Google Hates the Troops!
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James Joyner | Monday, May 29, 2006 |
Jonah Goldberg: “It’s kind of sad. They change their homepage logo for all sorts of holidays and occasions. Just last week they paid tribute to Arthur Conan Doyle’s birthday. But Memorial Day doesn’t seem to rate anything at all.”
I must admit, it’s kind of odd. They have logos for such obscure events as “Persian New Year - March 21, 2006,” “Lunar New Year - January 29, 2006″ and even “Birthday of Percival Lowell - March 13, 2006.” But nothing for Veterans Day or Memorial Day. Not now, not ever. Going back to 1999, one finds such remarkable commeorations as ” Dragon Boat Festival, China- June 15, 2002″ and “On November 15th, Shichi-go-san is celebrated in Japan.”
My guess is this has to do with the whimsical nature of the logos or perhaps some strange political correctness rather than any enmity toward fallen soldiers. Indeed, unlike a commenter at Kevin Drum’s site, I’m not sure failure to mention Memorial Day is a sign of much of anything.
Still, Glenn Reynolds is on to something when he notes, “It’s not a huge deal, but judging from my email it seems to be the last straw for a lot of people. As I warned earlier, Google seems to be engaged in a Dell-like squandering of its goodwill, which strikes me as very unwise given that goodwill is its biggest asset, really.” From a customer goodwill standpoint, companies who commemorate Bastille Day and Ray Charles’ birth might consider a token homage to America’s heroes now and again.
(In Google’s defense, they do have an Independence Day logo for every 4th of July since they started operations.)
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia.
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Politcal opinion, when exposed in a commercial venue is a dangerous thing to reveal. All those who think google is wrong, should not use their product, and boycott those who do. See how those communists like it.
Oh, for Pete's sake�
You know, Google doodles are genrally whimsical and cute. I don't think Memorial Day lends itself to whimsical and cute.
I'd rather they left it alone, thanks.
Here go the PC police again! God forbid a company doesn't take EVERY single opportunity possible to honor the troops.
Sheesh. Get a grip. The whimsical logo explanation is most likely. Political correctness is annoying, no matter which side of the political spectrum it comes from.
Yea, talk about PC. I thought the only saving grace of the Daddy party was the abhorrence of the PC police. Instead, what I find is that they are every bit as bad and quite whiny to boot.
My lord, what a sniveling bunch of hurt children.
All assumptions aside...
Google is entitled to do whatever they want with their site.
However, it would be smart of them to devise some sort of not-so-cutesy, respectful logo to honor those who died making it possible for them to exist.
Persian New Year? WTF?
They don't "Do" Easter either
ask.com did something for Memorial Day on their site. Ever since I learned that Google was aiding the brutal Chinese government I have used ask.com. Give it a try. I see no difference between ask and google search wise.
Now our dead soldiers have nothing to live for.
Sounds more like a desperate flailing about for something to be pissed about than a real issue (like the War on Christmas).
And no one even considered the possibility of a technical glitch . . .
Barry: The same technical glitch seven years in a row?
Imagine Jonah blowing a gasket if Google had done a doodle showing the L replaced with a headstone.
But hey, when folks are desperate for a good old fashioned outrage nothing is really too trivial.
National Review Online often changes their own logo to mark major holidays.
They did not for Memorial Day.
Jonah should really talk to the other editors at NRO before he starts pointing fingers elsewhere, I think.
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