The hardreading staff didn’t know the half of it in its earlier post this morning. Also in today’s Boston Herald, a handful of other shoutouts in the WGBH/David Koch rumpus.
Working our way through the opinion pages from left to right, start with this editorial:
Going cuckoo on Koch
Perhaps we should be accustomed to the lunatic fringe making comparisons between conservatives and, say, the Ku Klux Klan. We confess it’s a bit surprising when a man of the cloth engages in the odious practice, but hey, when it comes to protecting Mother Earth all bets are off!
Segue smoothly to Jerry Holbert’s editorial cartoon:
Toss in a couple of Letters to the Editor:
Opposing views silenced
Just because protesters disagree with David Koch is no reason to shut him down and have him removed from the WGBH board (“Tough climate as WGBH faces protest over board member,” Oct. 10). That’s even if protesters do think they are scientifically correct about climate change, despite the fact that the issue is still being debated and researched and there is no unanimity on it in the scientific community.
A protester is quoted as saying of Koch, “His presence is extremely offensive. People who are actively fighting to destroy the climate should not have equal political voice.” The whole point of free speech in a democracy is so all sides may be heard.
I even support the protesters’ right to make statements that I believe are strident, hysterical and inaccurate. But to be “offended” by someone’s “presence” just because they disagree with you and to demand that their rights be abrogated is a far greater offense.
— Jeffrey Miner, Belmont
Raise the heat on Koch
There is profound irony in the use of the word “heat” in your headline about the grassroots movement to encourage WGBH to sever ties with pollution powerbroker David Koch (“Activists put heat on WGBH to oust donor, board giant,” Oct. 3). Thanks to Koch’s relentless assault on regulations to combat heat-trapping carbon emissions, we are on the verge of a climate cliff far more hazardous than any economic “fiscal cliff.”
Just as Boston will be underwater if we don’t get serious about reducing emissions, WGBH’s credibility will be underwater if the station doesn’t wash its hands of a man whose actions and statements on science contradict the station’s mission of educating and informing the public.
— D. R. Tucker, Brockton
And finish off Kochapalooza with a Michael Graham column:
Koch’s cash trash to libs
David Koch has a lot to learn about tolerance and diversity.
Koch, as every Occupod knows, is one of the infamous Koch Brothers (pronounced “coke,” as in “short for cocaine,’’ as in “white things that kill people!”). The Kochs are, well, they’re just the most dangerous, hateful and awful people in America. They regularly (and hatefully) give away millions of dollars to hospitals, universities, think tanks and, yes, public television.
Specifically, David Koch has given $18 million to support the science show “NOVA” and he sits on the WGBH board.
Liberals are demanding that he be thrown off the board over his political views.
In the name of tolerance and diversity, of course.
And just think: We still have the hardworking staff at Campaign Outsider’s Beat the Press Party Bakeoff to look forward to.
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