Open thread

Then off to bed Read the rest of this post...

Microsoft is disappointed in us

Microsoft spokeswoman Tami Begasse, quoted in an AP story that just came out:

"It's real disappointing that people are misunderstanding and misrepresenting the meetings and what's going on here," she said.

Keep talking, my friend. If you want no brand at all left by the time this weekend is over, just keep talking. Read the rest of this post...

This time Microsoft lies to MSNBC

These people need to fire their public relations people, fire that jerk of a general counsel, then get one of the sane Gates family members involved and straighten this mess out before they damage their brand for the next 30 years. Coors is STILL fighting to clear its name 30 YEARS after Harvey Milk took them on. Microsoft is getting perilously close to damaging its reputation permanently in our community.

This latest article from MSNBC (which, to its credit, notes that it is owned partly by Microsoft) is perhaps the best one yet in terms of surreality:

Tami Bergasse, a senior corporate spokeswoman for Microsoft, said Friday that the company’s stances on diversity and nondiscrimination had not changed and noted that Microsoft issued a letter in support of the Washington legislation, which has been introduced annually for many years, as recently as the last session.

What kind of asinine comment is that? Your positions haven't changed? Well, yeah they did. Last year you endorsed the gay rights law. This year you're not endorsing it. In what possible universe is that "not changed"?

And what the hell do you mean by telling us you issued a letter of support for the legislation LAST YEAR and the years before that, but NOT THIS YEAR, so we're supposed to be really really happy about that? Let me get this straight. Honey, I know I just beat you black and blue, but look at the good side, I didn't beat you last year or the year before that.

This is what goes as corporate PR nowadays?

Reports that Microsoft had rescinded its support for anti-discrimination policies misrepresented the company’s position, Bergasse said. “What the reality is is that we moved to a neutral position on this bill, and we did it well before the legislative session,” she said.

Thanks, Mr. Clinton, I'm glad you clarified that one for us. So let's get this straight, as it were. Last year you supported the legislation, and this year you're neutral on it and not giving your support. So that's not really "rescinding" your support, it's - what? - "neutralizing" your support?

So in the world of Microsoft logic, if Company A supported the bill last year and is neutral on it this year, that means their position hasn't changed. And if Company B opposed the bill last year and is neutral on it this year, that would also be "not changing" their position. So while neither the opponent of the bill nor the supporter of the bill has changed their position, each now has the same position. And there's nothing wrong with this picture.

I just have to applaud, because that is the stupidest effort at wriggling out of taking responsibility I have seen in my years in PR.

Bergasse said Microsoft’s government relations specialists chose to focus their legislative efforts this year on more central priorities “that have a direct impact on our industry and our business,” specifically computer privacy, education, competitiveness and transportation. She did not rule out that the company could support the measure again in the future, saying it reassessed its legislative priorities every year.

Gee, you mean if we're really really really good for a year maybe next year the beatings will stop? I knew you really loved us.

And can I just say, it takes a special kind of chutzpah to lie to your own news service. Read the rest of this post...

Watch this video

It's kind of fascinating, actually. A little girl, truly the bitch from hell, destroys a teacher's office, keeps trying to hit the teacher for an hour, and finally the police arrive and put her in handcuffs.

What would you do?

The article.

The video. Read the rest of this post...

Sunday's hate-the-judges conference sparking protests

Check out this from the story:

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said the goal of the event is to get the "Christian community" to help rein in "the last bastion of liberalism, the federal courts" and put an end to filibusters of conservative judicial candidates.

Oh, so that's what this is about? This is about stomping out liberals from every aspect of America. Not to mention, this hypocritical "Christian" liar isn't bothering to tell you that most of the judge's he's pissed at lately are conservatives, not "liberals," and Ronald Reagan conservatives at that.

You really have to wonder how Christian somebody is who lies in order to "defend God." Somehow, it's not my idea of what Jesus would do. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Off to dinner with Joe in DC and others. Enjoy the evening. Back in a bit. Read the rest of this post...

Friday Orchid Blogging

And now for something to soothe the senses, and perhaps something to perk them up. :-)

This, below, is a Cattley Intermedia. I love this flower. This one is awarded - meaning it's really good.



