12/06/2005
Ford Working for the Bush White House
John over at AmericaBlog is doing a great job digging up dirt on the goings-on behind Ford Motor Company's recent decision to pull ads from gay publications due to pressure from the religious right.
The latest revelation is that the two Ford execs who negotiated the deal with the anti-gay groups, Ziad Ojakli and David Leitch, are former senior officials in the Bush White House. One of those execs is having strategy meetings out of his Ford office in support of Bush's far-right court nominees.
From WardsAuto.com:
In a Nov. 29 meeting at AFA headquarters in Tupelo, MS, David Leitch, general counsel and vice president for Ford, and Ziad Ojakli, group vice president-Corporate Affairs, along with Dallas-area Ford dealer Jerry Reynolds, hammered out a deal.“We are ending the boycott of Ford,” said Donald E. Wildmon, Chairman of AFA. “While we still have a few differences with Ford, we feel that our concerns are being addressed in good faith and will continue to be addressed in the future.”
A Ford spokesman says the two parties had a “broad discussion” and deferred to the AFA to announce the reconciliation details.
AmericaBlog has some contact info for Ojakli. What say we give him a call?
Posted 3:04 PM EST by Andy Towle in Current Affairs | Permalink
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Would this be the same Americablog that brought us the Jeff Gannon 'scandal'(of which even the far-left Nation said the only scandal was that liberal gays now embraced smearing & outing anyone they disagreed with)?
Which 'far-right' nominees is he referring to & why are they 'far-right'? Ford is a private company & can advertise where it wants, altho I predict this story - if true - will be short-lived because Ford's investors are in the business of making money, & not kissing off millions of potential gay buyers. The AFA boycott is an empty threat because at the end of the day, people buy the best deal, & aren't going to pay more because AFA tells them to.
Posted by: beautifulatrocities | Dec 6, 2005 3:43:04 PM
Do not forget that Ford is a miltinational company operating in countries that have legalized same sex marriage such as Canada,Spain,Belgium, and the Netherlands also as of this month Britian (Civil Partnerships) could we not make these subsidiaries squirm since it obviously is against our laws..........Ford Canada and Ford Europe could make it known to Dearborn that it's distasteful to our societies (ie consumers) of the shifty stance they are taking. www.fordcanada.ca email them through another wing of the company!
Posted by: Darrell | Dec 6, 2005 3:46:06 PM
only poor ugly tards drive Fords.
VIVE LE WEAVE!
Posted by: LACEY UNDERALL | Dec 6, 2005 3:52:44 PM
Wait. A hooker in the White House isn't a scandal? When did I go through the looking glass?
Posted by: chrisafer | Dec 6, 2005 4:17:26 PM
Grow up. It's only a scandal if you believe the paranoid fantasy that the devil Rove put him there. Unless of course you're arguing that the govt should investigate the sex lives of all journalists - a curious position on a liberal blog
Posted by: beautifulatrocities | Dec 6, 2005 4:59:24 PM
Ford is a publicly traded company. It is not a private company.
Posted by: busytimmy | Dec 6, 2005 5:08:54 PM
Fords are totally ugly, unless you're talking 1960s era Mustangs... those are hot.
Regardless, I will not purchase a car manufactured by Ford... not as long as this continues. You'll notice that the man who brokered this deal with the AFA is fresh from the Bush/Republican leadership...
Stinky.
Posted by: Brian | Dec 6, 2005 7:41:19 PM
>>some contact info for Ojakli
Mr. Ziad Ojakli
3031 Beechwood Lane
Falls Church, VA 22042
There's plenty of available information about this guy, if you're searching for a little insight. Ojakli isn't a hard man to find, in any sense of the word, but if you're on a witch hunt, I doubt this is the man you're after.
He's been behind some of Ford's most charitable efforts, including recognizing the achievements and contributions of African Americans, Saving wild mustangs, and promoting healthcare reforms that would give better access to healthcare for people with limited financial resources.
