Three weeks ago, a deadly mob of Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol, leaving five dead. Many of those who participated in the riots are adherents of QAnon – an extremist ideology that alleges top Democrats are Satan-worshippers running a child trafficking ring and that Trump is the only person who can stop them. According to the conspiracy theory, the January 6 siege was meant to trigger the long-awaited “
Here we see the list go on and on and on...but when are we going to wake up to the REAL problem? Corporate America owning our politicians! Only when we get corporate money completely out of politics will we have elected officials who actually represent the American people. A system needs to be set up in which our TAXES do this job. Then, instead of millionaires filling political seats, it would be smart, accomplished, working people. I know many Americans balk at this idea but if one considers how much it is costing the average citizen to allow millionaires and billionaires to continue to rake in massive profits off their political influence then they will realize it really is the best possible financial decision we could make.
Nuts. Pecans when I lived in Arlington, Texas. But there are a new breed of nuts in Texas now. The state of the late Ann Richards is full of them and they are the Texas GOP.
The corporate 1% donors continually play both sides of the field. You can bet some of the private donors would make us gasp even more.
QAnon is a leadership tool for the high, the mighty and the ignorant. Yee haw, Buckaroo!
I have always thought Bannon and Miller with big money backing came up with it. How about a Koch and a smile...
Such continued disheartening news. And I wonder if the civil war is inevitable or are there options, steps to be taken, something us normal citizens can do to help elevate to a more perfect Union? As climate catastrophes take hold will humans not finally understand that must be our unifying call to action? Too many old people too set in their ways not willing to change old environmentally destructive habits and not enough forward thinking young people in power...and too many selfish power mongers understanding the catastrophe and using fear to generate support to keep them in power so they will be on top of whatever rubble is remaining. People following blindly...and why? The fear of evil socialism? These poor uneducated people thinking capitalism works for them?
So I ask, what can I do with this sad information? Corporate America is in bed with them and with their opponents, too. They hedge their bets (donations). Waiting to see which way the winds blow.
Thank you so much for this. I'm from Texas and this breaks my heart to see the place from the first 3/4 of my life in such a different light. I hope that people take into account where they spend their money as well as think about how the products and services that they use contribute to upholding the kinds of values that cause harm to so many people. Where we can't stop using these kinds of products (now that MS Teams and Office products are seemingly essential for remote working), I hope that more people write to these companies asking them to stop supporting political parties. Thanks for your work in bringing these things to light!
Allen West is very much mistaken. He’s a strong, black, conservative man and he’s certainly allowed to think and speak for himself. A rebuke is not an attempt to silence him. It serves to point out the bigotry and the abject lunacy of what he has said.
Right, just because one is "strong, [and] Black" doesn't mean one is beyond reproach. Does the First Amendment apply equally to everyone or not, Mr. West? You say your words, I'll say mine. The First Amendment doesn't give anyone the right not to be offended.
We had Allen West in West Palm Beach and he is crazy. His actions and statements are disgusting and vile. Only lasted for two years in the congress and the local republicans would not re-elect him. I hope the Texas Republican Party wakes up to the truth, otherwise they are inciting violence and they are un-American. The following article contains some of his actions and statements:
We have the same thing going on in Oregon as well. We need to keep the heat on all of these states that are showing support for the extreme right terrorist ideas. Especially when they come from the GOP offices. They need to get the message loud and clear that their behavior is NOT OK!
Dallasite here and a 6th generation Texan. Judd, keep shining the light on these fringe conspiracy guys and the corporate money. What the corps give says more than what they say. Couple you with Stacey Abrams and Texas will be blue. The big cities in Texas have been blue for a long time.
Thanks for your great Work, Judd and Tesmin. Any suggestions as to whose attention one would want to address correspondences to the above mentioned corporate contributors?
How are so many people so easily brainwashed? It's so embarrassing that this guy could be elected to any position of authority. Texas should be ashamed and embarrassed but I'm sure they love all of this whacko's ideas.
