Ralph Reed on Microsoft's Payroll

John Aravosis (aka Woodward and Bernstein) is reporting that Microsoft is currently paying a $20,000 a month retainer to former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed's consulting firm Century Strategies.

Interestingly, Microsoft had Reed on retainer during the presidential election of 2000 to apparently help lobby then-candidate Bush on their anti-trust suit (he was actually first hired in the fall of 1998). The contract was terminated after Reed was criticized for a conflict of interest - Reed was working on Bush's campaign. The question arises when Microsoft and Reed revived their work relationship (most observers I've spoken to thought the contract ended five years ago), and what exactly Reed is working on now that the anti-trust issue is over.

John lists some pretty piercing questions that Microsoft ought to be answering. (Check out his post, linked above.) I personally think it’s unconscionable that a company purporting to be socially progressive, and using its support of the LGBT community as a marketing platform, was concurrently paying $20k a month to the consulting firm of one of the most prominent faces of the dominionist movement, and has rehired him for unexplained reasons. Truly appalling.