NY Times on Microsoft, Again

NY Times has yet another story on the Microsoft story. This one ties a lot together and includes the Ralph Reed story which you read here last night...and the article cites Americablog:

Critics, including gay rights activists and people inside and outside the company, have produced a flood of e-mail and comments on Web logs over the past few days with outraged reaction to the company's decision not to support the bill. They have also attacked the company for paying Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition and a close ally of the Bush administration, as a communications consultant.

Company officials said Mr. Reed had been on retainer for several years. He earned $20,000 a month over the last six months, according to invoices obtained by Americablog.com, a left-leaning Web log run by John Aravosis, a writer and political consultant.

Mr. Reed remained on the Microsoft payroll even after a controversy erupted in 2000 over his lobbying Gov. George W. Bush, who was then a candidate for president, on behalf of Microsoft during its antitrust battles, while also serving as an adviser to Mr. Bush's campaign. Mr. Reed later apologized for creating the appearance of a conflict.

The critics also contend that Mr. Gates's comments to The Seattle Times contradicted those of Microsoft's chief executive, Steve Ballmer, who sent a companywide e-mail message last Friday explaining the decision not to support the bill as part of a larger reconsideration of the role the company should play in social debates.

Kudos to John for his great work on this one. Read More......

Speak for yourself

From the Washington Times:

The bloggers are frustrated would-be editors, journalists, private detectives and a multitude of others craving recognition for their special knowledge in a wide variety of subjects and specialties. A blog and an attitude are the only requirements to become an instant pundit with a worldwide audience.

Better than writing for a would-be newspaper.

Actually, the article is interesting and also odd. It talks of a new DARPA program to sniff blogs for secret terrorist messages (the icing is on the donuts at the Deli). Then it goes off into this kind of blog-love, though it conveniently mentions the liberal blog scandals, CNN, Rather, while forgetting our favorite man-whore (I'll bet he complains). Read More......

Family Research Council head reportedly has ties to white supremacists and former KKK-man David Duke

I'm so stymied I can't even think of a joke.

Four years ago, [now head of the Family Research Council Tony] Perkins addressed the Louisiana chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), America's premier white supremacist organization, the successor to the White Citizens Councils, which battled integration in the South. In 1996 Perkins paid former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke $82,000 for his mailing list. At the time, Perkins was the campaign manager for a right-wing Republican candidate for the US Senate in Louisiana. The Federal Election Commission fined the campaign Perkins ran $3,000 for attempting to hide the money paid to Duke.

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Bush's gay holiday

Honestly, I'd rather not know. Read More......

Senate Dems. are protecting the Majority of Americans

For the GOP, the nuclear option debate (as they named it) is about majority rule, among other more nefarious things. If it is, the Democrats need to filibuster to protect the majority of Americans who they represent. Imagine that, representing your constituents instead of the radical, right wing.

I did a little quick math (at the suggestion of Dan in LA). I looked at the populations in the states using 2000 census data. Then, I compared that to Senate representation.

There are 13 states with split delegations so I didn’t count them.

Of the remaining states, 16 states have two Democratic Senators while 21 states have two Republicans.

The states represented by two Democrats have a population of 117,650,000 americans

The Republican states are comprised of 112,848,000 americans

So, the Democrats need to have the filibuster to protect the majority of citizens whom they represent. Read More......

How about neither

Courtesy of cartoonist Gary Huck. Read More......

Help support independent media

Just an occasional reminder that donations are always welcome. Of late, I've devoted most of my work hours to AMERICAblog, by my own choice. Partly because I love what we're accomplishing here, and partly because your past donations have given me the luxury of doing it (i.e., this has become much of my income rather my freelance consulting). Thus, every few weeks, I'm going to post a reminder here seeking donations. Nothing is required, but all is welcome. Thanks, JOHN



And if this button isn't working, it seems to have problems for some users, use the donate link at the top of this column. Thanks again. Read More......

Open thread

I'm watching the pilot of the original Battlestar Galactica. It's weird, I don't even remember it. Of course, I was 15 at the time, but I remember the series, just not the pilot. It's good :-) Read More......

Supreme Court Scandal: Right Wing Activist Scalia and Thomas Pay Deference to Foreign Courts

So make up your minds already. Scalia et al yelled and screamed when other Justices mentioned in one ruling that virtually every country in the world refuses to kill the mentally retarded and minors.

But now, in another ruling, Scalia and Thomas insist it's perfectly fine to pay attention to the legal rulings of courts overseas. A man filling out a form said he'd never been found guilty of a crime punishable by more than a year in prison by "any court." His lawyers argued that "any court" meant simply any US court and not any court in the world, so he was fine to not mention his conviction in Japan. Today the Supreme Court agreed.