Easy, they wanted to be brainwashed. They wanted easy answers and a clearly evil, shadowy enemy to blame for all their problems. This Q A-hole gave it to them. One day we're going to find out it's Vladimir Putin, or somebody like that.
Couple of things: first, it looks like the donation data is stale, meaning that current data is unavailable. Wonder why that is.
Second, before reading, as soon as I saw Lyft, my immediate reaction was, "I'm putting those guys exactly where I put Uber: in the ether. Off my phone!" Then I read on. Terrific response from Lyft. One more reason they are on my phone while Uber is history to me.
Third, while it doesn't shock me that GM continues to donate to the worst the political society has to offer, I came across a really good column on Bill Ford in the Freep. It's behind a paywall, but I support my local press (the liberal version, at least). Bottom line: the guy, who is and has been Chairman of Ford Motor Company, has been one of the few corporate leaders to drive sustainability from the early days of his career. My next car is definitely a Ford. I will now forgive them for firing my grandfather for being Jewish.
I think we'd all be better off if people started getting regular taxis or carpooling with friends. Uber and Lyft both have always bled money and there's no way to make them profitable without draining the coffers of VC firms AND screwing over their drivers. I think we can come up with better employment opportunities for these gig workers... how about investing heavily in renewables, recycling and energy efficiency?
I suppose suspending and reconsidering political contributions is better than no response at all, especially at a time of year when few political contributions occur. But suspending contributions to everyone punishes innocent, responsible politicians for the transgressions of the extremists. "Suspension of contributions" is no substitute for thoughtful, responsible political advocacy. A company that refuses to condemn extremism expressly might as well just endorse the extremists and their views, because that is the practical effect of their wishy-washy responses. They need to take positive action by contributing to elected officials and candidates who support our constitutional government, rather than calling for its overthrow. Please maintain your scrutiny so we will know which companies we should support - or avoid.
Here we see the list go on and on and on...but when are we going to wake up to the REAL problem? Corporate America owning our politicians! Only when we get corporate money completely out of politics will we have elected officials who actually represent the American people. A system needs to be set up in which our TAXES do this job. Then, instead of millionaires filling political seats, it would be smart, accomplished, working people. I know many Americans balk at this idea but if one considers how much it is costing the average citizen to allow millionaires and billionaires to continue to rake in massive profits off their political influence then they will realize it really is the best possible financial decision we could make.
Nuts. Pecans when I lived in Arlington, Texas. But there are a new breed of nuts in Texas now. The state of the late Ann Richards is full of them and they are the Texas GOP.
The corporate 1% donors continually play both sides of the field. You can bet some of the private donors would make us gasp even more.
QAnon is a leadership tool for the high, the mighty and the ignorant. Yee haw, Buckaroo!
I have always thought Bannon and Miller with big money backing came up with it. How about a Koch and a smile...
Such continued disheartening news. And I wonder if the civil war is inevitable or are there options, steps to be taken, something us normal citizens can do to help elevate to a more perfect Union? As climate catastrophes take hold will humans not finally understand that must be our unifying call to action? Too many old people too set in their ways not willing to change old environmentally destructive habits and not enough forward thinking young people in power...and too many selfish power mongers understanding the catastrophe and using fear to generate support to keep them in power so they will be on top of whatever rubble is remaining. People following blindly...and why? The fear of evil socialism? These poor uneducated people thinking capitalism works for them?
So I ask, what can I do with this sad information? Corporate America is in bed with them and with their opponents, too. They hedge their bets (donations). Waiting to see which way the winds blow.
Thank you so much for this. I'm from Texas and this breaks my heart to see the place from the first 3/4 of my life in such a different light. I hope that people take into account where they spend their money as well as think about how the products and services that they use contribute to upholding the kinds of values that cause harm to so many people. Where we can't stop using these kinds of products (now that MS Teams and Office products are seemingly essential for remote working), I hope that more people write to these companies asking them to stop supporting political parties. Thanks for your work in bringing these things to light!
