“Once a Fortune 50 chief executive herself, Carly Fiorina is disgusted with how CEOs rushed to condemn Indiana’s new religious freedom law,” Reid J. Epstein reports for The Wall Street Journal. “Mrs. Fiorina, who is weighing a bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, called the week’s controversy over the Indiana statute the result of corporations bowing to ‘narrow special interests’ rather than broad public anger. CEOs like Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook, who publicly objected to the Indiana law, have engaged in ‘a level of hypocrisy here that really is unfortunate,’ said Mrs. Fiorina, who was CEO of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005.”
Epstein reports, “‘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,’ she said Thursday afternoon during an interview with Wall Street Journal reporters and editors. ‘But I don’t hear him being upset about that… 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.'”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Tim Cook forging unusual path as a social activist ‘on behalf of Apple’ – March 31, 2015
Does Apple risk blowback over Tim Cook’s gay rights activism? – March 30, 2015
Apple CEO Tim Cook says ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous – March 30, 2015
Tim Cook: Apple ‘deeply disappointed’ with Indiana’s new religious-objections law – March 27, 2015
A sociopath says what?
What? No “MDN Take”?…
Unlike Tim Cook, MDN’s too smart to wade into this sort of political quicksand.
HA! You’re obviously no ‘Regular Reader’ around here.
An anonymous, ill-informed “regular reader,” at best!
It used to be but that has not been the case for many years now.
Sounds similar to something I wrote in a comment here last week:
If Tim Cook speaks on “behalf of Apple” then shouldn’t he put Apple’s money where his mouth is and refuse to do business in countries that kill gays for being gay? (How does he even visit said countries, by the way? Or does he just steer clear?)
Cook wants to single out and threaten Indiana for trying to protect U.S. citizens’ right to religious freedom, but not a peep comes out of his mouth about countries in which Apple does business which execute or imprison gays for being gay. Cook seems to like to pen op-eds. How ’bout one in a country that actually is openly and viciously hostile to gays, big man?
You can’t have it both ways, Timmy. Either you “speak on behalf of Apple” or you don’t. Don’t be a hypocrite and, while you’re at it, stop risking significant backlash against Apple by abusing your position in order to promote your personal beliefs.
Carly would be infinitely better than anyone the Democrat party runs in 2016.
You called the number one CEO in the world “Timmy” because you disagree with him?
Thanks for making your icon so easily noticeable. I will be skipping your comments from now on.
Oh please, you pathetic cry baby! Are you serious? Butt hurt because someone called Tim, “Timmy”? Lol, just when you thought you heard it all…
Carly Fiorina oversaw HP as the CEO as the stock went from a high of $66.28 to a low of $11.67. She fought the board (including the son of the co-founder) to purchase Compaq during the dotbomb era for a little over $24 Billion, which did nothing but take out one of the many competitors and strengthened the position of HP’s other competitors.
As widely expected, she was fired from HP after just a few years as CEO.
She was an advisor to McCain’s failed 2008 bid for the White House and lost in her California Senate bid with only 42% of the vote.
She’s now a joke candidate for the 2016 Republican race, trailing only behind Donald Trump as biggest clown.
What else does she have to say about Apple?
She ran for senate against Barbara Boxer, and
Edit: disregard last line.
As if anyone on this forum wants to see a repeat posting of your recent comments, Fwhatever.
Fwhatever’s true colors are once against revealed. For all of your denials, Fwhatever, you have a remarkably undefeated record of always coming down on one side (generally far to one side) of any and all political issues.
I won’t even ask about your superficial partisan rationale for making that indefensible statement.
A paid aggitator.
He’s the definition of insanity… first blah, blah, then first blah, blah, then first blah, blah, then first blah, blah
By the way, Fwhatever, you are long overdue for your next name change to First 2016… This will be the fifth or sixth name change, I believe.
Or, you could take the easy way out and just use “Fwhatever.”
OK, I don’t see that this has anything (in reality) to do with homosexuals and organized religion anymore than Ferguson, MO had anything to do with blacks and cops or UVA with fraternities and women.
It is a small story that gets badly reported, knee-jerk journalism gins it up, and the Democrats apply pressure for political points.
Same crap, different ‘oppressed’, only these have more money and influence, which the Democrats are in dire need of.
