576 Comments

In 1925, Fred C. Koch entered into a partnership with Lewis Winkler, a former employee of Universal Oil Products. Winkler developed a cracking apparatus for heavy crude oil with no patented difference in comparison to his former employer's intellectual property; in 1929, UOP sued Winkler-Koch for patent infringement. Also that year, nearly three years before the patent case went to trial, Winkler-Koch signed contracts to build petroleum distillation plants in the Soviet Union, which did not recognize intellectual property rights.

The extended litigation effectively put Winkler-Koch out of business in the U.S. for several years. "Unable to succeed at home, Koch found work in the Soviet Union". Between 1929 and 1932 Winkler-Koch supported the Kremlin and "trained Bolshevik engineers to help Stalin's regime set up fifteen modern oil refineries" in the Soviet Union during its first Five Year Plan.

In 1934, Koch partnered with William Rhodes Davis to build the Hamburg Oil Refinery, the third-largest oil refinery serving the Third Reich, a project which was personally approved by Adolf Hitler.

Surprise surprise, Koch Industries remains in business with the planet's leading fascist scumbag.

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How Koch industries and their ilk were allowed to survive following WWII is shocking, and how they continue to work against their country to this day is beyond belief!

I was in tears over Volodymyr Zelensky's speech to Congress and cannot feel the slightest compassion toward those who back Putin.

"The West, [Putin] said, is trying to split Russians and is using that 'fifth column' to achieve its goal of destroying Russia. He called for Russians to distinguish true patriots from 'scum and traitors'—political opponents and dissidents—and to get rid of the latter like bugs. 'I am convinced that such a natural and necessary self-purification of society will only strengthen our country, our solidarity, cohesion and readiness to respond to any challenges.'" (HCR)

When a leader refers to factions of his own people as "bugs" and "scum", he reveals his own depraved moral compass and soul. Putin's speech reminds me of al Bashir calling his opposition "cockroaches" that should be crushed! That the Koch brothers and certain members of the GOP remain so lewd and vile in their support of totalitarian leaders speaks volumes about their character and brutish inhumanity.

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I’m behind our Pres. Calling Vlad the Madman a “War Criminal “. And according to the polls 83% of us agree with that as they want the U.S. to support Ukraine. There still some decent GOP’ers left.

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NEVER forget that 100% of R's vote against ALL legislation designed to improve America...100% of all R's are not patriotic American's...eliminate every one of "Them" this November.

VOTE INTELLIGENTLY

DO IT!

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That approach certainly makes it simple, but is not neccessarily correct. Nationally, If you delete those gutsy Republicans like Kitzenger and Chaney, and those who mouth the defeated former president's lies only to avoid losing his support in a primary, and those fearing defeat in a primary who have chosen not to run for reelection, and fence-sitters like Murkowski, Collins and Romney, the number is closer to 75%. But on the State and local level, where there are many not-so-savvy voters, 100% is probably correct. (And how can a Republican be unpatriotic if they have an American flag on their front porch?)

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Kinzinger and Cheney are good on the topic of January 6, but both of them voted with the R's and Trump on 95%+ of congressional votes.

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Kitzenger, Chaney, Murkowski, Collins, Romney, "... and those who mouth the defeated former president's lies only to avoid losing his support in a primary, and those fearing defeat in a primary who have chosen not to run for reelection ..."

EVERY ONE OF THESE NON-PATRIOTIC CONGRESSIONAL MEMBERS VOTED against critical American improvement legislation...

Oh! How quickly we forget, Eh!?

The almost non-existing attention span of the American voting population truly amazing!!!

Senate Democrats fail to advance voting and elections bill ...

https://www.cbsnews.com › news › freedom-to-vote-act...

Oct 21, 2021 — All 50 Republicans voted against advancing to debate. Prospects had appeared dim for the bill, a revised effort by Democrats to advance voting rights

Republicans block Democrats' voting rights push in the Senate

https://www.latimes.com › politics › story › democrats-...

Jan 19, 2022 — Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked President Biden's voting rights ... Senate Democrats unanimously supported the John R. Lewis Voting ...

