Charles Koch: When Is he Going to Let It Rip?

Charles Koch

It's on. This weekend another of the twice-annual Koch meetings of scattered politicians but mostly conservative industrialists is on. Five hundred are said to be in attendance at this particular gathering, being held at the Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

According to The Washington Post, a bunch of mostly liberty-weak Republican elected officials are in attendance, including Sens. John Cornyn (Tex.) and Tim Scott (S.C.), Reps. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.) and Douglas A. Collins (Ga.), Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin and Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt.

The gathering has gotten so large, though, that the once totally secret event is likely to see leaks to the press of what was discussed. Thus, Koch public relations operatives now toss the media in advance a slick event bone to report on, to cut the media off at the pass, so to speak, from uncontrolled reports.

Indeed, WaPo and other news outlets were invited to cover portions of the meetings on the condition that donors not be identified without their consent.

And so, according to the compliant Bezos rag, it reports the confab kicked off Saturday afternoon with a recorded bone in the way of a video message released to reporters in which Charles Koch decries protectionism and those who support it.

“They’re doing whatever they can to close themselves off from the new, hold on to the past and prevent change,” Koch says in a video. “This is a natural tendency, but it’s a destructive one because when people act in protectionist ways, they erect barriers, which makes everyone worse off.”

"Protectionism is perverting the key institutions of our society. It’s created immense barriers that are holding people back. So if we want to help all people realize their potential, we have to break these barriers,” he added.

Good for Charles, an attack on protectionism is important, but to think of the expansive attack the multi-billionaire, once schooled by Murray Rothbard, could make in support of free markets and liberty. I'm thinking of a fiery speech calling for most if not all of government to be torn down, rather than the timid anti-protectionist speech. The produced bland video would never make it into a modern day Ayn Rand novel.

According to WaPo, the four-minute video was produced for the three-day gathering and will be broadcast to the mega-donors in attendance, who have each contributed at least $100,000 annually to Koch-linked groups. It will be shown at Koch network events across the country, signaling the seriousness with which the network intends to raise the pressure on the Trump administration over its trade policy.

The video is narrated entirely by Koch, dressed in a light-blue, button-down shirt and a dark-blue blazer, speaking directly to the camera. But it is not a John Galt-type appearance.

The 82-year-old Koch is said to have recently stated that he wants to make it to 90, so maybe he is still planning his John Galt speech for a year or two out, where he really lets it rip, quoting Mises, Hayek and, yes, Rothbard and Rand.

If word of such a speech got out, it would reach more ears than the ears reached with all the millions of dollars donated at these gatherings and spent to spread a liberty message.

Do it Charles, do it! You are one of the few who know what to say.

-RW