While I was gone (mentally and physically) over the weekend, comments in a couple of my posts from last week took on a life of their own, and I'm feeling a need to respond to both.
First, a few readers have taken offense with my decision to call Musco a "good corporate citizen." Apparently Joe Crookham, the organization's president, is a heavy donor to Republicans.
Here's something that may come as news to some of my more partisan readers: You don't have to be a registered Democrat to be a good citizen.
The facts in this case are simple. Crookham and Musco are creating jobs without asking for a state subsidy in return. I don't care if Crookham is a Democrat, Republican, Independent, Green, Socialist, Libertarian or Pirate. His company is doing something laudable.
Second, I'm taking a beating (more or less as expected) for what I said about small-town life in this post. A lot of what I said is being distorted or taken out of context in the comments. Let's see if I can bullet point some thoughts on small towns, so if you're going to rip me on this, you can do so accurately:
- I lived for 18 years in small towns.
- I don't hate people who live in small towns.
- I don't think people who like living small towns are in any way inferior.
- I think small town residents are capable of making a difference, although sometimes finding an opportunity to do so can be more difficult.
- I, personally, don't miss small town life very often.
- I, personally, think getting out of Northern Wisconsin (where I could've spent the rest of my life working in radio for $7/hour) and into Des Moines (where I've found real opportunity) was one of the best moves I've made in my life.
- I, personally, can understand where someone is coming from when they decide to leave a small town for the big city.
There you go. Have at it.
KL
1 comment:
Kyle...I think you are missing the point in what I said. First of all, MUSCO Lighting IS a good corporate citizen. They are just a good corporate citizen that is run by a major Republican donor who has made UNLIMITED corporate contributions to an organization called the Iowa Leadership Council.
The ILC will use these UNLIMITED CORPORATE CONTRIBUTIONS to distort, derail, and attack progressive candidates throughout the state. Now, this isn't something that Mr. Sporer has a problem with...but personally, I have a problem with unlimited corporate contributions being used in political campaigns...and I think you do as well, Kyle.
The flip side is that this sort of behavior is LEGAL. Yet, is this the determining factor when deciding what is "good corporate behavior"? I think "good corporate behavior" requires more than simply following the letter of the law.
Who are some other contributors to the Iowa Leadership Council?
- Big Tobacco
- Loan Max
- Big Pharma
- Big Insurance Industry
- Big Alcohol
- Casino Lobby
All of major "sin" industries pump their cash into a big tank, fire up the attack machine, and use their dollars to promote socially conservative candidates who campaign against "sin" as their primary talking point.
Also, for one who is constantly hacking on the Des Moines Register for it's coverage of other issues where's your criticism of the paper basically running PR flak from MUSCO VERBATIM?
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