Senate Republicans block S1 For the People Act bill - CNBC

https://www.cnbc.com › 2021/06/22 ›

Jun 22, 2021 — Senate Republicans blocked a sprawling Democratic voting rights and government ethics bill Tuesday.

Republicans block Democrats' biggest push for voting rights

https://www.npr.org › 2021/10/20 ›

Oct 20, 2021 — The procedural vote to move forward with the Freedom to Vote Act failed despite Democrats' effort to craft a compromise bill

100% OF REPUBLICANS!!!

NEVER FORGET WHO IS THE ENEMY OF AMERICAN FREEDOM

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Are we at the point where the only good thing we can say about Republicans is that they don't eat their babies? I agree that the Republican Party is the enemy of American Freedom, but we must find a way to reach those who, failing to recognize that, vote them into office. Many, in fact, believe that the Democratic Party is the enemy of American Freedom.

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Easy: if they do not truly believe in the values put forth by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. A majority of the ?GQP have made it clear that they prefer the values of fascists and fools such as Putin and Trump.

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They really don't understand either document, particularly the Declaration of Independence. The legitimatization of ignorance by right wing media here is the problem. In Russia today, most of the people have been similarly innoculated against truth. But things can change, here and there.

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War criminals, like Serbia's Milosevec twenty years ago, are put on trial.

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As bad as he’s treated his own people while living in the lap of luxury, it would suit me just fine if they solved the problem.

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Koch was not alone as American businesses aiding Germany in WWII. GM owned Opel , the German automobile mfr, and most likely was well aware of Hitler’s plans to invade Poland, because vehicle repair operations were part of the invasion plans.

IBM was critical to Hitler’s ability to run death camps. The complexity of the Nazi system required IBM punch cards.

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And Preston Bush helped fund the growth of the Nazis, then refused to get rid of his German holdings he was given after 1934, and only avoided indictment under the Trading With The Enemy Act by getting elected Senator.

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🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮

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😢

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The tattooed numbers on Jews are IBM punch card numbers. Computerized human tracking system.

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That's not widely publicized. I hate to think of how I worked with IBM cards in New York Life Insurance in 1968 ... Makes me shudder at the connection.

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I contend that not only did these and many corporatists stick with the idea that they, “could do business with Hitler” they continued their ideological support of the Nazis beyond WWII. The primary rationale (beyond typical Capitalist profiteering) was in their mutual hatred of Communist Russia. Most saw the genocide of the Jews as at best a nasty business that someone had to do.

Think I’m kidding simply look at the anti-Semitism of Henry Ford Sr.

https://olflawriduhcracker.substack.com/p/fascism-in-america-born-in-the-usa?r=38b45&s=w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

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Can Anyone tell me what a “fifth column” is?

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Someone who sabotages the best interest of a country from within. An example is Tucker Carlson.

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Tucker is the Koch’s communication director. Without their support of his daily caller, Tucker would be unemployed, would not have made it to Rupert’s Fox.

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SOMEONE NEEDS TO SEW TUCKER'S MOUTH SHUT!

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Kremlin is looking for a new Communications Director. Tucker should apply.

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Marian, good answer to MLMinET’ s question. You could’ve added, by an individual thought to be a loyal citizen. Your choice of Tucker Carlson was an excellent choice. His unAmerican behavior has been obvious to many!

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I personally would label the Fat Man from Maralago, MTG, and her ilk in Congress, The January 6 attackers, QAnon, and the truck convoy crew a fifth Column🇺🇦

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You beat me to that comment!

They are, in fact, a fifth column, and their acolytes are indeed fighting against our democracy in favor of an autocracy/dictatorship where they think they'll be "first" but have no freaking clue how little they matter to the oligarchs.

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This is from Rep Cheney’s twitter retweeted by HCR. She is referring to MTG.

Putin is targeting and slaughtering civilians in a brutal unprovoked war against Ukraine, a sovereign democratic nation.

Only the Kremlin and their useful idiots would call that “a conflict in which peace agreements have been violated by both sides.”

pic.twitter.com/Ld9WomOStd

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It seems to me that if the US went after all these “fifth Column” people, the courts would run till Kingdom comes. I wish they would try though.

