In his recent speech to the US Congress, Ukraine President Zelensky asked something of our Federal legislature – look into US businesses still operating in Russian territory:
All American companies must leave Russia from their market immediately because it is flooded with our blood. Ladies and gentlemen, members of Congress. If you have companies in your district who financed the Russian military machine, you should put pressure. I am asking to make sure the Russians do not receive a single penny they used to destroy people in Ukraine, the destruction of our country, the destruction of Europe.
Let’s give him, and them, a head’s up – they can look into how our old friends the Kochs are not only doing business in Russia to this day, but how they are steadfast in that business while leveraging paid political syncopates in attempts to limit Russian sanctions.
The Devil for this, is in the details. Specific notes from that reporting (links to sourcing available in the above-linked articles) after the break:
#1: Stand Together
Founded by Charles Koch to fund other groups. Dan Caldwell from the org started with arguing for American neutrality when Russia “merely” threatened Ukraine, and now claims that these current sanctions make Russia stronger.
There is a useful debate on these topics. Yet not when you’re shifting around, rooting for a reason to go easy on Russian aggression.
#2: American Institute for Economic Research
Has both funding and employees tied to Stand Together and the Charles Koch Institute. Ruger argued against American involvement in defending Ukraine on the Reason Magazine podcast in 3/2/2022, saying that “Ukraine simply doesn’t matter to America’s security or our prosperity.”
Then an 3/8/2022 article from a Cato Institute member, Doug Bandow, had the Caucacity to call the kinds of sanctions we’re imposing “grotesquely immoral.”
#3: Defense Priorities
Funded by the predecessor to Stand Together in the past. To sum up their opinions, per the reporting, they hate them some “useless” sanctions. One wag, Daniel DePetris, said in a 2/24/2022 article that sanctions are “merely an exercise in virtue signaling.”
“Virtue signaling” is the kind of dogwhisle Atwater would have loved, and underlines the truth of where he’s coming from.
#4: Koch Industries
After the above stink started to leak into mainstream media, Koch finally released a statement. In it, they simply…well, I’ll let the reporter’s opinions stand for itself:
Koch Industries is attempting to argue that continuing to operate in Russia is in the best interest of Ukraine and the Russian people. The company suggests that shuttering its massive glass manufacturing plants would benefit the Russian government. The implication is that the hundreds of companies that have left Russia are, in fact, empowering the Putin regime.
And there you have it, everyone. Koch has chosen where they will stand, in this moment drenched in innocent blood.
Wrapping the stink up
Now, again, there’s an argument to be made, by people who know more than I, about the utility of sanctions. Yet you can’t make it while hiding your funding sources — people who want those sanctions gone. (Although we know this is SOP for these folx).
So we should thank and support journalists like Popular Information for bringing these networks to light. It’ll make our Government’s work in rooting out the people and companies President Zelensky asked our lawmakers to look into, that much easier. I’m sure the same GOPers who were so eager to defame a brilliant legal mind this week, will get right on that.
As for the rest of us: if these groups are, as evidence shows, closely tied to any political movements and politicians? Well, we as citizens know some good questions to ask them, as well. To do our part to help our government, help Ukraine.
Win-win.
C.C. Edge – Murder in the Magic City!
Baud
I read the title and thought the post could be about any number of people. It has been interesting to see the motley crew that has joined the pro-Putin camp.
Ruckus
@Baud:
It has been interesting to see the motley crew that has joined the pro-Putin camp.
Did you really expect them not to?
These are people who put them making money off of everyone else above all else. Blood, country, world.
Ken
So sad to learn that the sanctions are useless. Still, on the bright side that means leaving them in place isn’t hurting anybody, right?
Baud
@Ruckus:
Wasn’t sure who would out themselves.
Ryan
Yeah, I’ve been promised an end to Koch Kock before.
Calouste
I could look up the opinions of the Cato Institute etc. about the sanctions on Iran, but I’m pretty sure I already know the answer.
Baud
Why are there sanctions on Cuba?
Ksmiami
Hmm. Maybe Biden should seize all assets of Koch industries and put them up for sale. Finance Ukrainian support through the gains
lowtechcyclist
The Dems should make an issue of this because Koch has long been a big funder of GQP campaigns and allied organizations (and creator of allied orgs, per this thread, thanks MisterDancer!).