And this a close up of a Phragmipedium. I forget which, though it's an obvious variety I'm spacing out on. And yes, it does look interesting close up :-) Enjoy.

Read the rest of this post...

Holy Shit. Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center asks Microsoft for its award back

Oh. My. God.

Now THAT is balls.

And by the way, this is why this is signfificant:

"Founded in 1971, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center is the largest gay and lesbian organization in the world. With an annual budget of $35 million, the Gay & Lesbian Center offers the widest array of services to gay men and lesbians available anywhere in the world."

Now here's the Center's press release:

In response to Microsoft's withdrawal of support for legislation that would have outlawed discrimination against gay and lesbian people in Washington, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, which presented Microsoft with its Corporate Vision Award in 2001, is asking the company to return the award.

"We honor companies that, among other things, set a high standard for others by exhibiting leadership in advancing the cause of lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual equality," said L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center Chief of Staff Darrel Cummings. "Because of Microsoft's apparent capitulation to the demands of anti-gay extremists and withdrawal of support for a bill that would do nothing more than protect gay and lesbian people from discrimination, we believe it's no longer worthy of our highest corporate honor."

At the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's 30th Anniversary Gala in 2001, Microsoft was honored because the company had been a leader in opposing anti-gay initiatives, was one of the first companies to offer domestic partnership benefits and include sexual orientation in its corporate non-discrimination policy, and has supported AIDS and GLBT organizations across the country. Center leaders are concerned about the company's apparent shift in its support of civil rights legislation for the GLBT community. Phone calls from the Center to Microsoft have not been returned.

"One of the most basic civil rights is protection from discrimination," said Cummings. "By withdrawing support for legislation that would protect the GLBT community from discrimination -- especially in its home state -- we're very concerned about the direction Microsoft is headed. It sends a dangerous message to the rest of corporate America, and to society in general, and may be cause for our community to evaluate its support of Microsoft."

Read the rest of this post...

Reid Blasts Bush for "Not Being Honest"

As noted below, Dick Cheney today said he supports the nuclear option. I added an update about Reid's response, but when the Minority Leader challenges the President's honesty, it really deserves a post of it's own.

After hearing Cheney's remarks, Harry Reid blasted both Bush and Cheney. Basically, Reid said Bush lied about how the White House would handle the filibuster debate. Once again, Raw Story (who we thank profusely for the always great work) has the details. Here are a couple key paragraphs:

“In the span of three minutes, the vice president managed to reinvent 200 years of Senate history and ignore the fact that Congress has already approved 205 of this administration’s nominees. Apparently, a 95 percent confirmation rate is not enough for this president. He wants it all, even if it means shattering the checks and balances in our government in order to put radical judges on the bench.

“Last week, I met with the president and was encouraged when he told me he would not become involved in Republican efforts to break the Senate rules. Now, it appears he was not being honest, and that the White House is encouraging this raw abuse of power.

Okay, by now, the GOP should begin to understand, you can't screw with Harry Reid. The Repubs. are so used to rolling Dems. and having no one fight back. Reid has changed the rules. Read the rest of this post...

HRC blasts Microsoft

This is good. Keep in mind that HRC's culture is more august - they're not going to throw flames like I might. But read this closely, it's quite good in my view. And they cc the evil general counsel who was behind the entire anti-gay coup:

Steven A. Ballmer
CEO, Microsoft Corporation
1 Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052-6399

CC: Bradford L. Smith

Dear Mr. Ballmer:

The Human Rights Campaign, along with your many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, would like to express our profound disappointment at Microsoft Corp.’s withdrawal of support for Washington State House Bill 1515 that would have banned discrimination against GLBT Washingtonians in housing, employment and insurance.

The defeat of this bill struck a blow to fairness for all Washingtonians. No Washingtonian or American should ever be fired for who they are. Corporations in Washington, especially Microsoft, must recognize the enormous impact this bill could have had at delivering equal protection to GLBT people.

In media reports, your company spokesperson said that workplace fairness is not directly “related to our business” and that the short legislative schedule precluded the company from supporting the bill. That position belies your own policies and those of countless other companies who believe firmly that workplace protections for all are essential to maintaining a competitive business environment. Successful businesses embrace diversity not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it the right thing to do for their business.

