I had a great conversation with Greg Basta, Deputy director of New York Communities for Change  on Virtually Speaking Tuesdays. My buddy Mike Stark had some official business to deal with so Greg came on as my guest. We talked about the role of organizing and long established non-profits with Occupy Wall Street, how effective activism doesn’t always get good media coverage and good media coverage doesn’t always mean effective activism.

We also discussed how to better link the effective activism with good media coverage.

It was interesting to hear how the OWS people and the NYCC, Unions and other non-profits worked together on great projects like Occupy the Boardroom.  (Soon to be a major motion picture, or a book, I forget which)

Here are the two great videos I mentioned. Mimi Pierre Johnson, an NYCC member, reading her letter at Chase about her foreclosure. Love the video work on this video.

Here’s Triumph the Insult Comic Dog at Zuccotti, and then at OTBR. Very funny watch all the way to the end for a great scene with Triumph and the Bull on Wall Street

And here’s the show!

Listen to internet . . . → Read More: Organizing, Activism and Zombies from ACORN with Greg Basta, New York Communities for Change]]>  

I had a great conversation with Greg Basta, Deputy director of New York Communities for Change  on Virtually Speaking Tuesdays. My buddy Mike Stark had some official business to deal with so Greg came on as my guest. We talked about the role of organizing and long established non-profits with Occupy Wall Street, how effective activism doesn’t always get good media coverage and good media coverage doesn’t always mean effective activism.

We also discussed how to better link the effective activism with good media coverage.

It was interesting to hear how the OWS people and the NYCC, Unions and other non-profits worked together on great projects like Occupy the Boardroom.  (Soon to be a major motion picture, or a book, I forget which)

Here are the two great videos I mentioned. Mimi Pierre Johnson, an NYCC member, reading her letter at Chase about her foreclosure. Love the video work on this video.

Here’s Triumph the Insult Comic Dog at Zuccotti, and then at OTBR. Very funny watch all the way to the end for a great scene with Triumph and the Bull on Wall Street

And here’s the show!

Listen to internet radio with Jay Ackroyd on Blog Talk Radio

I wonder if Ted, who likes to refer to himself as a law-abiding citizen, knows an important fact about the Pima County Fair?

Pima County sound familiar? Jared Loughner killed six people and left 14 injured on the Safeway parking lot on Saturday January 8th last year.  This happened in Tucson, in Pima County  U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was one of the injured.

Will Nugent bring out his machine guns on stage during the show?  If he does he will be going against the written directive of the  Southwestern Fair Commission, Inc.,  a non-profit, private corporation who is paying him.

Will his security detail keep their guns locked in their vehicles?

Will they don uniforms and submit to the authority of the Sheriff of Pima County?

Or will they just ignore the Fair’s rules, strap on their guns to open carry or conceal carry?

Lately Ted has been complaining that he has to follow rules that “nobody knows about” (danger, . . . → Read More: Hey Jack S. Schmidt: Will Nugent Comply with Weapons Ban at Pima County Fair?]]> Ted Nugent is performing at Arizona ‘s Pima County Fair on the Budweiser Stage on Saturday April 28th.

I wonder if Ted, who likes to refer to himself as a law-abiding citizen, knows an important fact about the Pima County Fair?

Weapons are not allowed into the Pima County Fair, with the exception of uniformed security guards.

Pima County sound familiar? Jared Loughner killed six people and left 14 injured on the Safeway parking lot on Saturday January 8th last year.  This happened in Tucson, in Pima County  U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was one of the injured.

Will Nugent bring out his machine guns on stage during the show?  If he does he will be going against the written directive of the  Southwestern Fair Commission, Inc.,  a non-profit, private corporation who is paying him.

Will his security detail keep their guns locked in their vehicles?

Will they don uniforms and submit to the authority of the Sheriff of Pima County?

Or will they just ignore the Fair’s rules, strap on their guns to open carry or conceal carry?

Lately Ted has been complaining that he has to follow rules that “nobody knows about” (danger, Glenn Beck link!) You see Nugent just cut a deal for breaking the law while hunting black bears in Alaska (PDF Link to his plea to avoid jail time and $100,000 fine). I’m not a lawyer, but by reading this plea you can see that in exchange for a reduced sentence he is obligated to do certain things.

1) Be on probation for two years

2) Pay a $10,000 fine

3) Not hunt in the State of Alaska or on any United States Forest Service lands for one year

4) Make PSAs about the hunter’s responsibility for knowing the rules and regulations for the hunting activities they engage in

So now Nugent needs to REALLY pay attention to the rules, because if he fails it will breach his agreement and the United States which can them  “withdraw from this agreement and may reinstate prosecution against [him] on any charges arising out of the investigation in this matter.”

I wanted to make sure that Nugent, his security staff and his roadies, knew about the weapons ban at the fair and if they would comply.  So I contacted his PR person, Linda Peterson, and she said, “Of course.”‘

I asked, “So that means  there won’t be  people doing concealed carry backstage and he won’t be bringing any weapons on the stage?”

She said they’ll be in full compliance of the law.

There you have it folks.  Nothing to worry about. Of  course if anyone sees his security staff, his roadies or Nugent himself carrying weapons at the Fair they should contact Fair Executive Director
Jon Baker or Launa Rabago, Marketing Manager 520-762-9100   jon or launa @ PimaCountyFair.com at the Southwestern Fair Commission about his violation of their rules, maybe they will deduct the cost of his non-compliance from his fee.

But you should also contact his  parole officer. Since I don’t who it is I’ll suggest you contact Jack S. Schmidt, the Assistant U.S. Attorney who cut the illegal bear hunting deal with Ted.  Please send all backstage or onstage videos of Nugent with weapons  or threats of violence toward people to  jack.schmidt @ usdoj. gov.  I don’t think these videos would show him violating his federal agreement, it they might show his violation of his agreement with the Fair people.

You see I want Jack to be kept informed about all the other times that Nugent knows the rules and regulations for the activities he engages in, but still violates them.  It will be good for the “preponderance of evidence” for the next time Nugent “stumbles” (his euphemism for breaking the law) when it comes to weapons.

Nugent’s biggest fear is that his law breaking will lead to a felony charge that would cause him to lose his weapons. (Note to everyone: The NRA has been pushing state by state programs where violent felons can get their guns back, but it isn’t implemented everywhere–yet. “Today’s NRA: Working to re-arm violent felons for Fear and Profit.”)

