(You can read Chapter 1, focused on New Year’s Resolutions for Washington politicians and the media here. Chapter 3 includes my Resolutions for Social Media and. . . you)
Last year started with a couple of big bangs, politically. The January 6th violence at the US Capitol, of course. Buckle up for a cavalcade of first anniversary media this week, even though we’re still learning from and litigating that. Some 700 people have been arrested or officially charged with crimes, including this armed, dangerous, fascistic, and evil grandmother. Just look at her! Anna Morgan-Lloyd was the first conviction obtained by relentless prosecutors. At least she avoided a jail sentence, like this violent Antifa protestor that injured law enforcement officials and damaged a federal building in Portland. But Morgan-Lloyd has to perform ten hours more community service than our cop-attacking transgender Antifa friend. Must’ve been the US flag hoodie. Perhaps her white cisgender privilege.
No wonder Ghislaine Maxwell was comfortably hiding out from law enforcement after years of child sex trafficking for her elite, jet-setting friends. FBI and other law enforcement were focused on real criminals like Morgan-Lloyd.
Many of the January 6th perps have suffered in solitary confinement. Almost half of Americans polls believe they are political prisoners. A federal judge criticized jail officials. You didn’t see that story? Oh.
Yes, an important and constitutionally required event occurred that day (the congressional certification of the 2020 election). The attempt to disrupt that, violently, was horrendous and stupid. But true to Rahm Emanuel’s exhortation to “never let a crisis go to waste,” expect both ends of the political spectrum to furiously spin a colorful mosaic of conspiracy theories and phony narratives this week. Certain Congresspeople are already leading the way. Political narratives are so tiresome.
Federal authorities dispatched ten times more National Guard troops to “protect” the Capitol for months (25,000) than US troops were deployed to help preserve peace and democracy in Afghanistan (2,500) on the day Joe Biden took office. And the public is still banned from visiting the US Capitol to this day. At least the concertina wire is gone.
I mention this to set up the second big bang of 2021 - the attack by American corporations on legitimate and well-crafted voter reform and integrity laws in Georgia and elsewhere following contentious and questionable 2020 balloting. It followed up decisions to temporarily withhold all corporate-affiliated political campaign contributions, especially to cancel fundraisers for Republicans like US Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), who, despite the violence of January 6th, voted against certifying some state election certifications.
You remember the homegrown ring leaders in Georgia - Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, and Home Depot - all of whom gleefully pearl-clutched and paraded before friendly media to express horror at Georgia’s new voter integrity laws that improved access to polls. There were many others, and Major League Baseball’s highly woke Commissioner, Rob Manfred, moved the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver. It was pure virtue signaling and backfired. There was little wrong with the new law, and it compares pretty favorably to several other blue states like Delaware that, until 2022, has never allowed in-person early voting. The protests have rightly petered out over time. Those companies seem to have withdrawn from wading into political fights.
It sets the stage for our next round of New Year’s Resolutions.
Corporate America
Of course, Corporate America’s wading into woke waters began well before 2021. It made a big splash during the Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Antifa-inspired (if not organized) George Floyd race riots that began in late May 2020. Scores of corporations from DoorDash to Comcast paid thousands if not millions of dollars, despite the decidedly anti-capitalist, Marxist orientation of BLM the organization.
It began well before then when states like Texas and North Carolina in 2016 pushed back on the transgender rights agenda by restricting restroom access in public buildings to the gender listed in a person’s birth certificate. “Bathroom bigots” was among the nicer things those politicians were called. Again, companies raced to take very public stands against those states, even threatening boycotts, even as the legislation had zero impact on their own company, their employees where they worked, or other private property in the state.
But we know what this is about - virtue signaling for cash. Such corporations, unwilling to wait for the facts, become useful idiots to organizations that have long figured out to extract easy money for their purposes, including buying expensive homes for themselves. The list of race-baiters who have long extorted corporations is a sordid one.
Sometimes, it helps to read the legislation, whether voting access or bathroom bills. Facts matter, at least they used to in C-suites. In this case, I think the former North Carolina GOP Governor Jim Martin got it right. We should listen more often to wise elders. Too bad that too many corporate mavens paid little mind.
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems some corporations may have learned their lesson? We haven’t heard much from the usual suspects lately. They’re even pushing back on vaccine mandates. They’ve been reasonably quiet since state officials themselves pushed back hard on false if not defamatory assertions about election integrity laws. All manner of websites and organizations now extol how companies have canceled services to conservative-leaning organizations or rate or compare them against others on their incursions into culture wars.
So, just maybe, some of these resolutions are being taken to heart already. Time will tell. Count me as skeptical.