We also find it troubling that public reports allege that Microsoft made this decision not based on a business rationale, but under pressure from conservative religious-political groups. The reported rationale that Microsoft officials were afraid of offending “Christians” is itself deeply offensive to the many Christians who believe in non-discrimination and were proud of Microsoft’s previous position. Further, giving in to threats from a small group fighting to impose their own view of religion on the company and the state will only encourage more such threats. We urge you to work to change this perception.

While Microsoft’s internal policies regarding GLBT diversity have been trend setting, its reversal sends a signal, intended or not, that it is no longer supportive of its GLBT employees, customers and shareholders. It implies a lack of support for its own employees as they seek housing and insurance coverage and creates the impression that Microsoft does not support equal treatment at businesses elsewhere in Washington. In fact, the strong stance of Microsoft on behalf of the GLBT community and our partnership with the organization in the past makes this feel like even more of a betrayal.

In addition, Microsoft’s position is the exception to many other leading companies that support the bill and the timing of the withdrawal of your support has created the perception that Microsoft was partly responsible for the bill’s demise.

Microsoft should reinstate its support for this bill when it returns to the Legislature. It’s simply the right thing to do for Microsoft’s employees and its business. Further, we call on Microsoft to unambiguously state its support for non-discrimination legislation at the state and federal levels. This lack of clarity may have already had a devastating effect and it’s past time to clear the air.

We appreciate our 10-year relationship with Microsoft. We are hopeful the issues raised in this letter can be resolved and we look forward to working with you to that end.

Sincerely,

Joe Solmonese
HRC President

The Human Rights Campaign is the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender political organization with members throughout the country. It effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support and educates the public to ensure that LGBT Americans can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community.

Read the rest of this post...

What should we do to respond to Microsoft's embrace of anti-gay bigots?

I'm open to suggestions from the floor. What action should we take in response to Microsoft having turned on the gay community and distanced itself from the civil rights cause?

First, the goals of any such action should be, in my view, to get Microsoft to:

1. Admit they screwed up. No more lies. No more spin. Admit they screwed up, and apologize.

2. Recant their previous statements about not supporting the Washington state bill. They will now endorse the bill and promise to endorse it or similar legislation until it becomes law.

3. Repudiate earlier comments that suggested support for civil rights is now not central to Microsoft's business. They must reaffirm their commitment to civil rights, internally and externally, and their support for pro-gay legislation, and opposition to anti-gay legislation, both locally, statewide and nationally.

4. Put their money where their mouth is. Prove to the civil rights community that Microsoft has truly NOT abandoned our cause.

5. Fire the general counsel who got them into this mess, and who made the bigoted comments about gays not being Christians.

I'm open to suggestions as to what YOU think the goals should be. But also, what YOU think the tactics and strategies should be to reach those goals. Boycotts, protests, dog Bill Gates when he comes to DC soon and at other speaking events? Start a campaign to buy Mac? Threaten Microsoft's plans for expansion in Washington state? Suggest away. Read the rest of this post...

Anti-gay legislator says Microsoft strengthened the case for vote against gays

Seattle Times:

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, called it shocking. And while she didn't know if it affected the vote, she believed it didn't help. "It was the wrong signal at the wrong time," she said.

Sen. Luke Esser, R-Bellevue, said he was going to vote against the bill anyway, but having the largest employer in his district come out neutral on the issue "strengthened the case for the no vote I was already going to cast."

Read the rest of this post...

Help Josh

Josh Marshall of TalkingPointsMemo.com is one of the original kick-ass progressive bloggers. He's hold a fundraiser-a-thon. Be great if anyone could pitch in. Read the rest of this post...

Cheney Threatens Dems. on Nuclear Option -- And now, Reid's Response

Dick Cheney issued a threat to the Dems. today on the nuclear option, according to the Associated Press:

"Let me emphasize, the decision about how to proceed will be made by the Republican leadership in the Senate," Cheney said. "But if the Senate majority decides to move forward and if the issue is presented to me in my elected office as president of the Senate and presiding officer, I will support bringing those nominations to the floor for an up or down vote."

He's so tough. And, if I am doing the math correctly, if it gets to the point where Cheney has to vote, they've already lost five Republican Senators.

