Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY), who is running to replace Mitch McConnell in the United States Senate, released his first television ad earlier this month.
JPMorgan pledges millions to the NAACP, then funds a candidate running white supremacist slogans. Delta publicly commits to DEI, then cuts a check to the man mocking it. Bank of America lists itself as an ADL Corporate Partner Against Hate while bankrolling exactly that.
These corporations aren’t confused or hypocritical. They’re rational actors in a captured system, hedging both sides to ensure access to power regardless of who wins. The moral posturing was always marketing. The money is what reveals what they actually optimize for: their own survival and profit, regardless of who gets hurt.
This is why corporate pledges to social causes mean nothing without structural accountability. Withdraw legitimacy from both the politicians and the corporations funding them.
I’d also be curious to understand how these monies get to these PACs. What is the corporate process? Does someone within the company have to nominate the cause? Once the request comes in, how/who reviews it? I have to wonder if there is any kind of oversight, or, if the request comes in, small group handles it by checking a tax code status and then they just give money??
My understanding from the past is to the follow the lead of the regime, saying it was “an error” or some such response, then take no responsibility… unless the people with sufficient energy and power and Unity rise and speak back… this has been happening for decades… before PACs and Citizen (Elites) United, it was developed as placing pressure on entities such as state worker retirement systems to divest from investments in nuclear arms components ( one of the more ‘popular’ at the time was GE, whose motto/ tagline was “We Bring Things to Life”while the produced nuclear weapon triggers) and apartheid-supporting investments.
Now with the flourishing Oligarchy following (or leading) the current regime on a quid pro quo basis, and the regime’s march to nullify the voice of the people (and make no mistake, unless you are one of the elite, or those who still convince themselves that the truth that our democracy is now fully occupied by an authoritarian, totalitarian regime, then free and fair elections will no longer be in existence. This will take the full voice of the people. Apologies for the run on sentences… thoughtful intent, but heartfelt.
I've come to accept the reality that you cannot be a Republican unless you are a racist, but do they have to be assholes too? WTF is the point of that "I approved this ad to make woke liberals cry" except to prove to anyone with more than three functioning brain cells that you have the emotional maturity of a 10 year old? And the corporations that donate to a guy like this deserve to be named and shamed, and boycotted when possible.
If it didn't work with the racist base, they wouldn't try it. With a his primary opponent being Black, I'm a little surprised they feel the need to go full racist. Though the GOP m.o. essentially has been that to further appeal to racists, you have to further appeal to racists.
Given the collapse of the whiskey industry and agriculture as a whole in KY, I'm not 100% convinced that racism alone will be enough. Don't forget, the people who inflicted Mitch McConnell on us for years also elected Andy Beshear.
Interesting group, those bluegrass peeps. There are some people in Kentucky with hatred in their heart and would vote for a stupid dog if it was white and running against a black man. I believe Mitch got reelected because from day one he brought home the pork. He gassed up his constituents with every little gift he could grab from the Washington coffers and the people grew used to him and his decaying brain and body with his dangerous ineptitude because they owed him for the new road or school. I hope it is a new day in Kentucky.
Ok I’m not saying these corporate sponsors aren’t filling the wrong pockets. I’m asking what is an average citizen supposed to do when almost every bank and the company that makes my car is on that list? Toyota for example has its largest manufacturing plant in the world in Kentucky. I’m more than happy to drag them and JPMC around by the ear some, but these companies are playing a game, albeit a shitty one, from a business angle. The problem I see is with Kentucky. I’ll do some work for Barrs challenger if that’s what it takes, but electing a black man in his place is the best win any of us could imagine. Everyone please do the same in Arkansas for the person challenging perennial prick Tom Cotton.
That pretty much sums up the answer to this creep, Andy Barr. That, and your vote. Oh, and you can make phone calls, write emails, cancel a subscription, change your insurance company, sell your car.
This country is circling the drain and if we cannot stop people like Andy Barr, if he is not shamed by his bigotry and hatred, if people gather round him and say, "Heck of a job, Whitey." Then, really, we are on a slippery slope, and there is no climbing out of the shithole that maga has dragged us into.
Why am I not surprised that corporations that depend on corporate welfare and deregulation are more than willing to support a congressional candidate who just happens to be spouting white supremacist slogans. He will lick their boots and do their bidding.
Barr hasn’t sinned for being white, but it’s certainly a sin to be a racist. Let this Trumpian racism be the last hurrah of an ignorant, sometimes violent group of people.
Note: Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is a Republican also. This is mentioned further down in the article. I believe this should have been mentioned at the top of the article to prevent people acting on the assumption that different is always better. BOTH candidates are bad for this country at this time because they are BOTH Republican.
I have a sister who consoles her Republican self with the “six of one, half a dozen of the other” argument in support of her position of which she claims is entirely an anti-abortion stance. I wish to assert that at this time, though both parties have problems, there is no excuse for anyone to vote for anyone other than a Democrat.
