Citizen Koch was made soon after the reelection of President Obama in 2012. It is an ambitious documentary that tries to cover such topics as the effect that the SCOTUS decision had on campaigns at the federal and state level, specifically Wisconsin, and tries to distinguish the Tea Party from the Republican Party. After the Presidential election of 2016, such efforts seem laughable since no one really talks about the Tea Party now that Presidon’t has been elected.
Citizen Koch goes to great extremes to empathize with the Republicans who elected Gov. Walker knowing that he was against unions then try (and fail) to recall him when he actually *gasp* tries to hurt unions. I wonder whom they voted for this time. Considering that one man has a Confederate flag inexplicably hanging in his garage, we may never know. (We know.) Was Wisconsin part of the Confederacy? Why so much pride in their Southern heritage? What could it mean?
Citizen Koch misses a golden thread that it hits, but fails to highlight and develop. Fred Koch, the Koch brothers’ father, was a part of the John Birch Society, and now his sons have formed Americans for Prosperity. The documentary occasionally shows scenes from the Americans for Prosperity rallies, which shed no light on how to make America prosperous, but are filled with racist dog whistles, cries against socialism and even the old standby, anti-Semitism. They distinguish (black) Christians who care about social justice from (right) Christians. If we could hear more rallies, I’m sure there would have been a speech claiming that Martin Luther Coon…I mean King…was a Red. Rebranding is hard.
Do the people that fund these organizations believe the rhetoric or just exploiting it for financial gain? Yes. When actually challenged, one of the Koch brothers seemed incredibly relaxed and eloquent while his lackey, Tim Phillips, had a tense, gritted teeth smile as he tried to usher the guy out of there. I’ll give the Koch brothers credit-they do not ruffle easily on camera and are well spoken in comparison to the politicians that they back; however behind the scenes, there were allegations that PBS pulled funding and refused to air the documentary because of the Koch brothers’ donations, which is hilarious considering that this documentary felt like it had the mildest critiques.
Citizen Koch goes to great pains to explain that they are not for the Democrats (yuck, they’re the worst) and roots for underdog and former governor Buddy Roemer to get a podium at the Republican Presidential 2012 debate, but did not raise enough money even if he even had the supporters. How is this germane if the documentary begins with Obama’s reelection? Shrug. Unlike most preach to the choir documentaries, Citizen Koch, like the subjects of their film, is not trying to appeal to those that would support it, the Democrats, but those who won’t and never will support them as shown over four years later. I love making fun of Democrats too, but for all their faults, they are not trying to destroy anyone yet the filmmakers implicitly agree with the Republican critics: nothing is worst than a Democrat. Save your disdain for those that are actually putting their hands in your pocket and join forces with the libtards that are fighting for you. Nope, you’d rather feel good.
Citizen Koch lacks focus and fails at its stated goal: to create a cohesive, comprehensive story about how money influences politics. In its efforts to sympathize with the economic anxiety of disillusioned voters who continue to vote against their best interests for identity politics (yes, it applies to the right too), it misses an opportunity to elaborate on the common link between the Koch brothers and a union nurse to veterans, a garage owner/biker, a teacher and a prison guard. It is not that mysterious. Miss me with this lukewarm critique of politics. Where is the documentary that explains how Gwen Moore got elected in that state? The key to defeating money in politics seems to lie there.