Okay, this has got to be among the silliest things I've ever heard: Certain winguts have been accusing Google of treason (seriously!) because of Sputnik.
Google changes their logo on their main page to mark certain holidays (usually American) and certain other events. One of those other events was the 50th anniversary of Sputnik. The winguts launched themselves into space over this for two reasons: First, they saw it as somehow glorifying a totalitarian regime and Cold War enemy (the Soviet Union).
But the main reason is that Google hasn't altered its logo for US Veterans' Day or US Memorial Day. A writer at Wingnut Daily wrote, "When they ignore Veterans Day and Memorial Day, I think they're telling us something about the way they view America.”
Give me a friggin' break! Has it not occurred to these nutters that Google is a global service, accessed from pretty much everywhere, so changing the logo for strictly American holidays, no matter how noble, might be a tad inappropriate? Despite what the wingnuts seem to believe, America is not the world.
Google said that they didn't commemorate those days because they wanted to be respectful. After all, their logo changes are lighthearted fun, which is a bit hard to translate to a solemn observance. That's not good enough for the right wingers, who have suggested possible logos for those days. I looked at them, and they're all purely American, sometimes to the point of jingoism.
Clearly their real complaint is that Google tends to support more centrist politics, which drives the right wing insane (to them, of course, anyone to the left of Atilla the Hun is a leftwing extremist). I get their politics, and I understand why they need to overstate their case in extremist terms; it's their most-used tactic. But to me they just sound spoiled, whiney and downright silly. To me, they're nothing but right whingers.
Update 13/10/07: Last night I endured an attack on Google on the Fox "News" Channel. Their morning (US) programme was reporting that Google was an extremist leftwing entity because it refused an ad from a Republican Senator attacking MoveOn.org. Fox "News" didn't show the rejected ad so I could read it, but I bet it was an attack ad designed to raise money for the GOP and the Senator, who claims that MoveOn has targeted that race. I tell you, those wingnuts are absolutely obsessed with Google! They really, really need a hobby.
2 comments:
My goodness can't that actually concern themselves with things that really and truly matter in the world.
But then again what can you expect from knuckle walkers.
I surprised they can surf the net.
The far right sees itself as the victim of a vast leftwing conspiracy that always seeks to destroy Truth, Justice and the American Way (despite the fact the wingnuts have little knowledge of, nor respect for, any of those three things). So to them, every computer byte hides a Marxist or terrorist or both, and they spend their time looking for evidence, like people who search for skulls on ice cubes in alcohol ads. So, no, they can't concern themselves with anything that's really important. There are too many ice cubes to look at before they melt away.
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