AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File
Posted on 06/21/2016 11:21:33 AM PDT by Swordmaker
During election season, major companies often donate to both parties' national conventions. This year, however, one big player is opting out. Last week, Apple announced it would refrain from donating materials and support to the 2016 Republican convention, "citing Donald Trump's controversial comments about women, immigrants, and minorities."
As a conservative, I detest Trump, his pomp, and his works. His campaign looks more and more like a trainwreck as Trump focuses away from battleground states, doesn't raise money, and doesn't fill out his staff. More importantly, the predicted "pivot" to a general election populist theme has never happened. Instead, Trump has doubled down on the white identity politics that delivered him the GOP nomination. As a result, he looks less like just a terrible candidate, and more like a toxic person who needs to be removed from polite society. Moreover, he has wrecked the party I support, and is actively engaged in destroying the political movement I believe in.
But if there's anything that could make me want to support Trump, it's this new breathtaking display of hypocrisy from Apple.
Apple is refusing to lend its support to a movement based on its own ideological and moral standards. But remember, it was only a few months ago that Apple boycotted North Carolina after the state made it legal to do just that: refuse service to customers on ideological or moral grounds. Double standards, anyone? And as Apple CEO Tim Cook, who is openly gay, was taking the forefront in a corporate boycott of so-called "anti-LGBT" bills in places like North Carolina and Indiana, he was also assiduously courting business in places like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, where homosexual activity is actually illegal. Cook certainly doesn't seem to feel a burning moral need to boycott India, a place where homosexuality is punishable by life imprisonment. Instead, back in May, he received a warm welcome from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the two sat down to talk shop about Apple's expansion into the world's largest democracy.
And there's another layer of hypocrisy there. Tim Cook's rise through the corporate ranks at Apple isn't due to his magic touch with design or technology, but another forte that has been a bigger source of controversy to the firm: its world-beating logistical capabilities, which rely on a deep and profound relationship with China and Chinese-based manufacturers. If our media wasn't so invested in a "pro-LGBT heroes vs. anti-LGBT villains" narrative, journalists might have taken some time to question the decency of a person (and the company he runs) who has created so much shareholder value, and such enviable profit margins, all thanks to a congenial relationship with an authoritarian-productivist atheist regime.
A large share of Apple's profit margins depend on the strength of the Chinese manufacturing sector and well-lubricated trade routes. It can't have escaped anyone's notice that, besides condemnable "comments about women, immigrants, and minorities," a big part of Donald Trump's campaign focuses on redefining the United States' trade relationships, especially with China. This could be very bad for Apple's profit margins. Regardless of the merits of the protectionist argument, can anyone claim with a straight face that this most recent move by the CEO of the biggest, most profitable company in America is wholly untainted by cynical motives?
Apple's actions only confirm the narrative at the heart of the Trump campaign: There are two Americas, Upper America and Lower America, and not only does Upper America rig the game to enrich itself at the expense of Lower America, but Upper America despises Lower America, and will make it swallow not only the socioeconomic regime it likes, but also its values — or else.
As always, populist success is a consequence of elite failure.
Saving for later
How about Apple bending over backwards for the Chinese government in helping them track and kill people critical of the government, then howling like a banshee when the FBI asks them for help access a dead terrorists phone which was property of SB county and the FBI had the resource owners PERMISSION to access it?
Is that hypocritical enough for you?
And as a final thought after helping China track and kill complainers, CHINA SCREWS APPLE ON PATENT LAW saying the Chinese had first designed the iPhone!!!!!
I am a lifelong user of Apple products, but...you could have knocked me over with a feather on this.
I detest their liberalism, but I don’t see any difference between them an any other large corporation in this country, with the exception of some companies like Chik-Fil-A.
And I don’t have the inclination to use Linux and such.
This is a non-surprise for me, I didn’t expect anything else.
Apple is behaving like the has-been rich Hollywood Stars. They don’t have ‘It’ anymore, so they bloviate on politics. Completely compromised ethically, they go on self serving tirades oblivious to their hypocrisy.
"Some people have said that I shouldn’t get involved politically because probably half our customers are Republicans – maybe a little less, maybe more Dell than ours. But I do point out that there are more Democrats than Mac users so I’m going to just stay away from all that political stuff because that was just a personal thing." — Steve Jobs, August 2004
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bfl
I have only One Comment, the republican Party destroyed itself a long time ago. It was destroyed by People with motives the same as McConnell and Paul Ryan.
Where is your god now?
/j
Hahahahahaha...he says "...As a conservative..."
Yeah, he is another pro-illegal immigration, pro-Islam, anti gun, tax those other rich people, progay conservative.
Being a sexual pervert doesn’t rule out being a competent CEO.
But, as Cook proves, it doesn’t rule out being one messed-up incompetent fool either.
BTW, I think the caption on that picture should say: “Hey Timmy what is your preferred size of male derriere?”
“How about Apple bending over backwards”
Or bending over forwards.
“But”
“And”
or
To be perfectly vague, you mix any number of prerogatives at your disposal that that keep your options open.
Well done.
Not not that that your mind isn’t able to to define your thoughts.
I wouldn’t never suggest such a thing.
I am not sure what you are saying.
Are you saying I wasn’t clear, and instead being intentionally vague for some reason?
It just reminds me of the parable of the scorpion and the frog. It is in their nature.
Unfortunately, if you want to get certain products, you have to accept the bad or do without, because these things such as support for liberal causes are all part and parcel of corporations today. If they aren’t openly pushing it, they are tacitly supporting those things out of fear of being called racist/homophobe/bigot, you name it.
You want an American car? You have to support the scum-sucking unions.
You want Internet access? In most places, you have to go with entities like Comcast, AT&T or Verizon, all of whom have the standard packages of cultural sensitivity training, affirmative action, etc.
And so on. You want a computer, you have to deal with Microsoft or Apple unless you are willing to accept something that may have less of a support base, have fewer features, or be less understandable to the average user.
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