Book: Sons of Wichita

Good catch on the RN lyrics.
I erred in my post. It was supposed to be "Money can't buy love. But it can rent a very good facsimile."

Daniel Schulman wrote:

To fund the Mother of All Wars [2012 elections], the Kochs and their advisers settled on a staggering budget of nearly $400 million. Arizona's John McCain had not even raised that amount during his entire presidential campaign in 2008. The Vail conference alone netted more than $70 million worth of pledges. And Charles had vowed to his fellow donors to maximize the impact of their contributions. "I've pledged to all of you who've stepped forward and are partnering with us that we are absolutely going to do our utmost to invest this money wisely and get the best possible payoff for you in the future of the country," he said.

It really is all about rich men getting richer, isn't it. Fuck the country, fuck the environment, fuck the little people.

NoCoPilot wrote:

It really is all about rich men getting richer, isn't it.  Fuck the country, fuck the environment, fuck the little people.

Now you've got it!

Finished the book last night, and posted a lengthy review on Amazon:

Quote :

Author Daniel Schulman does not attempt to hide his bias; the Kochs are described in unflattering terms at every turn, and their wealth is always presented as "obscene."

But with the Koch brothers, it might be hard to take any other stance.

Not since the 19th Century Gilded Age of Carnegie, Rockefeller and Gould have the excesses of the "robber barons" been so flagrant. Oh sure, the Kochs contribute to arts and medical organizations (The David H. Koch Theatre, the David H. Koch Plaza, the David H. Koch Center, the David H. Koch Dinosaur Wing, the David H. Koch Hall, the David H. Koch Institute, the Frederick R. Koch Collection, the Charles G. Koch Foundation, the Charles Koch Institute, the Fred and Mary Koch Foundation, the Koch Center), but it's pretty clear this is strictly self-serving. As the author quotes an unnamed former Lincoln Center official, "Carnegie, Mellon -- take any of these great philanthropists or these great industrialists of the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. They are not remembered for the rape and pillage of our environment or the way they mistreated people. They are remembered for the contributions they've made financially as philanthropists." So it is with the Kochs -- trying to buy the judgment of history in the most public way imaginable (and make sure you spell our name on the building right!)

When they do support organizations without their name on them, such as New York's WNET, their contributions come with huge strings attached (or maybe "springs attached") -- support our agenda or lose our funding. Everything their money buys is with one goal in mind: make MORE MONEY for the Koch brothers!

From page 307: "To fund the Mother of All Wars [the 2012 elections], the Kochs and their advisers settled on a staggering budget of nearly $400 million. Arizona's John McCain had not even raised that amount during his entire presidential campaign in 2008. The Vail conference alone netted more than $70 million worth of pledges. And Charles had vowed to his fellow donors to maximize the impact of their contributions. "I've pledged to all of you who've stepped forward and are partnering with us that we are absolutely going to do our utmost to invest this money wisely and get the best possible payoff for you in the future of the country," he said."

That includes their "investments" in politics. They dress them up with lots of pretty words like "freedom" and "liberty" and "opportunity" but that's all a bunch of hokum. The influence they've purchased in the House and Senate and Supreme Court, and the state courts and legislatures and governors they own all across the country, is all with one aim in mind: reduce regulation and oversight that cuts into their profits, remove obstacles to their "rape and pillage of the environment," and slash the taxes of wealthy individuals and corporations so they don't have to pay for the privileges they enjoy. In other words, MORE MONEY for the Koch brothers!

For four guys who were handed multi-million dollar inheritances, they're incredibly selfish. The descriptions of their mansions, yachts, airplanes, wine collections, art collections, luxury vacations, supercars, massive parties and -- there's no other word for it -- OBSCENE expenditures makes the reader stop and gawk. How much REAL GOOD could be accomplished with the money lavished on these egotistical bacchanalian excesses? How many diseases could be eradicated, how much crumbling infrastructure could be repaired, how much pure research could be done that would benefit all mankind? Instead we get $500,000 bottles of wine, mansions remodeled with panels from the Palace of Versailles, and an Americas Cup victory.

And buildings with the Koch name on them.

The Koch brothers will probably go down in history as the worst citizens in the history of the world. For that they should feel unlimited shame, even within their own grand gilded palaces.

But I suspect they don't see it that way.