During the recent election, I called for more involvement from our invisible citizens – that is, the corporations who like to fund our politicians. Specifically, I suggested that the move towards autocracy embedded in Texas v Pennsylvania, the relentless but equally ridiculous specious claims of systemic fraud, the claims, revealed to be false, ranging from the corruption of voting machines (still asserted by Trump ally Mike Lindell even today) to, well, all the alleged corruption symbolized by Sydney Powell’s assertion of a revelation called The Kraken, subsequently retracted in the face of a lawsuit, would be bad for business.
To some extent, corporations came through. Sports teams offered their venues for voting on voting day. Other companies offered to let their employees work as vote counters and still be paid.
In the wake of the recent widely condemned – on the left – passage of what is characterized as a voting restrictions law in Georgia, symbolized by an egregious rule against bringing water and food to people in line, had led those working for laws that gave more opportunities for voting rather than less to entreat the corporations to join the team again.
And so I waited. And waited. Their was no real reaction, leading to activists to setup a plaint of concern, as WaPo’s Jennifer Rubin noted:
So far the response has been lukewarm, and unsatisfactory for Abrams and other voting rights advocates. Abrams was emphatic in her demand that corporate America get into the fight. “There were businesses that were silent in the election for whatever reason. But there should be no silence from the business community when anyone in power is trying to strip away the right to vote from the people,” she said on a call Tuesday, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. She added, “There should be not a single business owner in America who is allowed to be silent about the theft of the right to vote from any American, because that means you are standing with an ethos that was a near coup attempt in the United States. I know that sounds a bit overblown, but I can’t see it any other way.”
Pressure has been ratcheted up by other groups:
And, finally, we may be seeing some movement by a Georgia-based juggernaut:
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp launched a counterattack on Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian Wednesday afternoon, just hours after Bastian said the voting bill Kemp signed last week was “unacceptable,” “wrong” and “based on a lie.” …
“I need to make it crystal clear that the final bill is unacceptable and does not match Delta’s values,” said the statement to Delta employees from CEO Ed Bastian. “After having time to now fully understand all that is in the bill, coupled with discussions with leaders and employees in the Black community, it’s evident that the bill includes provisions that will make it harder for many underrepresented voters, particularly Black voters, to exercise their constitutional right to elect their representatives. That is wrong.”
Bastian’s statement continued, “The entire rationale for this bill was based on a lie: that there was widespread voter fraud in Georgia in the 2020 elections. This is simply not true. Unfortunately, that excuse is being used in states across the nation that are attempting to pass similar legislation to restrict voting rights.” [CNN/Business]
Kemp responded, ineffectually:
“Today’s statement by Delta CEO Ed Bastian stands in stark contrast to our conversations with the company, ignores the content of the new law, and unfortunately continues to spread the same false attacks being repeated by partisan activists,” said Kemp’s statement. He defended measures to require official IDs such as drivers’ licenses, before people can vote. pointing out that before a passenger can fly on Delta – or any other airline – they must produce a photo ID.
A few fraudulent votes will not result in the deaths of hundreds or thousands, as can happen with a plane. Comparisons are a tricky business, especially when the one domain contains documented problems and dangers that the other lacks.
“Mr. Bastian should compare voting laws in Georgia — which include no-excuse absentee balloting, online voter registration, 17 days of early voting with an additional two optional Sundays, and automatic voter registration when obtaining a driver’s license — with other states Delta Airlines operates in,” said Kemp.
Which is another way of saying, Ouch! Why are you beating up on us!
What comes next? Keep an eye on the news. We won’t be seeing titans like Delta or Coca-Cola pulling up stakes and leaving – but they can always suggest that their next big project won’t be in Georgia.
The 2015 reaction to Republicans Acting Badly.
Pressure from other organizations is also possible, as Jennifer Rubin suggested a few days ago. We saw the same happen to Indiana a few years back when it passed legislation threatening the rights of LGBTQ people. We may see more of that.
Companies need to keep in mind that there are more opportunities for profit in a free society, not one that works to limit the franchise unfairly.