But in a dissent, Scalia and Thomas and Kennedy said the statutes were clear and that the man's conviction in Japan meant he was prohibited from possessing a gun in the US. I'm sure the NRA will denounce Scalia as an activist judge trying to put our country under the thumb of foreign leaders, right? Either you can take international law into consideration or you can't, so they need to make up their minds and get a little consistency.

In this particular case, it seems not unreasonable. But imagine: you fight for human rights and democracy in China and get jailed for five years and then you move to the US and get treated like a criminal? Is that what Scalia wants to do? Give the dictatorial rulings of commies the same weight as a conviction in Texas? Outrageous! Dang activist justices. Read More......

'Fire Ralph Reed,' lead gay group demands:

From Equal Rights Washington, today:

Equal Rights Washington demanded today that Microsoft Corporation sever its relationship with the Former head of the Christian Coalition Ralph Reed, who according to news reports, earns $20,000 a month from the company.

“We’re dismayed to hear that Microsoft has on the payroll Ralph Reed, the founder of the Christian Coalition. Mr. Reed's policies are not the policies of Washingtonians, nor should they be the policies of a world class leader like Microsoft,” said George Cheung, Executive Director of Equal Rights Washington. “Having Ralph Reed on the payroll certainly puts into question Microsoft’s commitment to equal rights.”

Recent news reports highlighted Microsoft’s decision to withdraw support of HB 1515, the Anderson-Murray Anti-Discrimination Bill, that failed by just one vote in the State Senate. “Microsoft needs to come clean about its relationship with Ralph Reed. Having Ralph Reed on the payroll, coming on the heels of Microsoft’s decision to withdrawal support from the Anti-Discrimination Bill, certainly looks bad.”

“Microsoft’s reputation as a fair-minded company is rapidly slipping away from them, and if Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer are really interested in running a fair-minded company, they would fire Ralph Reed today.”

Earlier today, Equal Rights Washington also demanded that Microsoft take immediate steps to improve its relationship with the LGBT community in Washington State. For a copy of the letter sent to Microsoft, go to: http://www.equalrightswashington.org

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Senator Reid: 2. Senator Frist: 0

Loser. Read More......

Latin America To US: Yankee Go Home

While the Middle East remains a quagmire, the rest of the world gets little attention from Bush. Not Africa, which is in turmoil thanks to a plague Bush refuses to use the best medical advice to combat. And certainly not Central and South America.

USA Today has a thoughtful lead editorial looking at how fragile democracy is in that once promising region. The clock is rolling back in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and on and on.

Certainly Venezuela is shaky. Its leader Hugo Chavez just kicked out the US military, ending a 35 year old relationship. Now why is the leftist Chavez angry at the US? Oh yeah, that's right. About the only action Bush took in the last five years south of our border was to SUPPORT A MILITARY COUP to overthrow the democratically elected Chavez. Democracy is on the move, except when Bush wants to support a dictatorship that spreads nuclear weapson and know-how (Pakistan), a monarcy that spreads terrorism (Saudi Arabia) or just hates a democratically lected leader that won't kowtow to the US and so supports the military thugs who want to thwart the will of the people (Venezuela). And we wonder why people around the world don't buy Bush's rhetoric.

Finally, nearly a million people in Mexico marched to support the mayor of Mexico City. He may be a populist, he may be a leftist, but he represents the will of the Mexican people. Wanna bet Bush hates him and will snub him whenever Bush gets the chance?

Ah, democracy. Ain't it inconvenient, Mr. President? Read More......

Gates v. Ballmer: Heads of Microsoft now at odds over gay policy

Wow. Microsoft is really tripping over themselves. Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer now have enunciated diametrically opposed positions on the recent gay rights debacle.

In today's Seattle Times, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said the company might reconsider its gay-right position, NEXT YEAR:

Microsoft may re-evaluate whether to support state legislation that would ban discrimination against gays and lesbians, Chairman Bill Gates said yesterday.

Gates said Microsoft was surprised by the sharp reaction after it became known that the company took a neutral position on the perennial measure this year, after actively supporting it in previous years.

"Next time this one comes around, we'll see," he said. "We certainly have a lot of employees who sent us mail. Next time it comes around that'll be a major factor for us to take into consideration."

Putting aside for a moment the "I know I beat you, honey, but if you're really good and stay with me, maybe next year I'll stop" aspect of the quote, Gates just flat out contradicted Microsoft President Steve Ballmer in his now-infamous company-wide email.

Basically, Ballmer said the company pulled their support for the gay rights bill because they no longer want to get involved in "social issues," meaning civil rights debates. Why? Ballmer tells us it's to avoid angering anti-gay religious right employees and shareholders:

"It's appropriate to invoke the company's name on issues of public policy that directly affect our business and our shareholders, but it's much less clear when it's appropriate to invoke the company's name on broader issues that go far beyond the software industry - and on which our employees and shareholders hold widely divergent opinions.