I just don't see anything in this guy's history to indicate he's "anti" anybody. That doesn't mean he didn't make a bad choice, if he was the one that decided to pull the adverts from Gay publications. It's just that I can't see him as the kind of guy who would risk his reputation by intentionally doing something so obviously anti-Gay.
Posted by: Jay Croce | Dec 6, 2005 8:30:03 PM
Oh dear. The Jews for Hitler have arrived.
Posted by: Nuflux | Dec 6, 2005 9:46:56 PM
I was supposed to sign papers for a new Ford Focus tomorrow. Guess I'll be car-shopping, instead. Ford DOES suck.
Posted by: zinc alloy | Dec 7, 2005 12:35:14 AM
Let the boycott begin. Ford wants to have its cake and eat it too. They appear to be a gay-friendly corporation by recognizing certain rights for its workers, but then they choose to go in league with the bashers. Screw them. Their cars are crap anyway. Let's see how well they can function without the gay dollar.
Posted by: Bill | Dec 7, 2005 7:44:33 AM
A Ford Focus???
Whoa! Dude! At least buy the Ford Probe.. :)
The first car/vibrator hyrbid..
Hehe (sorry, couldn't resist)
Posted by: Darren | Dec 7, 2005 9:30:18 AM
I don't see where the claim of the headline is ever proven, "Ford Working for the Bush White House."
Posted by: huh@huh.com | Dec 7, 2005 11:44:20 AM
I clicked the link Andy, and called and emailed everyone on the lists provided. Starting to get some responses, this is what Jaguar had to say...
Thank you for contacting Jaguar Cars. We were sorry to learn of your dissatisfaction regarding our projected advertising plans.
Jaguar has decided not to advertise in gay publications in 2006. The decision was taken entirely for business reasons, and reflects a sharpening of our media focus and pressure on our marketing budgets. We have chosen to work with much fewer print title partners across the board next year. For instance, Jaguar will cut the general market print titles it uses from 56 in 2005 to 34 in 2006 (equivalent to a reduction of 40%) and it will reduce automotive enthusiast titles by 25%. Obviously, marketing plans for future years beyond 2006 have not been determined.
Jaguar values diversity among all of our constituents and pride ourselves on strong and clear values – respect for our customers, communities, employees, suppliers and dealers; acceptance of our differences; inclusion of different people with different perspectives; and integrity to always do the right thing. We value all people – regardless of their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and cultural or physical differences. This is a strong commitment we intend to carry forward with no exception.
We can only hope that, perhaps in the future, you will give us a chance to restore your confidence in Jaguar.
Sincerely,
Heather Baez
Jaguar Cars
If you have any questions or require additional information, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-4-JAGUAR, option 9, or by e-mail.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005 5:10 AM
Subject : Customer Relationship Center
Other
So, Ford embraces anti-gay bigotry. And the two Ford execs who negotiated the anti-gay secret deal with the gay-hating extremist groups, Ziad Ojakli and David Leitch, are actually former top officials in the Bush White House. And now we find out, below, that one of those same top Bush/Ford officials is also running secret meetings out of Ford's own offices in support of Bush's far-right Supreme Court nominees.
Does any of this concern you folks at Jaguar? It definitely concerns me!
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Posted by: perfectlyfrank | Dec 9, 2005 4:11:12 AM
I've been a loyal Ford buyer for some time. Their cars are reliable and American built. I was planning on buying the new Zephyr....but not now.
Screw them.
Posted by: 207guy | Dec 9, 2005 7:27:21 PM
"And now we find out, below, that one of those same top Bush/Ford officials is also running secret meetings out of Ford's own offices in support of Bush's far-right Supreme Court nominees."
Yep... stacking the Supremes with five of my boys allows me to continue to have first crack at those young choir boys and my handlers and the government can do as they please... i am happy! i am also infallible!
Posted by: HisHolynessDPope | Dec 10, 2005 1:03:12 AM