February 2, 2018
Five Myths About the Koch Brothers - Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, Theda Skocpol* - 2016
... and Why It Matters To Set Them Straight.
I've had a few more days to continue my crash course into Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers and "Libertarian" ideology in general. The convoluted logic and the ruthless efforts I'm learning about get overwhelming. Thankfully I have my Maddy dog who makes sure I get out for good long walks regularly, which helps clear my head and allows me to breath some fresh air and regroup.
Why do I think this is so important to discuss and share? Because liberalism, or more accurately, enlightened-self-interest, our democratic process of learning from and considering each other, and compromise - understanding critical thinking skills and the scientific process for assessing the world around us - all this is under existential threat.
We have this group of faithful people who genuinely believe they have a personal reciprocal relationship with God (a Being billions of years old and encompassing the universe) and who now want to totally crush the Children of the Intellectual Enlightenment and our pluralistic society .
When all the layers are scraped away that's what I'm coming down to, this huge group of people who have convinced themselves that their own goals are God's own goals. Think about this.
To believe that your personal goals are those of the God of Light and Time, Life and Love! That really is what's going on here! Yet, the Bible warns us, God is beyond human understanding. Still, we have leaders marching around proclaiming they are doing God's Will and all who oppose them are damnable enemies deserving no quarter.
Self-certitude and absolutism, that leads right into totalitarianism and I understand too much history to delude myself into presuming it could never happen here. It's happened in plenty of equally unlikely places before. Particularly when few care to, or dare to, think about it, let alone talk about it. A healthy Democracy demands an informed and engaged electorate.
Well, that intro went way longer than expected, but than, this exercise is about wrestling with this information and ideas and seeing where they take me.
Okay, for the main feature, this addition to my Americans for Koch's Prosperity Collection is the product of two scholars who's investigations enabled them to share some important background information most have overlooked, important details worth thinking about if you're trying to understand what's happening today. It does have a long history. (link)
_______________________________________________________
Americans for (Koch's) Prosperity
Recently Americans for Prosperity, the Koch front group, has invaded the Eastern slope of Colorado. This blog is dedicated to gathering and sharing information about the group's agenda and its many deceptions.
INDEX:
January 30, 2018
¶ Why start this blog?
January 30, 2018
Americans for Prosperity's Siren Song
January 30, 2018
Senator Reid Exposes the Radical Koch bros - 2014
January 30, 2018
Koch's Covert Operations. By Jane Mayer - 2010
January 30, 2018
Kochs in-house Political Spy Organization. Mayer, and Vogel. 2015
January 30, 2018
Koch Wins, Climate Agreement Broken. Jane Mayer - 2017
January 31, 2018
YOUTHFUEL: Americans for Prosperity, the video 2014
January 31, 2018
Freedom Partners, Funding Dirty Tricks - 2013, Politico Exposé
January 31, 2018
SourceWatch report: Americans for Prosperity, the gritty details.
January 31, 2018
¶ ’Sons of Wichita’ by Daniel Schulman, Koch bio - 2014
January 31, 2018
¶ Considering 1/29/18 Durango Herald report on Americans for Prosperity - Jonathan Romeo
February 2, 2018
¶ Five Myths About the Koch Brothers - Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, Theda Skocpol* - 2016
February 3, 2018
Koch's Marriage with BigTobacco - Citizens for a Sound Economy - 1993
http://americansforkochsprosperity.blogspot.com/2018/02/big-tobacco-koch-citizens-sound-economy.html
February 3, 2018
¶ What Voters Need To Know - David Cay Johnston - 2018
February 4, 2018
Making Sense of the Koch Network - Skocpol - 2016
February 4, 2018
Overwhelming evidence, Koch Network, GOP Extremism - 2016
February 4, 2018
Koch Shadow Network Funding Dangerous Candidates - H.Nations - 2016
February 5, 2018
Koch Government? Public Citizen investigates - 2017
February 5, 2018
Koch Government? Public Citizen investigates - Appendix
https://americansforkochsprosperity.blogspot.com/2018/02/koch-government-publiccitizen-appendix.html
February 6, 2018
Koch Government? Public Citizen investigates - Poster Session - 2017
February 10, 2018
La Plata Democratic Precinct Caucuses March 6, 2018
February 11, 2018
¶ Why the fear? From the front line.
February 12, 2018
KOCH EXPOSED - The Center for Media and Democracy Project - 2017
http://americansforkochsprosperity.blogspot.com/2018/02/kochexposed-media-and-democracy-project.html
February 14, 2018
How Democracies Die - Levitsky and Ziblatt - 2018
February 15, 2018
¶ Scandal-Ridden Scoundrel - Charles M. Blow - 2/15/18
http://americansforkochsprosperity.blogspot.com/2018/02/scandal-ridden-scoundrel-now-what.html
February 16, 2018
Decline to Sign the Gwen Lachelt Recall - Reject dirty tricks!
February 16, 2018
¶ SaveLaPlataCounty's Recall Petition Examined - dirty tricks in action.
February 17, 2018
Commissioner Lachelt Recall Is Unfair - L.T. - 2/15/18
(Since much of this collection is simply sharing the work of others, I’m using the pilcrow (¶) to indicate posts containing my own thoughts and write-ups.)
No comments:
Post a Comment