UPDATE: Harry Reid blasted Bush and Cheney today. Basically, Reid said Bush lied about how the White House would handle the filibuster debate. Once again, Raw Story (who we thank profusely for the always great work) has the details. Here are a couple key paragraphs:

“In the span of three minutes, the vice president managed to reinvent 200 years of Senate history and ignore the fact that Congress has already approved 205 of this administration’s nominees. Apparently, a 95 percent confirmation rate is not enough for this president. He wants it all, even if it means shattering the checks and balances in our government in order to put radical judges on the bench.

“Last week, I met with the president and was encouraged when he told me he would not become involved in Republican efforts to break the Senate rules. Now, it appears he was not being honest, and that the White House is encouraging this raw abuse of power.

Okay, by now, the GOP should begin to understand, you can't screw with Harry Reid. They are so used to rolling Dems. and having no one fight back. Reid has changed the rules. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Obviously, there will be a lot of Microsoft news today. But I want to make sure you have some threads to talk about other things, so have at it. Read the rest of this post...

Microsoft had promised to support this year's gay rights bill

Well isn't this interesting. Microsoft didn't just "stay neutral" this year on the gay rights bill in Washington state, which is what they've been claiming. According to the key state representative involved in the legislative battle, Microsoft promised him their support this year, BEFORE they stabbed him in the back.

From the Seattle Times:

Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, the bill's sponsor, said a Microsoft lobbyist had told him toward the start of the legislative session that the company would support the bill this year as it had for the previous two years. Murray also said the lobbyist, who could not be reached for comment yesterday, said the company would send a letter of support.

Murray said he never received the letter, and that in the next few weeks he received phone calls from Microsoft employees, referring to pressure from Hutcherson on the company. He said Microsoft told him about a month later that it had changed its position to neutral on the bill.

Read the rest of this post...

More articles on Microsoft's betrayal of the gay community

365gay.com

The Inquirer (UK)

BetaNews:

While Microsoft prepares to "Start Something" next week at WinHEC 2005, the company is facing a heap of criticism that threatens to overshadow its biggest event in years. Microsoft is under fire from gay rights advocates and even its own employees for withdrawing support from a bill that outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation....

Reaction to the reversal of support for the bill was widespread, as Microsoft employees and followers publicly expressed their dismay.

"How far up the ladder was this decision made? Who is to blame? Someone is. Sure, in a company with 50,000 employees, not everyone is bound to agree to the same moral code but to think that "nobody will know" in this day and era about a subject still contentious (grr) sounds to me like not only a serious misjudgment, but a total lack of understanding," one Microsoft MVP wrote in his Web log.

"I hate to rush to judgment myself, however I seriously do not like the tone with which this action was taken. It feels underhanded. I hope more information about why this was done and who put a stamp on it will come forward. I don't think that person, or persons should be working at Microsoft."

UPI:

Gay rights advocates along with Microsoft employees denounced Microsoft. "I think people should feel betrayed," said Tina Podlodowski, a former Microsoft senior manager who now runs an advocacy group for AIDS patients.

Gay Financial Network:

While Microsoft officials continued to deny any connection between their decision not to endorse the bill and the church's opposition, the church’s pastor made the connection clear Thursday in a phone interview with the Times, saying he had threatened to organize a national boycott of Microsoft products during several rallies opposing same-sex marriage in Washington state and in Washington, D.C.

After that, "they backed off," the pastor of the Antioch Bible Church said. "I told them I was going to give them something to be afraid of Christians about," he said.

Dow Jones:

The Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), at the forefront of corporate gay rights for decades, is coming under fire from gay rights groups, politicians and its own employees for withdrawing its support for a Washington state bill that would have barred discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, the New York Times reported in its Friday editions.

Advocate

PlanetOut Read the rest of this post...

Microsoft Withdraws Support For 1964 Civil Rights Act, Says Caucasion-American Employees are Uncomfortable With Negroes

From tomorrow's paper:

Microsoft is now under fire for its lack of support on equal rights for blacks. For years, the company had touted its embrace of equal rights for its black employees and customers as a sign of how progressive and forward looking the company was. But key elements of the Civil Rights Voting Act are set to expire in 2007 and Microsoft has quietly switched its stance from supporting renewal to "neutral."

