So I read, in the papers and on the web, that even the Koch Brothers (or, the ones who are well enough to participate) have come to the end of their patience with the Trumpster. They have begun to criticize him. They have directed their networks to work against him. They have even said that they’d co-operate with Democrats…so long, of course, as those Democrats act sensibly, which seems to mean obeying the Koch Brothers in all matters, great and small.
I suppose we, on the Left, should be at least a little pleased with this development. The Enemy of My Enemy is my friend. And right now, we can use all the Friends we can get in our battle with the Orange One and his Fascist hordes. If the Koch organization employs its muscle in our common cause, well, great. Get thee behind me Satan, and push.
And yet…
Let’s face it, the Koch Brothers were among those who worked hardest and longest to get us into this mess. It was they, with their money and their hired guns, who helped to delegitimize Liberalism, and to encourage climate change denialism, and to defund scientists, and disrupt labor unions. They had a vision of an unregulated, untaxed America…an America made safe for billionaires…in which no socialist would be permitted to draw breath.
Ah, but there was the rub. What they worked for, they obtained…only to discover that they hated it. They found that the Right Wing government they’d brought about was not their government. It did not obey their dictates. It imposed tariffs. It did not value free trade. If it cut taxes, it also borrowed trillions and laughed at the concept of a balanced budget.
Now, they wonder what to do about it all. How do they handle this Frankenstein’s Monster, which they helped at least partly to construct? So, they come to us…to the Democrats…and say “Can we work out a deal?”
But, you know, I’m not sure we can. The Koch Brothers, and those like them, have already proven that they are toxic. Ergo, I am not certain that we could take their medicine…
And survive.
Leave a Comment