1) There is no other party with a solid enough machine to elect their candidate.
2) Comparing or giving equal weight to both parties is pretending that our current president is not constantly grifting his supporters by, so far, merely BILLIONS, is DAILY unquestionably guilty of MANY heinous crimes, is changing our voting system to claw back an additional election, etc., etc., etc.
I can see—and I wish everyone could see—that this election cycle is for all that we stand for or hope for our country.
Barr sounds just like the worst of MAGA. Is that really what KY wants with all that's been going down? I think he can be beaten. Stand up for democracy KY, defeat this racist hack.
Corporations are people, said Romney. Yes, the people of capital, the almighty buck, the only value corporations uphold. Major corporations don't give a rat's ass about anything else.
It's just more of the same maga garbage from these GOP politicians. They're clueless and can't read the emotional temps in the country right now. That's why they constantly are trying to suppress minority voting rights and deport so many immigrants to attempt to win elections. So sick of the hatred in this country and the stupid woke liberal slogans!
Don't be surprised by corporate behavior. They are by design and by law sociopathic, required to pursue whatever increases shareholder value. That usually means playing both sides.
Racism is their game. MONEY (power, control) is their aim. The Corporations (read BILLIONAIRES) of America are continuing with their take over attempts of America and the world. They care nothing about the people they want and do not want to vote for these candidates, like Barr! What they want are people in office who will serve them and their greed and NOT the rest of us. Barr would be another of their useful idiots. We have too many people and corporations (Billionaires) who are working overtime to capture control of America and the world to the destruction of all of the rest of us. "Burned By Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power are Ruining Our Lives and Planet" by Chuck Collins explains all of this and what to do about it in detail. In the book there is a cartoon that says it all, in a conversation between two billionaires - "I own one plane, two yachts, four houses, and five politicians".
This is the incentive structure laid bare.
JPMorgan pledges millions to the NAACP, then funds a candidate running white supremacist slogans. Delta publicly commits to DEI, then cuts a check to the man mocking it. Bank of America lists itself as an ADL Corporate Partner Against Hate while bankrolling exactly that.
These corporations aren’t confused or hypocritical. They’re rational actors in a captured system, hedging both sides to ensure access to power regardless of who wins. The moral posturing was always marketing. The money is what reveals what they actually optimize for: their own survival and profit, regardless of who gets hurt.
This is why corporate pledges to social causes mean nothing without structural accountability. Withdraw legitimacy from both the politicians and the corporations funding them.
—Johan
Your comment resonates here.
I’d also be curious to understand how these monies get to these PACs. What is the corporate process? Does someone within the company have to nominate the cause? Once the request comes in, how/who reviews it? I have to wonder if there is any kind of oversight, or, if the request comes in, small group handles it by checking a tax code status and then they just give money??
if these companies chose to speak what would they say? they would have an adolescent excuse at best...
My understanding from the past is to the follow the lead of the regime, saying it was “an error” or some such response, then take no responsibility… unless the people with sufficient energy and power and Unity rise and speak back… this has been happening for decades… before PACs and Citizen (Elites) United, it was developed as placing pressure on entities such as state worker retirement systems to divest from investments in nuclear arms components ( one of the more ‘popular’ at the time was GE, whose motto/ tagline was “We Bring Things to Life”while the produced nuclear weapon triggers) and apartheid-supporting investments.
Now with the flourishing Oligarchy following (or leading) the current regime on a quid pro quo basis, and the regime’s march to nullify the voice of the people (and make no mistake, unless you are one of the elite, or those who still convince themselves that the truth that our democracy is now fully occupied by an authoritarian, totalitarian regime, then free and fair elections will no longer be in existence. This will take the full voice of the people. Apologies for the run on sentences… thoughtful intent, but heartfelt.
Humbly, Em
I've come to accept the reality that you cannot be a Republican unless you are a racist, but do they have to be assholes too? WTF is the point of that "I approved this ad to make woke liberals cry" except to prove to anyone with more than three functioning brain cells that you have the emotional maturity of a 10 year old? And the corporations that donate to a guy like this deserve to be named and shamed, and boycotted when possible.
'WTF is the point of that "I approved this ad to make woke liberals cry" ' ?
It's a dog-whistle and I bet it works. He's smart enough to play the crowd.
If it didn't work with the racist base, they wouldn't try it. With a his primary opponent being Black, I'm a little surprised they feel the need to go full racist. Though the GOP m.o. essentially has been that to further appeal to racists, you have to further appeal to racists.
Given the collapse of the whiskey industry and agriculture as a whole in KY, I'm not 100% convinced that racism alone will be enough. Don't forget, the people who inflicted Mitch McConnell on us for years also elected Andy Beshear.
