Georgia & Hong Kong

The list of iconic American corporations attacking the state of Georgia grows by the hour. Coca-Cola, Home Depot, and Delta have condemned Georgia's commonsense election reforms. Now other big businesses are jumping on the bandwagon. American Airlines and Dell have condemned similar election reforms advancing in Texas.

These companies are threatening to punish any U.S. state that requires a voter ID on Election Day. They claim that requiring a voter ID is a violation of civil rights. That's absurd!

But while these corporate giants are attacking Georgia and other U.S. states, they are desperately trying to please communist China. In fact, many of these companies fought President Trump when he tried to secure fair trade deals with China. Why? Because China's communist leaders told them to speak up for China if they wanted to do business there.

For decades Hong Kong has enjoyed free elections. But in recent years, communist China violated a treaty it signed and crushed liberty in Hong Kong. The Chinese communists have made it impossible for pro-democracy, pro-freedom candidates to be elected to anything in Hong Kong. 

Coca-Cola and Delta falsely claim that Georgia is rolling back civil rights. But that's exactly what communist China did in Hong Kong. And these American companies haven't said a word in protest. 

In fact, Coca-Cola, Intel, Procter & Gamble, and Visa are all corporate sponsors of the Olympic games, which are scheduled to take place next year in Beijing. 

Will any of these companies now condemning Georgia dare to condemn communist China or withdraw their sponsorships of the Beijing Olympics over China's suppression of freedom in Hong Kong or its concentration camps or its persecution of Christians?

There's a saying attributed to Vladimir Lenin that communism would ultimately prevail because stupid capitalists would sell the rope that the communists would use to hang them. 

When the Soviet Union fell, I thought Lenin was wrong. But Coca-Cola, Delta and other Fortune 500 companies seem intent on proving Lenin right.

Major League Hypocrisy

As we reported yesterday, Major League Baseball is moving the All-Star Game out of Atlanta to protest Georgia's new voter integrity law. According to various reports, they are moving the game to Denver, Colorado. 

So just to be clear, in protest of a law that expands voting opportunities and includes provisions supported by nearly 70% of black Americans, Major League Baseball is taking a $100 million economic opportunity away from a majority-minority city and sending it to one of the least diverse cities in the country.

By the way, who elected these sports leagues and corporations to anything? These morally bankrupt franchises and companies can't stand up to the communist Chinese but they think they can dictate our election laws? C'mon man!

Fighting Back

Kudos to the conservative leaders who have spoken up and pushed back against the left-wing lies and big business bullies. Here are a few examples:

·     Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell slammed the corporate virtue signaling, saying, "From election law to environmentalism to radical social agendas to the Second Amendment, parts of the private sector keep dabbling in and behaving like a woke parallel government. Corporations will invite serious consequences if they become a vehicle for far-left mobs to hijack our country."

·     Senator Marco Rubio blasted Delta for doing business in China. He also called on MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred to give up his membership at Georgia's uber-exclusive Augusta National Golf Club, which hosts the Masters Tournament every year.

·     Texas Governor Greg Abbott declined to throw out the first pitch at the Texas Rangers' opening game. He slammed the MLB for adopting "a false narrative about Georgia's election law reforms" and for allowing itself to be "influenced by partisan politics."

·     Senators Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) are introducing legislation to strip Major League Baseball of its anti-trust exemption.

·     Sen. Tim Scott ripped Joe Biden and Delta, saying, "How can you distort the facts so terribly that you're willing to bring back . . . the concept of Jim Crow? . . . We should tell the Delta CEO this by the way — if you need an ID to get on a plane, you should need an ID to vote."

Idiot Of The Month

Remember that saying about capitalists being hung by their own rope? Well, the Idiot of the Month award goes to Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun. He recently told a U.S. Chamber of Commerce forum:

"I am hoping we can . . . separate intellectual property, human rights and other things from trade and continue to encourage a free trade environment between [the U.S. and communist China].  . . . We cannot afford to be locked out of that market. Our competitor [Airbus] will jump right in."

American CEOs are proof that trade with China didn't change the communists. It changed us. 

All it has done is enable Beijing's massive military buildup. Today, communist China is competing against America for influence around the world the way the old Soviet Union used to, and it's not at all clear which side will ultimately prevail.

Defaming DeSantis

Big Media is clearly in the tank for the left. If you needed more proof of the media's bias, look no further than the disgusting attempt by 60 Minutes to defame Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. 

They accused DeSantis of cronyism, alleging that he awarded a lucrative COVID vaccine contract to Publix, a popular grocery/drug store, in exchange for campaign donations.

But the 60 Minutes hit piece didn't work out so well. The charge is completely false, and even Florida Democrats (here and here) are coming to the governor's defense.

The left just cannot accept the fact that conservative governors have handled the coronavirus pandemic better than progressive governors. They are emotionally invested in defending New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's Emmy award.

Where is the 60 Minutes report on Andrew Cuomo's nursing home scandal? His vaccine nepotism scandal?   His sexual harassment scandals? (A ninth woman has come forward now.) 

In fact, if 60 Minutes is really interested in a "pay-to-play" vaccine distribution scandal, it could start by investigating -- you guessed it! -- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. 

Some are suggesting that Gov. DeSantis should sue 60 Minutes. It's hard to sue the media. But in this case, I agree. This wasn't a matter of merely bungling a few facts. The sheer level of deliberate deception in this case is evidence of malicious intent.

Speaking Of Suing Big Media. . .

In an opinion issued yesterday, Justice Clarence Thomas made it clear that he wants to reexamine Big Tech's First Amendment exemption due to the monopoly it holds over online speech.  And he's not the only high-profile judge to do so recently.

I don't know if there are five votes on the Supreme Court for what Thomas suggests. I hope so. But I vehemently disagree with our libertarian friends who say we shouldn't regulate private businesses. 

The intolerant leftists who control Big Government know they can't openly censor conservatives without running afoul of the First Amendment. But their intolerant friends in Big Tech are doing their dirty work for them. 

When you're being censored, how much does it really matter whether it's the U.S. government, Facebook or Twitter? You're still being censored regardless of who's doing it.

By the way, human traffickers are running ads on Facebook in Central America promising passage into the United States for $8,000. Apparently, that doesn't violate any of Facebook's automatic algorithms that regularly silence conservative ideas.