Tim Cook Attends Screening of Propaganda for Authoritarian’s Wife ⇥ rollingstone.com

Regular readers may have observed I have tried to be careful with how much I write about the rise of fascism in the United States. It is not because I do not notice or care — quite the opposite — but because I think the correct viewpoint for me is of an outside observer: what is most relevant about this administration from a Canadian perspective. And, also, because I assume many of you are already getting your fill of truly awful news. Some things are just so obviously bad that it seems almost perfunctory for me, of all people, to say anything. However.

Tessa Stuart, Rolling Stone:

On Saturday, the same day that an ICE agent shot and killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti as he was restrained, face first on ground in Minneapolis, a few dozen VIPs — including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Queen Rania of Jordan, and former heavy-weight champion Mike Tyson — gathered at the White House for a lavish party, complete with custom-made popcorn buckets and gift boxes emblazoned with the first lady’s portrait, to celebrate the forthcoming documentary Melania: Twenty Days to History.

Andy Jassy and Mike Hopkins, both of Amazon, were also in attendance, but that is partly explained by the company’s $40 million bid for the rights to film part of the brief period between the election and inauguration. $28 million of that went straight into Melania Trump’s bank account. Apparently, this is not a bribe or unduly coercive in any way. Imagine that.

Cook, though? He was there because he wanted to be. This was on the same day that, as Stuart writes, agents of the U.S. government murdered a second citizen in Minneapolis in three weeks, and then lied about it. Renée Good and Alex Pretti both embodied courage. Cook chose fealty and, ultimately, cowardice.