They need to make enough of an issue of it so that reporters have a reason to ask GQP leaders if they’re still taking money from Koch, and if so, why they choose to ally themselves with someone pushing Russian propaganda.
germy
Geminid
I don’t think Koch Industries would be operating in Russia if they were not putting money in the right hands. They may be artful about it so as to sneak around U.S. law, but they are paying some people off, people who can take their factories away. I hope Koch loses it all and then their executives are indicted too.
Gravenstone
@lowtechcyclist: Koch are banking on being too big and diverse to make it practical for the government to punish them for breaking sanctions. And of course, they’re perfectly happy to rake in all that lovely blood money as they thumb their noses at requests that they stop operating in Russia (or frankly any other perceived constraint on their profits).
MisterDancer
@Baud: Oh, I suspect these wacky kids have been riding the Putin Pole for a while, and we only now notice. It’s been useful to their goals to have so many GOPers eager to support Putin, or at least “look away” as though Russia was a modern-day Dixieland.
So yeah: Part of the reason I posted in-depth was to point out that there’s a clearly long-running thread of political corruption here, of driving an opinion among Fellow Travelers on who should be doing what, in Russia — and how the US should respond. It helps explain the seemingly out-of-nowhere shift in opinions on Russia and Putin since the fall of the Soviet era.
It might even explain the bizarre “oh, Putin’s got a soul” response when GW Bush met him.
debbie
@germy:
Gilbert and Sullivan would approve!
debbie
@Ruckus:
The Mitford girls, at least most of them, would agree.
Brachiator
@Baud:
Because the Cubans are godless communists who must be crushed even though they pose no threat to us.
The Russians, however, are Jesus loving homophobes who threaten to unleash nukes should we stand in the way of Putin’s designs.
Apparently, we are supposed to embrace Tactical Nuke Jesus.
Say Amen!
Carol
I am already boycotting Koch products that I’m aware of. One thing they’re making in russia is glass, I believe. Anyone know about this? Is it glass for use in the US or ?
Raven
Fat ass is up at the Commerce GA drag strip tonight, it’s cold as shit with 30mph winds. I hope all those old fuckers freeze!
Baud
@Raven:
?
JPL
Koch’s inherited their money on the backs of Ukrainians, so what else is new.
JPL
@Raven: ha Hershel is afraid that CTR is being taught in schools and he alone will stop it.
dmsilev
Speaking of corruption, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry resigns after being found guilty of lying to FBI
BillInGlendale, what have you done?
Baud
@dmsilev:
Snitch.
germy
@JPL:
Their father was doing business with the Soviet Union in the 1920s-30s and he eventually regretted it. Then he got busy back home founding the John Birch society.
piratedan
maybe there is something to this Conspiracy theory bullshit after all, those that are rich theocrats who have little regard for any human life, much less an opposing point of view and pretty much work under the impression of them that has the gold make the rules. Anyone else is just fodder or a tool.
bunch of fucking nazis the lot of them.
I understand that we want to do this the right way, but they have so riddled our structures with their sycophants that set narratives, hamstring justice, using the rules when it applies to others and ignoring those same boundaries when it suits them.
I know that we’re still supposed to do our best to not turn into them, but there are times when you wish that someone had the ability to wield some retribution thru legal means.
MisterDancer
@Carol: The name of the Koch Subsidiary in question is Guardian Industries, specifically Guardian Glass.
In looking at it’s Russia page, it appears to make for the building market, esp. office work. So:
I do honor the effort, though!
Ruckus
@MisterDancer:
It’s been useful to their goals to have so many GOPers eager to support Putin, or at least “look away” as though Russia was a modern-day Dixieland.
Some will do anything for a buck. Fuck their neighbors, fuck their fellow citizens, fuck the world, whatever it takes they can and do justify, because it’s them doing it, so it must be better than OK. They do not of course view themselves as part of anything, they are the sum and total. Whatever they do, is OK, because it is them.
NotMax
Not the time to invest in mail order bride businesses.
