Like this Twitter follower, I was also watching Ali Velshi on MSNBC Saturday, when he reported that Walgreens had donated money to the very Red State AGs group that sent Walgreens the onimous “don’t do it” letter about selling abortion pills in their stores.

Unlike Fox News, Ali Velshi is very particular about the words coming out of his mouth. While we don’t know the amount of money donated — and whether a similar amount was donated to a Blue State AGs group — I do not challenge the veracity of Velshi’s claim. He would not make it without the receipts.

This new revelation didn’t make me feel any better about Walgreens CEO Roz Brewer, a businesswoman we celebrated on her appointment to the Walgreens Boots Alliance corner office as the first Black woman CEO.

State Laws v Word Salads

On her LinkedIn page, Walgreens Boots Alliance Roz Brewer claims:

“I lead the company to achieve our purpose to create more joyful lives through better health.”

Brewer, one of two African American women leading a Fortune 500 company, wrote on LinkedIn recently:

Throughout my career, I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on what it means to be a good leader. The best leaders set an example of the change they hope to see in the world, rooted in strong values and purpose. They lead with integrity, listen to their people and take action to help build a better future. It’s a tall order for any person, and few did it better than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In his words, “The time is always right to do what is right,” and more than ever I take that message to heart. Thank you, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for inspiring generations of leaders, and for reminding us of the power in committing to what is right.

It’s definitely time to wonder if Brewer writes word salads for a living or she has convinced herself that like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. she is “committing to what is right.” Note that the King quote visual comes from Brewer’s LinkedIn page.

Walgreens Takes On ‘Persecution’ Defense

Experts challenge Walgreens’ position that it is just abiding by laws in red states and is being persecuted for just answering the letter. Instead, experts like Guttmacher Institute’s Elizabeth Nash, considered to be the foremost expert on state abortion laws, says they most likely have more leeway than Walgreens claims it has.

Walgreens interpretation of state and federal law is misguided and “needlessly restrictive with a medication that is critical not only for abortion, but for the treatment of miscarriages too”, writes Rolling Stone.

Alaska, Nash says, is one example: It has no ban on telemedicine, no requirement that the abortion pill be dispensed in-person, no waiting period and no gestational limit. Montana, she says, is another. A representative for Walgreens, reached for comment, pointed to language in statutes in Alaska and Montana that say an abortion can only be provided by a licensed physician, but Nash points out that that doesn’t create a meaningful obstacle, since a physician would be the one writing a prescription for the drug in any case.

It makes no sense to AOC — and I’ve said so all week — that Walgreens stepped out with a response to the red state AGs, when all other companies sat by quietly.

There is a strong possibility that Walgreens was seeking favor, claiming an advantage of cooperation over competitors. Not even Walmart — Brewer’s old employer —found it necessary to respond in writing.

What we know is that Walgreens has multiple acquisitions in the pipeline that will take them directly into the healthcare business — and especially seniors on medicare. Why a company would step out first and alone in such a legal and people-impact minefield makes zero sense to me. The large car companies act in concert together all the time.

In closing, let me say this. If Walgreens has not donated in 2022 comparable funds to blue states AGs working on their priorities for American voters, all hell is going to break loose. Personally, if that is reality, I don’t want to hear another word out of Roz Brewer’s mouth, because she is totally at odds with American voters on this subject and women, in particular.

I come from the world of successful executive women and know how many of them are Republicans. Now there are pro-choice, old-fashioned Republican women and MAGA Republican women — or women who will do anything to advance their careers at the expense of ordinary women. I’ve worked successfully with pro-choice Republican women for years.

Walgreens would be smart to hit this donation issue to the very red state group that is trying to shut down abortion pills across America headon. Now. And if they don’t have an equal donation to blue states, push the “emergency” button, because millions of women will be on Walgreens’s butt until they admit their complicity — at the expense of American women — in this travesty against women’s rights in America.

The Wall Street Journal had a filled-with-misinformation editorial last night on this situation. I responded in my own name.

Note that a deranged MAGA type guy threatened to kill me in the past and put me in police protection for a year over abortion rights. I know how these guys roll, and it kills me to step out like this.

But after learning that Fox News knowingly spread far and wide the lies about Dominion voting machines — as revealed in court documents this week — imo this WSJ editorial is in the same league.

Rupert Murdoch’s businesses run on ‘green’ not facts, and he will stir the pot to keep his readers/viewers happy. I find this shocking on WSJ, but I am the one who needs to take a reality check.

The fact is that these policies, which are plummeting America to the bottom of the pile worldwide in taking away women’s rights, are harming women without a voice. And I will not stand for it, when I do have a voice. ~ Anne

Update 3/12/23. AOC is delving into Walgreens politics, which have been in the public spotlight for several years now.

Wisconsin legislators have been front and center for decades now. The April election for a state Supreme Court justice will have huge impact on whether Wisconsin turns totally autocratic. I have personally contributed to the campaign of Janet Protasiewicz. PBS Wisconsin explains the upcoming election.

Many Republican leaders in Wisconsin do not support Joe Biden as the democratically-elected president of America. Please understand that Walgreens is not alone in their major support of the Wisconsin Republican Party.

This 2018 op-ed also cites Microsoft, Dr Pepper Snapple, J.P. Morgan Chase and Humana as being supporters. Read The Corporate Donors Behind a Repubican Power Grab.

I know Wisconsin well, having lived there as a teenager on the lake in Chippewa Falls. Next door was the home of Wisconsin Senator Alexander Wiley, the right-hand of Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy.

McCarthy rocketed to public attention in 1950 with his allegations that hundreds of Communists had infiltrated the State Department and other federal agencies. My first landlord in New York City — a Jewish playwright — was imprisoned by the McCarthy Commission.

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