Critics say Microsoft is caving in to pressure from an evangelical preacher. (Evangelical groups have a centuries-long history of opposing equal rights for women, blacks, gays, non-Christians and Christians who don't interpret the Bible the same way they do.) Microsoft admits it met with the evangelical preacher but insists that had nothing to do with its change in stance.

The preacher says differently. "I threatened them with a national boycott of their products and they backed off, " says the preacher who doesn't represent any national group but insists Microsoft has "a lot" of white employees who find the company's stance on equal rights for blacks offensive.

According to several Microsoft employees, the company's general counsel met with a group of black employees and told them about the company's switch. Apparently, it was presented as "good news, bad news." The "good news" was that Microsoft was really going to resist the pressure it was getting to fire the employees who had testified as private citizens in support of renewing the Civil Rights Voting Act. "We are NOT going to fire anyone at this time," the general counsel reportedly said. The "bad news" was that their right to vote was toast.

Ironically, Microsoft has received numerous awards over the past ten years for its active support of equal rights for blacks. A Microsoft spokesperson was asked, "Isn't equal rights for all Americans (not to mention all customers and employees of Microsoft) a core value for the company?

"No, not really," said the spokesperson. "It was just good pr."

[FYI - This is a parody, though only barely.] Read the rest of this post...

Pope Hitler Youth condemns gay marriages in Spain

First of all, Hitler Youth.

Second of all, you said gay people bring violence on themselves.

Third of all, you're a pedophile enabler.

So pardon me if I take your condemnation of gay marriage as "iniquitous" with a grain of salt. Not to mention, iniquitous? Are you kidding? I had to look that one up - it means wicked, derived from the word iniquity. Like a den of iniquity. Like, a meeting of the top levels of the Vatican where they decide to overlook pedophilia, that kind of iniquity.

So again, pardon me if I have a hard time taking moral lectures from a moral coward. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread, and a reminder that Microsoft lied

Open thread, and I wanted to remind any newcomers about last night's big story that Microsoft lied to the New York Times about abandoning gays. Read the rest of this post...

Metal cutlery is coming back on flights

UK flights are again allowing metal and if I recall correctly, I had metal back in December on an Air France flight over to the US. I always found the plastic to be pretty silly because the metal knifes could hardly cut warm butter and the forks would bend like rubber. The plastic garbage that they were using actually could cut and was much sharper than any metal cutlery I ever used on a flight. A classic plan that sounded good on paper but was a complete joke in practice. Read the rest of this post...

Friday Morning Open Thread

Cold and rainy in D.C...but no pollen....What's going on? Read the rest of this post...

The Amtrak war continues

Even Trent Lott questioned the administration's "zero budget" proposal for Amtrak saying "I was extremely stunned and disappointed that such a proposal was made" but this is no doubt part of a plan to dump just about all federal spending. For the clueless GOPers who want to privatize Amtrak, I suggest they experience what's left of the British rail system or the London Underground. High prices and miserable quality is the future if we go that route. I'm so fed up with the "me, me, me and to hell with the rest" attitude of these people who only want group sacrifice that helps the select few such as the oil industry. Read the rest of this post...

Japan cries "uncle" but will China?

Repeating what's been said before, Japanese PM Koizumi apologized for Japanese aggression during their colonial regime and WWII. Let's see if that is enough red meat for the hyper-nationalists in China who have a memory lapse of their own. Let's see, the Long March, Tibet, Pol Pot, Cultural Revolution, Vietnamese Invasion of '79, Tiananmen Square, Myanmar government... No doubt we can expect an apology both to its own people not to mention other countries that have suffered under this regime.

It reminds me of my visit to Vietnam when the issue of the "American War" was raised. I never once heard any hostility directed at me or the US (not saying it doesn't exist) and people from one end of the country to the other loved the US and were very friendly. One person said it best when they said "we won the war and the US left, but China has been attacking us for 1,000 years." The Vietnamese I spoke with were verbally hostile to China because of their long history. Read the rest of this post...

Another accounting scandal in the consulting business

It sure is a good thing the administration and the GOP decided to firmly make a statement about corporates cooking the books. BearingPoint (formerly KPMG) took a dive yesterday, losing 32% on the news that they were re-stating earnings. Interesting how the GOP always wants to talk tough with criminals as long as they are not white collar criminals. Read the rest of this post...

