Why I'm Still Boycotting Brawny

David and Charles Koch 

I receive regular e-mails from a woman named Melody, a recruiter and employment consultant in Detroit, about job opportunities. Most relate to positions for which I’m not qualified or that are too far away but Melody’s messages give me a feel for the job market in southeast Michigan so I welcome ‘em.

Today one of her messages strayed from the norm:

REPOST! PLEASE READ!!

In the wake of the killing of Trayvon Martin...the Koch company which manufactures paper products is paying for Zimmerman's legal fees because they feel he had the legal right to bear arms and shoot Trayvon. We are asking that people everywhere band together with us and pass this information on and NOT purchase any of the following items because your money will be paying for Zimmerman’s lawyer fees. Please do not purchase any of the following: Angel soft toilet paper; Brawny paper towels; Dixie plates, bowls, napkins, cups; Mardi Gras napkins and towels; Quilted northern toilet paper; Soft and Gentle toilet paper; Sparkle napkins; Vanity Fair napkins and Zero napkins.

I’ve written about the Koch brothers before (see “Why I Boycott Brawny and Mardi Gras,” January 13, 2012). They’re the unscrupulous billionaires who’ve bankrolled the Tea Party and are waging war on Obama. They help fund the Mackinac Center, a far-right “think tank” with ties to almost everything that’s bad, including Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s conservative policies, union-busting, eliminating government funding of the arts, privatizing prisons, bashing public schools and denying the reality of global warming. Oh, and they’re behind the effort to make it harder for people to vote.

Is anybody surprised that they’re now linked to Trayvon’s murder?

Victim and Murderer

I’m not sure where Melody got her information, although the Koch brothers do help fund the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the evil entity that’s behind Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law – which kept Trayvon’s murderer, George Zimmerman, out of jail for 45 days. (The law’s been used to excuse neighborhood brawls, bar fights, road rage and even gang violence.) ALEC – which disseminates “model legislation” to right-wing politicians throughout the country and also advocates that private, for-profit businesses take over schools, prisons, public transportation and social services – has or had ties to the National Rifle Association, the Family Research Council, the Heritage Foundation, the American Petroleum Institute, Amoco, Chevron, Shell, Texaco, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Phillip Morris, and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, among other bad actors. (Visit this website.)

It makes sense that the Koch brothers are willing to fund Zimmerman's defense. Conservatives have been demonizing Trayvon and siding with Zimmerman since the story broke, and Zimmerman's become the poster child for the “Shoot First” laws that the NRA loves.

I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody discovered that the Kochs are underwriting Ted “I Prove My Masculinity By Slaughtering Animals and Threatening Democratic Politicians” Nugent’s sputtering career. And I use “career” loosely.

Sources: RightWingWatch.org, Alecexposed.org.