美国国家公共电台 NPR David Koch Dies; Conservative Billionaire Helped Reshape U.S. Politics

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

Philanthropist and political activist¹ David Koch has died. He and his brother Charles were worth tens of billions of dollars apiece. They transformed American politics by creating a network of secretly funded organizations that attacked Democrats² and promoted conservative causes. David Koch was 79 years old. NPR's Peter Overby reports.

PETER OVERBY, BYLINE³: David Koch helped his brother Charles build Koch Industries into one of America's largest private businesses Its brands include Georgia Pacific plywood and Lycra fabric⁴. The two brothers also created the Koch political network, famous for its secret funding and fiercely negative advertising⁵ when Barack Obama was president.

(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR #1: Tell President Obama American workers aren't pawns⁶ in your political games.

UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR #2: Earl Pomeroy cast his vote. Tell him North Dakotans won't forget.

UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR #3: Tell Mike McIntyre his policies are killing⁷ jobs. Americans for Prosperity is responsible for the content of this advertising.

OVERBY: Americans for Prosperity boosted the Tea Party movement. The Koch brothers funded AFP with money from themselves and other rich donors⁸ they recruited. Here's David Koch at a gathering⁹ in 2010, the year AFP rallied Tea Party voters to elect record numbers of Republicans to Congress.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DAVID KOCH: Five years ago, my brother Charles and I provided the funds to start the Americans for Prosperity. And its beyond my wildest dreams how this - AFP has grown into this enormous organization.

OVERBY: Besides AFP, the Koch network had groups aimed at veterans, women, seniors and Latinos. Ostensibly non-political, the groups exploited the lack of transparency, weak enforcement by the IRS and Supreme¹⁰ Court decisions. The system was tagged dark money by its critics.

The Koch network amassed¹¹ as much clout¹² as the Republican National Committee, maybe even more - this even though David Koch was not a doctrinaire¹³ Republican. In 1980, he was the Libertarian nominee¹⁴ for vice¹⁵ president. He supported abortion¹⁶ rights and gay rights, while the network backed conservative lawmakers opposed to both. In 2014, he explained it this way to Barbara Walters of ABC News.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THIS WEEK")

KOCH: I'm very worried that if the budget is not balanced that inflation could occur and the economy of our country could suffer terribly.

OVERBY: David Koch and his three brothers grew up in Wichita, Kan., the sons of oil industry tycoon¹⁷ Fred Koch. Charles and David eventually became co-owners of Koch Industries. Charles ran the company, and David stayed involved even after he moved to New York City.

DANIEL SCHULMAN: David Koch has always been the Robin¹⁸ to Charles Koch's Batman - more or less the sidekick.

OVERBY: Daniel Schulman wrote the book "Sons Of Wichita: How The Koch Brothers Became America's Most Powerful And Private Dynasty." He said, in the network, Charles Koch was the strategist, and David Koch was the front man.

SCHULMAN: Up unto his late 40s, maybe even early 50s, he was kind of living this New York socialite, playboy lifestyle. And he loved that sort of thing.

OVERBY: But in 1991, Koch was in an airliner¹⁹ that collided with another plane on a runway. Thirty-five people died. He barely escaped. As he later told Barbara Walters...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THIS WEEK")

KOCH: I felt that the good Lord was sitting on my shoulder.

OVERBY: The year following the crash, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He turned to philanthropy, giving mainly to causes he was familiar with - medical research, the arts and museums. In 2011, he recounted persuading his alma mater, MIT, to build a center to research prostate cancer.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KOCH: With tears running down my face, I begged the MIT Corporation to commit to this essential project. I was treated to a standing²⁰ ovation²¹.

OVERBY: The generosity²² often had a personal touch. John Damgard and David Koch were teammates on their prep school basketball team. Decades later, Damgard needed heart surgery.

JOHN DAMGARD: David just says, I'm able to do this, so don't worry about it.

OVERBY: Damgard went to New York.

DAMGARD: I had the best surgeon. People waited years or at least months to get Carl to do the work. Carl said, you're a friend of Mr. Koch's? I said, I am. I'm a very good friend of Mr. Koch. He said, you name the time.

OVERBY: Koch left politics and Koch Industries in 2018. The explanation was unspecified health issues. His legacy²³ includes entrepreneurial success and substantial donations to charitable causes. Also, he anonymously²⁴ funded attack ads that helped to polarize American politics. Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington.

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

5 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

6 pawns   

n.（国际象棋中的）兵( pawn的名词复数 )；卒；被人利用的人；小卒v.典当，抵押( pawn的第三人称单数 )；以（某事物）担保

参考例句：

• The hostages are being used as political pawns. 人质正被用作政治卒子。
• The allies would fear that they were pawns in a superpower condominium. 这个联盟担心他们会成为超级大国共管的牺牲品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

10 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

11 amassed   

v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He amassed a fortune from silver mining. 他靠开采银矿积累了一笔财富。
• They have amassed a fortune in just a few years. 他们在几年的时间里就聚集了一笔财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

13 doctrinaire   

adj.空论的

参考例句：

• The continuing debate between government and the press has not been much advanced by doctrinaire arguments.政府和新闻界之间不停的辩论，并没有因一些空洞的观点而有所进展。
• He is firm but not doctrinaire.他很坚定但并不教条。

14 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

15 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

16 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

17 tycoon   

n.有钱有势的企业家，大亨

参考例句：

• The tycoon is on the verge of bankruptcy.那名大亨濒临破产的边缘。
• The tycoon has many servants to minister to his needs.那位大亨有很多人服侍他。

18 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

19 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

20 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

21 ovation   

n.欢呼，热烈欢迎，热烈鼓掌

参考例句：

• The hero received a great ovation from the crowd. 那位英雄受到人群的热烈欢迎。
• The show won a standing ovation. 这场演出赢得全场起立鼓掌。

22 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

23 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

24 anonymously   

ad.用匿名的方式

参考例句：

• The manuscripts were submitted anonymously. 原稿是匿名送交的。
• Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 536 teachers anonymously. 方法采用自编“中小学教师职业压力问卷”对536名中小学教师进行无记名调查。