…”I think this is a ginned-up controversy by people who play identity politics that has divided the nation in a way that is really unhelpful”…
Spot on, albeit a little politely presented.
(Via The Hill) Former Hewlett-Packard chief Carly Fiorina on Thursday blasted Apple CEO Tim Cook’s opposition to Indiana’s religious freedom law as “hypocrisy.”
Fiorina, a potential 2016 GOP presidential contender, said Cook had a double standard and cited Apple’s operations in other countries with controversial laws about gays and women in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
“When Tim Cook is upset about all the places that he does business because of the way they treat gays and women, he needs to withdraw from 90% of the markets that he’s in, including China and Saudi Arabia,” Fiorina argued. “But I don’t hear him being upset about that.”
Fiorina said his stance exposed a “level of hypocrisy here that is really unfortunate.”
She added that Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act contained “nothing objectionable” and that Cook’s criticism stemmed from “narrow special interests” rather than reality.
She added that Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act contained “nothing objectionable” and that Cook’s criticism stemmed from “narrow special interests” rather than reality.
“I think this is a ginned-up controversy by people who play identity politics that has divided the nation in a way that is really unhelpful,” Fiorina added.
Cook, who came out as gay last year, criticized the Indiana measure when it was signed into law last week. The CEO said it ran counter to Apple’s policies on tolerance. (read more)
CBS Employee Who Made Fraud Charge Against Indiana Pizzeria Breaks Silence, Apologizes
An employee at a local CBS affiliate in Virginia broke her silence, apologizing for making what turned out to be a baseless fraud charge against a GoFundMe page set up to help a family in Indiana whose pizzeria was forced to close. The family became the center of intense controversy because they expressed their support of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
CBS6 affiliate employee Alix Bryan, who works for the station’s web and social media team, revealed on Twitter on Wednesday that she flagged a GoFundMe page that was set up to help the owners of Indiana restaurant Memories Pizza for fraud.
“I have reported the GoFundMe for Memories Pizza for fraud. Just in case,” Bryan tweeted.
Memories Pizza owners Kevin and Crystal O’Connor found themselves at the center of a nationwide controversy when an ABC News affiliate accused them of stating that they would refuse service to gay and lesbian customers. The O’Connor family later clarified that they would welcome LGBT customers into their restaurant, but because of their beliefs they would not cater an LGBT wedding in the event that they were asked to do so.
After reports began spreading about the family’s statement, they began receiving death threats and were forced to close the business and go into hiding. The GoFundMe account – set up by Lawrence Jones, an employee of Glenn Beck’s TheBlaze TV – was launched to support the family and has so far raised over $800,000.
Bryan soon began to question the authenticity of the fundraiser, reaching out to Jones on Twitter to try and get some proof that it was really set up for the family. She didn’t receive a response.
“What does the money go to? How will they use it?” Bryan asked. “I'm still scratching my head. Why does this pizza place need $25,000? And the fundraiser is being done by a news enterprise?”
Jones later responded to the controversy on CNN, clarifying his intentions with the fundraiser. “One of the things that our show really wanted to do is make sure that they could handle some debt as well as repair the shop and do whatever they needed to do,” he said. “There's been some graffiti and things like that. As well as if they needed to do some repairs or take care of some personal things ever since this happened."
Bryan eventually went silent on social media, before breaking that silence on Friday night to issue a formal apology to the O’Connor family for claiming that the fundraising page was fraudulent.
“I reported the camapaign to GoFundMe’s fraud page so they would look into its veracity,” she wrote. “This had nothing to do with my job. I never wrote a news report on this matter. I participated freely in social media discussions only on my personal account, expressing my own views, and I regret that my posts may have reflected negatively on my employer.
“My intent was to prevent possible swindling, not to create a hateful conversation," she continued. "In the future my actions will be more measured and I apologize to those affected.”
What happens when journalism turns into "making a difference". Are gays the western version of Mohammed?
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