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Yes. And they are using Putin’s talking points.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_column

The term has been widely used by many, including in the United States at various times.

The Koch brotehrs could be defined as a fifth column against Democracy in the United States. Except, here that is called free speech.

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Historian Nancy MacLean (Democracy in Chains) made it clear that the Kochs purposefully kept their plans covert to create a multi-tentacled infrastructure to undermine democracy in favor of government by an elite few as they well knew this agenda would be wildly unpopular. Of course, it included vast limitations on the federal government and its power to impose regulations on corporations. MacLean’s book was the first in a series by historians and investigative journalists looking at vast investitures of dark money that ill serve democracy. Seems to me they’ve gone beyond the protections of free speech if light were to ever be shed on the full extent of their dealings and stronger accountability measures were in place. Maybe some day…

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The Ides of March. Would that some knives were drawn in the Kremlin.

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Very, very interesting line of thought, Bronwyn. Where is Russia's Brutus?

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My husband and I have been asking each other that question for weeks.

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I’m sure we have some spies in the Kremlin and in their military. Russia is too big not to have some educated officials with historical perspective that want their country back from Putin.

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Mike I remember that ‘fifth column’ was a common phrase in WW II. Though it has origins in the Spanish Civil War, I recall it being used as a reference to Quislings and his followers in Norway. These person were a group that sought to undermine the government and worked surreptitiously to support the Nazi invaders.

For me it had a negative connotation as distinct from the underground in France and elsewhere working against the Nazi occupiers.

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😢

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From Wikipedia, “A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or nation. The activities of a fifth column can be overt or clandestine. Forces gathered in secret can mobilize openly to assist an external attack. This term is also extended to organised actions by military personnel. Clandestine fifth column activities can involve acts of sabotage, disinformation, or espionage executed within defense lines by secret sympathizers with an external force.“

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"Fifth column...was inspired by a boast by rebel general Emilio Mola during the Spanish Civil War. Mola predicted Madrid would fall as four columns of rebel troops approaching the city were joined by another hidden column of sympathizers within it. In a 1936 article in the New York Times, William

described those secret rebel supporters as the fifth column...[The term] gained widespread popularity after Ernest Hemingway used it in the title of a 1938 book, and it was often applied to Nazi supporters within foreign nations during

WWII." (from Mirriam-Webster)

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Just to note that Madrid held out for more than 18 months against the fascists.

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And Americans who fought with the resistance faced scrutiny and distrust in America for decades. They were favorite targets of the John Birch Society, AKA Koch family .1 —

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When men who had fought with the Lincoln Battalion tried to enlist during WWII, they were labeled "pre-mature anti-fascists." True fact.

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FIFTH COLUMN (definition)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

'A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or nation. The activities of a fifth column can be overt or clandestine. Forces gathered in secret can mobilize openly to assist an external attack. This term is also extended to organised actions by military personnel. Clandestine fifth column activities can involve acts of sabotage, disinformation, or espionage executed within defense lines by secret sympathizers with an external force.' (Wikipedia) As in the link provided by Mike S.

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Fern, your examples are well chosen…I wonder if by adding real life American examples, like Fox News and some of our more odious, strike that, I meant…obvious…elected officials. Might serve to bring your examples home with a more personal emphasis!.

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Yes, Bob, journalists, historians, experts in the fields of political and social science... and LFAA subscribers have been connecting the dots between elected representatives, 'think tanks', Fox News, social media outlets, oligarchs with anti-democracy policies and movements. Just today TC began a chain of comments about Charles Koch's (Koch Industries) strong influence on government policies and anti-democracy movements. The following article touched upon this issue:

'What billionaires want: the secret influence of America’s 100 richest' (excerpts)

'We have come to this conclusion based on an exhaustive, web-based study of everything that the 100 wealthiest US billionaires have said or done, over a 10-year period, concerning several major issues of public policy. For each billionaire we used several dozen carefully selected keywords to find all publicly available information about their specific talk or actions related to any aspect of social security, any type of taxation, or anything related to abortion, same-sex marriage, or immigration policy.'