Now, if someone can show where the law says anyone can kick a person out of their store because of sexual preference, then you might have a story. It doesn’t, so get over it.
(and as much as I admire Tim Cook, he was wrong to speak for Apple on this issue and should have made it a personal statement)
Well said TowerTone!
Why are you singling out Cook?
http://www.indystar.com/story/money/2015/03/30/nine-ceos-call-pence-legislature-modify-religious-freedom-law/70689924/
Because this is an Apple forum.
A strange statement from someone who says he has been on these boards for years.
You make absolutely no sense.
The article is about Carly and Tim.
I didn’t single anyone out.
The strange part is in your head.
Maybe you are the troll….?
Sure, I’ll play. Topics on these boards very often not only involve aapl but other topics that tangentially touch on aapl and its activities, business and otherwise. For example, Fiorina’s long ago history managing HP, discussed above. I note that you say below “Would that not be the same as laws for gun control? Hate speech? Abortion laws? Search and seizure?” That seems to throw a net around a bevy of topics, not directly related to “the article”. Thus, linking an article that highlights a variety of CEOs who share the same opinion on this topic as Cook seems cogent.
I guess this is where I am supposed to insult you and your reasoning.
Actually I was answering this question-
” Why is a state law required to interpret this foundational federal document?”
Other than that, you must be pretty bored to follow this line of reasoning. Enjoy!
Agree wholeheartedly. Timmy should make this a personal issue and not a corporate issue. I am quite that there are a lot of people that work at and for Apple who do not espouse his views on gay rights and he dares to speak on their behalf. What a joke he is. Tim Cook keep your gay opinions personal and do not smear the name of apple because of your beliefs. It is the same as unions support a particular political party and half if not more of their people disagree with their stand.
Yeah we should elect the CEO that nearly killed HP, beside the bad idea to merge with compact she killed 30,000 US jobs and shipped them over seas, She was so bad the paid her $20mil to go away. She was also involved in the destruction of Bell Labs what had been one of the worlds most important and productive research labs and one of the reasons the US became a world leader in tech after WWII. But non of that will matter because Tim Cook said that something with the word religious in it was bad and thats all her base will hear.
“Carly would be infinitely better than anyone the Democrat party runs in 2016.”
And here you make plain your blind (and stupid) allegiance to the Republican party. Partisan voting at its worst.
So someone whose primary accomplishment was to run HP into the ground would be better than ANYONE in the Democrat party?
Wow. Your blinders are thick, clearly.
Indeed, Fiorina should think twice about tossing around labels and general disdain for Tim Cook. Karma is waiting to visit you, Carly!
That statement alone shows that Fiorina lacks the wisdom and self-control of a strong political candidate (note that I qualified my statement – there are, unfortunately, plenty of politicians out there with poor wisdom and poor self-control).
Besides – and I believe that this is a critical point – there is merit in attempting to change the things that you have some ability to influence. Tim Cook is unlikely to have a strong influence on China, but he might in the U.S.
There is also another key difference – religious freedom is written into the Bill of Rights as an Amendment to our Constitution. Why is a state law required to interpret this foundational federal document?
Would that not be the same as laws for gun control? Hate speech? Abortion laws? Search and seizure?
The purpose is most likely to clarify the law, not to change it.
I hate to agree with that woman about anything, but it really was unfortunate for Tim to come out against Indiana the way he did at the same time Apple was announcing opening of sales to Saudi Arabia.
Walmart and others followed Apple’s leadership and forced the leas to retract.
..Forced the Stae’ retraction of the laws…
It wasn’t a retraction so much as it was a clarification, the law is still very much in place along with added protections to LGBT citizens.
I don’t have a problem with Tim speaking out about whatever he feels strongly about, but like I said, the timing of the two, the Indiana pronouncement and simultaneously opening sales to Saudi Arabia, was unfortunate (Mr. Obama calls it “the optics”) and gives the likes of Carly Fiorina ammunition.
Ooooh, WalMart. That’s some real fine company. Your #1 source for disposable toxic plastic landfill fodder produced in Chinese sweatshops.
Admit it, there are bigger human rights issues in the world than the LGBT desire for exclusive mention in every human law in the USA. Seldom has such a small group of people with such superficial problems gotten so much attention while open big time human rights abuses happen around them.
But Saudi Arabia isn’t and has never been America. If you can’t expand freedom for Americans in America, there’s no point in refusing to sell products in SA, because you’ll have even less pull if you have no presence there.
