Going for Woke? More Businesses Say No
A solid majority said that “progressive ideas on race, gender, post-colonialism, and ‘cancel culture’ were undermining society” and “unnecessary.”
The media would love for you to believe that every corporation is going woke — but that isn’t exactly reality, Zogby warns. Business leaders might feel the squeeze of the far-Left, and some might even surrender to it, but deep down, they’re just as worried as the rest of us about what cultural extremists are doing to America. And now we have the data to prove it.
Of the 500 business leaders Zogby polled, a solid majority — 61 percent — said that “progressive ideas on race, gender, post-colonialism, and ‘cancel culture’ were undermining society” and “unnecessary.” A majority of every subgroup, the organization found, was concerned. Not surprisingly, executives in smaller companies felt even more passionately that radicalizing business was a step in the wrong direction for America.
What can we learn from all of this, Zogby writes? “The threat of ‘cancel culture’ is real. People’s careers, lives, and families are being destroyed because of certain beliefs, or statements made recently on social media, or in conversation many years ago. While some things people say are hateful and not easy to forget, wouldn’t it be wiser to educate people and teach them right from wrong than to cancel out their existences? Turning a bad moment for someone into a teachable moment is a far better solution than mob rule and character assassinations.”
Earlier this year, when MyPillow was being booted from stores like Kohl’s and Bed, Bath, and Beyond because of Mike Lindell’s concerns about election fraud, he said he’d talked to a lot of executives who pulled his products from their shelves. And guess what, he told me? They aren’t making these decisions because they want to. They’re making these decisions because they’re scared out of their minds of being labeled a bigot or hater. “They all live in fear. Everyone lives in fear.”
But is their move to the Left paying off for them? On Thursday’s “Washington Watch,” Breitbart’s Matt Boyle said no. The GOP, who used to be a staunch ally of Big Business — and fought to give them the favorable economic climate they need to prosper — is backing away from the corporate world over its wokeness. In a memo from a group of GOP insiders and strategists, Republicans across the conservative and establishment spectrum, warn the business communities that they’re moving on.
“As the GOP shifts away from the elites toward the everyman,” the memo points out, “Democrats in Washington [will] continue their efforts to punish companies with tax hikes and regulatory burdens.” In other words, Matt explains, the companies won’t have anyone left to defend them — or their interests. All because they abandoned neutrality in favor of extremism. They’re fighting the Left’s culture wars and driving Republicans away from them and back toward the refreshed GOP base. Not realizing, he points out, that Democrats will never reward them for being “woke enough.”
“An unraveling is coming,” the memo predicts, as Republicans ditch Wall Street for Main Street. “That’s not to say that the GOP [suddenly] favors more spending or higher taxes,” Matt points out, but “this is a message, a warning, to companies that as they throw in with the leftist ideology of pushing for everything from the transgender agenda to [open borders].” Pretty soon, the GOP won’t be there to defend them. “Their companies were traditionally protected by Republicans. Republicans were the party of fighting back against corporate tax hikes, fighting for like open trade deals, free trade deals, that type of thing. You’re starting to see less and less of that among Republicans.” They’re focusing on a populist agenda instead.
This is a major wake-up call for corporate America. If these CEOs are caving out of fear, they need to realize: a) they don’t have to. If 61 percent of the business community is opposed to this political takeover, then it’s time to harness that strength and push back. Recent history (Goya, MyPillow) suggests that American consumers will reward the companies that stand up to bullies. And b) these CEOs aren’t going to get anything from the Left for kowtowing anyway. “They’re bowing down before these crazy radical leftists… and this kind of an appeasement strategy” isn’t working, Matt pointed out. “The Left isn’t giving them anything for caving in to every one of their demands. They’re just demanding more. It’s like, negotiating with the terrorists, once they figure out that you can be negotiated with…”
The reality is, this wokeness isn’t endearing companies to anyone but the fringe Left. So Big Business needs to choose its next steps carefully. As the old guard of the Republican Party leaves and retires, they’re being replaced by conservatives like Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Marsha Blackburn, and other “firebrand populists,” Matt explains. And this new blood isn’t interested in protecting woke corporations for the sake of old economic alliances. They’re more interested in protecting the average American worker and consumer and standing up for what they believe. If the business community won’t stand with them, then the business community will be standing alone.
Originally published here.
GOP to Biden: Restore Law and Border
If the Biden administration won’t call the border mess a “crisis,” they’re the only ones. Only four percent of the American people agree with the president that the surge isn’t a “serious problem.” As more pictures and eye-witness accounts break through the White House’s blackout, the urgency on both sides is growing. After his pitiful performance on Thursday, the president’s approval ratings on immigration are in an absolute freefall — and the grim testimonies that leaders and local mayors are telling from the border aren’t helping.
Asked what he would tell Joe Biden, Del Rio Mayo Bruno Lazano, a Democrat was blunt: “Who’s side are you on?” His community, like countless others in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California, are “nervous and scared.” No wonder, considering that Homeland Security is releasing some of these migrants into their communities without so much as a court date. “There’s no plan of action,” he said with obvious frustration. “We were managing it in 2019,” Lazano pointed out, “and here we are in 2021 with another immigration crisis of great proportion, and nothing’s been done. It’s a Biden border crisis,” he insisted, “because there’s no plan of action.”
