31 comments

Better if you never mentioned it in the first place.

You remove offensive comments; how about an entire post?

imajoebob, on March 24th, 2008 at 11:46 am

Probably the same effect that Howard Dean would have on his iPhone, if he has one. In other words, not much. I mean, really?

I think it’s fantastic that the balance of Apple’s appeal is finally moving out of the left hand side of the political spectrum. It used to be that I was almost the only Republican I knew that had a Mac, and that if I wanted to talk Apple with someone, I’d usually have to put up with some left-craziness. Now, that’s not the case; or at least, not nearly as much.

If there’s one thing I look forward to the end of GWB’s presidency for, it’s because it’ll be less likely that politics will be injected into tech blogs. I’m sure it’ll still happen, but perhaps not as much.

Jason Holliston, on March 24th, 2008 at 11:51 am

awww, he thinks he has a shred of coolness now. Karl, honey, you’ll never be cool.

Renee, on March 24th, 2008 at 12:33 pm

You know, the whole Karl Rove = Evil thing is SOOOO mid-decade.

I personally have nothing against a blogger putting his/her politics into the blog…it is a BLOG after all…but snarky, unoriginal political posts are the equivalent of making a post built around your vacation slides. Yawn.

ps, on March 24th, 2008 at 1:31 pm

Isn’t there some kind of Minimum Coolness Factor in the System Requirements?

Mark Crummett, on March 24th, 2008 at 4:03 pm

If I want political commentary, I’ll read other sites. I come here for a break from politics. Why make this post? Please explain, as I really like your blog and don’t want to ignore it.

Lamar, on March 24th, 2008 at 5:54 pm

What is it with you Demmies you have to spew your hate on a freaking site some of us visit for INFORMATION?!?!?

Watching all the hits macdailynews.com garnered with the same story?

Pathetic.

Conservatives like things simple and work. Why wouldn’t they like Apple products? In fact, the way Vista babysits and cautions users with almost every click, you’d think it’d be the preferred OS for liberal Demmies (democrat + commies).

Get a life.

Or a brain.

Do something with yourself except being obnoxious.

mk smith, on March 24th, 2008 at 6:22 pm

mk smith. Pot, meet kettle…

Matt C, on March 24th, 2008 at 10:16 pm

Thank you for the commentary, an otherwise heave-inducing reaction was, quite literally, turned into a pleasant surprise.

tom, on March 25th, 2008 at 12:20 am

It’s a plus. I really resisted Mac’s at first simply because I didn’t want to be identified as some sort of self-hating global warming nutcase. It remains to be seen if Apple’s surge into mainstream America can be as effective as our own surge in the Iraq war.

Sam, on March 25th, 2008 at 5:09 am

Go Karl!

Michael, on March 25th, 2008 at 7:01 am

Nice post. As for Rove, well even evil people need to use good tech devices I guess. Those of you who have been posting whining about Pete’s political leanings in this post need to get over yourselves. Perhaps you wouldn’t be so sensitive had you not voted twice for a guy who is perhaps the worst President in the history of the country. Disliking Bush has nothing to do with partisanship, it has everything to do with common sense and a desire to see things work competently.

Who knows, maybe if Rove had gotten a Mac earlier they might have done a better job.

Eric, on March 25th, 2008 at 7:55 am

Woah there all you hate spammers.

This is obviously a very politically charged topic. I propose that we come together around something we can all agree on.

That Karl Rove is the Anti-Christ.

See, doesn’t that feel good?

Church of Apple, on March 25th, 2008 at 9:13 am

Feels great, Church!

Seriously, I can’t stand Rove to save my life, but hey - at the very least we can talk about our mutual love for Apple products!

I can see it now…Apple is the thing that can unite the country! Bridging the political divide with iPod Touches and MacBook Pros! An iMac in every congressional office and an iPod for every legislator!

phoenix, on March 25th, 2008 at 9:38 am

I think you may be on to something there, Phoenix.

Church of Apple, on March 25th, 2008 at 9:41 am

Wow. Think there’s much division in this country right now? Anyway, I listen to several of the TWiT podcasts (Macbreak Weekly, for example), and pretty much every person on them — usually from the Bay Area — are solidly democrat. Fantastic. Good for them. Once in a long while they make a little snipe on the President or Rove or something like that, but they almost cut it off really, really quick, and make a note that it’s off topic, and not what the podcast is about. If that’s their interest, they would produce a political podcast for their forum. Perhaps some of them do; I don’t know.

That’s all I’m saying. Damn, guys (read: Mk Smith), keep it light and intelligent. I’ve seen conservatives do the same thing before (admittedly not as much, but I don’t read a lot of PC blogs).

Jason Holliston, on March 25th, 2008 at 10:27 am

[...] headline of the blog cult of mac sums it up. Karl Rove Loves his iPhone and MacBook Air. EWWW!. The blogger, Pete Mortensen sums up his article with the words Rove had no comment on what effect, [...]

Geek Heretic » Red Computer Blue Computer Part Two, on March 25th, 2008 at 12:30 pm

Funny, I love my iPhone, and I’m living with a woman Karl Rove used to date.

Allan, on March 25th, 2008 at 4:40 pm

I used to work for Karl for a very short time before 9/11/01. I’m not surprised he’s gone Mac. He’s a really upbeat guy and has a great sense of humor. He’s not affraid to have a laugh at his own expense. I remember he had Blackberry back then before everyone in DC had one so I’m not surprised he’s picked up the latest and greatest thing.

Apple products rock. You don’t have to be a democrat to get that.