Jack might also want to read Nugent’s latest post, “Ignorance of the Law is no Excuse.” It’s not his obligatory PSA, so he didn’t have to run it by Schmidt for approval, but doesn’t this article and his appearances on shows like Glenn Beck where he discusses the opposite of what he will say in the PSA mean anything? It’s like addict celebrities doing a “Don’t do drugs” PSA while joking on the Leno Show about all the coke they still do.  Will people only watch court mandated PSAs and ignore what Nugent says on nationally syndicated radio shows?

When powerful people like Nugent get caught breaking the law or defying the rules that they agreed to, they pay a fine and move on like Nugent did the last time he got caught breaking the law.

Question: How many times do you get to break the law before you stop classifying yourself as a law-abiding citizen?

“I’m a serial law-breaking citizen and I carry a gun. ” Is the reality for many gun owners, but they don’t want to classify themselves that way.

Some will, however, classify other people as law-breaking and suggest they be arrested for doing or saying exactly what they have done or said. Below is Nugent on TV in 2008 with his good friend Sean Hannity saying people on the left who make threats are “reprehensible”  he takes threatening comments seriously and believes people should be arrested for them.

Now, before Ted starts whining about the “lunitic left fringe trying to force him to comply to rules”  I just want to state that this prohibiting of weapons at the fair is not coming from the Government. It is coming from the private corporation, the Southwestern Fair Commission, Inc. They have the right to do this.  And Nugent and his agents signed a contract that said he would honor their rules. If he doesn’t honor their rules why should anyone else? What is it about breaching signed contracts doesn’t he understand?

What Happens When Someone Brings a Gun to the Fair?

If someone comes to the Pima County Fair gate and says, “I have a concealed weapon that I’d like to bring into the fair.” The staff can say, no weapons is our policy and ask them to remove the weapon and “place it in the custody of the operator of the establishment or the sponsor of the event for temporary and secure storage of the weapon pursuant to section 13-3102.01″; (link) In practice they usually are told to place them in their vehicle.

Since I wanted to know the law about what would happen if Nugent and his non-uniformed security people don’t comply I spoke to Laura Cutilletta, an attorney from the Legal Community Against Violence.  It appears that if someone has refused a reasonable request from the fair staff, the staff can call the Pima County Sheriff. What will the the sheriff do?

To find out I called Dawn Barkman, the public information officer at the Pima Country Sheriff’s office. She said that if the Fair staff ask the person to comply or leave and they don’t, then the Sheriff’s office would come and arrest the person.

Arrested for what? Trespassing.

Now would the staff at Southwestern Fair Commission, Inc. want to use their resources to monitor Nugent and his staff? Probably not. They are counting on Nugent and all his staff to be reasonable people who will honor the rules and regulations they agreed to. As my collegue David Safir wrote:

I hope Nugent is willing to surrender his arms like a good, law abiding citizen. And I hope the people running the Pima County Fair are consistent enough to insist he does.

David is more of an optimist than I am. Based on observing the actions  of Nugent, he and his staff will probably defy the rules with the hope that nobody videotapes them and that no one from SWFC, Inc. wants to bust them.  If they are noticed and busted, they will whine about how “the Government is trying to take away my 2nd Amendment rights” instead of, “I didn’t want to follow the rules I agreed to in advance because I’m special and a serial contract-breaker when it comes to guns at the venues I perform at.”

This behavior should be noted by Jack S. Schmidt, the Assistant U.S. Attorney. but especially for all the other county fairs and festivals thinking of booking Nugent in the future.

What about the Venue’s Rights?

• When a fair doesn’t book Nugent they are not violating his First Amendment rights.
• A venue has a right to have policies that say no weapons. By doing so and requiring the entertainer or customers to follow those polices  they aren’t violating anyone’s Second Amendment rights, they are asserting their own right to control their venue.
• Based on what happens at the Pima County Fair other venues can see if  Nugent defies their rules, and can  decide if he is worth the hassle to book. They also need to understand that fans who attend might not follow their rules either. Yes, they say they are law-abiding, but then again so did Nugent before each of his law breaking events.

Nugent said that at 63 he won’t “stumble” (aka break the law) anymore,  “Especially as a representative of the honorable hunting lifestyle and gun owners of this country.”

We’ll see.

LLAP,

Spocko

Cross posted at FireDogLake.

LAPIERRE: But the media, they don’t care. Everyday victims aren’t celebrities. They don’t draw ratings, don’t draw sponsors. But sensational reporting from Florida does. In the aftermath of one of Florida’s many daily tragedies, my phone has been ringing off the hook. Now, the National Rifle Association will not comment on any story without a full understanding and a thorough understanding of all the facts. But if I were to answer a call from Diane Sawyer or Chris Matthews or Brian Williams or Rachel Maddow, let me tell you right now what I’d ask them.

Where’s your outrage? Where’s your outrage about Willie Brewer III from Akron, Ohio? Or Derrick Linkhorn from Decatur, Georgia? Or Daryl Adams from New York City? Or what about Antonio Duff? Just this past Monday afternoon, about the same time I got here into town, he was killed and murdered. And he’s not the only young man murdered in this city this past week. You reporters, you don’t know their names. You don’t care about those people. You manufacture controversy for ratings. . . . → Read More: Hey LaPierre, the Media’s Not to Blame, You Are.]]> Today, Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association finally addressed the Trayvon Martin shooting— by attacking the media for covering the case, claiming they are “manufactur[ing] controversy for ratings.”  Link to story with audio of speech

LAPIERRE: But the media, they don’t care. Everyday victims aren’t celebrities. They don’t draw ratings, don’t draw sponsors. But sensational reporting from Florida does. In the aftermath of one of Florida’s many daily tragedies, my phone has been ringing off the hook. Now, the National Rifle Association will not comment on any story without a full understanding and a thorough understanding of all the facts. But if I were to answer a call from Diane Sawyer or Chris Matthews or Brian Williams or Rachel Maddow, let me tell you right now what I’d ask them.

Where’s your outrage? Where’s your outrage about Willie Brewer III from Akron, Ohio? Or Derrick Linkhorn from Decatur, Georgia? Or Daryl Adams from New York City? Or what about Antonio Duff? Just this past Monday afternoon, about the same time I got here into town, he was killed and murdered. And he’s not the only young man murdered in this city this past week. You reporters, you don’t know their names. You don’t care about those people. You manufacture controversy for ratings. You don’t care about the truth, and the truth is the national news media in this country is a national disgrace, and you all know it. And so do Americans throughout the country, and it’s getting worse every single day, and your dishonesty, duplicity, and moral irresponsibility is directly contributing to the collapse of American freedom in our country.

