Nike has been one of the most ostentatious and preening corporate actors in the Woke Olympics, leaning into 'social justice' causes, and shoveling cash at failed NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick (along with others, like Disney). The company built an entire heroism-centric ad campaign around Kaepernick, even empowering him to veto a line of sneakers featuring the Betsy Ross-era American flag, which the ex-player deemed to be offensive. It's all an act to sell shoes, of course. Nike isn't genuinely interested in championing human rights, a fact they made abundantly clear last year when they kowtowed to one of the world's most abusive regimes, infamously siding against democracy in order to placate the forces crushing it in Hong Kong:
Houston Rockets merchandise disappears from Chinese Nike stores https://t.co/WmJmTNsmmM pic.twitter.com/AHFi3YRDT0
— New York Post (@nypost) October 10, 2019
“Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything,” was Nike's hagiographic slogan about Kaepernick's anti-America and anti-police performances. Their ad about supposed courage won an Emmy award, unsurprisingly. Here's the latest example of Nike 'doing what's right,' and 'standing up for marginalized communities,' or whatever their press releases might say -- via the New York Times:
Nike and Coca-Cola are among the major companies and business groups lobbying Congress to weaken a bill that would ban imported goods made with forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region, according to congressional staff members and other people familiar with the matter, as well as lobbying records that show vast spending on the legislation. The bill, which would prohibit broad categories of certain goods made by persecuted Muslim minorities in an effort to crack down on human rights abuses, has gained bipartisan support, passing the House in September by a margin of 406 to 3. Congressional aides say it has the backing to pass the Senate, and could be signed into law by either the Trump administration or the incoming Biden administration. But the legislation, called the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, has become the target of multinational companies including Apple whose supply chains touch the far western Xinjiang region, as well as of business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Lobbyists have fought to water down some of its provisions, arguing that while they strongly condemn forced labor and current atrocities in Xinjiang, the act’s ambitious requirements could wreak havoc on supply chains that are deeply embedded in China...Human rights groups and news reports have linked many multinational companies to suppliers there, including...documenting Uighur workers in a factory in Qingdao that makes Nike shoes.
Recommended
A Nike spokesman insists that the company didn't lobby against the bill, but merely engaged in "constructive discussions" with Congressional aides on the matter. Uh huh. I recognize that supply chains are complicated, and American companies shouldn't be harmed by measures that may be over-broad or needlessly counterproductive. But Nike has staked its domestic reputation on wokeness and human rights, while surrendering its credibility by bowing to the Chinese Communist Party in order to protect its financial interests. Many Americans will choose not to give them the benefit of the doubt. The hypocrisy is astounding:
Next time one of these corporations tries to sanction a U.S. state for protecting life or religious liberty, remember this story: https://t.co/nAI7pVkfPv
— David French (@DavidAFrench) November 29, 2020
The aforementioned charlatans at Disney especially deserve to be singled out on this front, as well. Speaking of the CCP, notice what's missing from this lying tweet from regime propaganda mouthpiece:
More evidence on the origin of coronavirus have emerged, pressing the international community to review the issue with strengthened unity, experts said Sun as a new CAS study indicated human-to-human transmission in India long before the outbreak in #Wuhan https://t.co/X6bSTu0v1g
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) November 29, 2020
Where is the ubiquitous 'disputed claim' warning and fact check from Twitter's minders? Or are those mostly reserved for President Trump and right-leaning American accounts? The Coronavirus originated in China, no matter how much the Chinese regime lies about it. And since we're subject of misinformation preying on the ignorant, I'll leave you with CNN giving us a powerful fact check of Colin Kaepernick's latest half-baked, bogus wokery -- and confirming something we already knew:
.@smerconish’s message for Colin Kaepernick, who called for the release of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer. https://t.co/LDgxj4anOJ pic.twitter.com/jDK0akG0sl
— CNN (@CNN) November 21, 2020
CNN exclusive: Vast trove of leaked documents shows China underreported Covid-19 numbers, took weeks to diagnose new cases and didn’t disclose a December flu spike in Hubei. https://t.co/mtXf3JM7NN pic.twitter.com/azzFFJ5yRO
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) November 30, 2020
Join the conversation as a VIP Member