Koch Bros Send Maddow a Script to Read

[LisaLynne]

They are outraged that Rachel reported on links between supposedly state-based, local policy groups and their funding, which leads back to the Koch Brothers.

http://www.liberalamerica.org/2014/09/23/koch-brothers-rachel-maddow/

From the link:

Maddow points out that MSNBC and her show will make corrections when a mistake is made, but there is a threshold that won’t be crossed.

“I don’t mind making corrections. That said — don’t push it.”

She explains that she covers a lot of right wing politics because

“The most interesting story in American politics this decade is the effort by the Republican party to remake itself in the wake of the disastrous Bush-Cheney era.”

“We cover the conservative movement a lot on this show and in so doing, we occasionally find people who have been mentioned in our coverage who are absolutely outraged that they have been mentioned in our coverage. People who are not used to being talked about by someone who does not take their instructions. And so, what happens is, they tend to try to instruct me as to how I ought to talk about them. And the conservative political figures who you can most count on to threaten to sue you and call your boss and scream about their victimization as loud as they can — whenever they get mentioned by name in a way they do not control — are of course, the Koch brothers.”

Yeah, we're not supposed to talk about it or know it because they are special or something.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

1. I half expect those two idiots to get caught in a sting arranging a hit.

[Cha]

43. When I read the OP I was thinking that Rachel and everyone need to watch her back! :(

[lovemydog]

48. No kidding. Like, a script called The Godfather,

the scene where the guy wakes up with his horse's head in his bed.

How are you doing Cha? Aloha & mahalo my friend!

[Initech]

46. I would not be at all surprised if they have theb missing Grassy Knoll footage.

[Zambero]

2. The Kochs cannot anonymously bankroll a right-wing agenda

It's no secret that these guys want to remain low-key while funneling hundreds of millions to organizations and campaigns that are intended to redirect the course of American politics, sharply to the right. With influence comes notoriety, particularly when your tactics involve a radical agenda and non-stop attack on your political foes. They were hoping to stay below the radar? It doesn't quite work that way. The Kochs are now a household name, and as much as they may decry their newfound "status" and blown cover, they bought it for themselves. Thanks to Rachel for keeping us in the loop regarding these people and their agenda.

[brewens]

4. Right-wingers will blow off any mention of the Koch brothers while bringing up George Soros

at every opportunity. I'm no expert on Soros but aren't his contributions to liberal causes a drop in the bucket to what the Kochs are up to?

[tridim]

5. A drop in the bucket, and disclosed publicly as political donations should be. nt

[1StrongBlackMan]

10. And from what I understand ...

are issue oriented, going to non-profits that educate the public; rather than, directly to purchasing elections, candidates and legislators.

[Bigmack]

6. Tom Stayer ....

I never heard of the guy until he started popping up in the RW-infested "comments" section of our local paper.... replacing Soros.

Those people must get marching orders/talking points every day.

[bullwinkle428]

11. Steyer is their new bogey-man, and the Kochs are now using his name

in their commercials attacking all of the Democratic candidates for House and Senate.

"A CALIFORNIA BILLIONAIRE!!1!1!! ZOMG!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!1!1!"

[ReRe]

17. As I understand... Steyer attended the People's Climate Change March yesterday in NYC. ;-) n/t

[LisaLynne]

9. And my thing is just ...

I mean, I am all for making sure that we don't become blinded to "our side's" problems and end up like the RW hypocrites, BUT donating to and supporting liberal causes is very different in my mind than using money to influence actual public policy that ends up benefiting your own bank accounts. If I were incredibly wealthy and donated TONS of cash to, say, Planned Parenthood, I'm helping lower income people, which does, I believe indirectly help everyone, HOWEVER, what the Koches try to do is influence public policy so they can keep more money for themselves.

[brewens]

12. Part of the goal is to also make their allies richer and drain the middle class, not just enrich

themselves. Driving us down also makes them all relatively wealthier. At least that is their hope. When the shit hits the fan, it will stay hit and they will be brought down unless they are able to impose the kind of control no one has ever been able to maintain for long.

[hatrack]

50. Zero-sum game - a dollar you have is one they don't, and that's WRONG!

The good news is that the Koch brothers are old, and they will die soon.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

51. I blame the Reagan Era for this too...

That was when the GOP reduced the office of the President to a PR department for their crap and tossed up a spokesman instead of a leader and then dozens of Machiavellian types ran things off the radar.

[nxylas]

53. "It doesn't quite work that way"

Doesn't it?

http://www.politicususa.com/2012/07/24/bernie-sanders-exposes-26-billionaires-buying-2012-election.html

While most DUers are probably familiar with the top 3 (or 5, if you count the Kochs as three separate entries), the rest seem to be doing a pretty good job of "anonymously bankrolling a right-wing agenda".

[Overseas]

3. K&R. Well said.

[Plucketeer]

7. LOL!!!

Lie down with dogs - expect to experience FLEAS.

[pampango]

8. The Koch brothers apparently don't know that Rachel's show is corporate MSM propaganda at its worst.

Or so I've been told elsewhere on DU.

I think they are just complaining about her publicly so that we won't see that she is secretly her ally.

[jwirr]

13. What they are really outraged about is that when Rachel tells the people that the koch bros are

trying to buy their state the people are turning away from the koch candidates. She is putting a whole in their power.

[Liberalynn]

38. Sometimes I wish there could be a law that

said politicians can only except donations from people who actually live in a state or have the main headquarters of their business there.

Then I realize that would hurt Democratic candidates especially in Red States as well. I just don't think it's fair that people who basically have nothing to do with your state have in some cases more influence over who is elected than actual residents.

