Jay Carney , the former Obama White House mechanical press escritoire , has worked as Amazon ’s senior frailty president of spherical corporal function at Amazon since 2015 . That factually makes him a paid voice for the company that controls aroundhalf of online commerceand which is owned by the world ’s richest homo , Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos . All of which is probably why multitude did n’t take very badly his“opinion ” articlein the New York Times on Monday that attempt to paint popular presidential candidate and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders as an Amazon athletic supporter .
Twitter substance abuser , include a number of tech journalist , pointed out that Carney based his op - erectile dysfunction on an anecdote of Sanders ’s support that framed Amazon ’s treatment of labor around the only issue on which the popular socialist and it array : voluntarily pay off workers $ 15 an hour so they can adequately flow themselves .
Sanders , they noted , usually criticizes Amazon on a nearly - changeless basis . That includesa letter from Sanders and other legislatorson Monday slamming its refusal to disclose injury rate , which the op - male erecticle dysfunction appear designed to cloak .
Photo: Larry French (Getty Images for Amazon)
Carney weirdly decided that , instead of accepting that induce a de facto atomic number 59 instruction in the Times might do with some critique , heneeded to respond directlyby cry about how below the belt he was being treated by Brooklyn media hipster , academics , and all the other trash and villainy on Twitter .
It ’s even funnier when you think about how this guy is getting pay millions as an Amazon SVP and just ca n’t log off.pic.twitter.com/5bfJ4vlKJz
— Ryan Mac 🙃 ( @RMac18)February 11 , 2020
Here ’s the relevant surgical incision from the beginning of the column in which Carney touts the Sanders anecdote without context and quotes the senator as tell , “ Please give thanks Jeff Bezos for me . ” He also propose that Amazon ’s decision to raise its minimum wage to $ 15 implies some broader apprehension between the two parties , despite their continued feud :
“ Hello , Jay ? ” The voice on the line was directly recognisable . “ It ’s Bernie Sanders . ”
Given that Senator Sanders is a frequent critic of Amazon , you might opine he was calling to complain about something my company had done — or was n’t doing . But on this twenty-four hours , in November 2018 , his message was different .
“ Listen , ” he severalize me , “ I just want to congratulate Amazon for raising your lower limit wage to $ 15 an hour . That ’s estimable for your actor . It ’s the ripe matter to do . Please thank Jeff Bezos for me . ”
To be certain , Senator Sanders ’s grasp for Amazon and our founder , Mr. Bezos , did n’t last long . He and Senator Elizabeth Warren , both candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination , regularly attack the society on the campaign trail , other prospect sometimes echo them . Still , his call at least recognize a reality often forgotten or ignored in debates about the persona a company like ours can and should play in the economic system .
The remainder of the clause is mostly generic talk point about Amazon . Carney take striving to outstrip the ship’s company from other intemperately criticized technical school firms , writing , “ We are not a societal media company , a news show collector or a assembly for political advocacy ( or disinformation ) , ” ( Amazonactually sells a lotof confederacy theorystuff , btw . ) He also touted that the half - million employees who got a wage increase , said Amazon contributes one C of 1000000000000 of dollars to the economy , and that it plans to enthrone $ 700 million in job training .
That ’s all bog - standard corporate electronic messaging , the form of stuff that might rankle some people or roll some eye butdoesn’t cross weird linesand ordinarily does n’t make people angry . It ’s the Times slide by off a public relations instruction as an newspaper column and Carney ’s attempt to earmark Sanders as somehow sharing Amazon ’s economic sight that subject him to some online sniping .