;)
RSA
Dana Milbank’s column a couple of weeks ago told me I need to change my buying habits.
HinTN
@germy: Oh hell yes!
Roger Moore
The Koch fortune was made working with Stalin, so it shouldn’t be the tiniest bit surprising they are willing to work with someone like Putin who could only dream of being that evil.
Ruckus
@debbie:
Hadn’t heard of them but yes, I believe they would agree and approve.
Ruckus
@Carol:
Do you drive an ICE vehicle? You might be giving them money and not even know.
zhena gogolia
@Roger Moore: hes as evil as Stalin. He just hasn’t had the same opportunities yet.
tom
@MisterDancer: Guardian, a Michigan company, was a family business helmed for decades by William Davidson, Detroit Pistons owner and deep-pocketed Jewish philanthropist. Davidson died in 2009, Koch acquired the company in 2017.
MisterDancer
So, two things:
It’s in their greed-driven brute-force ability to pay people to focus, like the people I reference, that they gain power. Without that money/power and desire for more, they wouldn’t know a great long-term strategy if they brushed their teeth with one.
MisterDancer
@tom: Well, thank you — as depressing as that clarity is. (sigh)
Kropacetic
I’ve been wondering, is there any way we can get Russia off the internet or severely curtail its access?
I mean if we’re trying to protect ourselves from potential attacks via the cyber and hit Russia’s economy, this would work toward that end if possible.
Dangerman
@Raven: Cold as a witches tit works for me (I’ve long wondered why such a tit would be cold and who was brave enough to attach the thermocouple to find out … deep thoughts)
JPL
@germy: Nothing shows regret like supporting the John Birch society.
Ruckus
The Koch family has worked in what I call base industries around the world.
These are industries that touch most everyone in some way or another. Petroleum, paper, glass. And very likely others. You won’t necessarily even have to purchase products like @RSA: listed directly to be giving them some money. Their names are often involved with the companies indirectly, because they make some of the base products that the direct suppliers whose names you know use to create those name brand products.
MisterDancer
I’ll just point to this article on the topic, and remind that the Internet was honestly designed to overcome a host of connectivity challenges. There’s a host of potential knock-on effects when you try to wrench an entire country, esp. one as active as Russia has been, off the grid. That’s above my pay grade to detail off-the-cuff, though. [EDIT: here’s ICANN on how toxic it would be to pull Russian internet domains, if that helps.]
On top of that — I have heard (but would need to find sourcing) that Russia has spent years and money outsourcing their cyberattack platforms to other countries, even ones outside Europe.
Trust — as someone who just re-started his main dual-CPU monster server after months offline, I’d be so excited to see Russian cyberattacks diminish even more than they reportedly have!
Frank Wilhoit
For “syncopates” read “sycophants”. A syncopate (n.) might, perhaps, be a person with a fainting disorder.
Ruckus
@MisterDancer:
I wouldn’t count on them not having/knowing long term strategy. It’s not a good strategy mind you but that doesn’t mean they don’t have one. Others get rich by investing money in money. This family gets rich by investing in stuff that everyone uses and stuff that is used to make some/many of the things we all use. If your goal is to fuck as many wallets as possible and create a long term strategy to continue that long after you die, their strategy is strong.
topclimber
The only Koch-adjacent site I reconnoiter is Responsible Statecraft, sponsored by the Quincy Institute.
Here is one of their better articles.
Supposedly a Koch and George Soros are founding funders.
Kropacetic
@MisterDancer: Thank you kindly, reading now.
Booger
The Kochs also put up Americans For Prosperity, an astroturf organization if there ever was one. And if I recall correctly Papa Koch made his first big score in something banal like selling zeolite catalysts for the petroleum industry. Not particularly expensive per unit, but they use a lot of it.
Quite a wretched family there.
JPL
OT First Lady’s tweet on taylor’s death
A ferocious drummer, dedicated father, and dear friend gone far too soon. Sending love to Taylor Hawkins’ family and fans of the Foo Fighters everywhere.
