working against their peers to help the oligarchs as we have today. Today they call themselves Tea Party Patriots and are well-funded by the likes of the Koch Brothers. They know nothing of the original tea party patriots or they'd be fighting the oligarchy, not fighting for them. This current crop of lost souls either doesn't know what the Boston Tea Party was actually about or just don't care --- they're still enraged that the black guy won.

Democracy Now's Amy Goodman interviews journalists Mark Ames and Mike Elk of The Nation magazine. Their interview begins at the 32:48 mark in the video.
The Nation article is linked below video.


The Nation Big Brothers: Thought Control at Koch

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