It ’s not a enigma that drum sander praised Amazon ’s determination to raise the minimum wage to $ 15 for all of its employee in 2018 , because Sanders was part of the reason they did it . In other 2018 , New Food Economyreleased datashowing that in four states , Amazon was among the top 20 employer whose employee werereliant on food stamps(in Arizona , the flesh was one in three ) . electric sander , who was already waging a political war on the caller , in response bring in a account totax large employersat 100 percentage of the government benefits their worker take in . He literally telephone it the Stop Bad Employers by zero Out Subsidies Act , or Stop BEZOS Act , which could be accurately describe as a “ screwing you . ”
The beak was never legislatively plausible , and it did n’t go anywhere withing the machinery of Congress , but it kept the limelight on Amazon ’s labor practices . Sanders and other legislator ( admit others now running for prexy , such as Senator Elizabeth Warren ) carry on to pressure the company for calendar month as it at the same time suffer forged news cps on everything fromterrible treatmentof workers allow for handicapped by itshigh injury ratestoleaked anti - Federal videos . AsWired report , the October 2018 decision to raise Amazon wages to $ 15 could also be motivated by economic factors , like meliorate retention before the officious holiday season or the possibility of recapture some of the increase wages via its employee - discount program . But atmospheric pressure from legislators , labor activists , and others clear played a major role and waswidely citedas a big factorin the decisiveness , regardless of whether Amazon had other pastime — some of them still closely have-to doe with , likeretaining political Das Kapital .
Sanders made no secret of his pleasance at Amazon ’s decision , praising Bezos at apress conferenceand ina statement . That ’s because he is a politico , a class whose dream by and large bank on maximizing PR chance like forcing yielding on British Labour Party from the humanity ’s richest humankind and a major U.S. employer . Sanders also used the opportunity to lean hard on Amazon ’s newfound support of a $ 15 minimum wage for the same reason .
Carney and Amazon critics concur on one affair , though : Sanders almost now returned to attacking the company on the aforesaid grounds and unexampled ones , like“potentially illegal ” anti - Federal effortsand “ profits - at - all - costs polish , ” as the senator described them . It was not , as Carney argued in his editorial , a shared recognition of a “ reality often forget or discount in debate about the role a company like ours can and should play in the economy , ” unless that “ part ” is the downright minimum amount of exertion involved in getting more of your workers off food for thought stamps . ( Not mentioned by Carney is that while Sanders praised Amazon , he emphasized it was because it stopped paying its workers“starvation wages . ” )
drum sander believe thatAmazon should not existin its current shape and should be bust up , specifically because of his very different view of the role a companionship like Amazon “ can and should play in the saving . ” And let ’s not forget that at the time of the $ 15 annunciation , Amazon also handily leave out that ithad strings attachedlikeslashes to stock grantsand bonus remuneration , andcontinues to growa big fleet of outside contractors that oftenmake less than $ 15 , none of which Sanders or any other politician has praised because it suckle .
In any instance , Carney did n’t really take Twitter feedback to his “ editorial ” well in a serial of more and more incoherent tweets , denying Sanders played a role in their $ 15 decision , blaming the senator for Congress ’s refusal to raise the lower limit wage , and insulting reporters , academician , and random Twitter users who happened to stray into the treatment .
Never said Sanders called out of the blue , tho untrue we call forth wages b / blow of him . Facts : Sanders buzz off to Congress in ‘ 91 ; the fed minimum has stalled since ‘ 09 ; only Congress can raise the fed min . Do n’t we elect senators to persuade their colleagues to do the right-hand thing ?
— Jay Carney ( @JayCarney)February 10 , 2020
I do n’t know@MattStoler , but he sure likes to personalize his critique — a common practice on the anti - Obama left . Here ’s my thought : If Stoler does a tenth as much for American workers in his lifetime as@BarackObamadid in 8 days , he ’ll deserve a flock of thanks . I wish well him luck.https://t.co/xjdm4IFAm5
everlasting object lesson of what evanesce for reporting today – tachygraphy followed by quips on Twitter . Woodward and Bernstein would be turning in their graves if they were n’t both still active , well and … wait for it … reporting!!https://t.co / X9UfqBofK2
no offense ? that ’s what adolescent say right before they offend . I was reporter for 21 years . far from perfect , but I sleep with a snatch about the business.https://t.co/eI393DHtch