Hmmm… “because you will have less pull if you have no presence there”
Sounds like we have a crew of people that want to control the world. Their stripes are beginning to show.
Why is the Angry Left so angry?
“Progressives” convince themselves that everything they’re doing is for the greater good, which supersedes the rights of any individual. It’s a case of “the humanitarian with the guillotine“: we’re doing this for the overall good of humanity, so it’s OK to start killing people. Or to be really, really mean to them in the comments field.
There’s the fact that advocacy of big government is by its very nature a quest for power and control, for the ability to use force against others—a cause that naturally attracts the bitter and intolerant.
There’s the fact that those of us on the right are accustomed to encountering a lot of ideological opposition. For most of our lives, the left has controlled the high ground of the culture, such as it is: the mainstream media, Hollywood, the universities, the arts. So we’re not used to crawling into a “safe space” and hiding from ideas we disagree with, which makes it easier for us to regard ideological opposition with a degree of equanimity.
But beneath all of these factors, there is something deeper, something more elemental. Something metaphysical… It’s all about immanentizing the eschaton.
For the secular leftist, the end state is social and necessarily political. It is all about getting everybody else on board and herding them into his imagined utopia. There are so many “problematic” aspects of life that need to be reengineered, so many vast social systems that need to be overthrown and replaced. But the rest of us are all screwing it up, all the time, through our greed, our denial, our apathy, our refusal to listen to him banging on about his tired socialist ideology.
For the Christian, the ideal end state is safely in the next world and therefore is never in doubt. For the individualist, it’s in his own life, and it’s mostly under his direct control. For the leftist, however, it is all outside his control. It requires other people, a lot of other people, and those SOBs usually refuse to cooperate. Talk about rage-inducing.
If the whole focus of your life is on getting everybody else to agree with you on every detail of your politics and adopt your plans for a perfect society, then you’re setting yourself up to be at war with most of the human race most of the time.
Which means an awful lot for the Angry Left to get angry about. — Robert Tracinski
Read more: Why is the Angry Left so angry?
From my U.S. beach house, not my Italian one, and it’s a gorgeous day here! Try not to be so angry, Dem/Lib/Progs! 🙂
I wish I could be living in your universe. The Right wing was the group with the McCarthy witch hunts, the movie review commission,Sunday “Blue” laws and many other “Social Good” organizations. Defeating them was a very Good thing.
Then again, those who forget history are often trying to repeat it.
You know less than you think about the McCarthy era.
Blue laws were annoying but they were also local and mostly repealed when we switched from an agrarian/rural to industrial/urban society.
Movie review? WTF? THAT’S a problem to the left?
Ever heard of Tipper Gore????
you do realize that almost every company in Silicon Valley was founded by a “liberal”, right, including Steve Jobs? Almost every advancement in the social order was spear headed by liberals, such as women’s right, minority rights,abolishment of slavery, universal human rights, religious freedom, etc etc. not by conservatives. It’s funny conservatives never see that it was the liberals that have pushed these “liberal agendas” through. Your conservative forefathers, First2014, were against gay, women, minority rights…..sorry to burst your bubble at your beach house
You are correct. TC was hypocritical in not addressing the problem world wide and by reacting with his peers against Indiana.
What is next, TC will stop Apple services to states that pass laws he does not like? All it takes is a rock up his nose and a flip of a switch. He can control the world if he wants to. Looks like he may want to.
“Gone are the days when companies could just sit tight and hope that hot-button topics would blow over without them having to make a statement about it. These days businesses get instant feedback from customers on how they feel about an issue, thanks to social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.”
http://t.thestar.com/#/article/business/2015/04/01/why-apple-walmart-are-speaking-out-against-us-religious-objections-laws.html?referrer=https:%2F%2Fduckduckgo.com%2F
A bevy of big-name businesses including Apple, Gap and Levi Strauss are publicly speaking out against religious-objections legislation in states such as Indiana and Arkansas.
Fox “News”regular contributor Bernard McGuirk made the same allegations against Cook on the Imus in the Morning show on Wednesday. On Friday the show apologized on air for his remarks.
These are not corporate issues for big companies to stick noses into. If a CEO wants to speak out he should do it privately and not drag the company into it. A lot of stockholders might not agree with his views and thus he is being hypocritical speaking on behalf of the company. This includes Wally world and all the other companies doing this.