We are a public corporation with a duty first and foremost to a broad group of shareholders. On some issues, it is more appropriate for employees or shareholders to get involved as individual citizens. As CEO, I feel a real sense of responsibility around this question, and I believe there are important distinctions between my personal views on policy issues and when it's appropriate to involve the company."

Well color me confused. If Microsoft can change its mind so quickly after facing unexpected criticism, it adds weight to the argument that the company really DID cave to radical right-wing threats, whether they came from one anti-gay preacher or a concerted effort by homophobic employees and shareholders and who knows who else.

Not to mention, how can Microsoft support the legislation next year when the same problem will exist then that does now - the religious right will be ticked? I mean, what will be different next year that wasn't true this year? And in any case, Microsoft will still be ignoring it's bigoted employees and shareholders next year if they endorse the bill, and I thought the company wanted to embrace the bigots in the spirit of diversity?

And knowing that Ralph Reed is giving Microsoft advice, only adds to the creep factor and suspicion.

This scandal has been kicking around for a week now and shows no sign of abating. That's mostly because Microsoft has completely bungled it. They totally underestimated the power of the Internet. Which is more than ironic since they helped mold it. But they also refused to come clean. They thought they could finesse the controversy with PR spin, and got caught.

Sadly, Microsoft seems hell-bent on destroying the very climate of diversity they purport to value, and HAVE valued for so long. Worse yet, they're setting a new standard for corporate intolerance and don't even know it, or care.

But then again, how could they? Between Gates and Ballmer, Microsoft can't even figure out what the company's policy really is. Read More......

We see...

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Half of all Americans think Bush lied about WMD

Uh oh. Read More......

Good News In Iraq...Almost

This is kind of sad. The bad news coming out of Iraq has been so relentless ever since the elections that the closest the US can come to some good news is "almost" capturing the insurgent Zarqawi. I guess Bush has to take what he can. Here are some other possible headlines he can suggest to the MSM:

Bush Almost Guts Social Security
Tom DeLay Almost Neuters Ethics Committee While Claiming To Call For Investigation Of Himself
Cheney Almost Smiles

Any suggestions? Read More......

Wash Post, front page of Business Section - MICROSOFT

How do you spell, PR disaster? Read More......

Time for an open thread

Why don't companies ever listen? Read More......

Forget the compromise - Senator Rove says "No Way"

Last night, there was talk that Frist and Reid were discussing a compromise on the "nuclear option." Forget that now. The real Majority Leader, Karl Rove, says NO according to USA Today:

Karl Rove rejected a compromise with Senate Democrats Monday on long-stalled nominations for the federal judiciary...

In an hour-long interview with USA TODAY and Gannett News Service reporters and editors, Rove, deputy White House chief of staff, dismissed suggestions from Democrats that they might drop threats to use filibusters to prevent votes on Bush's judicial nominees if the president would withdraw a few of the most controversial names....

Bush wants votes on seven federal judge nominees who were blocked in the last session of Congress. The filibuster allows 41 senators to block action on the Senate floor. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has said he's prepared to change the rules to ban filibusters against judicial nominees. Such a tactic would alter Senate tradition and could bring Senate business to a halt. Reid and other Democrats have threatened to retaliate by slowing or blocking all but the most vital legislation.

"We believe that every judicial nominee deserves an up or down vote," Rove said. "The process is not well served by these political games."

Rove said Bush tried to end the stalemate when he renominated just seven of the 10 nominees who had been blocked last year. But "I saw no change in tone" among Democrats, he said. "The flamethrowers ... came out within moments."

I guess that ends that. They have a MANDATE after all. Except, as Chris pointed out below, the American people don't agree with Bush these days on just about everything -- including the nuclear option.

Josh Marshall has a very insightful post about why the Dems. might be engaging in the negotiations. As usual, he is probably on to something. Read More......

BP profits skyrocket in Q1

BP ought to be sending out Christmas cards to all of the freedom loving folks who love driving those SUVs and inefficient cars and trucks. Aren't you just thrilled that the petroleum industry is receiving a nice, juicy tax cut while they're raking in the bucks like this? Don't forget that to criticize the fleecing of America is un-American so go ahead and give a big hug to our friends in the oil industry that are helping to maintain freedom and democracy and leaving middle America with the bill. Fuel conservation ain't American so please help the cause and fill 'er up. Read More......

Microsoft paying Religious Right leader Ralph Reed $20,000 a month retainer

AMERICAblog.com has learned that Microsoft is currently paying a $20,000 a month retainer to former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed's consulting firm Century Strategies. Which now begs the question of whether Reed was in any way involved with Microsoft's recent decision to abandon its decades long support for gay civil rights in order to curry favor with anti-gay bigots of the radical right.



