The 'Conference Call'
Dear editor:
When I thought of Sen. Mitch McConnell getting the messages to not cooperate with President Obama, not confirm his candidate Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court, and not cooperate with President Biden, I imagined the X-Files' cigarette man in some dark corner. I should have picked a more arrogant method.
In a recently taped Conference Call led by the Koch operative Kyle McKenzie, those attending discussed Biden's "For the People Act" -- an act that provides disclosures of political Dark Money given by rich donors and limits "buying a politician." Those present were heads of Koch front organizations, people from state Koch-controlled think tanks, Charles Koch, and a Mitch staffer. McKenzie said he coupled the act's messages with O.A.C. and "cancel culture" to no avail. They were still popular. Even right-wing followers didn't like their democracy taken away from them. Also, McKenzie said there would be no use in counterprogramming the messages, but they should be handled "under the Dome." He probably meant that Mitch would declare the act DOA, and Koch propagandists would scream, "Biden isn't being bipartisan. Nah, Nah." As if Mitch ever was! Mitch cooperated on the first COVID relief bill because Trump got credit for Nancy Pelosi's bill, and compromise put some sweeteners in it for the rich and Wall Street. But I'm sure that Mitch was told not to cooperate with Democrats.
In my opinion, Charles Koch and the late David Koch assumed entitlement to rule America and say what bills can be passed and not passed at the national level and through their front group, ALEC, bills at the state and local level. ALEC has been pivotal in pushing through the voter suppression bills because Koch doesn't like the way certain groups vote. Their "think tanks" that only think of what the Koch Machine likes, right-wing talk shows, radio and evangelical TV shows, columnists, and cooperating FOXTV enable them to control legislation with only one-third of American citizens.
Their propagandists use Pavlovian methods to train their voters to froth at the mouth upon hearing certain trigger words. A partial list: socialism (social democracy is almost totally a different entity though conflated) Nancy Pelosi, MS-13, the Gang, politically incorrect, cancel culture, and O.A.C. Democrats should respond with what has been good for our country: the checks and balances to Big Money provided by unions, New Deal Capitalism, and win/win trickle up.
The recent Conference Call was probably taped by a whistleblower. You can bet your WikiLeaks that future Calls will try to remove all whistleblowers, and meetings online will be perfectly encrypted. So whistleblowers, if you are listening out there, tape some more Conference Calls. We should have tried to find out what the right-wing rich was going to do to us during the COVID-19 crisis. We need to know what they are planning, period. But at least we now have a fish-eyed view of how our country is controlled and ruled by a small group of right-wingers who don't like democracy and never have.
Linda Woodbury
Hot Springs