Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
On my reading list is New Yorker reporter Jane Mayer’s new book, “Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right,” that explores how the Koch brothers and fellow right-wing billionaires have funded a political machine aimed at shaping elections and public policy.
Among the revelations is this gem: The Kochs’ father, industrialist Fred Koch, helped build an oil refinery in Nazi Germany—a project approved personally by Adolf Hitler. The refinery was critical to the Nazi war effort, fueling German warplanes.
As it turns out, my father (pictured with Mom) was a bomber pilot in WWII, whose principal targets were oil refineries. Of course, we’ll never know, but I’d like to think that one of his 29 successful missions took out that precise facility. The free world salutes you, Dad.
Craig,
You have a very partisan and selective viewpoint when you interpret history.
Your hatred of the billionaire Koch brothers does not seem to extend to leftist billionaires who are currently eager to do conduct business and collaborate with genocidal dictatorships and oppressive governments for profit.
I’m not sure that if the young men who dropped bombs on Germany in WW2 had been able to witness the horrific toll of life among the children and civilians among the German population, they would have been so enthusiastic about their missions.
War is a horrible business, and such actions maybe excused by necessity, but it’s nothing to gloat about.