The media has suggested on numerous occasions that Senator
Barack Obama might choose former Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) as his
running mate. Sam Nunn's name was mentioned most recently by
Jimmy Carter as he endorsed Obama for president. This would be
a grave mistake! Nunn's values are contradictory to those
expressed by Sen. Obama. Now, I read that the Congressional
Black Caucus is suggesting Nunn as possible VP.
Sam Nunn sits on the boards of four of the most abusive
corporations in the world – Chevron, General Electric, The
Coca-Cola Co., and Dell Computers. All four have shown scant
regard for human rights, the environment and/or the labor
movement of the countries in which they operate. Yet Nunn has
been silent about the abuses of his corporate bedfellows and,
of course, is very well compensated as a board member.
Chevron, (Board Member since 1997) formerly Chevron Texaco,
has been accused of abuses around the world
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cER8CjI7wdY), the most
infamous are those committed against the indigenous people of
Ecuador and complicity in the deaths of protesters in Nigeria
in 1998 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIau6hBvjTE).
Multinational Monitor named Chevron in their list of the ten
worst corporations of 1998. Does Obama need a top policymaker
of yet another ruthless oil company after eight years of
ExxonMobil in the Bush White House? Don't we need to rid the
White House of oil men?
General Electric (Board Member since 1997) "has a lengthy
record of criminal, civil, political and ethical
transgressions, some of them shocking in disregard for the
integrity of human beings," according to CorpWatch. GE, a
major military contractor profiting from war, pled guilty to
defrauding the defense department, paying "one of the
largest defense contracting fines ever
(http://www.multinationalmonitor.org/mm2001/01july-august/julyaug01corp4.html).
Nunn served as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee
in the Senate and immediately became a director of GE when
leaving the Senate in 1997. Does Obama need a top policymaker
of the war machine?
The Coca-Cola Co. (Board Member since 1997) has been accused
of labor and human rights abuses in Colombia, including
kidnapping, torture and murder of union leaders
(http://www.KillerCoke.org), environmental abuses committed by
Coke in India, Mexico and elsewhere, and benefiting from the
use of hazardous child labor in El Salvador
(http://youtube.com/watch?v=B5JXmDApzp4). The Company also has
a history of racial discrimination, fraudulent business
practices, tax avoidance and corporate welfare schemes.
Multinational Monitor named The Coca-Cola Company in their
list of the ten worst corporations of 2004. Does Obama need a
top policymaker of a company that has been kicked off some 50
college and university campuses because of its widespread
labor, human rights and environmental abuses?
Dell Computers (Board Member since 1999) has come under
criticism for alleged labor violations in factories producing
their computers in China, including wages below the legal
minimum, with workers reportedly earning $50 a month, routine
work shifts of 15 hours, and poor and unsafe working
conditions. Does Obama need a top policymaker profiting from
sweatshops?
Sam Nunn joined these boards right after leaving the Senate,
cashing in on his political influence, and remains on all
these boards today. Nunn, as Obama's running mate, however,
would be a signal that Obama was turning a blind eye to the
worst of Corporate America.
Sam Nunn is a retired partner at the Atlanta law firm King
& Spaulding, a notoriously anti-union law firm, and
continues to have an office and an email address there. Nunn
became a partner in 1997 shortly after he left the Senate.
It should be noted that in 1993 Nunn was a leader of the
Senate's drive to keep openly gay people out of the military
by taking the press on tours of showers and submarine quarters
and firing two staff members who were gay. Although he now
supports a review of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
policy, he still takes no position on the issue.
And finally, The Coca-Cola Company and General Electric are
contributors to the Carter Center. Coke has donated more than
$1 million and the Center has, in turn, appointed a Coke
executive to its Board of Councilors. There is prima facie
conflict of interest in Carter's recommendation of Nunn for
VP.
A decision by the Obama campaign to run Nunn for VP would be
an indication that his campaign does not take labor, human
rights and environmental issues seriously.
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