I also suspect a link between these guys and electronic voting machines. Seems a much quicker path to where they want to be. Anyone know of such a link?

So how do we fight the Koch brothers? What do we do to reduce the inequity between rich and poor? I despair that anything can be done: they have all the money and power already, and the rest of us have nothing and no one fighting for them.

Kochs are probably the tip of the iceberg when it comes to uncaring billionaires manipulating masses into anti-government, pro-religion ( dumb mindlessness of faith instead the light of reason), and promoting confusion so they could keep free flow of money and major power-brokering to themselves uninterrupted. They have manipulated the masses to think that amassing wealth beyond one's need is success instead of mental illness. Why would anyone want to abuse humans for amassing more money which they would never use?

How do we fight the Koch brothers and other threats to democracy? First we show up at the Capitol Mall on October 2 for the progressive rally. Hopefully people will realize they are not the only ones concerned about a corporate takeover.

Next we vote and vote in even bigger numbers than 2008. Remember the media for the most part is also corporate. Our news is filtered so we believe what they tell us about the elections being a done deal for republicans. It isn't if we show up. Drag yourself a couple of others to the polls. Will the votes be counted? I don't know but I do know if we don't vote our votes won't be counted for sure.

Finally stop buying corporate stuff be it food or other products unless that corporation shows itself to be a friend to workers and unions. This week Target, already a target for campaign contributions, is running a commercial for Motts apple juice a company involved in an ugly labor dispute. Don't buy the juice and especially not at Target. It is small but it is a start.

If all else fails I guess we head for the streets and defend democracy. Let's do the easy things first. Show up to the rally and show up to vote and shop as responsibly as you can.

Bravo for anonymous 22:52. The only positive comment to offset the hand-wringing other comments on this great Jim Hightower expose of these coke - I mean Koch family indecencies against the citizens of the US. Thanks Jim

...and on the left you have George Soros who similarly wields his money and power to shape public policy and government. It's OK for this to happen as long as the viewpoint represented coincides with yours? In my view our democracy is for sale to the highest bidder, and the system is rotten to the core. Money and influence peddling from the left are no better than from the right.

Not only Koch but also the Carlisle Group!

"Paranoia is mental disturbance" - Jimmy nearly derails his op-ed with that near-nonsense . The Koch brothers and other elites indeed, are very paranoid at this time. Why else would they attack the way they have? They are terrified of losing their wealth and power, any threat must be snuffed with all the means necessary. Policy coming out of DC these days, which the elite control, is of the "let 'em eat cake" variety. Meanwhile the police state receives full funding.
(When in Rome...)

It shows how far our political discourse is skewed to the right when a billionaire speculator is considered a left-winger.

To think that any average person has any sort of control or the ability to change the situation is just plain lost. I hate to say it but there is simply nothing to be done. We have given our rights over to the unknown organizations so that we wont have to make any of the decisions our selves. Ive accepted this, its over. Sadly America.Inc out of our hands and we can only hope that they will let us live our lives in some comfort for what little were here.

Does anyone have the time to produce a comprehensive list of Brand Names to boycott? Thanks.

Good succinct summary of what the Koch corporatists (read fascists) are about, but Mr. Hightower should have acknowledged the brilliant exposé that Jane Mayer wrote for a recent edition of The New Yorker magazine, an investigative essay that has launched numerous follow-ups to it, like this one.

I would like to show this to a right-wing enthusiast I know, but since you used the word "tea bag" instead of "tea party" she'll get freaked out by that and will miss your point. Oh well.

To think -09/09/2010-04:54 .."we can only hope that they will let us live our lives in some comfort..."Sit back -do nothing-hope....NOT going to work.No giving up-VOTE!

I think the suggestion that everyone goes to the polls and if possible the rally in Washington on October 2 is the most practical. If we do nothing then nothing will happen. If we get out in numbers, volunteer to Get Out The Vote then we have a chance. Time to get positive and energized. Lot's of time to be depressed if it doesn't go well on election day.

just out of interest
if people did want to boycott their coked up agenda...

that would mean stop burning oil, and sign up to CO2 emission control right...?

anyone stopped driving their car yet?

I've worked for these guys and when they owed me money they only paid when they wanted me to work for 'em again... Over time it became pretty clear that this was policy, so I chose to not work for them anymore - this cost them more than it cost me. What they're doing now, well, it's the same thing - it's going to cost them more than it cost us.

I'd like to posit a question: What, if anything, is the relationship between capitalism and democracy? And another question - is what we're watching on the global scene capitalism, or simply a RICO operation?

It's us or them, people. Wake up. Us or them. They're two fat ugly humans dedicated to destroying life for everyone but themselves. They're waging war against us, and ignoring it won't make it go away. How long can we continue to allow people like that to continue to destroy our lives?

It's us or them.

re: "vote vote vote"

Put extreme pressure on your representatives to get rid of hackable, non-verifiable voting machines.

Note how some races you expected unquestionably to go a particular way are won or lost by a slim margin. Notice how the MSM now questions their own exit polls because the noise machine has introduced doubt into the truth and touts their paranoid fantasies as truth. Now Fox "News" blatantly supports one party over the other. It's 1984. It just arrived a few years later.

Well, Harry, you're right, of course, but the Koch bros' quality of life that remains before they do croak and don't take it with them will be so much better than mine or that of anyone I know. We'll probably die sooner, too, because we can't afford what sustains life.