Frankensteinbeck
@MisterDancer:
This fits everything I have observed over the years. There are evil assholes with real plans. There are evil assholes with completely different plans that do not mesh. Some – a lot – of these plans are completely stupid. There are evil assholes who like to talk about their plans but are just cosplaying and never expect anything to happen. More than any others are assholes who are just flailing around, doing the shittiest thing that strikes them at the moment. Since ‘fuck the libs’ is the core of all their desires, and some of the planners are sure their reach is vastly greater than it is, it easily looks more organized than it is.
Putin’s interference is the first seriously organized conspiracy I’ve seen sign of, and even then it got chaotic once it got on American soil.
Raven
And he’s late!!!
germy
@Raven:
He’s always late. That’s part of his thing, like the Rolling Stones.
Keep the crowd waiting, then enter like a rock star
The opening act is wild
JPL
@Raven: I read that folks are getting restless. sad
BC in Illinois
@Booger:
Ah, yes!
The Americans For The Prosperity Of Charles Koch.
JPL
@germy: It’s cold though. It is windy but the temp is 59, so not really cold.
germy
@JPL:
They’re cheering the opening acts. They’re not restless, it’s a lovefest
Raven
@germy: that was hours ago
JPL
@germy: Then he asked what it was. He won’t debate during the primary and I’m sure he won’t debate Warnock.
germy
BC in Illinois
@Raven:
I’ve been to better attended High School Football games.
Michael Cain
@MisterDancer:
Some of the time it’s just tough to know. EVRAZ plc is a UK holding company, two-thirds owned by some of the oligarchs. The UK company owns EVRAZ North America, a steel company employing hundreds in Portland, OR and Pueblo, CO. The Portland mill makes steel plate used to fabricate towers for Great Plains wind turbines and the Pueblo mill makes some of the most sophisticated train rails in the world. The Pueblo mill also makes small batches of 350 specialty steel alloys that wind up in a huge number of products.
Omnes Omnibus
@JPL: I don’t agree. I think kids should learn CPR. It could save lives.
HinTN
@germy: The Bushes were profiteering off NAZI Germany, too.
Raven
@BC in Illinois: Especially down here.
JPL
@HinTN: IBM also, but some left that behind.
OzarkHillbilly
Just for Betty Cracker:
eta Looks just like Badger.
Roger Moore
@Frankensteinbeck:
Sure, which was just fine with him, since chaos in the US serves him nearly as well as some deeply organized scheme. My impression is that his main goal is to bring the rest of the world down to Russia’s level, and sowing chaos is an acceptable outcome if that’s all he’s after.
JPL
@germy: I’m leaning towards voting in the republican primary, only beacuse trump’s folks are so bad.
germy
@HinTN:
That’s why W’s father fought the Japanese
debbie
@germy:
Any news of Mike Lindell’s giant lawsuit to destroy all voting machines?
sdhays
@germy: Oh, my god. I was just reading about how the Holodomor was partially due to Stalin’s need of cash to pay Americans for industrialization. He exported grain for cash instead of feeding Ukrainians. The other part was, obviously, ethnic cleansing. Two birds.
Family of fucking monsters.
mrmoshpotato
@dmsilev: Haven’t seen Fortenberry’s name around for a while. Good on him on getting convicted – the bastard.
Ruckus
@Frankensteinbeck:
As I said above the Koch family isn’t necessarily doing all of this for politics, they are business people, who are in a lot of industries making things that other industries use as you said. Much of this is not stuff you or I will ever purchase, but is used by other industries to make stuff that we do purchase, even if it is second or even third level exposure to us. It just so happens that the politics they do delve into are extreme conservative crap.
mrmoshpotato
@debbie:
Yes.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
germy
@debbie:
Any day now. We just need to be patient
Geminid
@Raven: That rally is 70 miles away from Atlanta, center of a metropolitan area that Wikepedia tells me holds 6 million people!
Sad.
JPL
@Geminid: If he didn’t show that would be priceless. hahahahaha
Kent
I did that in Texas once. When flop-sweat Ted Cruz was running against mainstream GOPer David Dewhurst. I mistakenly thought Cruz would be easier to beat and a vote for Cruz was a vote to rat-fuck the GOP. Lesson learned. There is no depth to which they won’t eagerly sink.
Raven
@Geminid: It’s 20 miles from where I am sitting.