GOP anti-tax ideology meets the real world

It's easy to spout off about being anti-tax when you are in Washington because you then get to pass the buck to the state and local level. What's interesting to see here is that there are GOP governors across the US, even in GOP strongholds such as Colorado and Alabama, that are facing budget realities and raising taxes. Voters want what is normal, such as roads and schools and while the GOP might also view those programs as socialist, voters see things differently.

Blowhards such as Grover Norquist may not like it and can delcare their political careers over but maybe he's the one who just can't see straight. Lay off the Kool-Aid Grover and listen to the voters. Read the rest of this post...

Microsoft caught lying to New York Times about abandoning gays

What a bunch of pigs.

Here I am getting all sorts of tips that this was all a big misunderstanding and that Microsoft would issue some wonderful statement shortly, and then I look at tomorrow's New York Times, and what do I read? One big fat lie after another.

Per the NYT:

Microsoft officials said that the meetings with the [anti-gay religious right] minister did not persuade them to back away from supporting the bill, but that they had already decided to take a "neutral" position on it. They said they examined their legislative priorities and decided that because they already offer extensive benefits to gay employees and that King County, where Microsoft is based, already prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, with a law as stringent as what the state bill proposed, they were focusing on other legislative matters.

Excuse me? Well if that's your rationale, that you don't need to support gay rights legislation when your employees are already covered by your own company policy, then why did you support the state legislation LAST YEAR when your employees were ALREADY covered by your company policy back then? Or were you wrong all these years to support gay civil rights legislation?

Not to mention, does Microsoft hire all of its new employees from the surrounding county? Because if you don't, then you might actually be concerned about there being a diverse and talented pool of smart and qualified techies out there, free from discrimination, working in OTHER Washington state and US counties, for you to choose from. That's why the STATE law matters for Microsoft, and I suspect that's why you supported it earlier this year and in previous year - it makes good business sense, morons. Microsoft and all businesses benefit from a qualified labor pool, that's why non-discrimination laws matter to all businesses - they help ensure that the most qualified employees advance and learn more and become more efficient and proficient at their jobs. And that's why historically they've supported things like ENDA at the federal level and the local civil rights legislation in Washington state. It guarantees a larger and more qualified pool of potential employees for the future.

And why do you NOW support the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that would protect gays nationwide from on-the-job discrimination, since your employees are already protected from anti-gay discrimination by your own company policy? Are you planning to pull your support from ENDA now too? Or are you going to stay on ENDA and prove that you just lied to the New York Times about not supporting civil rights bills when your employees are already covered?

And you got an award from the LA Gay & Lesbian Center a few years back for, among other things, fighting anti-gay ballot initiatives. Well, call me crazy, but those initiatives wouldn't have revoked any job protections YOUR employees get since your own company policy already covers them. So are you going to pull your opposition to the anti-gay ballot initiatives in the future too? And if so, when we do get our award back?

And by the way, what does the fact that your county has a gay rights law have to do with anything? Your employees are covered by your company policy regardless of the county law, so why does that factor into your opinion on the state law? Your response is simply bizarre.

There's more:

"Our government affairs team made a decision before this legislative session that we would focus our energy on a limited number of issues that are directly related to our business," said Mark Murray, a company spokesman. "That decision was not influenced by external factors. It was driven by our desire to focus on a smaller number of issues in this short legislative session. We obviously have not done a very good job of communicating about this issue."

Mr. Murray added that company officials had met twice with Dr. Hutcherson but that it was "long after our decision to focus on a tighter legislative agenda."

"We're disappointed that people are misinterpreting those meetings," he said.

Yes, well we're disappointed that you just confirmed what we've been saying for the past 24 hours. You used to support the gay rights legislation and now you don't. Spin that, Sherlock. And you're admitting that this is part of a larger change in strategy by which Microsoft will focus more closely on what matters. And clearly, we are not what matters any longer.

Then State Representative Ed Murray, an openly gay Democrat and sponsor of the bill, catches Microsoft in a bold-faced lie:

But Representative Murray said that in a conversation last month with Bradford L. Smith, Microsoft's senior vice president and general counsel, Mr. Smith had made it clear to him that the company was under pressure from the church and the pastor and that he was also concerned about the reaction to company support of the bill among its Christian employees, the lawmaker said.

