The rich are laughing at us, both dirty hippies and tea partiers. But when you cost your true enemies money, they don’t find it a bit funny.

And best of all, Murphy didn’t have to pretend to be a pimp or a prostitute in order to do it. Or, depending on your opinion of Mr. Koch, he did.

Charles and David Koch are holding something called the “Billionaire’s Caucus” in Rancho Mirage this weekend, one of their periodic meetings with the rich and powerful of the conservative movement (House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is attending this one) to plot strategy for the coming year.

The impending Kochtopus gathering seems quite robust; and the cast of characters involved certainly makes one take notice.

In Harris County (Houston), Texas, a tea party group called King Street Patriots is engaged in a systematic attack on voting rights. They are working dirty hand in dirty hand with a Republican County voter registrar to suppress the votes of those they believe unworthy, that is, those who might disagree with their own political [...]

Texas energy companies stuck it to California a decade ago, and now they’re coming back again to try to derail California’s law on greenhouse gas emissions.

Koch Industries and its two leaders, Charles and David, are not only out to destroy progressivism and restore Republican dominance in Washington, though that’s a side benefit. They are out to protect their company’s financial industries, which run the gamut of practically every major policy the Obama Administration has tackled this year.

Glenn Beck’s various endeavors are so superficial and insincere it’s difficult to understand those who fall for his scams. America, of course, has a long tradition of hucksterism. We are a credulous folk, ready to believe in any old snake oil despite the fact that they always fail.