Dan B
My partner’s sister in law is related to the Kochs. I haven’t gone to their house since 2016 when they screamed at us that we had gay marriage. Apparently we have more privileges than we deserve. I don’t go and tell my partner that every time I think of them I begin to scream insults in my head and then I often begin to shout out loud.
Baud
@Dan B:
You didn’t know?
JPL
@Kent: Mine is different, because I would vote for those who would do less harm. The problem is once you vote for the vultures, they send you crap all the time.
Kent
Cutting off their paychecks already seems to be bearing fruit.
SiubhanDuinne
@Raven:
I’ve meant to mention a couple of times (but keep forgetting to), Greg Bluestein’s new book Flipped, about how Georgia turned blue, or at least bluish, in 2020, is an interesting read. I don’t know how he can keep going to TFG rallies even now, but I guess he’s a dedicated reporter.
Frankensteinbeck
@Dan B:
They claim they’re libertarians. Given the choice, they promote culture warriors. They’re bigots who don’t want to admit it, same as most Libertarians.
Jay
@sdhays:
part of the Holodomor included “collectivization”. The plan was to eliminate the small farmers and landholders to create surplus industrial labour and turn the land over to “collective” industrial farming.
Of course, there were no factories to absorb the excess labour, no fertilizer as the livestock used by small farmers were “liquidated”, and no tractors because there were no factories.
Kinda like a $14.7 million dollar Pantsir was lost because Putin’s brutalized conscript army didn’t rotate the tires, didn’t lube the wheel hubs, and an Ogliarch somewhere sold the RA full price Michelin Military tires, that were cheap Belorussian knock offs of a cheap Chinese copy and kept the difference.
So a Ukrainian Farmer hauled it away with a “real” John Deere, ( not a cheap Russian copy) and is changing the meaning of “Farmers Market” in Ukraine.
Kent
@JPL: Yeah, who the hell knows. If Cruz had lost then Dewhurst would have essentially been a carbon copy of John Cornyn. Basically the same voting record as Cruz but without all the bad publicity and flop sweat.
There is no winning that game either way.
SiubhanDuinne
@Omnes Omnibus:
No, no. You teach kids about PRC, they’ll be Chinese Communists for life!
Captain C
@MisterDancer:
In Tom Clancy’s books (and as far as I can tell, in at least some of the posthumous ghostwritten books) the Russians were always portrayed as either Honorable Manly Men and Worthy Adversaries, or (once the Cold War ended) outright allies and generally good people,as opposed to his portrayals of, say, the Chinese or Japanese. I think there’s always been a few conservative/authoritarian types who’ve seen the Russians as basically like us, that is honorable frontier people and good White Christians who really should be on our side, that unfortunate Commie nonsense notwithstanding.
Geminid
@JPL: I wanted to follow @ronfilipkowski’s tweets on the rally, but I forgot his name so I looked up “trump rally twitter” in hopes I would run across it. I did, but not before I ran across:
Someone else posted a picture of Joe Biden sitting in his convertible with shades on and a big smile. He’s pointing at the viewer, and the caption above him says, “Hi, I’m Brandon.” The caption below says, “I’m the Guy Who Kicked Trump’s Ass in 2020.”
Captain C
@Frankensteinbeck: True Liberty is the right to discriminate and oppress whoever you want to, provided you can afford to, and have them not allowed to fight back. Apparently. cf. Wilhoit’s definition of Conservatism.
Geminid
@Raven: I hope the wind’s blowing the other way.
Dan B
@Baud: Ha!
We didn’t realize that we had to sing the praises of having “gay” marriage and be overjoyed we weren’t being locked up in mental institutions, or something.
Dan B
@Frankensteinbeck: The Obama Chia Pet they gave us one Christmas was a clue.
Frankensteinbeck
@Dan B:
Classy.
Librarian
Applebee’s?
Chbnna
@Carol: i work in real estate development and we have several projects under construction, one of the items under long delays are windows, one of the reasons we’ve been given for the delay is a shortage of is glass. I don’t know where window manufacturer’s source their glass but it would be interesting to find out. This was a pre-war issue too, so who knows what it will do to supply chain now.