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Home > Blogtronics > Politics and Macs Don't Mix
  View all posts by: Kris Hookerman | View all posts in category: Blogtronics Politics is a nasty business. In today's venomous environment, it seems that no one listens with an open mind to opposing views. I am just as guilty of that as the next person. I have certain preconceived opinions and will shape my blogs to fit those views. Perhaps a small Mac site that specializes in Apple history is not the proper forum for this, but Apple's top leadership has aligned itself with a political agenda that I find most distasteful. A lot of people feel the same way. That is why I write about these issues. Over the past few months, I have written opinion articles attacking the Mac liberals, Greenpeace and the environmental extremists, the teacher unions, and Wal-Mart Watch. I can tell you that the reaction has been rather dramatic and somewhat ugly. I can understand why. I hit them all pretty hard, took no prisoners, and walked away with a smile on my face. These are the kind of articles that you won't see linked on any respectable Mac site because Macs and politics don't mix.
Personally, I dislike Republicans just as much as I dislike Democrats. Republicans talk a good game, but they never really do anything except ceaselessly preach to Americans about moral values. Frankly, it bores me. Democrats are fundamentally corrupt and philosophically bankrupt. They would say anything to get elected and their political agenda is both unworkable and just plain silly. The Hookerman philosophy is simple. Let me demonstrate it with a game of word association. You might want to grab a pen and paper to write these jewels of wisdom down. I will write a group of words and then beside the group write the equivalent word or phrase that instantly materializes in my impeccable mind.
Alright, enough of that. I think you get the point. I would like to take a moment to get something off my chest so that I can ease my troubled mind. When you write a hilariously provocative, acidly satirical article like, "Steve Jobs Appeases Environmental Wackos," you are guaranteed to instantly infuriate about 50% of your readers. It is kind of funny, but it gets one to thinking. Surely there is an argument to be made counter to my brilliant prose. Surely there is an environmentalist or a liberal who can lay it down just as thick and provoke my 50% audience to reel with the same kind of emotion. If you think you have what it takes, bring it on. I dare you. Write a finely crafted opinion piece about why you think Al Gore is the right man to sit on Apple's Board of Directors or why Greenpeace is a respectable, upstanding, civically minded organization. Vectronic's will post it and promote it just like the site does with all its authors. What will Vectronic's give you for doing this? The same thing it gives me...nothing but the satisfaction of getting your opinion heard. None of our writers get paid anything and we do this because it is fun. We're geeks. Frankly, I don't think there is anyone out there who can give credence to Greenpeace or their benefactor, crazy Al. Think you can prove me wrong? Email your article to vectronic@mac.com.
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5/10/2009 
First, did you really mean to describe OS X as the "pentacle of man's genius?" Were you searching for the word "pinnacle," or is this some sort of conservative code, comparing the Macintosh operating system to a pentagram-inscribed talisman?
Second, when you say "replacing the Tennessee millionaire [Al Gore] with the lovable little fuzz ball [Limbaugh], you do realize that Rush has a five-year radio contract worth more than a quarter-BILLION dollars (and that he's neither lovable nor little), right?
Third, you call Democrats "fundamentally corrupt," yet that term much more closely describes the Republican Party. Everyone knows about the real Party of Corruption now, thanks to the convictions of Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney, Jack Abramoff, Michael Scanlon, J. Steven Griles, James Tobin, David Safavian, Claude Allen, Brian J. Doyle, and Scooter Libby, and the indictments of Dusty Foggo and Tom Delay. Not to mention those under investigation (but not yet indicted) like Representatives John Doolittle, Tom Feeney, and Mark Foley.
Who can you point to as an example of Democratic corruption besides Rep. WIlliam Jefferson? At least when he was under investigation, Nancy Pelosi stripped him of nearly all of his committee assignments. When Tom DeLay was under investigation, the Republican-controlled congress shut down the ethics committee and blocked the formation of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to protect him. THAT's corruption at its core.
As for equating Al Gore with "hypocrisy," that just shows that you're either ill-informed or (more likely) willfully ignorant. For your readers' sake, here's an AP article about how Gore is completing a renovation project on his Tennessee home that includes solar panels, a geothermal system, and rainwater collection for irrigation. The renovations are five years in the making, and there were many hurdles along the way, including a zoning law (recently changed, thanks to Gore) that prohibited solar panels:
... topnews.ap ... /dynamic/sto ries/G/GORE_TENNESSEE_HOME?SITE=AP& amp;SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAU LT
Want to know what I think is hypocritical? (Well, I'll tell you anyway.) Rush Limbaugh rails against the ACLU on a daily basis, and uses their name as an epithet, yet he seems to have no problem with them filing an amicus brief on his behalf, fighting for his right to medical privacy. THAT'S hyprocrisy. Or when drug-addicted Rush said "When you strip it all away, Jerry Garcia destroyed his life on drugs. And yet he's being honored, like some godlike figure. Our priorities are out of whack, folks." Rush himself wants nothing more than that same honor, and makes frequent mention of his "talent on loan from God." THAT'S hyprocrisy.