The majority of Apple stockholders agree with cool and have repeatedly voted confidence in him.
Could you please show me when as a stockholder I was given a ballot to vote on whether Apple assets or name should be used for political purposes. I do not approve Tim’s message.
Tim Cook is an American citizen. He posted that comment from his twitter feed as an American citizen, not the CEO of Apple. It was not an Apple statement, it was a Tim Cook statement. This woman is an idiot.
In his Washington Post op ed, Cook implied strongly that he was acting on behalf of Apple. And while it is noble for a citizen and corporate leader to uphold the highest human rights standards, his myopic vision of the world is obvious as he’s focused ONLY on LGBT issues in the USA while ignoring his duty as a corporate citizen on the rest of the planet. Cook opened himself up to criticism not because he was wrong on his big issue, but because he hasn’t bothered to act within his power on MUCH bigger human rights issues.
I miss Steve Jobs.
Oh you mean, the Steve Jobs backed public support and Apple $200K contribution to California’s No on prop 8 a few years back? Steve Jobs comment at the time was that Apple doesn’t comment on political issues, however Prop 8 was a humanitarian issue. About the only one Apple ever publicly supported.
This was with Steve as CEO: http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-to-oppose-anti-gay-marriage-ballot-question/
With rare exception, Jobs made no speeches, wrote no op eds, and chastised no one. He just did the right thing. There is a time for politics, and there is a time for action. It would be better for everyone if Cook stopped talking and started doing serious good around the world with his extreme wealth and power. Note also that Cook needs to be judged just a little differently than Jobs, since Jobs was product-development oriented. He delegated Apple’s sourcing to Cook, who immediately went to China to get Apple’s costs down. Today Apple has more money than anybody, but they still exploit Chinese labor. Employees who live under a communist regime with limited human rights. It doesn’t have to be that way, and Cook has all the power to change it. But instead all he cares about are the slights that his buddies in the LGBT community are whining about this month.
Tim Cook is a gay man, of course gay issues are front and center to him. His tweet was simple, relevant, important and justified. End of story.
This woman maybe an idiot as she is trying to ride Tim Cook’s clout. She is nothing so commenting on Tim Cook’s comment will ensure people at least read the statement. Sadly they quickly realize that she has nothing worth listening to and stop reading.
Bottom line for me: Tim Cook has every right to comment personally and on behalf of Apple. Those who don’t like it feel free to move on.
This argument has been passed around the past couple of days and its a tad ridiculous. First off, conservatives are coming to a conclusion that if tim cook is passionate about what happens in Indiana, then he should really be upset about what is happening overseas. So much upset that he stops selling in those markets altogether. First off, Tim Cook never stopped selling apple stuff in Indiana, so why draw the conclusion that this should be the result in these contested overseas markets?
And secondly, Tim Cook looks at these markets and sees how unstable they are for women and LGBT people, that he is probably rationalizing that an internet-enabled mobile phone will help the oppressed people be connected to one another easier and be able to assemble easier as well. Mobile phones are what helped in Egypt, and they have been helping in similar areas…so why take away a piece of technology that might move forward Tim Cook’s agenda!
And third, and this one grinds my gears. Just because something is happening in an overseas market, then a person can’t have an opinion about what is happening in their own country and express about it? I’m sure if you were to ask Tim Cook what is happening in places like Iran, Iraq, Saudia Arabi…he would say how terrible it is for the oppressed people in these countries.
“so why take away a piece of technology that might move forward Tim Cook’s agenda!”
There is a common theme here.
Time to start up the gas chambers and blame the je.. I mean, the conservatives.
For a group of people who claim to support Israel and the Jews so much, they (Con politicians and news media outlets) sure take a lot of plays out of the Nazi propaganda playbook.
Just so you know, the “Tim Cook agenda” part wasn’t so much me saying that, as that’s probably what’s going on in his head. I wasn’t trying to sound like a marching supporter is what I’m saying. Just giving perspective
Gas chambers, hanging, firing squads and electric chairs seem to be the favored tools of conservatives everywhere.
Best, most logical rebuttal against the nonsense arguments of the so called religious freedom supporters invoking Saudi Arabia as a weak defence.
Supporters of terrorism flock together.