'Most of the wealthiest US billionaires have made substantial financial contributions – amounting to hundreds of thousands of reported dollars annually, in addition to any undisclosed “dark money” contributions – to conservative Republican candidates and officials who favor the very unpopular step of cutting rather than expanding social security benefits. Yet, over the 10-year period we have studied, 97% of the wealthiest billionaires have said nothing at all about social security policy. Nothing about benefit levels, cost-of-living adjustments, or privatization. (Also nothing about the popular idea of shoring up social security finances by removing the low “cap” on income subject to payroll taxes and making the wealthy pay more.) How can voters know that most billionaires are working to cut their social security benefits?'

'In fact, people who pay the closest attention to the media may actually be the most misled, because most of the very few billionaires who have spoken out about social security – like Buffett and Soros – have supported a generous social security system in television interviews and newspaper op-eds.'

'Or consider the estate tax. Our study ferreted out quiet activity by 12 of the wealthiest billionaires – including the Kochs and (perhaps unsurprisingly) several wealthy inheritors of the Walton and Mars fortunes – aimed specifically at cutting or abolishing the estate tax. They gave money to policy-oriented organizations seeking to abolish the tax, or founded such organizations, and served on their boards. Not a single billionaire took such activity to support the estate tax.'

'Yet here, too, citizens could be badly misled by what a handful of famous billionaires said in public. Among those who spoke out, more than half actually supported the estate tax. These include our usual suspects – Gates, Buffett, and Bloomberg – who are very atypical of US billionaires as a whole.'

'Our findings help illuminate how the political network assembled by the Koch brothers could have become so powerful. The Kochs have had a fertile field of less-well-known conservative billionaires to cultivate for hundreds of millions of dollars in in secret, unreported contributions. The Kochs’ entrepreneurship and organizational skills, together with stealthy contributions by these little-known billionaires, have produced a political juggernaut.'

'Both as individuals and as contributors to Koch-type consortia, most US billionaires have given large amounts money – and many have engaged in intense activity – to advance unpopular, inequality-exacerbating, highly conservative economic policies. But they have done so very quietly, saying little or nothing in public about what they are doing or why. They have avoided political accountability. We believe that this sort of stealth politics is harmful to democracy.' (guardian) See link below.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/30/billionaire-stealth-politics-america-100-richest-what-they-want

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As Franco's Nazi-backed forces attacked the loyalists who were attempting to preserve democracy in Spain in 1938, they boasted that in addition to their four columns of troops marching on Madrid, there was a 'fifth column" of sympathizers within the city aiding them. (Something like the 40% of Americans who still support our defeated former president's attempt at autocracy here.)

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It comes from the Spanish Civil War. The Nationalists attacked Madrid with "four columns" - divisions of troops. After they took the city, the commander said they were able to take the city with the four columns because they were aided by a "fifth column" of supporters inside the city.

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during the Spanish Civil war, there was an attack on a city- I think Madrid, but am not sure. The attacking general said he had four columns arriving from the north south east and west, and a fifth column of "patriots" would arise from within the city to defeat the government.

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unfortunately, it is easy for putin to evoke in russians the notion that they are fighting fascism. only russia sent military (not in uniform) to fight against franco and the fascists. and of course, russia went to war with germany after hitler invaded russia in june of 1941. most of the americans and others in the famous lincoln brigade that fought in spain were communists as well. communists were the only ones willing to fight in what was called the dress rehearsal for ww2. the only country besides russia to assist the loyalist side was mexico, but not with troops. putin, like trump, wants to make his country great again by turning the clock back.

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Thank you for asking, MLMinET.

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I have started a new "war effort" on my FB page. When I post about Koch or any of that ilk, I call it the Putrid Putin Party (thanks to someone here who coined that name) and I remind my followers that these are people who call themselves "Republicans." And I advise them to stay away from them. As far as I am concerned, it's no longer "certain members of the GOP" but ALL of them. Anyone who aligns himself or herself with a party that takes its orders from a criminal murderous warlord in Moscow is complicit, I don't care what they say. One penny of their money going into the coffers of that party is enough of a label for me. And I'm calling them all out.