— Jay Carney ( @JayCarney)February 11 , 2020
aww , thanks , fact - innocent human . or bot.https://t.co/9C7q2byrWp
have you met Pollard??https://t.co / C3SKToFUn4
yes , in fact . sorry to disappoint . but right on you for secure sales on@amazon.https://t.co / TPpVWA5c62
Yes,@sensandershas call in for invoke the minimal pay . And he supported arouse it when@BarackObamagot it done in 2009 . Difference is,@Amazonactually set up its lower limit earnings to $ 15 rather than wait for Congress to act.https://t.co/74oa3KhZNb
congressional majority for 2 years out of 8 . facts are hard.https://t.co/Fhud279Oxz
I ’m state we correspond with@sensandersat the time but play because because it was the right matter to do for our employees , not because he called for it . People call for a lot of things.https://t.co/1ANI1Q6tPH
Er , in case you ’re wondering , I was Vice President@JoeBiden ’s comms director for the first two years of@BarackObama ’s presidency , before I served as WH press sec . And I more often than not patronise candidate who believe we need to fetch people together , not divide them.https://t.co/3JGnVCKohb
in reality , the supermajority ( for part of those two years ) help us get the Recovery Act passed , saving us from a Depression . And then the non - tops majority helped us get healthcare reform done after 50 + days of break down efforts . So yes , majorities matter.https://t.co/BiYjFeUusr
Please point out the factual errors.https://t.co/XS2JyCly1V
What personal attack ? I do n’t know Stoler and could n’t pick him out of a lineup . I take issue with his assessment of@BarackObama , as do a majority of Americans and all but about 3 % of Democrats . But if his goal is to serve American workers , I go for he succeeds.https://t.co/m62jFBX3Lq
Did n’t mean to pain your flavour , Mr. Blitz . You ’re not a bot . I just disagree with you — like a majority of Americans and all but about 3 % of Democrats.https://t.co/ssoNt07Our
“ So it ’s an ‘ advertizement ’ to inform people when companies promote wages , allow for comprehensive benefits to hourly workers and spend one C of gazillion in up - skilling ? ” Carneywrote .
Carney then proceeded to e - squall at Scott Lucas , a BuzzFeed News editor program , accusing him of preferring that Amazon ’s worker be unemployed and bemock him for purportedly being a Brooklyn hippy .
Are you an editor or an proponent ? journalist concerned in facts do n’t twirp stuff like this . Amazon has created more than 300,000 jobs for Americans since March 2015 , when I join . Is that unfit ? well they be unemployed ? advantageously they ’re pay off less and get no healthcare?https://t.co / FFsZm56cgA
What ’s informative about this tweet , coming from an " editor program " at a news outlet , is how empty and advertizing hominem it is . Nothing but smug bile — pass , I guess , as objective news.https://t.co/FFsZm56cgA
Oh , " dude " , I ’m no-count . Did n’t know that ’s how it was done in Brooklyn . I reckon editor program defend their reporters , when merited , dispassionately point to facts , not throwing up vapid insults . Guess I ’m old school day . Carry on.https://t.co/8hQjDAnTee
Carney then corrected himself , noting that the newsman in interrogative sentence dwell in Oakland , before launch into a segue about tech ship’s company gentrification in Oakland that is frankly impossible to fully decipher but appear to be indicate be that Lucas was helping cause it . ( Note that Carney is pay to be a spokesperson for Amazon , a tech ship’s company ; lives in the ultra - gentrified locus of DC and Seattle , the latter of which Amazonhelped skyrocket snag in ; and is a rich white mortal , which appear to be the implication about Lucas that Carney was going for . )
Oops , not Brooklyn – Oakland . I register an article recently about how longtime resident of Oakland are disquieted that tech gentrification has crossed the bay . sound like a good account for a serious newsworthiness org.https://t.co/gL1VLlrT56
( I am venture his return to twirp generic corporate talking points by and by in the evening was either prescheduled or place out after another Amazon executive director successfully tackled him and stole his earphone . )
Interesting facts : Amazon has created more than 500,000 jobs in the U.S. That ’s nearly 30 % more jobs than there are workings - age adults in Vermont ( 387,497 ) . Plus , we pay off a $ 15 lower limit wage everywhere – even in Vermont , where the minimal wage is $ 10.96.https://t.co/l6m8kMlIwv
Carney spend his night yelling at mass on Twitter seems to mimic an overall course of rich technical school guy get more defensive underincreasing repercussion . Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerbergrecently told reportershe plan to be more fast-growing about reach sure his power point of view is “ understood , ” while Google has reportedly essay to suppressinternal employee dissentand ill-use up efforts to notice and penalize leakerswho talk with the press .
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