Rob Stein: On Jane Mayer's "Dark Money" and the Koch Empire ... by gimleteye

Rob Stein is one of the most important figures in contemporary American progressive politics. Stein's first contribution to political discourse and analysis was, in the early 2000's, de-coding the message machinery linking GOP values politics with conservative foundations and funders. Before Stein, the breadth and scale of the Republican operation was not clearly understood. In Democracy Journal book review of Jane Mayer's important, "Dark Money", Stein captures some extraordinarily important points and deeply relevant to the November election in the United States.

I, too, have studied the topic of money in politics. I have been an observer and original researcher in this field since 2003, and in 2005, I founded the Democracy Alliance, the largest network of wealthy progressives to invest in progressive independent expenditure organizations. I have spoken publicly on these issues and have communicated, from time to time, with Mayer and other researchers and journalists. (I am quoted several times in Dark Money.)
Moreover, I am keenly aware that conservatives argue that the political conglomerate the Kochs and their allies have created is simply the mirror image of the interlocking nature of progressive activism in America. Their mantra is that we all do what they are doing and that the “vast left-wing conspiracy” is as large, powerful, and controlling as anything they have built.

Their political trust is bending American politics to their personal whims.

This claim is false. There is no progressive equivalent to what Mayer has described. Yes, wealthy progressive strategists, operatives, and donors are committed to advancing their political agendas and influencing the outcomes of elections and policy debates. Progressive donors do convene and consider recommendations for funding independent expenditure organizations. And progressive organizations and networks do target and attempt to align their political efforts.

This may be the most important point in the Stein review of Jane Mayer's book. Just like the false equivalency that dominated the media discussion of the 90's and 00's -- that the science of global warming was not settled and so adverse points of view needed to be given equal weight -- there is now another false equivalency afoot: that the Kochs and major GOP funders are simply organizing to do what Democrats are also doing.

In fact, the battle for America's political future is better described as a David versus Goliath battle, where every attribute of the smaller rival is adopted to confuse public perception of the leviathan at work. Koch funded entities, super PACs and penetration of legislatures, from Congress to state legislatures and even to local county commissions, has no equivalent in Democratic circles. There is no, for instance, no analogue within the Democratic ranks to the tightly woven, indistinguishable relationship between Fox News and the GOP.

Forwarned is forearmed. Except that so much damage to the United States has already been done ... to read the Stein review, click 'read more'.

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