Selfish Hedonist

Well, I'm sure all of you are DYING to know what I think about the whole Jet Blue/YearlyKos/Bill O'Reilly craziness, so take a gander at the letter I sent them yesterday:

Dear Jet Blue:

I am writing to express my disappointment in your company for demanding the removal of your logo indicating sponsorship of the 2007 Yearly Kos convention in Chicago. As a Chicagoan and frequent traveller (and someone who had heard great things about Jet Blue), I will now very likely not be flying your airline in the foreseeable future.

I'm particularly distressed because it appears that your decision was based not on facts but on misinformation and fear. As a consumer of both traditional and new media, I have to say that I have not seen anything on dailykos.com (which, by the way, is only tangentially associated with Yearly Kos) that is nearly as offensive as comments I've heard repeatedly on Fox News. As a gay man, progressive, and person of color, I find much on Fox News to be galling. From mocking the movie "Brokeback Mountain" on Fox & Friends to Sean Hannity smearing the pastor of Barack Obama's church as a "black separatist," to their laugh-out-loud slogan "fair and balanced," I find it incredible that you have no problems continuing advertising with this de facto branch of the right wing of the Republican Party, but are afraid to have your corporate name identified with an organization and event as generally positive as Yearly Kos.

I know controversy is anathema to the modern-day corporation. But ultimately, it is a test of corporate values. I'm afraid to say that, in this instance, Jet Blue seems to have failed its test.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Kelley
Chicago, IL

Anyway, so hopefully next Friday I will be volunteering my time for the YK07 convention, although it's more money than I can afford to actually *attend* the thing!