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It is possible to tax this stench out of existence by fully supporting Democrats this November.

VOTE INTELLIGENTLY!

DO IT!

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Yes! But this wont solve our problem. Our govt system still needs two functioning political parties.

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Two - minimum. Four or five would represent genuine choice.

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Interesting. Our two-party system would work better if people paid attention to primary elections. More than two leads to the need for coalitions. Coalitions sound good and, I guess, can be. But they also can lead to legal bribery (“I’ll give your group special tax breaks if your party joins my party”).

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Nobody is perfect, Eh!?

90% of elected Democratic Congress members have consistently voted to improve/help American citizens well-being, freedoms, voting rights and security.

Now check ALL of the Democratic member voting records over the last 40 years and compare such record against ALL republicans over the same time frame.

Of what value is the constant/consistent republican obstructionist participation in America's form of governance?

The solution is really very simple:

VOTE INTELLIGENTLY ...

DO YOUR HOMEWORK THROUGHOUT EACH YEAR ...

KNOW THE ISSUES ...

KNOW THE CADIDATES ...

REVIEW THE VOTING RECORD OF EVERY INCUMBANT ...

DO NOT LISTEN OR VIEW ANY POLITICAL ADVERTISING, IT IS ALWAYS A LIE, ALWAYS!

VOTE INTELLIGENTLY ..................... DO IT

PLEASE.

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War profiteering is an old story, but no less horrifying for that fact. Check out this Wikipedia article about Edwin Black's "IBM and the Holocaust." IBM with its Hollerith punchcard technology enabled Nazi Germany to keep the trains delivering munitions to where needed, and prisoners to the death camps.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust

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John, In fact, it was from Edwin Black’s book that I learned this about GM’s and IBM’s roles in WWII. If I remember correctly, there were 7 large American companies which assisted the Nazi’s, some even accepting reparations funding after the War. If corporations are considered by SCOTUS to be individuals in the context freedom of speech, shouldn’t they (or their bds of directors) also be be subject to laws of treason? And shouldn’t Charles Koch and Tucker Carlson be now? We need to pierce the corporate shield.

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Yes, Thomas Watson, you will recall, walked around with a letter of commendation from Hitler for his service to the Reich. Harry Truman was hell on wheels going after war profiteers.

Capitalism has always required an element to exploit. It is not ethically committed to anything but its own existence and continuation.

Local capitalism which supports key local businesses is one of the few options left for us to build healthy communities and cities.

The billionaire class is not going to save us. It is only going to eat our children.

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I was in college when Milton Friedman was all the rage. My view was and remains that the ultimate extreme of capitalism is murdering of one’s competitors. IN OTHER WORDS, capitalism, in its extreme is the same as authoritarianism where might makes right.

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Inequality is an inevitable result of capitalism. In equality can be limited by building up local economies to produce as much locally as it makes sense to do, keeping capital within the community, not sending it out of the community to distant corporate entities.

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Check out "The Economics of Hope" by Russ and Dave Beaton. (disclosure: I am friends with the authors) But they have done a very good job of making the case for strong local economies.

https://www.amazon.com/Economics-Hope-Creating-Sustainable-Globalized/dp/1643881582

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Sounds like a call for vigilantism in Russia.

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The “fifth column” defines the primary means by which the Fascist Loving billionaires and theocrats in the U.S. realized was the most expedient way to achieve their vision.

We as followers of HCR’s remarkable work owe an incredible amount of thanks to an array of women historians and journalists like Jane Mayer, Nancy MacClean, Caroline Anderson and Naomi Klein. Their excellent in-depth work castes light on the dark world of the far right billionaires, from the Koch Bros. to the DeVoss family, the Mercers, Adelson and other oligarchs numbering perhaps under 100 in number who collectively control wealth and power that is literally beyond our ability to grasp.

It is hard for us to imagine what drives the motivations of these people. The brilliant (another women) Psychiatrist Bandi X. Lee has informed us as to Trump’s psychological makeup, that as in step with the other women above as both insightful and frankly deeply disturbing.

