It's one thing to give a mediocre quarterback like Colin Kaepernick millions of dollars to stroke his own ego as he preaches about how evil America is from his mansion.
It's another thing entirely to lobby against a congressional bill that would stop you from using Uyghur slave labor in China.
But this?
That's a new level of twisted right there.
The comment by Nike CEO John Donahoe came during a recent call with Wall Street analysts to discuss the company's fourth-quarter report.
After Nike was outed for trying to shoot down attempts by Congress to ban slave labor, it pivoted and said it would not source material from the Xianjing Province where much of said slave labor is occurring.
In response, the ever-beneficent Communist Party of China decided to punish Nike for its capitalist sins.
After its statement on slave labor, many media outlets in China began agitating against Nike and its products.
Right after the company's March statement, Chinese state media outlets, the nation's Foreign Ministry, and Communist Party-controlled social media launched a multi-faceted campaign against Nike. For instance, social media posts showing Chinese citizens burning their Nike gear flooded the country's government-controlled social media sites.
In another case, Chinese state media operative Hu Xijin of the Global Times, warned Nike and others, saying, "all multinational enterprises should stay away from geopolitics."
It's understandable that Nike is caught between a rock and a hard place. Like all companies, they want to make money, and China is worth $1.9 billion of their $12.3 billion revenue.
Up until recently, it's been socially acceptable to do business with China. After all, those progressive types have told us for decades that modernization would cause China to get rid of all those yucky gulags, forced abortions, and the "down-with-the-West" rhetoric they've been peddling for a century.
Such thinking is the same reason peeps like Obama threw billions at countries like Iran. All these tyrannical regimes need is a bit more money and some modern amenities and they too will join the ranks of democracy!
Within this framework, it's easy to see why John Donahoe is trying to play both sides.
Nike CEO John Donahoe rushed to reassure China's communist rulers that his sportswear company is all about working with them, saying that, "Nike is a brand that is of China and for China."
The problem for John is that the bill we've been sold about China has always been a lie.
The CCP has been more than willing to take the world's capitalist money to gain power, but they have no intention of dropping the slavery, torture, and Orwellian oppression they've employed throughout their history.
Companies like Nike face a decision similar to those making products in Germany in the 1930s. You can't be "of Nazi Germany and for Nazi Germany" and still claim to be on the side of liberty and democracy.
Until Nike isn't employing narcissistic and racist athletes and propping up the world's most evil regimes, I think I'll be a customer "not of Nike and not for Nike."
