This is America! And although I disagree with almost everything that the Koch brothers stand for, I still firmly believe that they have the right to pursue their agenda. They have the right to work to protect their business interests although it appears to be strongly opposed to most middle class Americans’ interests! For some reason unknown to me and something that I cannot put my finger on, my gut tells me that they are not like Mr. Donald Trump. Something tells me that they are not – among many other things, racist and white supremacists like Mr. Donald Trump is but they are decent Americans with a different point of view from my own as a middle class American. My gut tells me that they simply want to protect their business interests and are, instead, primarily money grubbing capitalist (in this particular instance, this is meant neither to be perceived as a pejorative nor a compliment – a way in which it is not impossible that they might take it coming from someone whom they would likely label a staunch liberal – aimed at the Koch brothers) who simply believe that they can never have enough money.
I do not know whether or not it might also be because they believe that they must play by the same rules that all of the other money grubbing capitalists play by if they are to effectively compete (only God knows how many times that, right or wrong, I have loathe the Democrats for not playing by the same rules as their Republican colleagues in order to accomplish Democratic goals since Republicans seem to give no thought to screwing Democrats) or if it is because they are the lead dogs among those who are simply money hungry and a part of the infamous American greed. Perhaps which reason it is does not matter to them but I believe that it deeply matters to the American people. I know that it matters to me! It matters because of who I really believe that we are as Americans! It matters because of how I believe most patriotic Americans feel!
The Koch brothers obviously have a strong team in place throughout the country that is working to push their agenda forward and that team is obviously very successful. But what they do not have on their team is ‘someone‘ who represents the opposition. They do not have anyone on that team who is telling them how the other side feels, why they feel the way that they do and that what they and their team are doing is bull**** (whether they agree with that person or not, which they likely wouldn’t). My gut tells me that the Koch brothers do not want to destroy the federal government and democracy as we now know it as does Mr. Trump and his minions in the Republican-led congress. They do not appear to want to destroy the free press and our intelligence agencies and establish an authoritarian government as does Mr. Trump.
The Koch brothers do not need to include this aforementioned ‘someone‘ in their strategy sessions but they still need them on their team because they truly need to know and understand how the other side feels. My gut tells me that they want to understand the other side’s perspective even though they are very likely not to agree with their rationale. Notwithstanding, that input could still be a meaningful part of their overall rationale. If I were that ‘someone‘ I would grit my teeth, put up with all of their bull****, and tell them exactly how the other side feels. I would tell them that they could compromise, win the other side over to – at least- some part of their cause – and use it to their advantage to gain the advantage over their competing money grubbers and use that leverage to better the system. And I would tell them that they could do all of this without hurting their cause. It would be a win, win for them!
Foreign leaders are talking about how America is losing stature around the world and how China, Russia and other countries are filling that void. I cannot say for sure which side of the ledger that the Koch brothers would come down on when it comes to Mr. Trump and Russia but I believe that it would be on the side of patriotism and, therefore, America. That means that they would not side with Mr. Trump. Russia has been and still is – for whatever reason, quite successful at using Mr. Trump as their puppet and manipulating him to their advantage. Unfortunately, congress is continuing to enable Mr. Trump in order to further their own personal political ambitions, protect the Republican party, and further the Republican political agenda instead of putting America first and exercising their sworn responsibility to protect the constitution.
These congressmen, unfortunately, include elected officials like John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. These were senators who were recently touted as statesmen for standing up to their party in favor of supporting the will of the American people. What a shame that they so quickly changed their tune under pressure from Senate Majority Leader Mitch (Whack-A-Mole) McConnell and voted for a tax bill loaded with partisan amendments unfavorable to Democrats and blue states and which also included an amendment that was specifically structured to destabilize Obamacare even though the majority of Americans had just rejected an attempt by Republicans to repeal Obamacare!
Congressional Republicans have been so completely blinded by their personal political ambitions and desire to protect Mr. Trump and the Republican party and its agenda that they have totally forgotten about the American people. They have forgotten about who put them in office and why they were put there and instead have chosen to bow down to big money. They have chosen their big money donors over the rest of the American people and their will. Only the American people can correct this problem and we should do exactly that. We should do it immediately! We must show the billionaires and millionaires that they alone do not run this country but that the American people overall do. They must be made to realize that billionaires and millionaires have a right to their vote but that their vote counts no more than that of the very poorest American. All decent, patriotic Americans know that this is how it should be.
Let’s begin right now to put people into office who feel this way; people who will be decent and patriotic Americans who will put country first. Obviously, those Republicans who are there now do not feel this way. But I cannot over emphasize the fact that we, the American people can fix this. We must stop selling ourselves short. We must realize that we have been doing this for a long time now and are continuing to do it because people with money, rich and powerful people, have convinced us that in order to count – in order to be worth anything – we must have money! That is not the case.
Instead, this is a myth that has been perpetuated over the years and for so long that far too many middle class and poor Americans have accepted it. We must accept, realize and always emphasize that everyone’s vote is equal. A rich person’s vote does not count any more than does that of the poorest person in America! And that is what actually makes America great! Do not let Mr. Trump mislead you, his vote carries no more weight than does yours! Our vote is the quintessential equalizer no matter who we are or how rich or poor we are! So always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican or independent; your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it! Be sure that you use yours. Do not stand by idly and be ripped off by Mr. Trump and the rich and powerful! Always vote!
Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line