I'm not trying to defend Uber with any of the other stuff, I just think that one particular thing was blown up a little bit more than was necessary.
I prefer Lyft anyway.
Senior executives of billion-dollar companies do not accidentally have dinner with reporters. The dinner was part of a PR effort. Maybe the guy's really a rube or a loose canon. But personally, my guess is that he "joked" about harming a journalist whose coverage they didn't like because he wanted other journalists to think twice about giving them bad coverage.
You could joke about fucking with people's privacy because you don't have a huge database of abortion clinic visits and one night stands and children's daycare locations. As soon as you did, people would start holding you accountable.
Sorry to break it down to you, but you're infact defending Uber.
You know, I never did go back and find out how the Romney 47% leaks actually made it out the door. I wonder if it's public knowledge at this point.
In the golden age of American journalism the idea of doing hit pieces on journalists wouldn't even be interesting. Mencken and friends did it to each other constantly. It's hilarious these people think they're part of some unassailable priesthood now.
This point has obviously been through a few rounds of "telephone".
"boasted of hiring a hit team"--he suggested it as a hypothetical idea, he didn't "boast" of already doing it, nor is there any indication he did
"in a very public forum"--he said it at a private dinner party where comments were understood to be off the record, but someone brought a +1 and didn't read him into this so he ran with it.