Have you ever seen a painted apple? An apple painted red will appear a beautiful, polished fruit for a long time to come; at least until the first time you try to pick it up. At which point, the thin shell of its veneer will shatter, and reveal that the original fruit has long since rotted…

Tech companies have learned it makes sense to have friends along the political spectrum. But sometimes those friends become a liability. This week’s announcements by Google, Facebook and Yelp that they are quitting the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative organization that has been a flash point for years, reveals a weakness in a popular Silicon…