Here is my response from my human half, because as coolly analytical as I normally am, his inane remarks need something extra.

Yes, LaPierre, it’s all the media’s fault. You had NOTHING to do with those four dead black teens. Were they killed in car crashes? Because cars are a tool just like guns! Isn’t that what you always say? Maybe you are going to suggest we will want to ban cars because they kill people too, right? You know, the usual strawman crap your groupies try to put into our mouths every single time we suggest some reasonable, non-insane regulation. You know, like not legally selling guns to terrorists on the no-fly list.

Speaking of the dead black teens you suddenly care about,  how did the killers get their guns? What policies did you push, or regulations you blocked that gave them easy access? Will we see an, “I’m Outraged by Black Gun Deaths” twitter feed from the NRA? (@NRAHoodieDeathNews?). Do you really care about those teens? Or do you push the fear of shooting deaths because it sells more guns? My money’s on selling guns, and speaking of making money from  guns…

Year after year you make up some imaginary crap about Barak Obama taking your guns so you can raise money to give your racist members an excuse to spend another $320 on yet another small penis compensator. You WISH Obama said a word about taking your guns. Amno-net already calls him “The greatest gun salesman ever“. The guns and ammo manufacturers would happily pay him millions for the billions in revenue a single “gun grabbing” comment would generate, but that would cut you out as the middleman.

You know who is going to “take your guns?” Nobody on the left.  If you lose them it will come from the right. Remember when Reagan was shot? You should, that  was how we finally got some restrictions and you got your nemesis, James Brady.  Reagan was all for that foundation, which was the least he could do considering James took a bullet in the brain for him. (Oh, and Reagan’s banning guns from the California state capitol when the real Black Panthers showed up with guns? Classic! It looks like Reagan was to gun restrictions as Nixon was to the environment.)

If Obama gets shot at by one of your members, I’m pretty certain you will you use it as sales tool. “Now he will really take your guns, buy today before the Secret Service comes to your door! Glocks 10 percent off!. ” Because if and the four dead  black teens you suddenly care about and  a sitting congresswoman getting shot doesn’t change your MO now I doubt an attempt on Obama will.

Speaking of members, was George Zimmerman an NRA member? Do you ever revoke anyone’s membership for bringing dishonor to the association? I doubt it. “If you outlaw NRA membership only NRA members will be outlaws.” (Or some kind of rhyming bumper-sticker nonsense like that.)

If  Zimmerman is tried and convicted of 2nd degree murder will you lobby for him to keep his handguns and CCW when he gets out of jail in 2032?  Because felons aren’t supposed to get guns.  That WAS something you used say, right? But as most of the world doesn’t know, thanks to the NRA, in many states FELONS NOW GET THEIR GUNS BACK.

Based on your track record, by 2032 the restrictions for felons to own guns will probably be gone nationwide, not just in Minnesota or Washington. When the newly released felon Zimmerman wants a gun ? Will you make it hard or easy for him to legally get one?

“But if I were to answer a call from Diane Sawyer or Chris Matthews or Brian Williams or Rachel Maddow, let me tell you right now what I’d ask them.”

But you didn’t answer a call from them did you? Why not? Because none of them would really give you a hard time. Brian Williams would let you have your say, while bringing up easy, “Devil’s advocate  strawman” questions about the non-existent gun control  laws that Obama never mentioned. Then he would admire your dis-proven electoral power.

I know your technique of pretending the press is all bad ass and confrontational, but we both know they just aren’t anymore.  Even if Chris Matthews confronted you, it wouldn’t be about your radical guns everywhere agenda, he would probably reminisce about being on the beat with a gun in the Capital.  Most media personalities aren’t going to point out just what a fucking insanely dangerous world you have helped create.

You have buffaloed the media and they aren’t going to call you out on your bullshit. Why not talk to some real challengers? Few in the media have the brains and the heart to take you on. No, for that we need some people like my buddies Cliff Schecter and Elliot Fineman who can intellectually and emotionally strip you naked in front of the world with their expertize and heart. We could film that, and send it out to the world. And then the world will see what a small, pathetic, cowardly man you are. A man who makes money on fear, bathes in the tears of dead gun violence victims and poops out strawmen arguments for people who don’t want to understand what a well regulated milita means.

Wayne, you should WANT that confrontation because it could increase gun sales! You could be the victim! “Those words hurt me! I need to the ultimate defense, a gun. I challenge them to a duel! ” Elliot already said he would take you on and he doesn’t even have a gun!

Why not do it live on TV?  A tie in with the Hunger Games! It would get great ratings. But I’m warning you if you ask for a duel you will already have lost because resorting to a gun shows just how weak your arguments are and have always been.

A man who can’t defend himself or his actions with his words and has to resort to hot Teflon-coated cop-killer lead isn’t much of a man. You aren’t paid 1.27 million a year because you are a good shot, you are paid that to talk to the media and to push guns everywhere.

Spocko

P.S. Are you carrying right now? Probably not, because  the City of St Louis and the American Center management know  and as you point out on your own page, The city of St. Louis prohibits the carrying of firearms at the America’s Center Convention Complex.”  Would that cost you your concealed carry permit? Or would the look the other way for the business you bring in. Would it at least get you and your illegal carrying buddies frog marched out of the venue, ‘for the safety of the other guests?’  We’ll never know, because the media won’t ask, which is surprising, since it would be good TV and great for ratings.

Case in point. The CEO of Clear Channel, Pittman, finally spoke to the AP yesterday and said 58 advertisers leaving the Rush Limbaugh show didn’t have a major impact on Clear Channel. Full quote here.

According to my friends at Media Matters 58 advertisers left.

Now in the world of small to mid-sized public companies that would be what is called, “A material event” and could tank the stock. Earnings this quarter could disappoint investors and management,who promised certain numbers, would have to do something to make changes.

If you are privately held, or huge, like NewsCorp, after losing 58 or 81 Advertisers you can say things like “advertisers leaving the program did not have a major impact on the company ” and get away with it.

