Cult of Mac reports that Apple has donated $100K to Defeat Prop. 8:

Citing the vote as an issue of "a person's fundamental rights," Apple today made a $100,000 contribution to the NO on 8 campaign, an effort to defeat a measure on next Tuesday's ballot in California that would overturn the state's laws permitting same-sex couples to marry.

Apple's contribution and public stance supporting the No on 8 campaign is noteworthy not only because it is rare for the company to take a public position on political matters, but also because it helps combat the effects of millions of dollars that have been spent by out-of-state religious groups on TV advertisements threatening dire consequences if gays are allowed the right to marry. . . The Apple announcement came on the heels of similar public support for defeating the Proposition from Google. Sergey Brin, CEO of the Mountain View-based company wrote in the company blog, "we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument [but] we see this fundamentally as an issue of equality."

Michael Goldfarb, on the official McCain Campaign blog, in a post entitled Junk, writes:

Just after the New York Times ended months of intense speculation by announcing its endorsement of Barack Obama, the company's corporate credit rating was lowered to 'junk' status -- an appropriate reflection of the paper's editorial judgment as well as the quality of its reporting.

The Jill Zuckerman of the Chicago Tribune interviewed Palin:

Q: You're giving this policy speech tomorrow, but has this journey been worth it to you when you're getting nitpicked on wardrobe and polls

SP: "It is all worth it because we know we are on the right path here in providing Americans a choice on Nov. 4th. You can support a children that will do all that we can for children with special needs and we support policies that will create jobs and get the economy back on track. Of course it's worth it. But I'm glad you brought up the wardrobe.

"That whole thing is just, bad! Oh, if people only knew how frugal we are."

"The clothes that were loaned to us during the convention. And I don't think it was anywhere near...What did they say, Tracey? $150 grand? It wasn't anywhere near that. Those are not ours. We give those back, those go to charity or they'll be auctioned off or whatever. That's not even my property. So to be criticized for that, that is not who we are."

Q: So you're not carrying around cartons of brand new clothes that people have gone out and bought for you

SP: No, I think some of them were in the belly of the plane. No, yeah, that's not [how] we live.

"It wasn't anywhere near that. Those are not ours." Interesting lines. Was the $150,000 reported on RNC filings for clothing and accessories for people other than the Palin family? If so, why hasn't the RNC said that? Or is she saying that the RNC filing is mistaken? Or what? What is Palin saying?

Zuckerman allowed her an incomprehensible denial. She says they're storing a bunch of unworn brand new clothes in "the belly of the plane."

So what does Zuckerman say next?

Q: This must be painful for you.

Empathy for someone who has just confessed to flying around in a plane stocked with unworn designer clothes is not the right response.

(Crossposted from KathrynCramer.com.)