[Democrats_win]

14. Like mice, the Koch bros are very active during the fall.

They've been running a commercial in Denver advertising Koch Industries as some sort of job creator. Yeah, so were the Nazis.

Recall, the Kochs have been active in trying to deny African Americans the right to vote, working to take away rights from women, fighting to stop environmental regulation, and generally working against the working people.

[ReRe]

19. And we always need to remember...

The Koch Bros are the current version of the John Birch Society

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society

[marble falls]

21. They were the old version of it, too.

[ReRe]

24. You know what I meant...

... they are the descendents, the apples that landed directly under the tree. Most people raise their kids to work hard and do good in the world, to be good Americans, good citizens in their communities. But Fred Koch raised his kids differently, encouraging them to become the unamerican human monsters they are today.

[marble falls]

25. Not arguing, you got it right.

[ReRe]

26. I know you wasn't arguing...

I just had to vent.

[rogerashton]

28. And that ad says --

"you won't see our name on many of our products" or words to that effect. Right. I wish I could see their name -- that makes them hard to boycott -- but I do go a couple of miles to avoid buying paper products with the words "Georgia Pacific" on them. Even the ones that say "not sold as a Georgia Pacific product" -- or, again, words to that effect -- on the reasoning that they were probably made in a Georgia-Pacific facility but sold under the label of a different company. Check it out. You may be wiping something with a product that Koch enterprises made, and however sweet the irony might be, I would rather not enrich them any further.

[Erose999]

31. Indeed, they are asswipes who are in the asswipe business. And a lot of building materials, too. I

avoid Home Depot whenever possible because they carry a lot of products from the Kochsuckers.

[TRoN33]

15. Another one?

There is similar news last year when Koch brothers' reps sent the letter demanded her to retract her statement anout Koch bros and follow the said script favorable to Kochses and ALEC.

If this is yet another attempt by Kochese to force Rachel into submission, good luck. Rachel is going to bite them back real hard. MSNBC knows Rachel have superior credibility with real journalist credentials than Koch bros' favorite dog, Chuck "No Syria" Todd.

[jen63]

16. A most beautiful smack down by Rachel! n/t

[calimary]

35. Welcome to DU, jen63!

Glad you're here! Too bad that's as bad as it gets for the koch brothers.

[jen63]

36. Thank you!!

. That IS the truth, isn't it? Though I think more and more are catching on every day. We can dream.......

[fadedrose]

18. How can we send the Koch's an email?

I want to tell them in "alert" language to leave our Rachel alone. Maybe I'll be polite if I'm not angry with them by the time I locate an email address.

[marble falls]

20. LOVED this. It was well worth the second viewing. Thanks for putting this up.

[LongTomH]

22. Double K&R

[C Moon]

23. If I'm not mistaken, those nasty brothers also sent her a script last year

to "right" something she said.

[Tess49]

41. I remember that, too. n/t

[Dont call me Shirley]

27. "Specialness" is the scourge of the earth. Good job to Rachel!

[Fantastic Anarchist]

29. I'd love to read that script! n/t

[Erose999]

30. She really should have posted pics of the script, showing their letterhead and such. That would have

been pretty damning.

[Jacoby365]

32. This article by Tiffany Willis is actually

talking about the episode earlier this year when Maddow brought up the drug testing of welfare recipients, indicating some Koch money was behind pushing for this legislation. Since the Koch brothers did not get their script read by Maddow, I have seen Koch's ads on MSNBC. So, I was wondering, does Rachel still get to tell the truth about Koch? I'm only asking because I have not seen the Maddow show in quite a while.

[LisaLynne]

34. Yes, that's why the article starts out with, "Earlier this year ..."

And yes, she does quite often still talk about the Koch Brothers. You should check it out. Or if you can't watch it, she usually summarizes what the show has been covering on her Facebook page, if nothing else.

[calimary]

37. Welcome to DU, jen63!

Glad you're here! Watching Rachel Maddow always strikes me the same as enrolling in a political science/civics/social studies master class. And she takes forever to back into the lead - because she's loading us up with context and background and causalities and so forth. I never watch her show that I don't learn something new or gain some new insight or historical perspective.

[The Wizard]

33. Republicans are professional victims (NT)

[Roland99]

40. Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

winner!

[Uncle Joe]

39. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, LisaLynne.

[rhett o rick]

42. k&r. Thanks for posting. nm

[Cha]

44. Thank you, Rachel, for all you do to cover the "republicon party's effort to remake itself in

the wake of the disasterous bush-cheney era".. what an horrendous job they're doing.

Thanks LisaLynne

[DonCoquixote]

45. I know MSNBC is fake left, but

Rachel is as honest as they get. If the left were a ship, she would be one of the few people trying to steer the ship away from the Icebergs, all the while being attacked by those who have a vested interest in sinking the craft.

[Generic Brad]

47. I would think the other billionaires don't like them much

Once they start hurting the bottom line of their wealthy peers, I expect them to be eventually thwarted.

[Trekologer]

49. I've noticed ads for Koch Industries suddenly being aired touting how great they are

Seems like the Kochs are desperate to improve their image.

[Midnight Writer]

52. Citizen Koch now streaming on Netflix

If you have a Netflix account, this is really worth watching

[blkmusclmachine]

54. Remember these Koch brothers products in your grocery store~>

Angel Soft toilet paper
Brawny paper towels
Quilted Northern toilet paper
Sparkle paper towels
Vanity Fair paper napkins
Zee paper towels
American Greetings cards for birthdays/holidays/weddings/anniversaries
Soft 'n Gentle products
Dixie paper cups
Mardi Gras paper napkins

ANYTHING marked Georgia Pacific on the back of the package

[4dsc]

55. Now that's funny

Keep talking about the Koch brothers please.