The Koch brothers are getting nervous (KochFacts.com)

[highplainsdem]

From columnist Jimmy Zuma at the Tucson Sentinel:

http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/opinion/report/033111_kochs_nervous/

The Koch brothers are getting nervous
Posted Mar 31, 2011, 5:59 pm
Jimmy Zuma


Charles and David Koch seem less confident these days. The brothers – who inherited money from their dad and grew it into America’s largest collection of dirty industries – have decided they need to fight back. That’s not surprising. Since Koch-sponsored secret meetings were revealed, secret planning with Supreme Court Justices was exposed, and secret funding of right wing groups became apparent, Americans have begun to wonder just how much influence these guys have purchased.

-snip-

But that’s not all. A Google search of “Boycott Koch” reveals “about 907,000” pages. Many of these sites include a list of brands owned by the Kochs. Just type the word “boycott” into a Facebook search and Koch Industries pops up first. There appears to be a growing interest shunning Koch brands.

This week, Koch Industries opened a counteroffensive. But you may not have noticed. In a style harking back to the early 1900s, these puppet masters of public opinion began their counter-offensive indirectly. They placed an ad in a media-insider newsletter, FishbowlDC, published by Mediabistro. FishbowlDC is a daily in-boxer advertised as “Where the DC media masses go for dish about their coworkers and competitors.” It’s an entertaining gossip rag aimed at journalists, bloggers and pundits. (Yes, it’s my guilty pleasure.) Until now, the typical sponsor was a writer’s workshop, a search engine optimizer or a writer’s services provider.

The ad teases “WASHINGTON POST STORY ON KOCH MISLEADS READERS” and the tagline is “Open discussion. Competing ideas. A stronger nation.” Koch Industries is trying to gain media traction without anyone noticing they pitched their own patriotism story. Clever. The ad links to KochFacts.com.

-snip-

You can see the ad Zuma's writing about on that TucsonSentinel.com page.

This new Koch site seems to be an expansion (with an URL that's easier to remember) of their old http://www.kochind.com/kochfacts/ page.

As Zuma says, on the Koch "Facts" site news stories about the Kochs and their associates, and calls for disclosure, "are reframed as attempts to stifle free speech." And the company "represents itself in a reverential tone almost as if it were a person of great patriotism, fighting for America – the Thomas Jefferson of privately-held polluters, if you will."

The site's likely to continue to be unintentionally amusing.

Their page for Notable Quotes, for instance, which has "some select press quotes" meant to make them look good.

http://www.kochfacts.com/notablequotes.php

That page has, as the very first sentence of the very first quote:

The Kochs are wedded to solid assets like refineries and paper mills.

Imagine anyone being foolish enough to believe that would be the best way to begin a page of "notable quotes."

Oh, and that's from Forbes, August 31, 2010.

According to KochFacts.com, it's from "August 31, 2011."

[Raine]

1. Kochroach brothers loved it when they could manipulate

behind the scenes. They aren't so happy now that the slimey rock they were hiding under was turned over and they were exposed to sanitizing light. :evilgrin:

[SpiralHawk]

8. Republicon occultism is a threat to America

As the evidence shows...One almost feels sorry for the TeaBagliCons who have been SUCKERED by the occult republicon billionaires...almost, but not quite.

[jwirr]

29. It probably doesn't help that Walker turned out to be a big mess, Ohio

is going to use the people veto against them, Bachmann's rally turned out to be a bust and the polls are hitting bottom. Those two little boys have never had to work for anything and they are not used to losing. Poor babies.!!

[murielm99]

2. Exposing them to the light of day is the best thing

that could happen. I am convinced that Karl Rove lost a great deal of his effectiveness when his name became a household word. His picture is in the dictionary next to "untrustworthy."

Like Rove, the Kochs can never, never be trusted. They will always try to do nasty, twisted things to our country.

[malaise]

9. Kochroaches don't like the light of day

:evilgrin:

[ErikJ]

24. At least we know where they are breeding now

[blondeatlast]

17. You know you've got probnlems when your name becomes and adjective.

The one thing Rove couldn't anticipate was the Internet--it destroyed his effectiveness.

