The Koch Brothers Bring the GOP Just A Bit Closer To A Break-Up

The Cultural Pillar would rather tear down the temple than let the likes of the Koch Brothers have their free tradin’, business lovin’, workin’ man screwing policies run amok.

Here’s the trajectory: within the GOP, there are three major pillars: the Business Pillar, the Cultural Pillar, and the Libertarian Pillar. They don’t like each other, and never have, but unite because they despise the Democrats and, especially, the Left, both Old and New.

Which was fine until the pillar that was always in charge — the Business Pillar — suddenly found itself outflanked by the Cultural Pillar in 2016. Now the Business Pillar is striking back, trying to restore order to the GOP on its terms, and moving the GOP towards the real possibility of a break-up.

From a recent BBC report:

“The three Koch-backed groups launching the campaign against Mr Trump’s tariffs: Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, Americans for Prosperity and the LIBRE Initiative, are urging the president to lift the recent tariffs on aluminium and steel imports as well as the proposed tariffs on other imports from China.”

Isn’t that something.

Herein is the Business Pillar directly striking back at a policy cherished by the Cultural one. The tariffs are not, from a domestic politics standpoint, driven by steel and mine workers who really think they’re going to get their jobs back. It’s driven by cultural optics, by an attempt to turn the clock back to better times, and by symbolically yet again…