Mac, iPhone, and iPad user Rush Limbaugh today discussed the recent Apple hit pieces from The New York Times on what, since its inception on August 1, 1988, is the highest-rated talk radio show in the United States. The 3-hour Rush Limbaugh Show airs daily on a network of approximately 590 AM and FM affiliate stations. The program is also broadcast worldwide on the U.S. Armed Forces Radio Network. A November 2008 poll by Zogby International found that Rush Limbaugh was the most trusted news personality in the nation.
From the live transcript, Limbaugh said:
I know a lot of you get upset and irritated with me when I talk about Apple. So I’m gonna talk about Apple. I wonder how they feel at Apple about now. When the APP store first hit, the mobile iOS APP store for the iPhone and the iPad, Apple made it clear that they were in bed with the New York Times. Even in Apple’s website ads when they would show a display, a website display on one of their computer monitors, it would always be the New York Times. Steve Jobs, in the biography written by Walter Isaacson, I think in that biography, said that he wanted to help the New York Times figure out how to do it right — i.e., digital New York Times. It was clear that there was a quid pro quo symbiotic relationship, that Jobs, then Apple, loved the New York Times, a great newspaper, wanted to help ’em do it better.
In the last three weeks there have been two stories in the New York Times about how basically Apple is responsible for people dying in China putting together iPhones and iPads, sweat labor, child labor. We’ve discussed one of the stories on this program. What has happened as a result of those two stories is that the usual touchy-feely student community has gotten up in arms and is demanding that Apple sign petitions saying that nobody will die in the assembly of iPhones. They’re demanding all kinds of concessions. They’re demanding that Apple be a better corporate citizen. It’s gotta shock ’em, because in a political sense their very own community is coming after ’em.
After all this showering and promotion of the New York Times on everything Apple, here comes the New York Times out with a hit piece, and the reason for it is to help Obama. Yeah, they did wait ’til Steve Jobs died to have this reversal take place. I don’t know if there’s a deep meaning to that, meaning current management’s not so in bed with the New York Times, I don’t know. But still, it’s a 180, it’s a stark difference. All I wanted to tell you was, you know, Apple’s getting beat up ’cause they don’t make iPhones in America, and we’ve told you the stories. The factories over there have 230,000 employees. We’ve only got 50 American cities with adult population larger than 230,000.
The company is Foxconn, 230,000 employees, 60,000 live at the factory. The factory has a hospital, a bunch of restaurants. They go through all this pork and rice feeding them every day. They make the equivalent of 17 hours a day. There was a story earlier this week that showed a picture of 3,000 Chinese at an application center hoping to get a job at one of these factories. So, anyway, I just think it’s time for the truth. The only thing that happens with the iPhone in China is it’s put together. It’s where it’s assembled. Apple does employ the brains behind the iPhone in this country. The high paying tech and engineering jobs responsible for the iPhone, the hardware design, the software, all of it happen here in America. The high paid jobs that are responsible for the existence of the iPhone take place here. Those jobs are in America. The assembly jobs are what take place in China.
It’s not as though Apple is stiffing America. The fact of the matter is that the best jobs, the high quality, high paying jobs regarding iPhone and iPad and all the other Apple products, the computers, do take place and do exist in the United States. The New York Times has turned on ’em, and of course the usual suspects, the know-nothing social do-gooders get all up in arms about human rights abuses and Apple’s killing people. There was a story, they polish the back of the iPad, the aluminum case, they polish it and the dust from the polishing is so fine it can cause explosions and it did at one iPad factory and 63 odd people got injured and so forth.
Well, that didn’t sit well, and so the usual do-gooder suspects are out. I just thought it was worth knowing that they used to love each other at Apple and the New York Times and that the quality, high-paying design tech jobs are in this country. So there. (interruption) No. Apple hates me. I’m not doing this for any reason other than I believe in the truth. They despise me at Apple. It’s political. It’s politics.
One more thing about this Apple and Foxconn business. Apple is not the only bunch that uses ’em. Foxconn makes things for Samsung. They make things for Sharp, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo. They make it all. They assemble all this stuff. Apple is the only one being targeted as company engaging in child labor and killing its employees. Now, why do you think that is? Why do you think it is? (interruption) Well, it’s not just that they’re a number one company. These New York Times hit pieces on Apple are to benefit Obama. So the fact that they’re number one is, “Yeah, the number one capitalist outfit! Heartless, cold, calculating.” That’s a big part of it.
It’s also ’cause Jobs isn’t there anymore. They wouldn’t do this with Jobs there. I’ll guarantee you. Anyway, Apple is an American success story, and that’s why. An American success story has to be torn apart for the leftist agenda to advance. Apple must be shown to be heartless and corrupt. It must be shown to be this giant, heartless behemoth that doesn’t care for people at all. There’s even a book out now. Some guy at Forbes has written a book. And I don’t know if this is part of a hit piece on Apple, but it’s got some interesting things in it. It’s about how secretive Apple is and how miserable its employees are, how horrible a place it is to work. Because nobody’s trusted. Nobody is allowed to talk about what they’re doing. Nobody’s allowed to go to a different department and see what’s happening there.