You can find copies of the invoices here:
- Six months of payments to Ralph Reed's Century Strategies.
- Detailed April invoice for $20,000 to Century Strategies.

Interestingly, Microsoft had Reed on retainer during the presidential election of 2000 to apparently help lobby then-candidate Bush on their anti-trust suit (he was actually first hired in the fall of 1998). The contract was terminated after Reed was criticized for a conflict of interest - Reed was working on Bush's campaign. The question arises when Microsoft and Reed revived their work relationship (most observers I've spoken to thought the contract ended five years ago), and what exactly Reed is working on now that the anti-trust issue is over.

Now, just think a minute. Microsoft finds itself under criticism from the local evangelical leader, religious right shareholders, bigoted employees and who knows who else. They don't know what to do. Who do they turn to? Well, if I'm in a religious right pickle, I'd turn to my $20,000 a month retainered religious right consultant, the former leader of the religious right, Ralph Reed.

And which side do we think the former head of the religious right would favor were he advising Microsoft what do when trapped between the Scylla and Charybdis of the gays vs. the religious right?

A. Stick to your guns and defend the gays? or
B. Find a way to stiff the gays and move more in line with the religious right?

Well, shiver my timbers, Microsoft ended up going with option B.

Now a few questions for Microsoft:

1. When did Microsoft hire Ralph Reed and Century Strategies again?

2. Did Microsoft have Reed/Century on retainer at any time during the 2004 election, when Reed was in charge of Bush's re-election campaign in the southeast? And if so, doesn't the same conflict again come to a head, paying $20,000 a month to a senior official in the Bush campaign?

In fact, the earliest invoice I have starts on 11/01/04, that's BEFORE the election. So Microsoft had Reed, a senior Bush campaign official, on the payroll while he was working on the campaign. Why?

3. Why did Microsoft hire Ralph Reed/Century again? What issues is the former head of the Christian Coalition providing guidance on?

4. Did Microsoft ever confer with Ralph Reed about social issues, such as, but not limited to, the current decision to abandon support for the Washington state gay rights bill?

5. Will Microsoft now abandon its contract with Ralph Reed since it has determined it no longer wishes to be involved in "social issues"? After all, social issues (like gambling) are Ralph Reed's specialty - what possible interest could Microsoft have in the former head of the religious right that don't involve his knowledge of, well, the religious right?

6. As Salon.com asked the FIRST time Microsoft hired Reed six years ago:

"But Reed is known principally not for tax cuts but for opposition to abortion, gay rights and other tenets of the Christian conservative agenda. So what gives? What is a cosmopolitan outfit like Microsoft doing hooking up with Pat Robertson's former right-hand man?"

What, indeed.

PS I know for a fact this is for real, Ralph Reed and his firm are currently on retainer with Microsoft. Read More......

The Bully's Pulpit

Seattle Times commentary:

Heaven help us.

A purported man of God threatened to advise his congregation to boycott Microsoft products unless the company pulled its support of an anti-discrimination bill that would include gays and lesbians.

And it worked. Pastor Ken Hutcherson of the Antioch Bible Church got what he wanted. The bully made people cry.

Lawmakers stood weeping on the Senate floor Thursday as House Bill 1515 was defeated by a single vote.

Now we know the true meaning of being a "blue" state. It is against the law here to discriminate against people based on their age, race or religion. But if they're gay or lesbian, well, it's open season....

Read More......

GOP pushing numerous losers - latest WaPa/ABC poll looks bad for GOP

Hmm, maybe some people in the GOP were a little too impressed with their "mandate" in November. Who ever would have thought that it wasn't quite as impressive or as much of a mandate as they proclaimed? With rumors of a negotiation on the "nuclear option" coming, it should not be too much of a surprise considering the strong objections to changing Senate rules in this latest poll. Going down the list it certainly looks like Bush and the GOP have their work cut out for themselves as "private accounts" continue to lose support and Bush's approval ratings continue to stagnate in the 40's.

The GOP is clinging on to a pile of losers so I only hope that the Dem's take full advantage of the moment. If the tables were turned, we all know that the GOP would be beating the Dem's like a drum so don't forget it and keep piling on. Read More......

Cool, Bush adding DeLay to Social Security tour

Damn, I didn't think such an event could happen but this is great. Please, please, please give DeLay more visibility on a tour that is losing badly out in the field. I have to wonder just what the WH is thinking bringing in DeLay to the Social Security tour but from my perspective I love it. Now when the media cranks out articles about the highly unpopular program they can include a few paragraphs about the DeLay series of scandals, helping the rest of the nation discover what a gem he is. Beautiful. Read More......

WMD search in Iraq officially over

I guess we can expect a lot of hoopla in the White House to announce the results, right? Oh, I forgot the reasons for invading Iraq have all changed and somehow WMDs are not important, now that the evidence has shown they weren't there. Credibility and facts are for wimps. Read More......