There was a cute little interview with Jeff Imelt , CEO of GE, in the current issue of Business Week. Besides explaining why he didn't make the quarterly numbers that he had promised Wall Street he made of a few comments about NBC and the Olympics.

His general take on it was pretty much a white wash. He inferred that it wasn't up to NBC/GE to interject into this situation. That discussing Tibet and the problems there wasn't something that they should be doing. That contacting and talking to NGO's involved would be about as far as GE should go. All the while NBC will be garnering huges margins later in the Summer with the advertising revenue gotten from these Olympics. The coup-de-grace for me was a final statement about GE not being a Political Institution.

That is the largest bucket of crap I have heard in years. Major International Corps are Political. Always have been, always will be. They have had a hand in US Gov't policy from time immortal. I remember when the slogan "whats good for GM is good for America" was generally thought of as a good thing. GE has plenty of lobbyists on Capital Hill extolling the virtues of allowing them to move jobs from one country to the next without the slightest worry about the community they are upsetting or destroying. They use their extensive power to shape our country and towns. Making sure along the way that they aren't held responsible for the inevitable messes that they make.

Its this lack of leadership that we see coming out of Boardrooms all across the land that has helped get our economy and country in the shape that it is. We need to do our best to force CEO's to realize that they not only need to worry about profits but about the world that they do business in as well.  I would like to ask if there are spare moments a note into NBC/GE requesting that they help get answers on how and when China is going to set things right with their policy in Tibet.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_17/b4081000399973.htm?chan=magazine+channel_the+business+week