Yup. And they’re blind to the irony that they call out the “religion of peace” for its violent fundamentalists, while they themselves ignore all the peace and understanding teachings of the “communist” (by their silly standards) Jesus Christ and go for the most hateful, ignorant parts of the Bible to justify their actions just like the Muslim fundamentalist terrorists do.
Me thinks there’s a bit of difference between commenting on what should or shouldn’t be enacted IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY versus another foreign country. They have a different constitution, (if any at all!) and different local religious beliefs, and tribal or national traditions.
Citing Saudi Arabia is interesting, because they are a ruthlessly repressive regime in their own way- one our government supports (for decades) with all kinds of military aid. Maybe we should clean up our Foreign policy as a tool to pressure foreign governments other than just Iran? (any way you look at it, the Mideast is a real piece of work, bag of works, world of hurt, pick your catch phrase.
Fiorina is planning to run for president, and seems to be looking for low hanging fruit for publicity. It doesn’t really make her look very statesmanlike, though, in this case. Not to me, anyway. Just another Apple Hater is how she comes off. Bad PR move.
She’s already making the same mistakes she made in her ill-conceived bid for California Governor. “Those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them.”
Mrs. Fiorina, who is weighing a bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination…
So much for that delusion.
BbbbBut she took lipstick classes from Lucile Ball
*spewing*my*coffee*
He said ‘lipstick’!
I strongly disagree. Globalists — which include every major corporate CEO — are the ones who exploit low labor/environment/quality standards for profit. Human rights are not even on their dashboard, as that always comes as an afterthought to profit. Cook is no different in this regard. But being gay, he is using his bully pulpit and engaging Apple resources in playing politics in his PERSONAL area of interest. That is not the duty of a CEO. If he was concerned with rights, then he would abide by a universal set of rights instead of leading Apple to operate in nations that are extremely repressive.
.
The UN established a standard for universal human rights decades ago, does Apple support it? Cook has not stated so. If so, why is Apple doing business with nations that don’t uphold the minimum standards that the majority of the civilized world agreed to? Saudi Arabia is a great example. There are many more.
.
The idea the the LGBT are persecuted in Indiana, law or no law, is a ridiculous assertion. Nobody cares what you do in your bedroom. The point of contention seems to center around the semantics of what the word “marriage” means. That pales in comparison to the real instances around the world of torture and abuse, repression of women, and so forth. The real injustices of the world are in nations that don’t even offer freedom of association, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, etc. But Apple has not only been silent on these SERIOUS rights issues — Apple continues to operate in those nations.
.
My biggest gripe is sweatshop labor. Those who claim that the sweatshops in China are good and fair because if provides jobs are missing the point. These kids are not getting educations, health care, or free time. Thanks to Chinese state interest in enriching the Party on the backs of desperate rural citizens, the only work offered to them are dead-end jobs that repeat the inhuman working conditions of the industrialist era of the 18th-early 20th centuries. That is morally wrong.
But Cook’s conscious isn’t bothered by hiring kids who are unable to buy a Mac computer on their wages. He doesn’t have a clue what a living wage is, or that China offers no such thing. All Apple has done is tell the world that they are looking into “working conditions”. This means they are ensuring they are complying with the local laws, which are essentially economic slavery, a repeat of the US Robber Baron era. Apple obviously hasn’t bothered to reform this to any real degree. Why would they? People are disposable.
“Nobody cares what you do in your bedroom?”
What universe are YOU living in?
In more than half the country, you can be FIRED simply for being gay. Not for having a gay wedding, or preaching “gay power,” but simply if they discover you’re not heterosexual.
And, not coincidentally, that includes Indiana.
The Federal government needs to add “sexual orientation and gender identity” to the list of protected classes.
Give verifiable examples, otherwise………
Claims without evidence can be dismissed without discussion.
You cannot simply make up stuff because it suits your argument.
Of ALL American companies manufacturing in China, Apple is by far the most vocal, and the most active, in scrutinising their overseas factories with respect to labour policies. Their workers are highest paid, and the factories are under the most stringent review process. To say that Apple / Cook don’t bother with overseas labour is simply untrue. It is the ONE company in America that actually makes the greatest effort in providing safe and humane working conditions for overseas labourers. It is precisely THIS that gives Cook the right to speak about other issues.
