There Is a Case to be Made for Supporting the Outcasts

The ACLU USED to do it - support people, regardless of their politics or personal characteristics, in order to defend a principle that could later be turned on others.

Activists have targeted Mastercard, to force a vote at their annual meeting, which would set up a committee that would force the company to stop processing payments for certain individuals - who, of course, are expressing an opinion that the activists don't like.

The proposal aims to see Mastercard establish an internal “human rights committee” that would stop designated white supremacist groups and anti-Islam activists, such as Tommy Robinson, from getting access to money sent from donors using the company’s card payment services.

 Here's some of the details about SumOfUs, including who pulls the strings behind the scenes:

SumOfUs’s Executive Director and Founder, Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, is a dual Australian-American citizen with online organizing on four continents and at the global level, including at Avaaz.org, GetUp.org.au, MoveOn, AccessNow, 350.org, Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection and others. She was born in Australia, and currently lives in Washington, DC.

MoveOn.org is the founder of Avaaz (along with Res Publica). MoveOn is the US version of the Australian GetUp! AccessNow is affiliated with Avaaz co-founders. AccessNow.org is endorsed and supported by Avaaz, MoveOn.org, Witness.org, Blue State Digital and GetUp!

The AccessNow International Advisory Board includes Andrew MacLaughlin, vice president of Tumblr; Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook and director of online organizing for Obama’s Presidential Campaign; Joe Rospars, new media director for Obama’s 2008 Presidential Campaign and founding partner of Blue State Digital; Scott Heiferman, CEO and co-founder of Meetup; and many other prominent technologically savoir-faire “leaders” in the world of social marketing.

SumOfUs is a 501c(4) non-profit incorporated in Washington, DC, with a 501c(3) fiscal sponsorship arrangement through the New Organizing Institute Education Fund (a George Soros entity).

Well, what do you know! George Soros is found behind the curtain - again!

I took ONE concrete action. I bought ONE share of stock in Mastercard - didn't bother looking to see what it's performance was, didn't care. It's not about getting a return on my investment.

It's about the right to vote. One share buys you a place at the table in the annual vote by shareholders. It also gives you information about the company that will assist in future battles - and yes, the Leftists WILL return for more. It also allows you to identify yourself as an interested party, and contact the boards of investors, including banks, insurance companies, and retirement funds - I'm getting funds from two retirement systems, and I think the board needs to know how I think on this issue.

Activists have done this before. But, this time, the stakes are MUCH higher - they are trying to build a structure in the money flow industry that could keep disfavored people - potentially ALL of us - from getting income streams through those credit processors. The Federal Government did this before - Operation Choke Point - and it was quite effective.

Here's a link to SumOfUs. BTW, they claim to represent over 15 million people - seems wildly exaggerated, doesn't it?

One of the board members, Emma Prest, is the Executive Director of DataKind UK. That organization has ties to MasterCard.

It's been suggested that MC and other processors want to institute controls over the politics of their users, and that this action is but an excuse (I didn't WANT to do it, but the shareholders FORCED me). All the more important to contact any bank or investor that you have a relationship with, to register your extreme displeasure. Letter is best, as hard copies tend to be taken more seriously. But any contact is good. Spread the word as well.

Others on the board are connected to ColorOfChange. That organization's membership figures are likely to be highly inflated, as it is online. I've checked out their Team page, and there seems to be a LOT of people working there, for a mere 1.4 million CLAIMED members. Why, it's almost as though this was a Shadow Organization, designed for several things:

• Put talented or influential people on the payroll, to keep them going until they are needed for future political action
• Create an assumed footprint, with an inflated staff, and membership numbers that are bloated beyond believability, in order to create more heft when approaching corporate leaders
• Funnel dark money through them, to the local action centers, and allow them to hide the actual source of the money

FWIW, the benefits package is unusually generous for a non-profit.