Now I’m sure that the AP Business writer . . . → Read More: It’s good to be the Lyin King’s Boss]]>
One of the big benefits of either being privately held or a huge public ikdkdk corporation is that you don’t have to tell anyone in the media the truth. There really is no penalty for lying about your finances if your aren’t public and if you are big and public you can often bury loses that other companies would have to report.

Case in point. The CEO of Clear Channel, Pittman, finally spoke to the AP yesterday and said 58 advertisers leaving the Rush Limbaugh show didn’t have a major impact on Clear Channel. Full quote here.

According to my friends at Media Matters 58 advertisers left.

Now in the world of small to mid-sized public companies that would be what is called, “A material event” and could tank the stock. Earnings this
quarter could disappoint investors and management,who promised certain numbers, would have to do something to make changes.

If you are privately held, or huge, like NewsCorp, after losing 58 or 81 Advertisers you can say things like “advertisers leaving the program did not have a major impact on the company ” and get away with it.

Now I’m sure that the AP Business writer is very skilled at interviewing CEOs. He probably knows that he is full of crap so he puts the quote in there directly. He then later states the 58 number of advertisers leaving just to show how absurd the CEO’s remark is. This is his “he said she said.” part of the story.

Only whereas Media Matters has hard proof that 58 advertisers have left, the CEO of Clear Channel doesn’t have to prove that this didn’t have a major impact on his company. The AP writer knows that if he asked, “Just how bad was this impact? What was your revenue shortfall this quarter vs last year? What would it take to have a MAJOR impact on your company? Losing 80? 90? Are you going to ask Rush for some of his salary back? Who will lose their year end bonus or job because of this revenue shortfall. The CEO would say, ‘I don’t have to tell you anything. We are a closely held private company. Now lets talk about how Rush Limbaugh is the King of radio.”

Using a fuzzy word is the kind of thing that I would counsel a client that thinks that he has to answer a hard numbers question from a reporter. They as tech guys and engineers often think, ‘Hey, they are asking me a question, I should tell them an answer. I don’t want to lie.” I tell them, ‘You aren’t under oath. You have no obligation to tell them specifics at this point in your development. Give him a general idea of your growth and move on.”

It’s like losing both of your legs and one arm in a car accident and saying, “I’m not dead!” Sure you aren’t dead but this hurt you, bad.”

The PR apparatus that is paid to prop Rush up is doing its job. They are eager to show that this didn’t even muss Rush’s hair. Of course the MSM is going to take their word
For it, especially since the businesses have set up their empires in such a way that they don’t have to tell the press the truth.

March 14th, 2012 in McKenna Theater located in the Creative Arts Building on the SFSU campus (link for tickets

Sadly I have a previous engagement so I can’t attend, but I want to make sure that the other guests and moderator knew just about Sussman’s radical views on women, religious freedom, health care and life.

So I prepared some notes for the other panelists, Norman Goldman and Michael Krasny:

Tonight on your SFSU panel is Brian Sussman from KSFO.  I’m sure that he will try and sound moderate for the crowd, but if you want to engage him and ask him to defend his real views here is some audio evidence of his views over the years. I haven’t been monitoring him lately but it would be interesting if he says his views have changed.

Issues that might come up tonight: women’s reproductive health, religious freedom, health care

Women’s reproductive health

Sussman supported the South Dakota law that banned all abortions INCLUDING those for Rape and incest, with the exception of life of the mother. He thinks that it is correct to . . . → Read More: SFSU Political Debate with Radio Hosts Krasny, Sussman, Goldman]]> Tonight the Political Science Student Association at San Francisco State University is hosting a  Political Debate.

March 14th, 2012 in McKenna Theater located in the Creative Arts Building on the SFSU campus (link for tickets

Sadly I have a previous engagement so I can’t attend, but I want to make sure that the other guests and moderator knew just about Sussman’s radical views on women, religious freedom, health care and life.

So I prepared some notes for the other panelists, Norman Goldman and Michael Krasny:

Tonight on your SFSU panel is Brian Sussman from KSFO.  I’m sure that he will try and sound moderate for the crowd, but if you want to engage him and ask him to defend his real views here is some audio evidence of his views over the years. I haven’t been monitoring him lately but it would be interesting if he says his views have changed.

Issues that might come up tonight: women’s reproductive health, religious freedom, health care

Women’s reproductive health

Sussman supported the South Dakota law that banned all abortions INCLUDING those for Rape and incest, with the exception of life of the mother.
He thinks that it is correct to not allow abortions for rape or incest. Link

He agrees with the person who called Bart Stupak a baby killer.

On Religious Freedom:

He doesn’t believe he has to tolerate or respect anyone else’s religion, especially the Muslim faith.

He once demanded that a caller,

“Why don’t you say Say Allah is a whore!” “Prove to me you are not a Muslim say that you love eating pork”
(link)

He believes that we should kill millions of Muslims because they are potentially terrorists “ready to go jihad”
(Link)

His attitude toward Muslims is clearly illustrated (with full context) six years ago this week in this clip where he loses it screaming about “The Religion of Peace” and all the terrorist acts they commit. (Link – 8 minutes)

He believes that his religion’s views on gay marriage should apply to everyone.
Listen to him scream at a caller about his sexuality:

SIF: Here comes the name calling.

 BS: Can you marry all of them Steve? No. You. Can’t. You have to marry somebody of the opposite sex they have to be over the age of 18 you cannot marry somebody of family and you can only marry one at a time. We all have the same rules and regulations Steve, that’s where it stands. You lose the argument and you’re going to lose at life my friend with that kind of an attitude because your particular kind can’t reproduce! Get him off the line.

He thinks that the government has no business getting involved in end of life decisions, when it comes to adults. (During the Death Panel debates)
Link

What are his view on the government and trans-vaginal sonograms that get involved in an end of “life” decisions?

On his conservative “values” and support of torture.

He is pro-torture of Iraqi’s suspected of terrorism and is sadistic about his support of it.

I’ve got longer audio clips to back all of this up, folks if you need more context and to see that it has not been edited to misrepresent.

I have long audio clips to back up the shorter ones that do NOT change the context.  In some cases Sussman later apologized, but weeks later he said equally horrific things. (Like Rush, the apologies were designed to stop advertiser flight.)

I wish I could be there I’m sure he will be very calm. I just hope for the sake of the people in the audience he isn’t packing heat in defiance of SFSU policy and state law. Maybe someone should ask him, not me. He’s scary, just listen to him!