Well Predrag, if one can’t make stuff up, where is the evidence to support your assertions? You offered nothing to refute Paul’s statement. I think he’s right, Apple is little different than any US company when it comes to exploiting Chinese labor. The only reason any company operates there is because the communist party endorses labor exploitation for profit of the party.
A little bit of googling with provide all the necessary answers. Not to mention that this has been brought up here on MDN so many times, pretty much all the regular forum contributors already know it by heart.
The only reason Jobs sent these jobs (no pun intended) to China was because their labour is cheap, skilled and disciplined. Cook continues to do so, of course, but because of all the scrutiny received over the past years (after all, Apple is by far the largest target for all those who seek one), Apple has responded in ways no other American company felt necessary. Unlike literally everyone else who operates manufacturing in China, Apple pushed through elaborate oversight and strict rules regarding working conditions, maximum overtime, rests and breaks, etc. They have almost 1,500 of their own (Apple) people in these factories overseeing work, interviewing workers (away from management and factories), reporting problems to management and following through until resolved. And Apple (and its suppliers) are the only ones reducing work week to below 60 hours per week (when others are doing 70+ as the norm). I don’t have time now to google this but ask anyone on MDN here, it is a rather common knowledge.
googling ?????
Please show us these elaborate rules, because Google doesn’t seem to have them posted anywhere.
I have, however, read independent reports that show that what Apple is doing in China isn’t particularly stellar compared to its peers.
Click to access apple_s_unkept_promises.pdf
This pronouncement from Fiorina can be easily translated “Will somebody PLEASE pay attention to me! What does a “girl” have to do?”
She is a self-aggrandizing failure who destroyed HP. Why would we give her a shot at the entire economy? She needs explore going to an island with a lot of wild horses, where she can blend in.
Stay out of politics Apple.
Carly Fiorina, world’s worst X CEO, hlaved HPs value as CEO and destroyed the company, she would know…
Forget Saudi Arabia, what about China? What is Tim Cook doing about China other than pumping billions into their coffers with all of the manufacturing and retail initiatives he has going on in that country? Sure, he’s no more a citizen of China than he is of Indiana, but if he’s going to speak out about one, he has to about the other. He’s a massive hypocrite otherwise.
Actually Apple has done a great deal to make changes to the way workers are treated and paid at the plants where their products are manufactured.
Be careful of an item called the mirror. Would you want to be dissected for your inconsistencies ?
Moreover, religious freedom is one subset of civilization. Basic humanity is more central. This is what the protests are about.
In any protest, one must be aware of the consequences.
“Basic humanity.”
Are you referring to the “freedom from involuntary servitude” that the Indiana law is intended to protect? THAT part of “basic humanity”?
Gosh a politician calling someone hypocritical because he makes a comment about his country and doesn’t comment about a similar issue from another country. That’s not hypocrisy that’s respect for the sovereignty of another nation. Strangely enough it’s not always a very patriotic concept, especially for those insecure countries that have to make themselves feel better by bullying and putting everyone else down. Add some illegal immoral invasions, a massive helping of an overkill arsenal, a dash of torture and you get the idea.
It’s all nice to tout equal rights, non-discrimination laws and try to promote democracy but some places just aren’t ready to deal with democracy, they have their own system and are still working out how to use toilet paper, and that’s not easy, especially that “wheeee the poophole” brand.
It’s really simple, think globally, act locally. Foisting one’s values onto others, well that’s just plain stupid, so citizens of the free and civilized world, we know who will embrace that one with open arms, knives and other weapons of mass destruction.
Fortunately the law of karma is going to be kicking in, so grab your popcorn….
“That’s not hypocrisy that’s respect for the sovereignty of another nation.”
How about respect for the sovereignty of another state?
Apple doesn’t need to respect sovereignty of any state. With the cash horde on hand, Apple can buy what it wants, using only Cook’s personal moral compass as a guide. Unfortunately the only item that shows up on his radar is what his gay activist friends tell him.
Thanks for your post the others you’ve made on this thread, I quite like the first one.
Anyway I’ll take your comment and another idea and take them into some direction.
1. I’m a bit in the dark here on the details but I do know that the U.S. has strong state governments. Now there have been some city states over history so we could look at that level of sovereignty or even further to look to the sovereignty of the individual. In all cases there certainly is not in my opinion a lack of respect to have an opinion on something, to express that opinion and express an alternative. Of course this within the limits of free speech, i.e. not threatening someone. This to me is a lot different than say for example crossing the state line, and coercing a change by the use of force.
