February 28, 2011 - 12:30 pm
John Hinderacker at AOL and RCP:
On the surface, the Koch brothers would seem unlikely targets for the political left. After all, they patronize the arts, favor gay marriage, support legalization of drugs and advocate reduced spending on defense.
But they also have a unique distinction: They are two of the very few billionaires in the country who actively contribute to libertarian and conservative causes. Consequently, many liberals have engaged in what can only be characterized as a vicious campaign to drive them out of public life.
You know what to do.
Dear Mr. Martin – I have always followed politics very closely and paid especial attention to conservative and Republican politics. In all modesty I consider myself pretty well-informed.
Having said that, I had never even HEARD of the Koch brothers until less than a month ago. Suddenly, out of a clear blue sky, they became the Left’s villain du jour and the evil influence lurking behind every tree, shrub and blade of grass. Apparently the “Lefty Academy of Lies and Platitudes” have awarded the coveted “All Purpose Whipping Boy Award” (held for most of the last ten years by Halliburton) to the Koch brothers. The presentation ceremony will take place in a windowless basement room at the Saul Alinsky Institute in Chicago.
Isn’t it amazing?
And they’re not particularly “conservative”, either — they’re harder core libertarians than I am, and I get called a lefty but PJM commenters fairly often.
I call it pathological Koch-envy.
But as other posts here have stated, as libertarians they also favor gay marriage, legalization of drugs, and contributed 20 mil to the ACLU to fight the Patriot Act, and other things loved by the left. Apparently they were the only billionaires the left could find that contribute to the right, even with funding from Soros and lots of other billionaires on the left.