The New Yorker’s Koch profile isn’t going away, and it seems there are more of these profiles on deck. Dave Weigel at Slate makes two very reasonable observations. #
Fink argues that Mayer treated the Kochs unfairly despite the access she received, but Mayer reports that she didn’t get face time with David or Charles. That’s the point I’m making — these attempts to keep the brothers out of the political fray just don’t work anymore. #Great point #2: #
So pre-empt the coming exposes. Libertarians: Embrace the Kochs! Kochs: Embrace the Tea Parties! You are, Kochs and libertarians alike, among the few activists who should feel no need whatsoever to apologize for wealth and success. AFP’s Tim Phillips put it well when I asked him about this on Friday, responding to the New Yorker article by praising Soros: “This is America!” said Phillips. “God bless him! He made his money, and let him go out and try and spend it to see his vision of America fulfilled.” #But somehow, I doubt Weigel will be included in the group hug: #
As a former reporter for Reason magazine, I’ve spent years poking around for information about the Koch family — especially since the Kochs’ big grassroots project Americans for Prosperity became a driving force behind the tea parties. This information is tough to get. The Kochs protect their image and it’s a fool’s errand to try for interviews with Charles, who helped found the Cato Institute, and David, who tops AFP. But in the last few months, I heard that at least four magazines were reporting out Koch profiles. ##
