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Op-Ed: Duhhhmocracy — Kochs will spend $899 million on 2016 elections

The Kochs, who’ve never sought office themselves, have created a network to help the GOP.The Kochs have created “a state-focused issue-advocacy group, and affinity groups aimed at young voters and Hispanics.”
Nice to know they’re doing something for endangered species. Youth and Hispanics aren’t all that common in the GOP. This is about as much as the two actual parties spend on elections.
The Kochs and hundreds of conservative donors spent three days focusing on strategies at a recent conference in California. Many donors are said to have been recruited by the Kochs.
The New York Times:
“…their network will embark on its largest-ever drive to influence legislation and campaigns, leveraging Republican control of Congress and the party’s historic dominance of state capitols to push for deregulation, tax cuts and smaller government.”
This is the basic model of the GOP platform since George Bush in the 90s. Not a lot has changed, except the destruction of the US middle class and the eternal gridlock of a hung Congress/Presidential veto mode which has done very little but annoy the American public.
Some sarcasm is apparent in the coverage. TIME Magazine refers to “…a defense of the rights of billionaires and millionaires who are playing an ever larger role in the political system.”
Before any further commentary: The Kochs, like any other US citizens, are perfectly entitled to support any political party. They have the right to donate and organize support organizations.
Koch Industries, love it or hate it, is a major US corporation, one of the biggest. It’s a relevant party in the US economy. Supporting its own interests is a no-brainer.
That’s not in dispute. Whether this constitutes or even relates to actual democracy in any recognizable form, however, is debatable.
What is clear is that the conservative candidates are working hard to get support from the Kochs. Nor are any clear frontrunners for the GOP Presidential candidacy showing up on the radar at this point. Obviously, the mechanism of selection is complex, and having a super powered, highly influential third party in the mix isn’t likely to make it any simpler.
Duhhhhmocracy at work
The question is, is this democracy? In ancient Athens, the voters were often paid for their votes. In 19th century England, the “rotten boroughs” conducted elections much the same way. At what point do “donations” become purchases?
Duhhhhmocracy doesn’t know. It doesn’t care, in practical terms. Washington doesn’t run on smiles. It runs on $miles. Politics is a business, not a matter of metaphysical principles like electoral fairness. The theory of politics is that division of representation into political groups creates more effective representation. Nothing was said about actual value to the public, which is supporting this rancid cabaret act every two to four years. It’s a matter of opinion how many American voters would agree with that theory.
The theory of Duhhhmocracy is that anyone can meander in, spend a few bucks, and run the country, and it’s perfectly normal. The democratic principle is now based on who buys the best cards. Any reference to actual government or public interest has now effectively become extinct.
Of the what, by the what, for the what?
Nor does the word “people” have any practical value in this context. It’s now a meaningless, neutered word. Etymologists may wish to note that it is actually possible to make humanity totally irrelevant using this type of syntax.
Deal makers, which is what most politicians and business people are, make deals. They don’t debate the deal making mechanism, or the final product of the deal making machines. Politics is like a vending machine — you pay your money and you get a bag of something. The trick of winning is to own the vending machine franchise.
…Which is why the Koch move has surprised precisely nobody but the world’s media and the public, those crazy kids with the medical conditions. The machine knows where the electricity comes from. Click the switch, watch it run, and collect when your turn in line management comes along.
All we need to do is change the spelling of democracy to Duhhhhmocracy, to make sure archaeologists and other social workers don’t mistake one for the other.

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Editor-at-Large based in Sydney, Australia.

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