Interesting group, those bluegrass peeps. There are some people in Kentucky with hatred in their heart and would vote for a stupid dog if it was white and running against a black man. I believe Mitch got reelected because from day one he brought home the pork. He gassed up his constituents with every little gift he could grab from the Washington coffers and the people grew used to him and his decaying brain and body with his dangerous ineptitude because they owed him for the new road or school. I hope it is a new day in Kentucky.
This is why they dig big, beautiful coal for a living.
Ok I’m not saying these corporate sponsors aren’t filling the wrong pockets. I’m asking what is an average citizen supposed to do when almost every bank and the company that makes my car is on that list? Toyota for example has its largest manufacturing plant in the world in Kentucky. I’m more than happy to drag them and JPMC around by the ear some, but these companies are playing a game, albeit a shitty one, from a business angle. The problem I see is with Kentucky. I’ll do some work for Barrs challenger if that’s what it takes, but electing a black man in his place is the best win any of us could imagine. Everyone please do the same in Arkansas for the person challenging perennial prick Tom Cotton.
Tom Cotton calls liberals "anti-zionists" as well. Could zionism and white supremacy be the same thing?
Bigotry is bigotry no matter where or when it occurs. And it has found a comfortable home in what used to be the Republican Party.
I say “It’s OK to be WOKE!
That pretty much sums up the answer to this creep, Andy Barr. That, and your vote. Oh, and you can make phone calls, write emails, cancel a subscription, change your insurance company, sell your car.
Both Johan & Peter have added the most striking points Judd’s reporting has shown.
Great reporting with great commentary too!
Awake America!
This country is circling the drain and if we cannot stop people like Andy Barr, if he is not shamed by his bigotry and hatred, if people gather round him and say, "Heck of a job, Whitey." Then, really, we are on a slippery slope, and there is no climbing out of the shithole that maga has dragged us into.
Why am I not surprised that corporations that depend on corporate welfare and deregulation are more than willing to support a congressional candidate who just happens to be spouting white supremacist slogans. He will lick their boots and do their bidding.
Barr hasn’t sinned for being white, but it’s certainly a sin to be a racist. Let this Trumpian racism be the last hurrah of an ignorant, sometimes violent group of people.
Note: Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is a Republican also. This is mentioned further down in the article. I believe this should have been mentioned at the top of the article to prevent people acting on the assumption that different is always better. BOTH candidates are bad for this country at this time because they are BOTH Republican.
I have a sister who consoles her Republican self with the “six of one, half a dozen of the other” argument in support of her position of which she claims is entirely an anti-abortion stance. I wish to assert that at this time, though both parties have problems, there is no excuse for anyone to vote for anyone other than a Democrat.
1) There is no other party with a solid enough machine to elect their candidate.
2) Comparing or giving equal weight to both parties is pretending that our current president is not constantly grifting his supporters by, so far, merely BILLIONS, is DAILY unquestionably guilty of MANY heinous crimes, is changing our voting system to claw back an additional election, etc., etc., etc.
I can see—and I wish everyone could see—that this election cycle is for all that we stand for or hope for our country.
Barr sounds just like the worst of MAGA. Is that really what KY wants with all that's been going down? I think he can be beaten. Stand up for democracy KY, defeat this racist hack.
Corporations are people, said Romney. Yes, the people of capital, the almighty buck, the only value corporations uphold. Major corporations don't give a rat's ass about anything else.
It's just more of the same maga garbage from these GOP politicians. They're clueless and can't read the emotional temps in the country right now. That's why they constantly are trying to suppress minority voting rights and deport so many immigrants to attempt to win elections. So sick of the hatred in this country and the stupid woke liberal slogans!
"They're clueless and can't read the emotional temps in the country right now. "
Oh yes they can!!!
"That's why they constantly are trying to suppress minority voting rights and deport so many immigrants to attempt to win elections."
Bingo!
Trump and the Republicans know:
⦿ They cannot win on a level playing field
⦿ If the House and Senate flip Trump and others will be impeached.
What we are seeing is "cornered rat syndrome" (not unlike Ms Bondi's performance a few days ago).
It's Ok to be white. I guess 'man' at the end of that sentence is implied.
I have a slogan for Barr's challengers. It is a sin to be a racist.
Don't be surprised by corporate behavior. They are by design and by law sociopathic, required to pursue whatever increases shareholder value. That usually means playing both sides.
Racism is their game. MONEY (power, control) is their aim. The Corporations (read BILLIONAIRES) of America are continuing with their take over attempts of America and the world. They care nothing about the people they want and do not want to vote for these candidates, like Barr! What they want are people in office who will serve them and their greed and NOT the rest of us. Barr would be another of their useful idiots. We have too many people and corporations (Billionaires) who are working overtime to capture control of America and the world to the destruction of all of the rest of us. "Burned By Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power are Ruining Our Lives and Planet" by Chuck Collins explains all of this and what to do about it in detail. In the book there is a cartoon that says it all, in a conversation between two billionaires - "I own one plane, two yachts, four houses, and five politicians".