It’s very secretive; nobody’s allowed to talk about anything. In fact, new hires are so distrusted, they are put on fake projects for six months just to see if they’re talkers. They are put on projects that have no bearing, they don’t exist, just to see how they behave. Because in the Apple culture of secrecy, that’s how they keep a leg up on their competition. (interruption) “It’s mean, Snerdley, don’t you understand? It’s mean! It’s mistreating people. They’re heartless and cold and brutal. This is exactly what capitalism is, Snerdley, don’t you understand? It’s exactly that! And that’s why it must not — must not! — be allowed to happen!” That’s what’s happening here.
Via RushLimbaugh.com.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]
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Thanks Rush, Steve would be happy.
CAN MDN PUH-LEASE JUST EDIT AAAALLLLL THIS SMALL-MINDED HATE-MONGERING CRAP OUT? Sooooo profoundly tedious.
Or maybe I should try to join in the spirit and level of the discourse… Let’s see —- Uh… Shit. Moron. Infant. Commie. Asshole. Douchebag. Pathetic sheep. Fuck-head. Well, hard to argue with such well-reasoned, insightful political propositions as that.
How does the Republican Law & Order thing work with Rush being someone who committed a number of felonious acts in the process of making himself deaf with Hillbilly Heroin (Oxycontin).
He LIED and told everyone it was an autoimmune disorder. No it wasn’t- nothing more than drug addiction.
Oh that’s right, rules are only for NON-Republicans.
Why ANYONE at MDN thinks ANYTHING Rush Limbaugh says is relevant is beyond me. He is the pot that calls the kettle black. He shits in his own house (of right wingers) regularly. He is a “shock” jock. He spews lies and bullshit with regularity. He is an emotional hate-baited for a political cause. He uses stupid people to get wealthy. No one cares what the NY Times says about Apple, they may print anything they want about Apple, it is a free country. When people find out the truth they will make their own view. I personally don’t give a rat’s ass about the NYT or Rush Limbaugh and ask you to join me in my indifference to both. BTW, I, too, would like more American manufacturing in Apple products and maybe when some US Gen Y entrepreneurs decide to make money from Appe manufacturing for cheaper than in China, it will be done.
Your American are a bunch of idiots…and new york times…please…they report at apple product dead in china…let me laugh..what about reporting the dead in Palestine? caused by the israel governments with the help of the american…are chines people working at apple product line more important then palestinian ? and if so…who responsibility is ? apple or chinese government? in that bitch report i did not hear nothing about chinese government…what a lots of bollox coming from a country like america …you lots should shame your self
Who are the douche bags ‘too numerous to mention’ that actually listen to this turd in the first place?
It feels so good to be tough!
“What has happened as a result of those two stories is that the usual touchy-feely student community has gotten up in arms and is demanding that Apple…”
I didn’t know he was still on the air. Interesting.
This is like the Fox News of Mac websites.
Don’t know what’s worse: fall for all the “I hate RL but this time I agrre with him” comments and loose my time having read that load of bullcrap he said at his show or realize the sad state of a once great country with all those Mac fans of Apple AND RB…
I find it interesting that Jobs was a regular reader of the New York Times, a regular listener to NPR (KQED San Francisco) and a regular contributor to Democratic Politicians and yet this most Fanboi of sites is heavily populated with Reich-Wing types.
Jobs was a definite critic of Obama. Good for him- get in line. Remove the labels and look at policy and one will see Obama has governed more like a moderate Republican than the flaming socialist the Reich-Wing media machine likes to claim. The “liberal bias” in the media is as big a fairy tale as Jack In The Beanstalk.
It amazes me that staffers at Faux Newz who are alumni of other MSM were “liberals” when at CBS, ABC, NBC, CNBC, CNN but are “good conservatives” at Faux even when their take on things has not changed one iota. Likewise, alumni of Faux that move to other MSM are “biased liberals” at their new employer.
One great problem of the Conservative mindset is the extreme need for a “leader” and the tendency to hero worship. An well known observation was that confronted with a challenge a room of Democrats will select a committee to seek consensus and a room of Republicans will select a leader who will issue edicts. Another tendency of conservatives is to vilify the opposition…
It might be a good idea if people posting here would put their brain in gear before putting their fingers to keyboard.
So this means that if whoever wants Apple to sign petitions that no one will die making iPhones isn’t satisfied they will just switch from Apple to who? Android? MSFT? Bring it on!!
I love how the liberals think that they are the only people that are entitled to use Apple products and no one else should be in their group. Sorry, but that has never been the case. I have used Macs since the 80’s. Only idiots base their product use on politics. If I can deal with Al Gore being on Apple’s board, you can deal with Limbaugh loving Apple products.
Rush is a fat gassbag who talks to an audience of listeners on AM radio. He is not knowledgeable about the world. His job is to sel;l advertising and get rich.
The New York Times is a corporation whose job is to sell advertising.
Apple, Inc. is a corporation charged with the responsiblility of making money.
China is a totalitarian state where workers are treated like objects because there is an abundant labor source.
TheTimes is correct to point this out. It applies to all corporations doing business in the Fasr East. Apple currently is the biggest customer of those chinese suppliers.
If you want the practice to stop, and the New York Times to stop reporting these facts, don’t buy the products. But you won’t do that. And neither will I.
If only Rush had died instead of Steve Jobs
A synonym for big jerk in the Webster dictionary is Rush Limbaugh