Everyone wants to know, “What will happen next?” Some people want to know how to “fix the problem” (i.e. lost sponsors) others want to know, how can we make,”the problem” worse.

I am of the metaphorical mindset, “When your nemesis is drowning, throw him an anchor.”

There is, and will be, tremendous pressure to keep The Limbaugh Zeppelin afloat. Lots of people are scrambling to find the right words, strategy or actions to get back to the status quo. What might be surprising to some, but not to me, is that the MSM will help keep this gasbag in the air. Why? A few reasons:

1) The “They could do this to me!” fear. They might remember that Lou Dobbs is gone and Glenn Beck if off TV, not because of what they said, but because of “market forces.” The progressive left made those “market forces” happen by alerting advertisers and asking them to stop allowing these people to taint their brands.

2) Rush gives them the language for ideas that are easy to describe. One stop shopping for what . . . → Read More: Rush Doesn’t Need Your Stinking Ads!]]> News Flash! 50 advertisers have pulled their ads from the Rush Limbaugh show. Updated list here.

Everyone wants to know, “What will happen next?” Some people want to know how to “fix the problem” (i.e. lost sponsors) others want to know, how can we make,”the problem” worse.

I am of the metaphorical mindset, “When your nemesis is drowning, throw him an anchor.”

There is, and will be, tremendous pressure to keep The Limbaugh Zeppelin afloat. Lots of people are scrambling to find the right words, strategy or actions to get back to the status quo. What might be surprising to some, but not to me, is that the MSM will help keep this gasbag in the air. Why? A few reasons:

1) The “They could do this to me!” fear. They might remember that Lou Dobbs is gone and Glenn Beck if off TV, not because of what they said, but because of “market forces.” The progressive left made those “market forces” happen by alerting advertisers and asking them to stop allowing these people to taint their brands.

2) Rush gives them the language for ideas that are easy to describe. One stop shopping for what “the Right” thinks. (His ability to articular the worst impulses of the right and make them seem noble is a real talent.)

3) The MSM have to make sure to run, “Rush’s side of the story.” Rush is, of course, the real victim in all this. Their stories can cover ad experts to answer questions about the economic impact of this on Rush or Premier. Political experts to discuss the ramifications of this on the Presidential race. Social media experts on why this movement got traction vs others.

What they all know is that there is an entire community (LimbaughSphere?) that needs Rush to stay on the air.

One of the big questions that will be raised is, “How can Rush stay on the air without advertisers?”

Surprise! Rush doesn’t actually need advertisers. The people in the radio industry want and “need” that revenue stream, but not Rush. Like Glenn Beck while at Fox, he still has his contract if he has 2 or 200 advertisers. Additionally the people who want him to continue could subsidize him for months if not years if they want.

What people forget is that massive long term subsidies have propped up the Right and movement conservatism for years. Fox lost money for years. NewsCorp is so big and Murdoch’s control so strong he could hide the money losing ventures from shareholders, until they could pay off financially. Here is a link to me asking Rupert how long he will keep subsidizing Beck) In the mean time their subsidies was paying off in Right Wing messaging and political wins.

The expectation that directed messaging efforts should also make money is fairly new. The Right mocked liberal radio for “not making money” from the comfort of their money losing belief tank jobs.

When was the last year the Washington Times made money? Never. As of 2002 Moon and his businesses have plowed about $1.7 billion into subsidizing the Times, say current and former employees. (Story from the money losing Washington Post.)

Rush’s Brand is Now Bigger Than Sponsor’s Brands

What is different now is that Rush’s “brand values” have become more important than his consumer product sponsors’ brand values. His agenda has become more important than their needs. He will taint the advertiser’s brand rather than retreat from some horrific statements that advance his agenda.

This is huge problem for people who make money on Rush such a:

Radio stations, sales reps, and radio execs

Companies who get revenue sells products or services to his listeners

This is NOT a huge problem for folks who use Rush to push the movement conservative agenda. People like:

Koch, Scaife, Olin, Moon and others funding money losing papers, RW belief tanks like Heritage and American’s For Prosperity.

Brent Bozell of the non-revenue generating group, the Media Research Council who will use this as an opportunity to raise money on Rush the Victim. Of course that will be pennies vs. what he gets from his funders, Exxon, Scaife, Olin and other tax exempt right wing foundations.

However, one of the problems will be the perception problem. How do you explain keeping Rush on the air without commercial advertisers? They might admit that they support money losing shows all the time and admit that generating revenue was just a happy accident of the true goal of the show, making the extreme right’s views “normal”. Janeane Garofalo used to call it “Giving people permission to bring out their inner Archie Bunker.”)

I expect multiple methods will be deployed to change the subject from the financial consequences. I discussed some of them in my article here.

As various techniques are used I’d like to remind people of the insights that I developed when I created The Spocko Method. There will be a need to keep dogging the LimbaughSphere’s attempt to make this problem go away. I talk about some of this on Angie Corio’s In Deep Radio show, broadcast tonight, March 9, at 8:00 pm on KRXA in Monterey and March 10th broadcast in Washington D.C. at 10:00 AM on WPWC 1480 AM DC Progressive Talk Radio, @WeActRadio. Also you can listen to the Podcast of Mike Stark and I discussing this and Andrew Breitbart’s death and his impact on the media on Virtually Speaking.

If this article has become tl;dr (too long; didn’t read) you can go now.

Below is background for people who want to understand The Spocko Method and why it works vs. boycotts, appeals to the FCC or radio management. If you want to do a quick action you can go to my friends at FreePress, Media Matters or Credo who all have ways to act on this.

The Spocko Method

I learned a lot and and established a lot of principles during my early work on KSFO hosts, then advising Hate Hurts America on Michael Savage and Color of Change on Glenn Beck.

When I started my advertiser alert campaign in 2005-06 I did a lot of research on what worked and didn’t work when engaging the Right Wing media. Based on that research I determined that the leverage point was the station’s revenue stream. If you had great ratings with no advertisers, you are screwed. If they didn’t have a sugar daddy, they needed advertisers.

I looked at and discarded going to the FCC, like the Right did with Howard Stern. I looked at and discarded appealing to management since they could position themselves as, “supporters of free speech” even if they disagreed with it. Also, they easily could ignore efforts that weren’t widespread, since the audience who is offended doesn’t usually listen, therefore they didn’t really care what they thought.

My solution was to show the advertisers that the hosts of KSFO were tainting their brand. This involved finding email addresses and the right people to contact showing them the clips and letting them decide. Twitter and Facebook weren’t as pervasive as now.