One thing I feel about the methods the Billionaire Fascists employ in a 5th Column, is in fact that they know (thanks Nancy MacLean) that their ideas and vision can not withstand the critique of open debate. In straightforward terms, what they want is an anathema to most Americans. That is why they have always sought the use of stealth, lies and propaganda to give their sick beliefs a veneer of intellectual respectability.

Over 50 years they have used the money they grift from exploiting the public coffers, the commons, with rent seeking and outright fraud to cynically build pseudo think tanks, buy and install insane politicians, and normalize their self proclaimed divine right “entrepreneur” status to engage in rampant unfettered capitalism.

Now they are throwing open the gates to let the maniacs storm the Capital of our nation and tear Democracy to shreds.

We can’t say nobody warned us in time.

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TCinLA,

Absolutely sterling informational post.

Thank you. I am sending your words to everyone that I know (even though they are tired of hearing all this history stuff).

Koch brothers history is simply fascinating. I had no idea.

I do note, however, that the Koch brothers have found a (quite) happy home in these United States of America where, it does seem, if you have money you can also avoid all of the laws and rules that, say, I have to abide by here.

And, it is also perfectly legal for those brothers to purchase, say, Brett Kavanaugh at his auction right here in these free United States.

So, as we all rail against the "evil regime" of the "evil" Putin (which he is, no doubt) I am reminded of Jesus interesting and thoughtful statement: "Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."

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"purchase Brett Kavanaugh at his auction"... PRICELESS gem there, Mike. Bought and paid for their very own SCROTUS judge.

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Oh, well said, Mike! Well said...

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Mike, “if you have money you can also avoid all of the laws and rules” has been a sad, but true policy for a lot of human history, but humans conveniently manage to forget that fact time after time.

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Oh, hear here!!!

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Amen!

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And Koch likes it when Putin subsidizes his contributions to radical right PACs. That’s the $ root of the collusion. Partners, 50/50 investing in the GOP to end democracy.

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Charles Koch is an extreme libertarian, who basically thinks he should be able to do whatever he wants because he has lots of money, an attitude he evidently learned from his father, Fred. He is a robber baron just like those of the Gilded Age. Forget the term “oligarch”. Just use robber baron; that term would be understood by more people. The Koch ads on TV showing ordinary employees make the country seem benign. It is absolutely not!

I am now checking out my paper products to be sure they aren’t produced by Georgia Pacific, a small thing I realize.

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Please list any you find. I missed the vanity fair previously but will no longer buy their napkins at Costco.

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I don't know how current this is, but this link lists their subsidiaries by state. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/containers/fix066/923338/000119312505225697/dex995.htm

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Thank you. I posted the Texas list on my FB page.

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Thank you I will share this with many friends who will want to know too.

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It takes a bit of checking but it's an important discipline.., thanks for mentioning it.

Environmental groups offer the info from time to time!

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I am glad to see that my "brands" are not there. Now, for the fibers... sad to say, those are harder to give up. I use a Koch product fiber as a swim shirt in lieu of sunscreen to avoid damage to coral. I guess I gotta find a substitute.

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Stupid question: “is extreme libertarian” a redundant statement? 🤣

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A counterdiction in terms

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🤣🤣🤣

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Thank you So helpful to read back story. And when I think of the John Birch society. Allegedly rabidly anti communist yet am guessing Koch funded it. Makes you really see the past in different way

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Fred said he learned to be an anti-communist building Stalin's oil refineries.

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I think playwrights and screenwriters have dropped the ball. The level of hypocrisy. Years of it !!! And no broad popularly packaged exposee. A book just doesnt reach enough people. No Shakespeare. Arther Miller Lorraine Hansbury to clarify and distill. Make so deeply human the particular affect of the social phenom, the economics and its effect on “ the people”. Dopesick does just what I mean with its portrayal of the Sackler criminal greed and the effect it had on the country. The same could be said for the koch bros and the pain they have brought thru their govmt coopting Buying the senators representatives and judged they wany

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When a monopoly owns that much, they buy sway in media and other outlets, even the arts by donations to trusts and such. The New Yorker and The Atlantic writers have exposed a lot of how the Koch’s navigate/manipulate Public opinion in NYC to their benefit.

