Recluse reflections

Recluse reflections: Microsoft employees preparing letter to Gates/Ballmer?
Notes on spaces seen through windows

"But now he knows these hills, that is to say he knows them better, and if ever again he sees them from afar it will be I think with other eyes, and not only that but the within, all that inner space one never sees, the brain and heart and other caverns where thought and feeling dance their sabbath, all this too quite differently disposed."
-- Samuel Beckett

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Robin Evans
Seattle

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Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Microsoft employees preparing letter to Gates/Ballmer?

Raw Story reports that a group of Microsoft employees are preparing a letter to firm's leaders asking for clarification on diversity policies.

If true, this is yet another indication that the Redmond giant's back-pedaling could have long-term economic and diversity consequences for the firm.

The question is probably even more pressing now that has discovered and Microsoft was forced to confirm that noted foreign affairs expert Ralph Reed is still being paid as a consultant to Microsoft. What's that? You say you didn't know that Reed is a foreign affairs expert. Apparently Microsoft thinks he is, because company spokesperson Mark Murray insisted to the P-I that Reed's consulting company is paid to advise the company on "trade and competition issues" and hasn't been asked to advise on social issues.

That revelation might might prompt stockholders to ask if Microsoft is really spending its money wisely, except that most of them would understand that Microsoft isn't really expecting advice from Reed.

The P-I summarizes Reed's resume:

Reed, who got his start in politics by running the Christian Coalition for Robertson and who had a senior role in President Bush's 2004 campaign, is a leading figure in the social conservative movement that spearheaded opposition to gay marriage, stem cell research, abortion, gambling and other issues.

Although he may be lacking any apparent expertise in "trade and competition issues," Reed certainly does not lack friends in high places -- friends like the ethically-challenged House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, and the President himself.

The P-I notes that Microsoft has been generous to other special friend of DeLay:

In the most recent lobbying disclosure on file, Microsoft reported spending $5.4 million on lobbying in the first six months of 2004.

Nor is Reed the first prominent Republican hired by the company. Records show that Microsoft paid Grover Norquist $60,000 in 1999. Norquist is founder of Americans For Tax Reform, an influential conservative group that has close ties with the White House and with Republican leaders in Congress.

The company also hired Barbour, Griffin & Rogers at a cost of $180,000. One of the firm's principals, Haley Barbour, is the former head of the Republican National Committee who is now governor of Mississippi.

The company still apparently feels it was unfairly targeted during the Clinton administration (when it didn't spend much on lobbying) for its monopolistic practices. Now it attempts to buy influence with today's power-brokers. But can a company that buys "friends" like this and that also seeks to gain the respect of an intolerant minority among its employee ranks really expect to retain a reputation for diversity?

Doubtful.

P-I columnist Robert L. Jamieson explains it this way:

What is most troubling here is Reed's bedside relationship with Microsoft around the same time the company backtracked suddenly from gay rights legislation it had embraced just a year ago.

From the outside, it appears Microsoft was influenced by Reed -- a man who has President Bush's ear, has a following of millions of conservative Christians who think homosexuality is a sin, and who pushes the evangelical agenda every chance he gets.

Jamieson draws this conclusion: "When Microsoft faced the question of the gay rights bill it let the right hand of God draw the line in the sand in the wrong place."

posted by WebWrangler | 5:02 PM | Link | 0 comments

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