"The Koch Brothers are killing me and my family."- Norma Thompson, Crossett, Arkansas

[babylonsister]

Review of Koch Brothers Exposed

by BooMan
Fri Apr 13th, 2012 at 01:57:18 PM EST

"The Koch Brothers are killing me and my family."- Norma Thompson, Crossett, Arkansas.

That's the type of thing you'll hear if you watch Robert Greenwald's latest release for Brave New Films: Koch Brothers Exposed. It's not a film that pulls its punches. It isn't intended as a balanced portrayal of Koch Industries and the brothers' role in American society. It won't take you long to realize this. Right near the beginning, Greenwald nails Fred Koch, the founder of the company and father of Charles and David, for making his initial fortune in Soviet Russia working for Joe Stalin. Two seconds later, he criticizes Fred Koch for his involvement in the extreme anti-communist John Birch Society. It's hard to maintain that someone is simultaneously to blame for working with the Soviets and for holding paranoid and irrational anti-Soviet beliefs. But Greenwald isn't concerned with fairness. He's looking to take any shot he can. The movie utilizes a lot standard propaganda features, like darkened faces, ominous thunder, and scary music to reinforce a negative message. Personally, I think all of these things detract from the film.

And that's because the Koch Brothers really are killing Norma Thompson and her family. They're doing it by pumping toxic waste water from their Georgia Pacific plant into canals that flow past Norma Thompson's home. As the film documents, this is causing all kinds of respiratory distress and otherwise unexplainable cancers in Crossett, Arkansas. Nothing is being done about it because Georgia Pacific is a huge employer in the area and because the politicians are bought off.

The film is structured to show the many tentacles of the Koch Brothers and how they are harming ordinary citizens, our environment, our education systems, and even our democracy.

snip//

The overall message is twofold. First, the Koch Brothers have their hands everywhere. They aren't just worried about being able to pollute. They're messing around in school board elections, pushing segregation of the races. They're buying off universities and getting them to teach bullshit to their students. They're trying to crush the Democratic Party by denying a significant percentage of their voters the right to vote. They're trying to crush unions, both private and public. They're trying to destroy Social Security. They're behind the growing skepticism of climate change.

The second message of the film is that we can successfully fight back. The Wake County school board was voted out. The Keystone XL pipeline was delayed. If people get involved, we can stop the Koch Brothers.

more...

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/4/13/135718/235

[Blue Owl]

1. Koch is one hell of a thug

n/t

[ZombieHorde]

2. Do they have the ethical right to kill those who are killing them? nt

[The Doctor.]

3. Perhaps this is where SYG should apply. n/t

[renate]

4. kick

[Initech]

5. They are without hyperbole the two most worthless excuses for human beings on the planet.

They need to be locked in prison with their assets completely frozen. They've done more unrepairable damage to America than al-Qaeda could ever dream of.

[jsmirman]

7. They don't stop at America

and, of course, neither do those other assholes.

[Initech]

14. Charles & David Koch are the only people in this world who can accurately be called terrorists.

Along with the rest of the billionaire class. I think the whole world is getting tired of their schtick. And when the revolution happens, I won't want to be in their shoes.

[jsmirman]

6. K&R

big-time

[Zax2me]

8. Time to call 60 minutes.

Would make a nice piece, to watch, after golf delays start of broadcast 23 minutes.

[Cracklin Charlie]

9. The Long Game Exposed

These sons of the father have amassed enough wealth to exact revenge for the reforms of FDR's social programs.

I weep for my beautiful home state of Arkansas.

Bless You, Miss Norma!

[JHB]

10. Regarding the elder Koch, there's no contradiction...

...in his making a fortune in the USSR and being rabidly anti communist. He didn't go there for ideological reasons, he did it because he'd been shut out domestically and Stalin offered him big fat (Soviet-) government contracts to develop Russia's oil industry.

[HeiressofBickworth]

13. Just what I was thinking

Old man Koch was doing what he taught his sons to do: the hell with principals or ethics, just GET THE MONEY.

[Brigid]

11. I must see this.

In the meantime, K & R.

ETA: Here's how we can all help:

http://kaystreet.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/boycott-koch-industry-products/

[Faygo Kid]

12. Bought the film, it just arrived, will watch it this weekend.

Back at DU with a review. The Kochs are a clear and present danger to our nation.