Excuse me? The reaction from the "Christian" employees? What kind of bigoted comment is that? Newsflash, Microsoft: The religious right doesn't represent all Christians, thank you very much. Speaking as a Christian myself, lots of your "Christian" employees are surely pro-gay and support the bill, and even some of those "Christians" are actually gay themselves. It is unbelievable this man has these Neanderthal views on religion and sexual orientation and he's the freakin' general counsel of Microsoft?

And more:

Mr. Smith [the general counsel] would not comment for this article.

Mr. Murray [the good gay state rep.] said that in a recent conversation with Mr. Smith, Mr. Smith said that the minister had demanded the company fire Microsoft employees who testified this year on behalf of the bill, but that Mr. Smith had refused. Mr. Smith also said, according to Mr. Murray, that the minister had threatened to boycott the company if it did not withdraw its support for the bill and that the company was going to take a "neutral" position on the bill this year.

According to Mr. Murray, Mr. Smith said "that while he did not do the many things that the minister had requested, including firing employees who had testified for the bill, he believed that Microsoft could not just respond to one group of employees, when there were other groups of employees who felt much different."

Oh really? Then I assume Microsoft is equally sensitive to its evangelical employees who believe that their Jewish employees killed Christ. Then there are those employees who hate blacks, of all the thousands of employees you must have a few - does Microsoft make policy decisions based on the opinions of employees who feel differently about "Negroes"? Or does Microsoft now have a double standard on prejudice? Jews and blacks good - gays, not so much, or at least open to debate.

And, last time I checked, the evangelical employees have federal civil rights protections based on religion, so in fact, the two groups are not equal - unless Microsoft now plans on coming down as "neutral" on the freedom of religion? That should be fun.

Here's more from the state rep:

"My refrain back to him was that this is a historic moment, that I only had a few weeks and I wanted Microsoft to do the right thing, to support an issue of justice, an issue of justice of concern to the huge number of his employees who happen to be lesbian and gay," Mr. Murray said. "Their concern, he said, was that obviously they were hearing from fairly conservative employees who were connected to this minister. They needed to sort out how they were going to deal with those problems."

Mr. Murray said the company's contention that the decision not to support the bill had nothing to do with the Christian church was "an absolute lie."

A Microsoft employee who said he attended a meeting this month with Mr. Smith and about 30 employees, most of them gay, said that Mr. Smith discussed his meetings with Dr. Hutcherson and left the impression that the company was changing its policy on the bill as a result of those meetings.

"Brad was very clear that the decision to be neutral on the bill was made subsequent to his meeting with Ken Hutcherson," said the employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared retribution from the company. "My gut feeling is that the pastor and his threat of a boycott and the general sensitivity around this issue was a factor in this decision."

He added, "At the meeting, what Brad told us was that Microsoft made its decision on the bill between the first and second meetings he had with Hutcherson."

Yep, Microsoft lied. And continues to lie to spin and spin and spin this story rather than come clean and admit it. They screwed us, and it wasn't a mistake. It was a corporate decision reached at the highest levels and they stand by it. They threw us to the radical right dogs and now are risking every other company in America withdrawing its support for our civil rights legislation as well.

Thanks for nothing, Microsoft.

EPILOGUE
Gang, this is a big deal. There is no other way to cut it than Microsoft has decided to back off of its previously staunch defense of gay rights. NO other way to cut it.

Sure, they've been great on gay stuff in the past, and they're now signaling that those days are over. They're more concerned now with focusing on their business. Well what we're they doing before? Supporting gays just for the hell of it?

And the bigger impact, which remains to be seen, is whether Microsoft now chucks us overboard at the national level and if other companies start to follow suit, following the corporate leader, as it were.

Microsoft should be ashamed of itself. And we should consider this a warning. It is no longer safe in America to be gay - or liberal for that matter. We've taken our rights for granted. And now they're being taken away, and our friends are being taken away by an ever-growing climate of hostility fed by an extremist administration and their Sieg Heil friends in America's Taliban.

It's time we started fighting back, and fighting back hard. It's time we took the gloves off and stopped playing nice. You're either with us or you're against us, as our enemies like to say.

Microsoft has chosen its side.

Have you? Read the rest of this post...