Resolve Corporate America to focus your external engagement activities related to public policy issues on matters that directly affect the bottom line. You know, things like increasing sales, broadening the customer base, reducing costs, streamlining operations, reducing waste, improving quality and customer satisfaction, and, yes, attracting and recruiting a high-caliber workforce without letting wokesters and affinity groups drive your policy agenda. Taking positions that demean or insult your customers, as Procter and Gamble’s Gillette and Harry’s razors did a few years ago, is a proven pathway to financial loss. Reminds me of the approach Democrats are taking towards their former working-class voters. How’s that working out?
Resolve Corporate America to redefine diversity and inclusion programs not to drive intolerant, no-dissent-allowed race- or gender-based ideologies, but respect most points of view (obviously, expressions of violence or race and sex discrimination raise flags). This includes making corporate offices friendly spaces for diverse expressions of thought, including political convictions, without fear of recrimination. While there is no right to free speech within a private sphere, private companies should understand that diversity and inclusion can’t be Orwellian-speak to punish, silence, or purge people over their race, background, politics, or alleged “privilege.” Customers come in all shapes and colors. Their inherent worth and uniqueness, even their money, are equal in value. Employees should be treated no less.
Also, resolve to dump any stupid “safe spaces” as some universities feature, with play-doh and other child-like features, for the “triggered.” Fortunately, I don’t think this is a problem on corporate campuses, but then again . . .
Some have suggested amending the 1964 Civil Rights Act to outlaw discrimination based on political convictions, consistent with other civil rights. Bills have been considered in states like Iowa. It’s worth pursuing. Not yet New Year’s Resolution ready, however.
Resolve Corporate America to focus your philanthropy consistent with your corporate purposes. For example, most major food companies contribute to Feeding America (formerly Second Harvest) that supplies food banks across the United States. I know them and have worked with them. Companies don’t just provide them with dollars, but millions of dollars worth of food donations. Philips’ Norelco brand is a major sponsor of the men’s health “Movember” campaign. That’s the kind of philanthropy all Americans salute and reward.
Conversely, resolve Corporate America to resist third-party groups that pressure you into supporting political or partisan agendas that bear little resemblance to corporate purposes. You might be amazed how many such organizations are out there, from environmental groups to “human rights” outfits who just love to move goalposts to extract additional cash. You should resolve to resist their Al Sharpton-inspired extortion threats and push back against thinly-veiled attempts to smear your reputations and brands. Resolve to fight back instead of caving and appeasing. You might be surprised how well it works. Many of these organizations take their cue from Vladimir Lenin, who once advised to “probe with bayonets.” Make sure they encounter steel, not mush.
Resolve Corporate America to favor local organizations and communities when inclined to reach out during times of crisis to express support for specific populations. Instead of throwing cash at BLM, maybe fund scholarships for historically black schools such as Pennsylvania’s Cheyney University or Oklahoma’s Langston University instead. There are 105 such schools. Maybe helping build or supply a grocery store in a food desert—tangible things that matter to real people, not grifters like Patrisse Cullors. Yes, this may take a little more work but it’s worth it and much more rewarding and effective.
When a crisis happens, the pressure is to act fast. A hurricane hits, you run to the Red Cross, and that makes sense. It is easy to look towards well-known and symbolic national organizations whose contributions appear to send a strong message. Their well-greased palms are poised and eager to help. But that’s not true of all “disasters,” some of which are more politically inspired. The trails to such gifts (grifts) are built with good intentions, but they can lead to disaster.
Resolve Corporate America to do better due diligence on every organization pounding on your door with demands for dollars, especially if veiled threats are attached. It’s not complicated. And while you’re at it, look more towards genuinely serious causes that are too often overlooked but demand action, such as human trafficking, including the kind of child sex trafficking that Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein engaged in, unabated, for years. There are great organizations that work to rescue victims, including the Center for the Prevention of Abuse in Peoria, Illinois, which I personally support.
By the way, that’s a lesson for all of us who are generous with our contributions. I, too, have learned the hard way. Start your due diligence here and here.
Had you BLM corporate donors performed due diligence, you would know that one of their significant fundraisers was Susan Rosenberg. You know, the same Susan Rosenberg who, in 1983, actually bombed the US Capitol. And other government facilities and buildings. You can look it up.
Not even the January 6th protesters did that. I don’t expect to read or hear much about that this week. But you will here. She’s probably still busy extracting cash from fellow corporate travelers for her Marxist pals and living the high life out west after her long prison sentence was commuted by Epstein/Maxwell fellow traveler and President Bill Clinton.
You know people by the company they keep.