I started to gather and sort links to establish the most credible source references for the post below, but soon became perturbed with trying to fit these references into a piece that was not written as a journalistic documentation of facts, but rather something closer to an opinion piece. If that translates into a rant than so be it, though I would find that translation questionable. There is little doubt that the opinions expressed herein will spurn a measure of disagreement, but to accusations of questionable facts for which I have relied I leave that proof to the inquisitor, - good luck.
Preface: I would like to make some mostly overlooked observation in the post to follow. The continued well being of all life, and supporting environment becomes more dubious by the day, imo. Generally optimistic, while mounting a good deal of study to the subject herein, my optimism increasingly goes missing – fear, even a shuffling, relentless terror at times, I now find in its stead. That subject is the Koch brothers & Koch Industries, and the role they play in the wilful destruction of our natural world. I am haunted so often now by premonitions that much of life itself stands before the gallows steps...
This post is one of many I will make in the months that now separate us in the northern hemisphere from spring, and myself from the start of a multi state bicycle trip of 3200 miles, which I am calling, “Making Freedom Count”. The genesis for this trip was my realization that the human race now looks catastrophe squarely in the eye.
(“Population keeps on breeding
Nation bleeding, still more feeding economy
life is funny, skies are sunny
Bees make honey”
Lyrics from 'I'd Like To Change The World' by Ten Years After)
But the bees are in decline, and so are so many of the creatures we share our world with. Complete ecosystems are failing at a rate unlike anything before experienced in human existences. To our knowledge there have been only 5 previous such declines of life on earth, and they are the markers we call great extinctions. We have set off, and are well on our way to the sixth, but we have the ability to make the changes needed to get things turned around, if we act soon. There will come a point that we will no longer have that ability, and I fear that point is rapidly approaching. The chorus of the song quoted above, “I'd love to change the world, But I don't know what to do, So I'll leave it up to you.” I do hope to change the world, and I don't know what to do, but so many seem to be leaving our fate up to someone else. So my trip will focus on one theme – independence. not just independence from fossil fuels, but also governmentally independence from corrosive forces like the Koch brothers, and the entrenched corporate interest who have bought up every exemption & loop hole, and bought off every restriction & overseer, and who, like the Koch brothers increasingly influence all branches of government, and care about nothing other than the bottom line. (I have purposely wondered a bit in announcing what has become my mission in life, and may well be my driving force for the remainder of my life. But that will be explained in more detail in another post soon to come.)
I will offer my POV, and hopefully convey it with some of the clarity the facts suggest to me. There is no way to look at the actions of the Koch brothers & Koch industries without first and foremost recognizing the manipulation of the political system in the United States. Though I understand this manipulation to be key to much of the strategies of the Koch brothers, I have chosen to give these political manipulations little attention, as I feel they are pretty clear, and more importantly have greatly distracted from the underlying policies of the Koch brothers. One might argue that any discussion of the Koch brothers that does not include their political manipulations, is at best incomplete, or even irrelevant. It is my concern that much of the discussion surrounding the Koch brothers has focused almost completely on the political aspects, and therefore have been incomplete in many other relevant concerns regarding the Koch brothers & Koch industries. In avoiding these hot button political issues, and in fact only touching on three points, I will agree this is not a complete assessment of the Koch brothers. It is my belief that two of these points, (1: false belief the Koch brothers follow libertarian philosophy, and, 2: that the philosophy of the Koch's is one of fanaticism) are of some relevance, if not directly quantifiable, then parenthetically in understand who the Koch brothers really are... The third, (a history of, and continued complete disregard of environmental well being) is of paramount relevance.
Finally, when I use, “Koch brothers” I am referring to Charles G. Koch & David H. Koch the two brothers who run Koch industries. Also, I hope to draw some clear comparisons between the Koch brothers and terrorist, as such comparisons have been labeled those of kook’s in recent post made here.
