When PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel took the stage at the RNC last week, one might have expected him to speak only about the great innovative spirit that is allowed to blossom into new products, services and creations when government steps out of the way.
Instead, this self-proclaimed homosexual activist chose to flush his credibility down the toilet with a "throw away" line that was deliberately spoken in order to demean the concerns of moms and dads everywhere:
“When I was a kid, the great debate was about how to defeat the Soviet Union. And we won,” he recalled. “Now we are told that the great debate is about who gets to use which bathroom. This is a distraction from our real problems. Who cares?”
Who cares about the bathroom debate? You do, Mr. Thiel. And that stench America smells is your hypocrisy.
What Mr. Thiel did not tell the faithful gathered in Cleveland is that he is involved in targeting a Republican governor in North Carolina who is up for reelection this fall. What he did not reveal at the RNC and to the delegates from North Carolina is that his company, PayPal, is boycotting their state. Why? It's all about the bathroom debate. You know, the one Mr. Thiel doesn't care about.
The very brave and principled Governor Pat McCrory dared to protect the rights of business owners in Charlotte who were being forced - forced - by their local politicians to allow men in ladies' bathrooms; boys into girls' restrooms. As governor, he also boldly declared that public schools would continue to keep boys out of the girls bathrooms and showers - like we have always done in America.
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That's when companies like PayPal showed that they very much care about the bathroom debate: as part of a terrorizing effort to punish the people of North Carolina, PayPal announced they have cancelled their plans to build a global operations center in the state. The 400 jobs the center would create are being moved out of North Carolina as part of a mass effort to unseat Governor McCrory, financially punishing the people of North Carolina in the process. While simultaneously punishing US citizens for supposedly "discriminatory" policies, PayPal is just fine continuing to operate offices in countries like Saudi Arabia where the law allows homosexuals to be stoned to death. Let me clear: PayPal refuses do business in a state where boys are prohibited from using girls' locker rooms, but has no problem making big bucks in Muslim countries that murder people for their sexuality. And the RNC featured a person who made a not-so-veiled attack against the good governor. Let that soak in a while.
Republican Governor McCrory has a big target on his back, with millions of dollars are pouring into the state to help defeat him this fall; and Mr Thiel is aiming his political guns squarely on the bullseye. Yet, this political assassin of a Republican governor took a prime time speaking slot at the Republican National Convention, all the while pretending like he doesn't care about the very fight he is leading. Do you smell the stench?
This column has been edited.
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