AT&T was one of the biggest sponsors! Also included are NBC, CVS Health, and State Farm!!!!
This is quite shocking. Especially since AT&T’s CEO, John Stankey, wrote in AT&T’s 2020 Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Report, that one of the company’s “core values” was “gender equity and the empowerment of women.” The documentation shows that since 2018, AT&T has donated $301,000 to the sponsors of SB 8, the Texas anti-abortion bill.
You’ve most likely heard the expression, “Follow the money.” This is especially true when it comes to politics and candidates on the far-right, although ALL politicians need to be held accountable for who their donors are. This is critical in both state and federal government because too often large donors call and ask for a “favor,” e.g., please sponsor or support a bill to ….(do something that helps them, but has nothing to do with the public interest).
It’s my understanding from political action training I’ve had that employees have the greatest clout in changing a company’s policies…after the big donors, that is, but then come their advertisers, if they have them, then us as customers, followed last on the list by the general public. So if you happen to be or know someone who is employed by one of those companies, consider asking them to speak out, and if you’re a customer, it’s usually easy to contact a company from it’s webpage. Also consider finding out what politicians or groups the company you work for contributes to. It might be an eyeopener as this was for me.
To find out more about corporate irresponsibility, subscribe to popular.info or check out your state’s campaign finance office for records for your state’s Members of Congress or search on fec.gov.
DRACONIAN
We know it means the harsh and severe laws or their application, but where did the word come from? As so often happens for me, I get interested in a tangent to explore and research. That doesn’t mean I give up my political action, but draconian was a word I needed to learn about!
Drakon (also Drako, Draco) was the first Athenian to create a written set of laws and constitution for Athens in about 620-621 bce. The idea seems quite democratic; after all, Ancient Greece was to become known as the “birthplace of democracy.” Drakon’s work was requested by the Athenian aristocrats who decided to put an end to the blood-feuds that developed from their constantly changing interpretations of oral law. In fact, Drakon did codify laws and have them written and made public. These laws were to be administered in a just manner. However, every crime was punished by execution, whether cold-blooded murder or the theft of a loaf of bread. Rather extreme, and thus the evolution today of the word draconian.
“And Draco himself, they say, being asked why he made death the penalty for most offences, replied that in his opinion the lesser ones deserved it, and for the greater ones no heavier penalty could be found.”
It’s going to take a lot of work, concerted effort, and analytical thinking to combat the disinformation going on today. The myth of “THE BIG LIE” continues; the security fence is being reinstalled around the U.S. Congress prior to a mass demonstration in favor of the January 6 INSURRECTION; much of the media continues to support disinformation in order to appear “balanced”; attempts at gerrymandering continue with additional “BIG LIES”; and unvaccinated people refuse to wear masks in public or when dealing with the public!
After I contact my Senators yet again about the For the People Act and the filibuster, I’m going to go work in my garden.
P.S. If you want to learn more details about the filibuster see my earlier post about that, some of my information is from the Senate’s own website.
One area of gardens including my new SIPs (self-irrigating planters). All my gardens are organic.
Older garden areas, that I started about 9 years ago. The soil is so great now, after lots of composting and working on that I can’t dig up even a trowel-full without including worms.
Thanks for following the money to show us that disturbing fact about those companies. We need to be aware of this. The legislation coming from Texas is more than appalling!
I know. What is shocking and upsetting to me is the extreme hypocrisy of those companies. AT&Ts statements about women’s rights is totally at odds to where their money goes! That’s true for all of them…and they continue pouring money into the coffers of extremists.