In the wake of Elon Musk’s hostile takeover bid to acquire 100 percent of Twitter and take the leftist, conservative-censoring Big Tech giant private, investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald — the best in the business in my not-so-humble opinion — made the following observation:
Yesterday was a flagship day in corporate media. It was the day they were forced to explicitly state what has long been clear: they not only favor censorship but desperately crave and depend on it.
Even if Musk doesn’t buy Twitter, never forget what yesterday revealed.
The salient part was the last part of the last sentence: Never forget what yesterday revealed.
Yesterday was a flagship day in corporate media. It was the day they were forced to explicitly state what has long been clear: they not only favor censorship but desperately crave and depend on it.
Even if Musk doesn’t buy Twitter, never forget what yesterday revealed.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 15, 2022
And what have we seen from other major corporations in America? From Nike, which panders to Communist China while ignoring Uyghur genocide, ever-increasing suppression of freedom and free speech in Hong Kong and Shanghai, increased threats to “reunify” —invade — Taiwan, and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea? Total LeBron James-like crickets — if not outright defense.
The list is long, including Apple, pathetic NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and his equally pathetic league, pathetic NBA commissioner Nate Silver and his equally pathetic league, Disney, Viacom, Marriott, Sheraton, American, Delta, United, Ray-Ban, MGM, American Express, Mastercard, Bank of America, BlackRock, Cisco, General Motors, Levi Strauss & Co., Lyft, Merck, Netflix, and Starbucks.
So considering Musk’s bid, Glenn Greenwald’s observation, the sorry state of America’s “woke” corporations that don’t give a damn about their shareholders’ or customers’ views, let’s revisit my headline:
Will Conservative Investors Now Become Shareholder Activists and Battle ‘Woke’ Boardrooms?
Will the former finally wake up and scream in unison, to paraphrase Peter Finch’s character in the iconic movie “Network,” “We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore!”?
As reported by The Washington Times, the answer appears to be “yes” to finally waking up. The question is, what will they do? Via the Times:
The American Legislative Exchange Council, a network of conservative private investors and state legislators, recently introduced model legislation that would stop state pension fund managers from introducing “woke criteria” into the investment selection process.
The National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative tank in Washington, is telling moderate and conservative investors how to use shareholder proxies to challenge liberal policies in corporate board elections.
The center’s Free Enterprise Project has purchased shares in corporations such as the Walt Disney Co., which it says has allowed conservative proxies to introduce proposals against “woke” ideology at more than 100 shareholder meetings over the past four years.
Richard Morrison, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, is hopeful, per The Times:
Conservative activism is finally beginning to counterbalance progressive activism on issues like identity politics and climate change goals.
As noted by The Times, the Free Enterprise Project last week published a guide titled “Balancing the Boardroom: How Conservatives Can Combat Corporate Wokeness” for investors who are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore — and push back against the woke policies of companies like Disney. Here’s one excerpt:
So if we are to learn anything from leftists, to their credit it’s that counterculture done right can be an effective strategy.
The guide urges conservative shareholders to “vote against every board member” of Nike, Amazon, Disney, Twitter, Apple, Walmart, Microsoft, and several other companies. Additionally, it singles out specific board members, including “global warming” lunatic Al Gore.
Scott Shepherd, one of the guide’s authors, said in a related statement:
Vote against these directors, and then join us in constantly reminding these companies that we sensible people of the center-right will not rest until their companies have returned to making products … and otherwise staying well away from political and social discord.
It’s way past time for conservatives across America—not just corporate investors–to take heed of the critical point made by the guide regarding the woke crowd’s use of effective strategy, the obvious reason being that simply whining (or yelling) on social media, blogs, and various comments sections, and conservative punditry is not getting “it” done. It can’t. Not alone, it can’t.
Whether it’s “fight fire with fire,” “When in Rome do as the Romans do,” or whatever other idiom floats one’s conservative boat, it’s time to act in numbers in a coordinated, effective, strategic way. We need to defeat the radical left on their terms; ours haven’t worked.
Finally, it will be one thing to hand the Democrats their asses in the November midterms, and even hopefully gain control of both chambers of Congress and stop the legislative madness. It would be quite another to take it to left in corporate boardrooms across America as a first step. From there? Time will tell.
Authored by Mike Miller via RedState