[Iris]

3. Interesting take on free speech, esp. given the fact they are effectively stifling it with their

union busting efforts.

[highplainsdem]

21. +1,000

[Bravo Zulu]

4. Your Bum deserves better!

[Sherman A1]

6. Agreed

No GP products for me. I will be using P&G from now on. My wife likes Charmin better in any case and I get coupons on a regular basis.

[eShirl]

12. I wouldn't wipe my ass with Koch products.

[blondeatlast]

18. Love it! nt

[999998th word]

5. They're employing people to rewrite stuff on wiki+other things that may be shining a light on their'

[Scuba]

7. We need to shine a very bright light on these two. n/t

[pnorman]

10. K&R!

n/t

[MaeScott]

11. K and R. nt

[Champion Jack]

13. K & R +100,000

[Octafish]

14. Zuma should be writing for The New York Times.

But, with the likes of neocon Tom Friedman and the Moonie David Brooks, they don't seem to interested in hiring truth-tellers for the Op-Ed pages these days.

[highplainsdem]

22. I agree. Here are links to his blog at Salon, and his own Smart v. Stupid blog:

http://open.salon.com/blog/jimmy_zuma

http://smartvstupid.com/

[Octafish]

23. Muchisimas gracias, highplainsdem!

Bookmarked the good fellow.

[deacon]

15. K + R

[lonestarnot]

16. k & R

[Snoutport]

19. are they wedded to assets because no human would have them? nt

[liberalla]

20. K&R

[louslobbs]

25. They are some of the biggest pigs at the Republicon trough and I want them to get what they deserve

not what they have manipulated and stolen. They are frauds plain and simple, evil to the core, brought up on Bircher bull shit and have never earned an honest penny in their lives. As for "Koch" Facts? They wouldn't know a fact if it crawled up their asses, worked its way up through their rotted insides and came out of their lying mouths and introduced itself. They would probably try to buy the fact off to become their radical truth. I can't stand those who pretend to be "patriotic", "holier than thou" as they try to steal from and manipulate an entire nation for their own evil purposes.........helped by of course, by their paid for Republicons, some paid for Democrats, a paid for Supreme Court and stolen billions to continue their attack on our country. They have no allegiance to this country and want it to be something else, something they can control, after all, their father did work for the Nazis and Stalin, and their bloodline seems to be pretty tainted by evil. Just look at all the little Dicktators they have bought into office with their phony organizations, and fake, outraged, teabagging mobs. It was all bought and paid for by the Kochs and their ilk to finally kill off Unions and kill the Democratic party once and for all. I thank the Universe, that they overplayed their hands and thought is was safe to go after the Unions, Our Unions, that they hate. Looks like this will be their undoing, their own pathetic greed is finally catching up with them and their bought off government of thieves and hypocrites. A real movement is afoot, not a trumped up, Koch created movement, but a movement of "real" Americans, hardworking people who finally realized that the Kochs and the Republicons were coming for them.

[freshwest]

26. Watch 'em run.

[jillan]

27. There is even a Boycott Koch Industries Facebook page :)

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Koch-Industries/114341768620561?sk=wall

[russspeakeasy]

28. That giant sucking sound ? It's a Koch.

[liberal life]

30. take the bastards down!

we are making them squirm, love it.


http://fucorporatemedia.com/

[grahamhgreen]

31. Boycott.

[Bound by Honor]

32. They should be.

I'm refusing to buy any of their products, and it will blow up on their operations - an federal indictment of racketeering, and running an illegal enterprise - The Kochstains will never survive this, and neither will the teabaggers.

[Lifelong Protester]

33. The only way I would wipe my bum with a Koch product is if

Walker's mug was printed on every sheet.

[defendandprotect]

34. Remember -- Rightwing Koch Bros. Funded the DLC ------- !!!!!

http://www.democrats.com/node/7789

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x498414

[Kip Humphrey]

35. Calling anonymous. Please take this down.

We the people need your help.

[Name removed]

36. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[roxiejules]

37. "Perhaps healthy government policies –

including the full disclosure of advocacy and political contributions – are the next great wave of corporate responsibility."