My special perspective on this is a deep understanding of how to talk about the action and how to communicate to the corporations. My background is in helping companies and people tell their stories to the press, their investors and customers. I’ve media trained the top executives, founders and funders of major tech companies and consumer firms. I know what they care about. I work a lot with the marketing, PR and internal communications people.

Based on this I did some important things different.

I didn’t go to the FCC, they don’t care. (that is what the right did with Howard Stern, Brent Bozell’s Media Research Council is always happy to use Big Government to get what he wants).

Based on the liberal criticism of that action I made it clear I never wanted to silence people or get them fired. I just wanted them to be less profitable. If they modified what they said on the air or are let go because they have become unprofitable, well so be it. I explained this to other groups who then used them on Michael Savage and Glenn Beck.

Then there are some instructions I gave to my followers, basics like be polite, but also how to frame the request.

It’s NOT a boycott. Don’t write the sponsors and say, “I’m going to stop buying your product if you don’t do this.” That is a threat and advertisers don’t like to be threatened. Instead get them to see the disconnect between their own values, brand or policies and this person.

Get the corporations to see how the comments aren’t “in-line with their values.”
I did this by showing them their own policies on discrimination, violence or sexism. Then I linked them to the audio clip that aired right after the horrific comment. Imagine being Pro-Flowers after the, “women using birth control are sluts and prostitutes” comment. With KSFO they had HR companies advertising. I sent them links to sexist comments about Dana Perino and women they wanted to work in the office naked because they had “a great rack”.

Make it clear you aren’t trying to silence anyone. This is because that is censorship and there are people on the left who don’t want to have anything to do with any kind of censorship, even of someone like Rush.

They are the, ‘I’ll don’t like what they have to say, but I’ll defend to the death their right to say it.” people. They need to see that this a MARKET-based action, that way they don’t have to defend Rush under the 1st Amendment. It’s not about the host’s rights, it’s just business. The companies have a right to not advertise on a show. Nobody has a right to get rich saying horrible things.

Help the corporations explain why they are pulling their ads.
“You aren’t censoring him or silencing him. You are just removing your financial support because what he says doesn’t match with your brand image. Someone else who doesn’t have your good values can pay to be associated with him.” This information is then used by companies so that they can explain it to their customers and internal marketing people when they ask, “Why aren’t we advertising on the show with the highest ratings!” They can respond “Because, hating Muslims, gays, and vicious sexism isn’t what our company and brand are about.”

Keep your followers aware of how the other side will fight this and keep adjusting your messages to counter them.
So if they say, “Rush apologized!” point out all the other instances where he didn’t. “This is a pattern of behavior, not a one time thing. Do you want to be associated with him when he says the next horrific things?”

Avoid Media Boredom. As the campaign for Color of Change got boring to the media people wanted to “move on.” I suggested that they take the results to the next level. That was when I took it to the financial journalists and NewsCorp Institutional investors. That was a new and different story for the media. “What is the economic impact of advertisers leaving? Why was Murdoch still subsidizing him?”

(BTW that was the question I asked Murdoch during the May 2010 financial conference call. That pushed the story back into the news and got Murdoch to comment on it, which the media needed to quote on the issue.)

Prepare for Dishonest Reframing and Strawmen
You will see that in the response to defend Rush they create strawmen. “They want to silence Rush! They want to bring back the Fairness Doctrine!” But since I was very careful to never talk about firing them or bringing back the Fairness Doctrine I could easily show that this was a lie.

I think the advertisers should have a choice, and they should be able to work within the market to decide if they want to make this purchase. When they pull their ads they aren’t censoring anyone, just making him less rich, nothing wrong with that.

This is how the free market is supposed to work, but the right actually wants a monopoly. They don’t want to give companies a choice, especially if , through media consolidation, they make their guy the only game in town.

Keep up the good work everyone!

LLAP,

Spocko

Cross posted at FireDogLake

@spockosbrain follow me around on twitter

“Greetings, Jesus. Have a seat.  Well it’s that time of year again. Performance review time.  I’ll go through the review and then you can comment later before you sign it.

“Okay, the good news is that the people seem to like you and they loved the free food you got them at that picnic.  I don’t want to know where you got those loaves and fishes, if they fell off a donkey or what, but it was  great because it didn’t put a dent in our food budget. Some people called it a miracle, but it’s only a miracle if you’re not in the business of selling loaves and fishes.  Our concessions vendors were really unhappy that day.   But our real problem was revenue from plate passing was way down.

In the future if you are going to give away free food, remind them that there is no “free . . . → Read More: Jesus Has His Yearly Performance Review]]> Considering how the Catholic Bishops want to tell people what to do, I though about who was really in charge of that organization. And so I wrote this piece. I just warped around the Sun and used my universal translator to listen into one performance review that didn’t go too well.

“Greetings, Jesus. Have a seat.  Well it’s that time of year again. Performance review time.  I’ll go through the review and then you can comment later before you sign it.

“Okay, the good news is that the people seem to like you and they loved the free food you got them at that picnic.  I don’t want to know where you got those loaves and fishes, if they fell off a donkey or what, but it was  great because it didn’t put a dent in our food budget. Some people called it a miracle, but it’s only a miracle if you’re not in the business of selling loaves and fishes.  Our concessions vendors were really unhappy that day.   But our real problem was revenue from plate passing was way down.

In the future if you are going to give away free food, remind them that there is no “free lunch” right before you pass the plate. You don’t have to come right out and say “give us money” but timing is everything. Whatever they didn’t spend on lunch has to go somewhere and the best place for it is our bottom line.”

Second, we would like you to work on your presentation skills. The stories are great, but we really want to see more bullet points from the Talmud. Quote more from historical rabbis than from this “anonymous father and his deadbeat run-away son.”

Next we are also concerned about the kind of coverage you are getting in the gospels.  We don’t pay attention to the words of minor writers like “Q” who is  scribbling your sayings down, and I won’t even mention anything written by a woman. But we do follow the major gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Shlomo. And they are not reporting a consistent message.

Repeat your bullet points in short snappy sentences. And use numbers too, followers love numbers like the 10 commandments. Having just one or two commandments like ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’, and  ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ is way too broad. You will not get any repeat business for specific interpretations of those two. I spend half of my time defining “thou shalt not kill” to the angry who want war and the other half talking to money lenders defining “thou shalt not steal.” The good news is that the money lenders are great at tithing with a favorable definition.