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And its easier to manipulate opinions when you have your own branding companies as the New York Times & Washington Post. I posted this several days ago but here it is again. I never realized this. Check out the companies involved!

"For newspapers like The New York Times and Washington Post their reputation precedes them. They have a global reach of tens of millions and influence most heads of state would envy. They revel in their power, even boast about it at times and to capture a job at these companies is the premier choice for most young journalists. Hiding under the façade of fact based reporting these companies hide a dirty secret. This secret is so insipid they hide it in plain sight, literally, as they offer up a website specifically touting the benefits. Most people with ethics would prefer to guard this, hide it away from prying eyes and questioning minds. I don’t think many even know of its existence. I’m talking about the private branding companies these two well known newspapers have; the New York Times calls is TBrand and the Washington Post calls it Creative Group."

https://www.realitycheckswithstacilee.com/post/buying-the-media-when-facts-are-traded-to-the-highest-bidder

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Dark Money

And

Democracy in Chains

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Saturday Night Live has continued every week to expose the underbelly of the fascists in their skits.

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I wish they would expose our own fascists. We have way too many in office. The ones who frighten me most are the countless fascists taking over school boards and city councils.

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Remember the hilarity over Hillary’s “vast right-wing conspiracy”?

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oligarch training

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The worm turned??

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HCR's citation of Judd Legum's crew bears repeating: Koch Industries "continues to operate in Russia. Meanwhile, a network of pundits and groups is arguing against economic sanctions against Russia. Unmentioned: Their financial backing from Charles Koch."

https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/1504075175045783552?s=20&t=qwu9Okl2OS3j9EDvUfdo4w

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And, Koch industries operates quite happily right here in the good ole USA.

Unhindered by any laws that might limit the Koch group from selling fascism to the 45% of Americans who breathlessly believe anything anyone tells them.

Unhindered by any laws that might prevent them from contributing to, say, Matt Gaetz re-election campaign or even, for example, buying Matt Gaetz a house or a trip to whatever teenage girl wonder island he wants to go to next.

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Ha! Ha! The list of Koch $$$ recipients is legion, and has a lot in common with the biblical Legion and his herd of swine.

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Koch Industries to stay in Russia, says exiting does ‘more harm than good’

Koch Industries, the American manufacturing giant that employs 122,000 people across the world, said Wednesday it would not exit its operations in Russia because doing so would put its “employees there at greater risk and do more harm than good.”

Dozens of corporations are still in Russia. It’s getting harder for them to leave.

However, according to a list compiled by Yale management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and his research team, Koch Industries is one of about 30 companies described as “digging in” and “defying demands” for an exit or reduction of activities in Russia. Others on the list include Reebok, Cargill, Halliburton, LG Electronics and food brands such as Cinnabon and Subway.

In an address to Congress on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “Peace is more important than income.”

“All American companies must leave Russia … leave their market immediately, because it is flooded with our blood.” He urged American lawmakers to “take the lead” and “make sure that the Russians do not receive a single penny that they use to destroy our people in Ukraine.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/03/17/koch-industries-remain-russia-ukraine-war/

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Koch brothers have been enemies of America forever, thank you TC. The story of the John Birchers is a Koch story I gather, always eager to call everyone communist, even Ike. Also the co-worker who rejoiced over the JFK killing, calling him a “commie.” Seems the “commies” are now in Congress, where, oh where is McCarthy now?

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I was going to post the same question. And who was McCarthy’s Attorney Jeri ? Roy Cohn. Donnie The Destroyer’s mentor and Atty. and friend. Well up until Cohn told him he had AIDS and was dying. Donnie walked out and never saw him again alive. Cohn’s family asked Donnie not to come to Cohn’s funeral. Donnie did anyway cuz ya know” the important who’s who were all going to be there “. McCarthy ruined Ppl’s livelihoods and lives not proving anything but even just by being called out. Now they’re in the spotlight and it’s “oh well “?

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