Bizarre: Today’s Politicians Celebrate Jerks and Ignore Grassroots Geniuses

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While politicians promote jerks, they ignore real grassroots geniuses.

Corporate chieftains are giants, even geniuses — right? No, but there are some real grassroots geniuses that are being ignored by the powers that be.

Years ago, laissez-faire ideologue Ayn Rand hailed corporate chieftains as society’s supermen, comparing them to Atlas, the mythological Greek god who “holds the world on his shoulders.”

But look, here comes one of her modern-day gods now — Timothy Wentworth! He stands astride Walgreens, the multibillion-dollar drug store conglomerate. Last month, Wentworth demonstrated his corporate prowess by offering a stunning insight. He noted that, with shoplifting on the rise, chains like his had reacted by moving much of their merchandise into locked display cases. But the ever-alert Big Boss has now deduced that this impacts sales, “because when you lock things up, for example, you don’t sell as many of them.” Wow … pure genius!

Did I mention that Walgreens pays Timothy $13 million a year? Or that his monopolistic chain is closing some 1,200 of its “less-profitable” stores, which will leave entire communities with no pharmacies to meet their crucial needs?

My point is not to disparage one silly corporate boss but simply to say: Hey, why are the so-called leaders of both of our political parties kowtowing to the painful ignorance, arrogance and avarice of the most self-serving group of egos in the world: billionaires? Look at them — Elon Musk is a jabbering jerk, Mark Zuckerberg is a pathetic whiner, and Jeff Bezos cluelessly floats around on a garish yacht he financed by underpaying and mistreating his workers.

These are our giants? What about schoolteachers, family farmers, mechanics, cooks — and other everyday people who really make things work? America needs to start listening to them — and reinvesting in GGG (genuine grassroots geniuses).

Costco Shows Trump What a Real Mandate Is

I guess I’ll just have to throw myself on Donald Trump’s mercy, for I confess that I am a repeat violator of MAGA’s high crime of DEI-ism.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. Guilty on all counts! But it’s not my fault. From childhood, I was fed a steady diet of that kind of all-in-this-together thinking by my parents, teachers and ministers. So next thing you know, I was doing DEI on my own. Then, when I was elected to be Texas Agriculture Commissioner, I shamelessly promoted all three as agency goals (particularly for women and minorities who had long been excluded).

But I now see that such egalitarian concepts are out of step with the moral precepts of Trumpocracy. Thus, I’m an outlaw. You might be, too, for the MAGA minority now ruling in Washington is thuggishly expunging DEI values from our schools, corporations, libraries, churches, etc. You have two choices, they bark: Comply … or be forced to comply.

Sure enough, even corporate powerhouses like Amazon, Disney, Facebook, Target and Walmart are sucking up to the new regime by cravenly surrendering DEI principles and promises without a fight. Well, they whine, we have no choice.

But wait — this is America! The choice has always been clear: Don’t just comply, defy! Even corporations can stand for the people’s democratic principles, as Costco recently did. The popular retailer was assailed by a right-wing group demanding that shareholders terminate its DEI efforts. But Costco executives didn’t cower, and guess what? Ninety-eight percent of Costco’s shareholders stood with them, emphatically endorsing diversity, equity and inclusion as core American values.

This is Jim Hightower saying … 98%! That, Mr. Trump, is a real mandate.

Jim Hightower
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