Allen West is very much mistaken. He’s a strong, black, conservative man and he’s certainly allowed to think and speak for himself. A rebuke is not an attempt to silence him. It serves to point out the bigotry and the abject lunacy of what he has said.
Right, just because one is "strong, [and] Black" doesn't mean one is beyond reproach. Does the First Amendment apply equally to everyone or not, Mr. West? You say your words, I'll say mine. The First Amendment doesn't give anyone the right not to be offended.
We had Allen West in West Palm Beach and he is crazy. His actions and statements are disgusting and vile. Only lasted for two years in the congress and the local republicans would not re-elect him. I hope the Texas Republican Party wakes up to the truth, otherwise they are inciting violence and they are un-American. The following article contains some of his actions and statements:
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-allen-west-texas-comeback-congress-20190411-story.html
We have the same thing going on in Oregon as well. We need to keep the heat on all of these states that are showing support for the extreme right terrorist ideas. Especially when they come from the GOP offices. They need to get the message loud and clear that their behavior is NOT OK!
Keep the pressure on, Judd and Tesnim! The best disinfectant...
Dallasite here and a 6th generation Texan. Judd, keep shining the light on these fringe conspiracy guys and the corporate money. What the corps give says more than what they say. Couple you with Stacey Abrams and Texas will be blue. The big cities in Texas have been blue for a long time.
Energy and telecom heavily donating to the worst of the worst. Lather, rinse, repeat. They know what side their bread is buttered on.
Thanks for your great Work, Judd and Tesmin. Any suggestions as to whose attention one would want to address correspondences to the above mentioned corporate contributors?
How are so many people so easily brainwashed? It's so embarrassing that this guy could be elected to any position of authority. Texas should be ashamed and embarrassed but I'm sure they love all of this whacko's ideas.
Easy, they wanted to be brainwashed. They wanted easy answers and a clearly evil, shadowy enemy to blame for all their problems. This Q A-hole gave it to them. One day we're going to find out it's Vladimir Putin, or somebody like that.
Couple of things: first, it looks like the donation data is stale, meaning that current data is unavailable. Wonder why that is.
Second, before reading, as soon as I saw Lyft, my immediate reaction was, "I'm putting those guys exactly where I put Uber: in the ether. Off my phone!" Then I read on. Terrific response from Lyft. One more reason they are on my phone while Uber is history to me.
Third, while it doesn't shock me that GM continues to donate to the worst the political society has to offer, I came across a really good column on Bill Ford in the Freep. It's behind a paywall, but I support my local press (the liberal version, at least). Bottom line: the guy, who is and has been Chairman of Ford Motor Company, has been one of the few corporate leaders to drive sustainability from the early days of his career. My next car is definitely a Ford. I will now forgive them for firing my grandfather for being Jewish.
https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2021/01/27/bill-ford-continues-stand-up-and-stand-out-despite-controversy/6698261002/
I think we'd all be better off if people started getting regular taxis or carpooling with friends. Uber and Lyft both have always bled money and there's no way to make them profitable without draining the coffers of VC firms AND screwing over their drivers. I think we can come up with better employment opportunities for these gig workers... how about investing heavily in renewables, recycling and energy efficiency?
Texas GOP is run by Allen West, eh?
That explains some things....
The more I read about QAnon and its supporters, the more scared I get.
I suppose suspending and reconsidering political contributions is better than no response at all, especially at a time of year when few political contributions occur. But suspending contributions to everyone punishes innocent, responsible politicians for the transgressions of the extremists. "Suspension of contributions" is no substitute for thoughtful, responsible political advocacy. A company that refuses to condemn extremism expressly might as well just endorse the extremists and their views, because that is the practical effect of their wishy-washy responses. They need to take positive action by contributing to elected officials and candidates who support our constitutional government, rather than calling for its overthrow. Please maintain your scrutiny so we will know which companies we should support - or avoid.