Tim Cook tweeted: “Apple is open for everyone. We are deeply disappointed in Indiana’s new law and calling on Arkansas Gov. to veto the similar”
This statement has to ideas of expressing an opinion as well as putting forth alternatives. I think that was done respectfully and of course you are free to disagree with me.
Now the other idea that has come up here runs along the line of “…but what about this place or that place.” One could take this idea, until it becomes…”Tim Cook has made a comment about an issue and hasn’t made a comment about every other issue therefore he is a hypocrite.” That gets to be ridiculous.
Well Apple does business there, and that to me requires a level of professionalism. You may not like the way a certain group lives, and goodness knows the ravages of intolerance are sweeping the planet right now but that does not mean you can’t, shouldn’t or won’t do business, because that’s one way to garnish respect and insight for the views of others. A company such as Apple also probably has the insight to know that they can critique Indiana because of the nature of the sovereignty of the area. Making a similar critique in another area would be considered unprofessional and would get you kicked out of the business. You always have the option of walking out. I think for example Google walked out of some country because of difference of opinion. Nothing wrong with that.
That’s the thing about free choice, a business, and the individuals can weigh out the pros and cons and use the resources available to sustain their entity, their lives. Most of the time that means that you’ll have to interact with people that are different, and may not agree with all your ideals, but hey, ever meet someone that agreed with all your ideals? I haven’t and that’s something I appreciate, the diversity of life. It’s the monoculture intolerance that I watch out for and to this regard, Tim has not illustrated this in his tweet.
Good question.
Isn’t it possible that as an American citizen Tim Cook felt he could hold his own country to a higher standard? That as a gay man born in the south he could comment on politics and social policy in the south?
Wait. Indiana’s in the south, rIght?
Apple is a global organization. Why can’t Cook use Apple’s resources to promote fairness and human rights all around the world? His focus on gay rights is just letting personal politics getting in the way of his corporate duty. Apple should do the right thing in its business practices and stay away from the political mudpit.
Dear Tim,
please, PUHLEASE, stay the f*ck out of politics.
Thank you
I forwarded Tim your comment, he said fuck you.
Thanks.
using Saudi Arabia or China as an argument is dumb. Those places have nothing to do with America. The Indiana law is UN-AMERICAN which is what Cook’s point is. He doesn’t have expectations of places outside America.
Cook’s own words were, “We strive to do business in a way that is just and fair. That’s why, on behalf of Apple, I’m standing up to oppose this new wave of legislation — wherever it emerges.”
The world is bigger than America, you know. Get a globe and check it out.
The United States is only a small portion of AMERICA! Look at a globe sometime and see that there is a South America, Central America and North America. The US is only a small part of North America but is biggest in its own mind. There is a whole world out there, you know.
Carly Fiorina is clearly pandering to the political base here, but her comments are, ironically, quite more hypocritical than Cook’s.
Her conservative base is the strongest supporter of the military presence in the very same Saudi Arabia that she mentions in her anti-Cook speech.
As a private person, as well as a businessman, Tim Cook cannot do anything meaningful to change the ways in foreign lands. While it is true that Apple can choose to not do business in Saudi Arabia or China (in show of protest against the regimes there), such protest would have absolutely no consequences. None at all for those regimes, none for the people in those countries. About the only consequences would be in the realm of business — Apple would be donating potentially lucrative foreign markets to competitors.
Fiorina has been disastrously unsuccessful at the helm of HP. MDN and its followers were full of colourful language ten years ago when she was driving HP into the ground. It is just amazing to think that none of that matters anymore, now that she seems to be looking for a conservative nomination.
I am truly fascinated by the way political affiliation in America trumps all else. Tim Cook may be the most brilliant corporate leader in the world, but apparently, quite a few conservative followers here at MDN would prefer Fiorina than Cook in a political office. This is truly mind-boggling.
Well, she single-handedly almost destroyed one of the greatest tech companies of the US in just a few years, and proof that being a woman DOES help you get jobs you’re not qualified for. Yes, it works both ways. She was under qualified when she was hired, and not fired fast enough. Now she’s trying politics because, well, all you need to do is get more people to like you than hate you. No actually skills nor knowledge needed. She needs to just stop.
