Libertarian philanthropist David Koch has passed away at the age of 79. The gay-rights advocate and patron of the arts was, along with his brother Charles Koch, one of the most reviled individuals in American politics among journalists and other left-wing activists, even when they were doing ostensibly uncontroversial things such as donating large amounts of money to a hospital.
In March 2014, liberal activist groups staged a protest outside the planned site of the David H. Koch Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan. The center was funded in part by a $100 million donation from the man Democratic billionaire and presidential candidate Tom Steyer once described as "famously evil."
The libs were so mad that even New York City Councilman Ben Kallos showed up at the rally to denounce David Koch for financing a new hospital center in his district.
.@BenKallos: David Koch is against affordable healthcare. Why is his name on a hospital? #stopKoch #womensday
— NYSNA (@nynurses) March 8, 2014
At one point, union leader Minerva Solla took the mic and declared, "If there ain't gonna be no justice, there ain't gonna be no peace!" It's a phrase often shouted at gatherings of angry libs, but one that becomes especially poignant when used to decry the existence of a hospital that is also dedicated to environmental sustainability.
Some context: These activists were protesting the hospital around the same time that Ukrainian protestors were dying in the streets of Kiev and fighting a medieval trench war against armed riot police in an effort to oust their Russian-backed plutocrat president.
"If there ain't gonna be no justice, there ain't gonna be no peace!" -Minerva Solla, 1199#WomensDay2014 #stopKoch pic.twitter.com/1Z6hsyX6Bm
— 1199seiu (@1199SEIU) March 8, 2014
Added context: In 2012, former President Bill Clinton was paid $225,000 to give a speech at the Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., the same year the hospital laid off 300 employees. "No disrespect to Bill Clinton, but that money could’ve gone a long way and been put to better use," union leader Dan Fields Jr. said at the time.
As a result of David Koch's philanthropy, his name adorns a number of prominent sites throughout New York City, including the David H. Koch Theater at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, a beloved institution among liberal élites.