We are also concerned about your politics. We want you to keep a low profile with your whole, “love your enemies” stuff  and healing the sick. We can’t really make much money on loving the enemies stuff,  but we like that angry thing you did in the Temple, our target follower loves the anger.

We have a few notes on that incident, again, love the anger, but we don’t like your targets.  Money changers and the livestock industry are two of our biggest donors and if you drive them out of the temple you hurt their feelings and especially hurt our donations.  One big money changer donor told me he didn’t appreciate being called a thief and you naming poor widows as his victims. If we want his contributions to continue,  stop pointing out that as a percentage of wealth the poor widows give more than rich guys like him.  When you do that it makes him look cheap in front of other donors.  And next time? Focus your anger on the smaller unaffiliated merchants selling doves and independent money changers, okay?

Next, could you stop giving away health care? For example, that leper that you cured now has to find a job and his only skill was as a beggar. He was a vital part of the economy by giving wealthy merchants someone they could give alms to so they could feel better. So if you are going to cure someone be sure to make it a cure that keeps him in the system. Maybe a partial cure where his face stops falling off  and doesn’t look terrible but his fingers still keep falling off.

Overall Jesus we were really disappointed with your progress this year. Would it kill you to change your sermons to fit in more with the community? I mean Jesus Christ, remember those good Samaritans aren’t your bosses, we are.  Who died and left you God?

We aren’t going to give you any more shekels this year because times are hard, but we know it won’t be a hardship to you because we heard your mother is selling some of your homemade wine on the side.  We’ll expect to see a couple of bottles on our table this sabbath, something in a deep red if you don’t mind.

Now write down any comments, sign here and date it.

X____________________ 32 AD

Jesus H. Christ, Rabbi

X ___________________

There will be a billion pixels spilt on these stories that you can read elsewhere by scholars, experts and journalists. What I’m most interested in is what works/worked for the media activists out there.

BTW, can anyone else see the fingerprints and style of Ari Fleischer all over Brinker’s media interviews and statements?

(Fleischer personally interviewed candidates for the position of “Senior Vice President for Communications and External Relations” it’s a safe bet that he would approve and suggest someone who mirrors his style.)

The right has often taken tactics and methods used first by us, discredited them until they have time to become . . . → Read More: How To Use Social Media as a Weapon Against Organizations]]> Tuesday, February 7th on Virtually Speaking Mike Stark and I discussed what we could learn from the SOPA fight and the Susan G Komen Debacle. Listen to the podcast by going to the BlogTalkRadio link

There will be a billion pixels spilt on these stories that you can read elsewhere by scholars, experts and journalists. What I’m most interested in is what works/worked for the media activists out there.

• How we can replicate this to fight the right?
  How can we press the advantage?
  Why the left will NOT press the advantage.

• How will the Right defend against this in the future and who will they enlist to help them?

BTW, can anyone else see the fingerprints and style of Ari Fleischer all over Brinker’s media interviews and statements?

(Fleischer personally interviewed candidates for the position of “Senior Vice President for Communications and External Relations” it’s a safe bet that he would approve and suggest someone who mirrors his style.)

• What steps will the PR experts at Ogilvy take to try to repair the brand?

The right has often taken tactics and methods used first by us, discredited them until they have time to become big in them (by throwing money and automating at them) and then using them to serve their agenda.

• How can we defend against it when it is turned on us?

I’ve already seen several stories about the power of social media in breathless posts about the role of Twitter and Facebook in the Komen debacle. It reminded me of the early days of blogs and before that email campaigns.

I will point out one insight that I got after Mike asked me a question, “Why did the SOPA story work and the push for Net Neutrality go down the wonk hole?”

I wondered about this and why the overwhelming response on SGK’s action regarding Planned Parenthood. Part of it is because we on the left know how to respond to overreach. We aren’t as good going on the attack and creating outrage.

Some people have talked about keeping the pressure on SGK, doing oppo research on the board members and using it against them. I think keeping the pressure on is the right idea, but that’s the wrong approach.

There can be exposure, but not out and out attacks. At this point one of the best ways to put pressure on them is by helping them rip themselves apart from inside. Find and expose the people inside who didn’t agree with the board. Show the world how good people inside fought the board. Some resigned. The board will have to attack “themselves” vs. attacking us for attacking them.

After I made an impact on KSFO and got dozens of advertisers to leave, I backed off exposing them in public. I started letting their new parent company management and board know what the hosts who “apologized” were still doing to the brand. I showed them the sexism, bigotry and continuous violent rhetoric that was still coming out of them. I also enlisted the State Department, the Iraq Embassy staff and the internal news staff at ABC to drive a wedge between the hosts and management. I showed ABC Radio management and journalists how Lee Rodgers was attacking them on the air. “Does it bother you that Rodgers is calling your staff liars, Presidential butt kissers and dopes?”

This turned their anger on Rodgers, not me. Rodgers was an expensive embarrassment who would not apologize to anyone for anything, so I helped the management see that in regards to their own brand.

Rodgers got fired. He blamed the Muslims and a management that listened to them. How do you think the management and Muslims found out about his comments? They don’t listen to the show.

I like to fight the right and force an error or overreaction on their part because then I’m the victim. The left knows how to support victims, but we don’t know how to support our warriors. I rarely get institutional support because attacking the right isn’t really in any groups’ mission statement. Even Media Matters is about, “correcting misinformation”

INTERFERING WITH THE MONEY STREAM IS NOT ALLOWED

My friend Sara Robinson, now a senior editor at Alternet, agrees with me.

You know why Glenn Beck got fired even when he got good ratings on Fox? Because I pointed out to the shareholders he wasn’t making them the kind of money he should have.

(See my post, Rupert and Me, where I called up Rupert during the NewsCorp quarterly financial call and asked him how long he was going to be subsidizing Beck.)

The focus to investors was on the negative financial impact of this nut. I wanted the institutional investors to know about it, so I talked to them in a language they understand. The bottom line.

“…corporations (both for- and non-profit) [need] to learn that putting right-wing ideologues into places of power is a risky, dangerous thing to do. It Does Not Pay, and no board that takes its fiduciary responsibility seriously should ever consider it.

