It's comforting to know that the Ford Motor's Company's track record of making short-sighted decisions continues unbroken.
It's not bad enough that Ford repeatedly turns it back on engineering innovation, on fuel economy, on alternative fuel technology, on the environment, and, most recently, on its blue-collar workforce. No, now Ford is turning its back -- or perhaps giving the finger is a more apt metaphor -- to Gay America.
That's right: if you're gay, Ford doesn't want to sell cars to you. And that includes the Jags and the Range Rovers they make. The Advocate explains:
The antigay American Family Association claimed a cultural victory on Thursday and called off its threatened boycott of Ford Motor Co. On Friday, Ford spokesman Mike Moran confirmed to Advocate.com that the company will stop advertising its Jaguar and Land Rover brands in gay publications but insisted it was strictly a business decision.
[snip]
Threatened with a boycott by the Mississippi-based AFA, Ford and some of its dealers agreed to negotiate, and the AFA announced in June that it would hold off on its planned action. On Thursday, AFA announced the boycott would be canceled altogether.
"They've heard our concerns; they are acting on our concerns. We are pleased with where we are," said Donald Wildmon, AFA’s chairman, in a statement. "Obviously there are still some small matters of difference, as people will always have, but generally speaking, we are pleased with the results—and therefore the boycott that had been suspended [is] now officially ended."
Read the rest here.
Why is Ford making such a bone-headed choice (not only ethically bone-headed, but financially, too. I mean, alienating a group of disposable-income people who are extremely well-informed and well-organized is just bad business.)? They're doing it simply because they got scared by a boycott from a bunch of people who hate homosexuals for being...themselves.
Man, what the hell is wrong with people?!? I mean, REALLY. It's nearly 2006, and this is the USA, and we have organized groups to force companies to effectively gay-bash?! How many years has Will & Grace been on the air? How long ago did Ellen come out? Ellen shills for Amex, for crying out loud!
Ford is officially living in the dark ages. How many years before there is no more American auto industry? If this is the way they run their companies, I'd say way too many.
But it's not just Ford and this latest nonsense. It's the whole "gay marriage debate." Why is it a debate?! How many times do we have to hear about the "gay marriage debate" before we realize how similar it sounds to the "miscegenation issue" or the "integration debate" or the "slavery question"? Who in their right mind would debate in favor of violating someone's right to marry the person they love? The same kind of person who would argue against inter-race marriages and for segregation and slavery before it. In other words, someone who doesn't mind violating the human rights of another human being.
Ford and the AFA and all the homophobic and racist yahoos out there have got to get their heads around something: homosexuality is not going to go away. But Ford and the AFA are.