Dan, on March 26th, 2008 at 9:22 am

I am a Mac owning conservative. Politics and ‘puters don’t mix. I could care less if Karl Rove uses Mr. Clean vs. Scrubbing Bubble.

NK, on March 26th, 2008 at 9:53 am

MC Rove in da house!

Shag Finger, on March 26th, 2008 at 10:31 am

Dan -

It appears that in the time you worked with Rove you missed his true essence: An amoral thug who never hesitated to do anything, no matter how dishonest, vile, or destructive to achieve his end. Were it not for Rove’s machinations there would likely be 7,000 Americans who were not sacrificed for venal political and personal fortune.

I’ll bet he has a great laugh at his own expense about the Sept 11 and Bush War dead before he goes to bed every night. What a sense of humor.

imajoebob, on March 26th, 2008 at 1:32 pm

Anyone who really knows Karl at all would know that he has been a Mac guy way before most of you could probably reach the keyboard to spew your rhetoric. To somehow suggest that 1) he is new to the Mac world, and 2) that there is some kind of requirement for being “ok” to use Mac products is short-sighted to say the least. People like imajoebob look at people they don’t really even know and surmise that they can sum up one person’s career and motives in one pithy paragraph. History will be the judge, of both people like Karl and people like imajoebob. Perhaps putting some of that negative energy into a positive direction, telling people what you are for rather than complaining about what you are against, would result in the kind of “change” politicians today find so easy to try and sell us. Calling someone you have never met or known “evil” is so kindergarten it is sad. I’m only ready for the end of the current administration to see what people will find to complain about next!

txmac, on March 26th, 2008 at 2:11 pm

imajoebob, amen to that. the fact that he is likes apple products is moot. that fact that he is a lying, cheating bastard is what is really important here. there is no getting around that fact, and anyone who says otherwise is blinding themselves to the truth.

the philosopher king, on March 26th, 2008 at 2:41 pm

I like this website for Mac news. Why ruin it by going political?

John, on March 26th, 2008 at 5:36 pm

I’m so sick of people acting like this war is some kind of a scheme to make 25 people money at the expense of the world. It’s a war. Wars are what happen when one group of people pushes some other groups’ buttons a little too much.

Here’s the synopsis:

In this case, some Arab terrorists (I know they weren’t Iraqi) flew planes into buildings in NY. They had financing from many nations, ties to many nations, but no specific nation to call home. They latched on to Islamo-fascist dictatorships wherever they could for basic support, and the biggest of the heavy hitters on the Islamic Dicatator team was Sadaam Hussein - who just so happened to be in breach of 22 UN resolutions, and an open advocate of his right to own (and use) chemical and biological weapons. Because Sadaam was in breach of these UN resolutions, the US had a legal OBLIGATION to arrest him. It was merely icing on the cake that he was also the most powerful Islamic Dictator - and demonstrably the most ardent anti-American figurehead of the Middle East. Sadaam signed his own walking papers when he disallowed UN weapons inspectors into his country. He broke international law, and was LEGALLY invaded by US and Coalition forces who chose to enforce that law when it became obvious that Sadaam was going to do everythign in his power to hurt our efforts in our search for the band of terrorists we have come to know as Al Queda.

Yes there were no bid contracts, (but can anyone name a Halliburton competitor that could have competed?), yes there is oil interest at stake, and yes we have stirred up a hornet’s nest of uprisings. But the fact remains: This war is necessary and it is the fight that will define our generation.

And don’t act like the US troops are victims either. We have a 100% volunteer military of American men and women who have the courage and conviction to put their personal lives on hold and risk EVERYTHING to tell the world that the United States will not be bullied by international law-breakers and fascist dictators.

For the record, I am an independent libertarian and I have been to Iraq 6 times just to experience the region for a contemporary written account I have been working on. Today there are outdoor diners where their used to be imperial courtyards in Baghdad. It’s amazing!

been to Iraq, on March 26th, 2008 at 9:16 pm

It funny how you must think that only Liberals should have Apple products. I do not see STEVE JOBS not taking conservatives money….you bunch of hypocrites. I bet you if you had a product to sell and would make you a nice chunk of change you would sell it to aliens if you could. Oh wait illegal aliens might buy apple products too.

lostonline, on March 27th, 2008 at 9:20 pm

Didn’t know where to submit articles,
but FYI:

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/03/28/mac-hacked-two-minutes-flat

lukeMV, on March 28th, 2008 at 4:19 am

lukeMV - HA HA HA HA HA! Thanks for lightening the mood. I haven’t seen a write-up about these comedy “competitions” in a long time. He he he. They’re side splitting funny.

After all the heavy duty political crap we’ve been posting this is just the thing to give us all a much needed laugh.

God, I love these OS X hacking contests. They’re the computing world equivalent of professional wrestling.

imajoebob, on March 29th, 2008 at 10:01 am

[...] for those of you who think that only liberal assholes own Macs…wrong. In your face, Mac haters. Oh, and in your face, asshole liberal [...]

Something of an Aside « Ὁι Λόγοι, on April 16th, 2008 at 10:19 am

Nice post, not because I have any sympathy for that slug karl rove, but because it was funny to see how he thought that he could be cool.. So did he think that we would all just forget about the scandals that surround him? Oh yeah, and rush limbaugh is a big fat idiot- still. The righ-wing will never be cool or progressive. How can they be? it’s everything they are against. =] What’s next, an interview with oliver north saying how much he likes his iPod? Stop trying to be ‘cool’, you’re never going to be accepted.

Jerry Atricks, on May 20th, 2008 at 8:01 am