You can't just decide that you and your rich friends are a social movement

Look at the American revolution, the anti-slavery movement, the women’s suffrage movement, the civil rights movement… All of these struck a moral chord with the American people. They all sought to overcome an injustice. And we, too, are seeking to right injustices that are holding our country back.

That’s none other than Charles Koch, speaking at the Freedom Partners retreat this weekend, which gathered GOP donors, presidential candidates, and elected officials at an oceanfront resort in California. The Koch brothers have grown wary of being perceived as a pro-rich people lobby, so they’re working on it. Matea Gold and James Hohmann report that “the theme of helping the lower class was echoed throughout the weekend conference.”

“The theme of helping the lower class”—that’s a well-worded summary, because whatever shifts in tone or even substance exist here, it’s important to recognize that the subject of the sentence remains: uncommonly rich, powerful people. Helping the lower class or whatever else they're doing, the only actors here are members of the elite GOP donor class—a rather odd thing to compare to a grassroots social movement.