CleanTech Businesspeople Cannot Ignore Politics at These Watershed Times
Regular readers will remember 2GreenEnergy associate Dan Sturges (pictured) as one of the top minds in the future of transportation. Dan began his career in transportation 30 years ago as a designer at General Motors, and has evolved to become an expert on right-sizing transportation and micro-mobility vehicles.
As is the case with so many of the world’s top business minds, Dan finds it hard to stay out of politics, at least in today’s world where so much is at stake and our entire civilization is in the process of taking many giant steps backwards. After all, what good is a technologically advanced society that’s burning crosses on black people’s front yards?
Dan writes on Facebook: Let’s be clear on what Joe Arpaio did. He (assembled a huge network of policemen and deputies that) illegally stopped and detained American citizens who “looked” like illegals to him. And he continued to do it even after a federal court ordered him to stop. But not only that. He held detainees in third world conditions serving them moldy bread and rotten fruit in dangerously hot cells with no air conditioning. He tampered with evidence to wrongfully convict people he targeted. He misused $100 million of the people’s money on lavish trips for himself and his staff and to investigate political rivals. He faked a bomb threat against himself to shore up political support. He ignored over 400 cases of rape and molestation because apparently that’s not a crime he cares about….The president is wrong in pardoning him and shows, yet again, his contempt for the Constitution. Anyone who supports this guy is backing a corrupt, racist thug.
To which senior energy analyst Glenn Doty (pictured on right) adds: So now Trump has pardoned a convicted criminal who openly mocked both the Constitution and the law. He has sent a signal to anyone that racially motivated crimes will not be punished. He simply absolves people who commit crimes in the name of hate. Think about that. If you support this… or indeed if you don’t adamantly oppose it, you are a ****ing monster who doesn’t give half a damn about the law.
Yet apparently, there are people out there who still don’t see the imperative for every one of us to be vocal at this horrific point in U.S. history. Sorry, I just don’t understand that.
Craig,
Of course all people in business have not only a right, but a duty to be politically involved.
The decision to grant a Presidential pardon to Joe Arpaio, was a shockingly bad decision by President Trump. It’s a decision for which unless he can demonstrate it was an aberration, and not reoccur, will cost him dearly even among his own support base.
It’s time President Trump took stock, and listened to his more solid advisors. Rex Tillerson, Jeff Sessions and John F. Kelly.
John Kelly seems to be slowly gaining control of White House admin, removing the radical element and toning down the chaotic nature of the administration.
Hopefully, without these ah,..radical influences, the President can focus on his real agenda and be less combative.
It’s early days, and many US Presidents have started badly. It’s true the President has flaw’s, and has made some grievous errors.
On the other hand, he’s also received an unprecedented amount of vitrol and intolerance from not only his opponents, but an hysterical media.
There’s still time for the President to redeem his Presidency. He’s got a lot of ground to make up, but it’s not impossible.
As long as he acknowledges pardoning Joe Arpaio was an error and misguided sympathy for a loyal supporter whose transgressions were misrepresented.
Trump could say (and it’s possibly true} “I thought the courts etc were just being unfair to Arpaio, the way they were to me. I didn’t know the full extent of his wrong doing”. (If he added ruefully, i wouldn’t listen and was stubborn) His ratings would go through the roof).
If he concentrates on restoring relations with the ordinary American people by listening and working in their best interests, his voter base will return.
If Rex Tillerson can secure some foreign policy successes, the Russian investigation runs out of steam, and more importantly the President display’s a willingness to learn from mistakes he could turn everything around.
If not, then it’s going to be a very unproductive, negative four years for the American people.
Which is why clean technology businesses should re-double their efforts !