Lloyd Blankfein's the Wrong Spokesman for Gay Rights

[xchrom]

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/blankfein-the-wrong-spokesman-for-gay-rights-20120214

Courtesy of good friend David Sirota, who has also written on the subject, I heard today that the Human Rights Campaign, the organization that advocates for equal rights for gay, lesbian, and transgender people, has named Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein its “national corporate spokesman for same-sex marriage.”

This is an extremely unfortunate error by the HRC, which in making Blankfein a spokesman for this important political campaign has allowed one of the most relentless enemies of the poor and the disadvantaged to use the gay and lesbian community to buy moral credibility.

What’s most distressing about this decision is that the HRC has decided to honor and celebrate the CEO of a company with an extensive record of promoting inequality and preying upon ordinary working people.

How would the members of the HRC board feel if a group of labor unions got together and decided to nominate an antigay bigot like Rick Santorum, Gary Bauer or James Dobson to head a national campaign for workers’ rights?

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/blankfein-the-wrong-spokesman-for-gay-rights-20120214#ixzz1mZVadhKc



*** indeed.

[bluestateguy]

1. This is the thing

Blankfein and the people he knows have money, lots of it.

How useful would it be to have access to that pile of Wall Street cash to combat anti-gay referendums in states like Washington, Minnesota and North Carolina?

[William769]

2. But will it be used for that?

I have a sneaky suspicion this is nothing more than a PR ploy.

HRC has not been in the best interest of our community for awhile (thats my opinion).

[xchrom]

3. if only HRC were actually that aggressive on the first hand and on the second

HRC can do better than choosing corrupt guys like blankfine -- you are known by the company you keep.

from the article:
'As for Blankfein personally, he’s only a guy whom a U.S. Senate subcommittee recommended for perjury charges, who told a British newspaper he was doing “God’s work,” and who took home $53 million in compensation in 2007, the worst year of a national financial crisis he had a big hand in creating. So it’s not like he’s personally a dick in addition to running one of the most corrupt and predatory firms in the history of international capitalism.'

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/blankfein-the-wrong-spokesman-for-gay-rights-20120214#ixzz1mZZSiDtG

[Maven]

4. HRC is a joke.

[xchrom]

5. Indeed. But as you can see by reply #1 -

People are snookered by all that high powered celebrity 'pragmatic' myth.

[joeybee12]

6. Yup...nt

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. The culture at Goldman redefines 'homophobia' in ways I can't even describe. nt

[mitchtv]

8. sounds like HRC

lots of money for those at the top