Libertarian philosophies: the idea that the Koch brothers are motivated by strong libertarian philosophies is inaccurate, and is one of the Koch's most fundamental lies. It is true that a bastardized version of libertarian philosophy is strongly promoted by the propaganda of the Koch brothers, but I suggest their motives have little to do with the beliefs of libertarians, and are just a convenient cloak used to hide their real motivations. One of the most fundamental beliefs/philosophies of libertarians, and it might seem the Koch brothers, is the need for little or no government control, and that maximum freedom without regulation take priority over almost everything else. The reason for these beliefs in the libertarian philosophy when distilled down, is because a society populated by correct minded individuals who mind their own business needs little government control. A good example of a law that is fundamentally intrusive and unnecessary in the philosophy of libertarians might be the law in Washington state that requires a garbage receptacle to be within arms reach of the driver of any vehicle stopped on state highways. This law that was passed in an effort to reduce the amount of litter being thrown from moving vehicles, flies in the face of the libertarian philosophy. It is the belief of libertarians that such laws are not needed, but what is needed rather be the understanding of all individuals that you do not throw litter from your car. It is a libertarians strong belief that one should have the right to run his/her life as he/she see fit, and should not be told/governed on how to do that. Though this belief alone is inadequate to assure harmony without the understanding that such freedoms only work when they do not foster actions that cause harm to others, or infringe on the liberties of others. That is, that one should be allowed to conduct his/her affairs in what ever way he/she sees fit, but only if that does not negatively impact others. If you understand that throwing trash out of your car causes harm to the environment, and therefore other people who live in that environment, you don't do it because to do so is not part of your belief system. If you hold this belief in its entirety to be a fundamental part of the true Libertarian philosophy, which as I understand it, it clearly is, then it is hard to find any of the actions of the Koch brothers to be truly grounded in the Libertarian philosophy. In fact it is my opinion that the beliefs and actions of the Koch brothers has no more to do with libertarian beliefs/philosophies, than the actions of extremist Muslims have to do with the beliefs/philosophies of Islam.
Fanaticism: I want to make a strong comparison between the actions of the fanatics who engage in what we label terrorism, and the actions of Koch industries. I don't wish to label all fanatics as negative influences in society, and certainly not as heartless killers of innocent life. It is not necessarily the actions themselves of a fanatic that make them dangerous, but rather their failure to see, or have any concern for anything beyond that which they are fanatical about. Therefore if the fanatic deems a course of action is necessary to further his goal, he takes that action regardless of any other concern, ethical, moral, or even criminal, if there is a reasonable belief he will escape the penalty of those criminal actions, or that such penalty is insufficient to detour the overall furtherance of his goal.
In all I have read, I truly did not find a single example of an action of the Koch brothers that could not be contributed to one single fanatical goal. That goal, being the fanatical self-interest to increase the wealth of Koch industries. One might cite philanthropic gifts of millions of dollars to universities, or cancer research centres, or to The United Negro College Fund, or any of the other charitable donations given by the Koch brothers as examples of concerns beyond a fanatical goal to increase the wealth of Koch Industries. But the fact is, that when your net worth is upward of 40 billion dollars, it makes financial sense to donate a certain amount of that money. So, it might be just as likely that the causes to which you give that money are calculated to be those who, for one reason or another, are going to benefit you in some way. In the case of the money given to universities, it might be given with conditions that staffing decisions be made within certain guidelines, or that a certain limited curriculum be offered, and others be excluded. In the case of the donations made/partnership entered into, to The United Negro College Fund, it might be seen as a beneficial PR campaign to distances yourself from the blatant racism of your father, and/or your own racist past.
The fact that you give money, you must give to be financially prudent, are given to good honourable causes does not prove your own honourable intentions, and might just as easily be attributed to a calculation that those causes best served your fanatical self interest. I think the absence of any donation of a formidable amount going to any cause that might in any way pose an obstacle to the goal of increasing the wealth of Koch industries says as much about the intentions of the Koch brothers as anything.
With the added prologue & rebuttals this post has well exceeded the 1500 words promised, so I will offer this video as one example of the practices of the Koch brothers and Koch industries, and then try to conclude in retaliative brevity.
The documented cases in which the Koch brothers showed absolutely no regard for environmental well-being is monstrous. Their repeated environmental indifference, and continuous violations of environmental laws, would suggest that these are not mistakes of mismanagement, but rather calculated strategies. Strategies to wilfully pollute, because it is more profitable to pay the fines at bargained prices when caught, than it is to abide by the laws.
But it is not just the environment that the Koch's seem to have no regard for, in fact one is hard-pressed to find a single concern beyond that of the increased wealth of Koch industries. It is not just their actions - “Koch industries has a philosophy that profits are above everything else.” younger brother Bill Koch. It is this total disregard for all else that to me suggest the fanatical mindset, and leads me to believe they are pretty awful people.
Are the Koch brothers the same as Al Qaeda? No, but they share some of the same dangerous qualities. Both spread carefully crafted propaganda to persuade specific groups of their alliance to, and alignment with their belief system or philosophy, in order to gain their popular public support, and/or enlist their efforts in forwarding their own true agenda. Both work in covert ways to destroy, dismantle, or damage the government of the United States. Both are driven by fanatical goals which result in actions that cause great harm in their wake. And, if you believe as I do that the coming extreme environmental change will be the cause of much conflict, and will result in the death of many innocent lives, then the Koch brothers funding of climate denial might be seen as an act of terror, or something not so different. I believe history will show the actions of the Koch brothers and others who promote climate denial while aware of the overwhelming contradictory evidence, to be grossly unethical, and morally bankrupt.
And, Jerry, I wish you luck, but truly hope you find gainful employment with someone who has concern for those other than themselves.
Curious..... this, judging by the replies, seems to have been a bit too far outside the boundary of camgirl interest.... 