I’m disappointed in Apple CEO Tim Cook. How can he be openly opposed to the Indiana issue and virtually silent on the atrocities in the countries Apple does business. You cannot have it both ways.
Cook wrote in his Washington post Op Ed:
“We strive to do business in a way that is just and fair. That’s why, on behalf of Apple, I’m standing up to oppose this new wave of legislation — wherever it emerges.”
But Cook is happy to do business in Saudi Arabia, communist China, and other repressive nations. The bitch Fiorina is right, Cook is acting like a hypocrite. But of course, under her horrid reign at HP, she didn’t waste a second thinking about human rights, and operated in oppressive nations too.
Apparently there are two kinds of CEOs in the world — those who are hypocrites and those who are just immoral/exploitive by nature. Cook would only be the lesser of two evils if he did what he claimed he would do. But obviously he doesn’t care about human rights, just his LGBT crusade. In that case, he needs to resign and stop using Apple resources to engage in politics.
Very true.
You comment was not a put down or stupid trolldude. Congratulations! Now we just have to work on getting more relevance and then possibly even make a point.
Keep eating my ass. It feels good, bitch.
So, what Carly is saying is that the Conservatives and Christians of Indiana are equivalent to the narrow-minded, ignorant, and oppressive cultures of China and Saudia Arabia. Okay, got it.
Selling sexual predilections is departing from Apple’s core business of making and selling great products.
Carly who? Oh, you mean the corporate CEO also-ran, about to be presidential candidate also-ran?
last I looked, Indiana was inside the U.S. And a political statement from AAPL can actually carry some weight.
But why should Cook’s opinion carry any more weight than the votes of any citizen? Does Cook live in Indiana?
Some people say that Cook shouldn’t be called out as a hypocrite for his public stand about the law of a state in which he is not a resident, while not bothering to do a thing publicly or privately about Apple’s business in nations where serious human rights violations are acceptable under law.
I think the hypocrisy should be obvious. Apple is multinational, and if Cook wants it to be a moral policeman, then it needs to attend to the serious humanitarian issues of the world.
If, on the other hand, Cook is just speaking for himself, then why should anybody in Indiana even bothering to listen to what an ex-Alabaman/current Californian has to say?
I’m all for freedom of speech, and i am in no way condeming the spirit of Cook’s message. The problem is, he needs to be consistent and choose to either do it on his own time or allocate the resources within Apple to fix the real human issues of the planet. How about starting off by having Apple cease business with known human rights violators?
I appreciate your argument, but I disagree. Why on earth should any country in the world listen to America. They are sovereign nations with their own laws cultures and customs. Here’s a case where America should lead by example, so fixing things at home is a much better way to handle it.. On the other hand, Indiana is pretty close to home. It’s not a matter of hypocrisy at all.
Then why is Apple building its products in a communist nation that restricts human rights? Why is Apple selling products in theocratic nations that practice open discrimination against women, minorities, and gays? Cook could at least try to be consistent. If he’s going to go to the WaPo to tell Americans that he thinks certain legislation is unjust, why can’t he act against the MUCH more unjust stuff happening elsewhere that Apple operates?
They are foreign countries. He is a foreigner in these countries. He is a citizen of the US.
She is right. Tim is a hypocrite. Enough said.
No Carly! Its Your desperation and ignorance that is pathetic !
Saudi Arabia’s treatment of women does not justify gay-bashing in Indiana. Fiorini is a fool.
Tim Cook, the individual, is a tax-paying, voting-eligible American opposing something that was done in America. Does it help that he’s the CEO of Apple? Of course. It’s one reason Indiana decided to “modify” their vote-trawling measure.
But he cannot order the publicly-owned corporation Apple to withdraw from other countries that he may personally disagree with. Besides, it would be a waste of time for Cook to tell other countries what to do, and would be extremely stupid to damage Apple, the biggest American company, by doing so.
There’s a huge difference in acting as an American and as the US Secretary of State. He’s a former and not a latter.
I’ve seen Fiorina on political discussions on TV, and she does not have an original thought in her body, one of those oppose-everything-Democratic parrots. You know the type – you know what she’s going to say almost word-for-word long before she opens her mouth.
So I suppose we can assume that Fiorina and her ilk are natural allies of the Saudis, ISIS etc. since they oppose gays?