Cross posted at FireDogLake

Last October Chris Christie threw his support behind Mitt Romney, I’m pretty sure that is the reason that Romney will win tonight. Check out the video of the phone call Christie makes to comedian Jimmy Dore bragging about how his support for Romney will help him win. The whole podcast can be found at on the Jimmy Dore show. website. I like to describe the podcast as “The Daily Show for Radio”, very funny, very smart. The “celebrities” who call in are voiced by @MikeMacRaeMike. His Bill O’Rielly and Herman Cain are spot on and the writing, by Dore, Frank Connif, Paul Gilmartin, Robert Yasumura and Steve Rosenfield is hilarious.

“We totally could have gotten the Government to pay Mitt. The guys he hired? PricewaterhouseCooper? More like Pricy Underwater Houses Pooper! They couldn’t figure out how to get the IRS to pay him? Idiots. If we were in charge of his return, he would be getting $3.2 million from Uncle Sam instead of paying out one thin dime.”

“I suppose so, I hate all that political ‘What will it look like to the regular people?’ bullshit.

“Our job is to make the tax system our bitch. That’s why at GE we hire former IRS and Treasury people. It’s an embarrassment to our . . . → Read More: “Mitt paid 13.9% in Taxes? Sucker!” GE Tax Guys Taunt Romney’s Tax Guys.]]> I often have conversations with people who don’t exist to illustrate real conversations I know about and have a 93% confidence level have actually happened. Here’s a conversation I had last night about Mitt, taxes, GE and strippers.

I’m not lying, I’m writing fiction with my mouth.

– Homer Simpson

Over a single malt whiskey at the Scruples Lounge in Bridgeport, Connecticut I spoke to Sam Johnels, junior deputy tax guy for General Electric.

“We totally could have gotten the Government to pay Mitt. The guys he hired? PricewaterhouseCooper? More like Pricy Underwater Houses Pooper! They couldn’t figure out how to get the IRS to pay him? Idiots. If we were in charge of his return, he would be getting $3.2 million from Uncle Sam instead of paying out one thin dime.”

“I suppose so, I hate all that political ‘What will it look like to the regular people?’ bullshit.

“Our job is to make the tax system our bitch. That’s why at GE we hire former IRS and Treasury people. It’s an embarrassment to our profession when people throw the game for political appearances sake. Frankly I’d be ashamed to sign my name to any multi-millionaires’ tax form that didn’t end up with my client getting huge tax credits.”

As the cocktail waitress brought over another drink (with the new Connecticut tax on liquor tacked on to the $29 shot) he explained how they structured income for a global firm. Figuring out how to get a 3% effective tax rate in some desperate country was exciting to him. He complained about how only the U.S. expects GE to pay on income earned in other countries and how they decided to teach the U.S. government tax collectors a lesson by indefinitely investing profits abroad.

Maybe it was the red head on the stripper pole or just because any talk of taxes makes my mind wander, but he said that if the US tax rate was more reasonable, like 25%, more companies would pay it.

I asked, “Really? Do you really think that the companies will be satisfied with 25% and not keep looking for 3% or less? Would you? Won’t everyone keep looking for countries to pay them instead of having to pay?”

He said he hadn’t thought about that, besides it’s not his job to be satisfied.

I asked, “Does your company get any benefit out of services that come from paying taxes? Should it ever have to pay for those benefits?” This was one of those gambits I learned from my friend Dave Johnson when I hear an anti-tax rant come on, I’m supposed to remind them of all the good things taxes can bring, starting with the military, cops, firemen and roads while leaving off anything that isn’t a benefit that they can’t see or touch.

He didn’t answer because he was focused on the dark-haired stripper in the leopard print bustier. I asked again and he said, “The CEO constantly pounds in everyone’s head, ‘maximize shareholder value, ‘maximize shareholder value.’ but even though we don’t make anything our division is measured as a profit center. We aren’t a “cost of doing business” division like those lame HR people, but a real driver of profits like the jet engine division. We are constantly try to figure out a tax plan that helps the company.”

“So how do you become a profit center?” I asked.

“Lots of ways, like back in 2008 we hired the guy from the IRS who was in charge of the transfer pricing program.” he said.

“The what? I don’t know what that is.”

“The transfer pricing program is where a company works with the IRS to figure out how to price products and services among subsidiaries. It’s kind of hilarious that the head of that IRS division now helps us screw the feds out of revenue by telling us how to shift profits to lower-tax countries.”

“Aren’t there laws to stop people from helping you do that?” I asked.

Sheinhardt Wing Company Org chart prior to Kabletown sale

 

“Are you kidding? The only laws that still exist are the ones we haven’t lobbied to change yet. Besides, what are they going to do, get the IRS guy to sign a non-compete clause?’ Charge him with treason for keeping money from the United States Treasury? The head of our team is from Treasury! A lot of these IRS guys see ending up at “the competition” the whole point of going into the IRS in the first place. Kind of like congressional staffers on the way to lobbying firms.”

“Oh and then we play the whole, “We want to create jobs” card, but we don’t create them in the U.S. We cut this deal with back in 2004 where we moved a aviation leasing subsidiary to Ireland, with it’s 12.5% tax rate, and got a tax deferral from the U.S. I kid you not! Then we set up a new aviation funding corporation in Ireland with about $15 billion in assets, but no employees! HA!”

“That U.S. “Jobs Creation Act” actually required lessors to have “substantial” work done outside the United States to qualify for a deferral. They rewarded us for doing it! Hey, we were just following the law! Of course it helped that some of our guys wrote it, but is it our fault that the congress got rid of their in-house experts who could have told them about the loophole? Thank you Speaker Newt Gingrich!”

He paused as one of the strippers came over and bugged us for lap dances. I tried to explain about pon farr but she just pouted and started hitting on Sam again. He gave her a $20 just to go away for now so he could finish explaining the world to me.

“You see Spocko, for public consumption Mitt had to show he paid some taxes, but in private the real professionals know he wouldn’t had to even pay that much unless he wanted to. Did you know that over half of U.S. firms paid no federal income taxes during at least one year between 1998 and 2005? Throw that one out to your buddies who whine about the 53 percent who pay no taxes because they are poor. Taxes are for people who aren’t smart enough or rich enough to hire people like me. ”

“But don’t you understand the need for taxes and all the services that come from them?” I asked.

“You don’t get it, my pointy-eared friend, once people have accepted the primary purpose of corporations is to maximize shareholder value, we are always going to look at the minimizing of taxes as our goal, any other societal considerations aren’t our problem.

“Whose problem is it?” I ask.