February 23rd of 2011 was like Christmas, Mardi Gras and Arbor Day all rolled into one for enthusiasts of both public sector unions and terrible puns. It was the day liberal blogger Ian Murphy (author of the nuanced essay "F*** the Troops) prank called Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, pretending to be billionaire David Koch. Walker and "Fake Koch" talked for about 20 minutes, with Murphy trying to bait the governor into making intemperate comments and Walker failing swallow the hook.
As I noted at the time, it was fascinating that, of all people, the left thought David Koch would be the most embarrassing call Walker could take. (Or perhaps Murphy simply hadn't perfected a Kim Jong-il impersonation yet. "Hey Scott, it's your boy Kim!")
As I noted at the time, it was fascinating that, of all people, the left thought David Koch would be the most embarrassing call Walker could take. (Or perhaps Murphy simply hadn't perfected a Kim Jong-il impersonation yet. "Hey Scott, it's your boy Kim!")
But the left had all they needed - it was scandalous that Scott Walker would even take a call from one of the despised Koch brothers amid the tumescence brewing in Wisconsin. Among the tens of thousands of protesters still circling the Capitol daily, signs of "Scott Walker, Koch Whore" began cropping up. For those who incorrectly thought "Koch" rhymed with "rock," well... the race to the bottom lasted about four seconds.
Never mind that David Koch had never spoken to nor even seen a picture of Walker. Or that the state employee union pension funds actually owned stock in Koch-owned endeavors. Or that for years, liberal billionaire George Soros had been making it rain for Democrats in amounts that made the Kochs look like Oliver Twist.
The unions made the brothers a major bullet point on their docket of semi-relevant indictments against the governor. People who just months before couldn't name a single Wisconsin state senator were now certain Walker never would have scaled back public sector collective bargaining without the corrupting influence of the Kochs. It was simply impossible that a conservative governor faced with a $3.6 billion deficit would come to that conclusion on his own.
A year has passed, and the guilt-by-Koch train keeps rolling on. In a howler posted in today's Salon, Josh Eidelson uses the word "Koch" 20 times in a column that spans barely more than 1,000 words. Eidelson asserts the Walker-Koch connection was "cemented" by the Ian Murphy phone call; much in the same way my connection with Eidelson has apparently been "cemented" since both of our names appear in this post.
The article's subheading, "Fighting recall, the governor uses Koch money to soften image and stoke resentments," is rendered false by the actual text of the piece. Walker is not "using" Koch money for anything - Americans for Prosperity, funded in part by the Kochs, is running ads praising the effect of Walker's law. As a nonprofit entity, they cannot support Walker directly, so they are extolling the virtues of his agenda. Walker has no control over this process - if Eidelson has evidence that Walker does (and he does not), then he is implicating the governor in a crime. (Suspiciously absent is any mention of the $20 million unions spent on state senate recall elections last year, or the fact that Walker challenger Kathleen Falk has promised legislative action in exchange for union campaign support.)
But let's be serious here - the intent of this article isn't any sort of serious journalism. It is simply to cram as many instances of "Koch" and "Walker" into the same post, without providing any substantive link between the two. It is journalism by Google search engine, hoping the specious "connection" sticks.
Never mind that David Koch had never spoken to nor even seen a picture of Walker. Or that the state employee union pension funds actually owned stock in Koch-owned endeavors. Or that for years, liberal billionaire George Soros had been making it rain for Democrats in amounts that made the Kochs look like Oliver Twist.
The unions made the brothers a major bullet point on their docket of semi-relevant indictments against the governor. People who just months before couldn't name a single Wisconsin state senator were now certain Walker never would have scaled back public sector collective bargaining without the corrupting influence of the Kochs. It was simply impossible that a conservative governor faced with a $3.6 billion deficit would come to that conclusion on his own.
A year has passed, and the guilt-by-Koch train keeps rolling on. In a howler posted in today's Salon, Josh Eidelson uses the word "Koch" 20 times in a column that spans barely more than 1,000 words. Eidelson asserts the Walker-Koch connection was "cemented" by the Ian Murphy phone call; much in the same way my connection with Eidelson has apparently been "cemented" since both of our names appear in this post.
The article's subheading, "Fighting recall, the governor uses Koch money to soften image and stoke resentments," is rendered false by the actual text of the piece. Walker is not "using" Koch money for anything - Americans for Prosperity, funded in part by the Kochs, is running ads praising the effect of Walker's law. As a nonprofit entity, they cannot support Walker directly, so they are extolling the virtues of his agenda. Walker has no control over this process - if Eidelson has evidence that Walker does (and he does not), then he is implicating the governor in a crime. (Suspiciously absent is any mention of the $20 million unions spent on state senate recall elections last year, or the fact that Walker challenger Kathleen Falk has promised legislative action in exchange for union campaign support.)
But let's be serious here - the intent of this article isn't any sort of serious journalism. It is simply to cram as many instances of "Koch" and "Walker" into the same post, without providing any substantive link between the two. It is journalism by Google search engine, hoping the specious "connection" sticks.
Join the conversation