That’s a terrifying thought, people on both sides say, considering that the number of migrants who are expected to arrive in some sort of “family group” is expected to hit 800,000 by September — record numbers, the Washington Post warns. So far, an astounding 2,900 minors have tested positive for COVID, helping to spread the virus to 1,470 border personnel and who knows how many others in custody. And what is Biden’s response? “I make no apologies for ending programs that did not exist before Trump became president…”
As far as Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is concerned, the president ought to be sorry — especially for putting our brave men and women at the border in such a vulnerable position. During a Senate delegation to the Rio Grande Friday, Graham saw a facility meant to hold 80 children packed with more than 1,000. “The lack of humanity is shocking,” he argued. “He needs to apologize, President Biden, to the Border Patrol agents and their families, for putting them through this. We’re being overwhelmed at the border. It’s not a crisis, it’s a complete loss of sovereignty down there.”
For the GOP delegation, last weekend’s visit showed just how quickly things can unravel. As soon as Biden took a hammer to Trump’s border policy, the conditions completely deteriorated. Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) barely had words to describe what he saw, saying he was “absolutely stunned” by what he witnessed. “The entire floor is covered with kids, and then they’ll be sitting around the edge because there’s no floor space for them… They can’t even lay down.” Then, of course, he pointed out, there are kids testing positive for COVID that were crammed together in that same pod.
Ignoring the White House’s ban on photos, Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.) posted a slew of pictures and videos from the facilities that more than tell the story of Biden’s bad policies. At one point, to the Republicans’ horror, they even saw a body floating in the Rio Grande — someone who had obviously drowned trying to cross. All of these are self-inflicted wounds on our country, Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) argued. If all Biden would agree to do is keep Trump’s “remain in Mexico” deterrent intact for asylum-seekers, the situation would be a lot easier to manage. “The premature and politically-motivated decision to cancel [that multi-nation] agreement,” two dozen House Republicans wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, is what created this problem.
“The Trump Administration’s agreements set up critical support for the region’s asylum systems and were built on the just concept of burden-sharing, which our partners appreciated and welcomed. We strongly urge you and Secretary Mayorkas to reimplement the agreements as soon as possible.”
Instead, the president has made a literal mockery of our country and its laws. The 19 Republicans on Friday’s trip said they heard — on more than one occasion — the coyote smugglers taunting and heckling Border Patrol. When Braun turned and asked what they were yelling, the agents explained, “They were saying, ‘Whatever you do, we’re going to keep coming.’” And in the end, Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) argued on “Washington Watch,” they’re the ones Biden is rewarding.
“The real winners in all this, sadly enough, are the drug cartels. Because our borders and customs control officers have been overwhelmed, [they] are now able… to push drugs in at an alarming rate into our country. The same thing with illicit cash and also with human trafficking. They’re able to bring especially young women, a third of whom are actually [sexually] abused migrants, into this country. They’re able to push that human trafficking into this country. And under the guise of safe passage, these individuals are essentially sold into slavery. And Biden and his administration are complicit in allowing an increase in human trafficking and an increase in narcotics coming across our border.”
In the meantime, the president keeps insisting that need to pass immigration reform. But what’s the point, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), “when you have an open border?”
Originally published here.
USCIRF Hits a Nerve on Uyghurs, China Retaliates
Some wear China’s scorn as a badge of honor. Late last summer, when the communist regime lashed out at Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fl.), he tweeted, “Last month #China banned me. Today, they sanctioned me. I don’t want to be paranoid, but I am starting to think they don’t like me.” Turns out, China’s government doesn’t like a lot of people, including members of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) like Gayle Manchin and me.
Over the weekend, Gayle and I joined the club of global leaders who’ve been sanctioned by China for speaking out against the country’s Uyghur genocide. In a statement, the foreign ministry announced that — together with members of the Canadian parliament, who recently condemned the human rights abuses — were a threat to the country’s national sovereignty. “They must stop political manipulation on Xinjiang-related issues, stop interfering in China’s internal affairs in any form and refrain from going farther down the wrong path. Otherwise they will get their fingers burnt.”
“I feel flattered to be recognized by Communist China for calling out genocidal crimes against religious and ethnic minorities,” Gayle, USCIRF’s current chairman, fired back. Referencing the travel ban that China included in the sanctions, she said, “While I don’t have plans to [go] to China this summer, I won’t stop speaking out when egregious violations of religious freedom are taking place as they are in China.”
As vice chair of the commission, I echo those sentiments. Obviously, the Chinese Communist Party’s sanctions are nothing but tactics of intimidation, designed to help them save face in an international community that’s denounced their brutal and repressive policies. We call on the world’s leaders, especially U.S. allies who share the same fundamental universal values and principles of freedom of religion or belief and the rule of law, to redouble their efforts and unite in standing up to Communist China. Also, as USCIRF has said before, there should be an impartial, international investigation into the atrocities in Xinjiang and the Communist Party’s genocidal campaign — as well as worldwide effort to either move or boycott the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Thanks to the Trump administration, who made international religious freedom a priority, the horrors in Xinjiang are now the subject of global outcry. Unfortunately, under Joe Biden — a man who called the torture, rape, and systematic killing of the Uyghurs “a difference of cultural norms” in February — China must feel emboldened by his muddled messages on the subject. It’s time for this White House to make it clear to China — and any country that persecutes its own — that religious freedom is and will continue to be a top concern in America’s foreign policy.
In the meantime, Gayle and I are in good company, joining Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Rubio, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and other freedom warriors who refuse to turn a blind eye to China’s atrocities.
Originally published here.
This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.
