The Bullying Cowards of ALEC

All bullies are cowards, and you can smell their fear a mile away. They never stand and defend themselves, but hide behind thugs and mercenaries.

The bullying cowards don't come any more craven than the Koch Brothers and their evil creature, the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Nicole Belle at Crooks and Liars:

Wow, it's like they have something to hide...

Yesterday, at a conference in New Orleans, two ThinkProgress reporters were attacked by security guards for no apparent reason. Reporters Scott Keyes and Lee Fang were at the Marriott Hotel for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) annual meeting, an event that brings together state lawmakers with corporate lobbyists to draft “model” legislation.

While [Keyes and Fang] stood by the second floor lobby of the conference hotel, security guards surrounded [them], demanding that [they] leave. As we were leaving, [the guards] approached [Keyes and Fang], violently pushed [them] and twisted [their] arms. A guard approached Fang from behind, tackling him and later bending his arm to take his camera. Keyes, faced similar treatment: two security guards roughed him up on the escalator, taking his video camera, and cutting Keyes’ hand as he attempted to leave the premises. As Keyes asked why he was being forced to leave, he was shoved from the back. Asked why they were being so belligerent, the security guards said they were acting on instructions from ALEC.

I tend to stay away from shadow government conspiracy theories, but this truly is a shadow organization--accountable to no one and with no need or desire for transparency--that is writing legislation that affects all of us throughout the country. And now, they're roughing up reporters who get too close? New world order, indeed.

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