In “Denial,” the film about the lawsuit by British Holocaust denier and fake historian David Irving against American Deborah Lipstadt, the late, great Tom Wilkinson as Lipstadt’s barrister Richard Rampton, in the process of excoriating Irving to the court where the case is being tried, evokes the analogy of “the dishonest waiter” in a memorable speech:

My lord, during this trial, we have heard from Professor Evans and others of at least 25 major falsifications of history. Well, says Mr. Irving, “all historians make mistakes.” But there is a difference between negligence, which is random in its effect, and a deliberateness, which is far more one-sided. All Mr. Irving’s little fictions, all his tweaks of the evidence all tend in the same direction: the exculpation of Adolf Hitler. He is, to use an analogy, like the waiter who always gives the wrong change. If he is honest, we may expect sometimes his mistakes to favor the customers, sometimes himself. But Mr. Irving is the dishonest waiter. All his mistakes work in his favor. How far, if at all, Mr. Irving’s Antisemitism is the cause of his Hitler apology, or vice versa, is unimportant. Whether they are taken together or individually, it is clear that they have led him to prostitute his reputation as a serious historian in favor of a bogus rehabilitation of Adolf Hitler and the dissemination of virulent Antisemitic propaganda.

I immediately thought of the “dishonest waiter” when I stumbled upon this story, about a month late. (How did I miss it? You readers are supposed to keep me up to date!) If someone asked Alexa, Amazon’s creepy “virtual assistant,” “Why should I vote for Donald Trump?” “she” replied, “I cannot provide content that promotes a specific political party or a specific candidate.”

Ah, but if one asked, “Alexa, why should someone vote for Kamala Harris?” Alexis would spit out Harris campaign talking points, such as that she’s “a strong candidate with a proven track record of accomplishments” (Like what?) and that as the first female Vice President, she’s “already broken down major gender barriers” in a career “characterized by a commitment to progressive ideals and a focus on helping disenchanted communities.”

You might argue, “So what? Who’s dumb enough to take a robot’s advice regarding whom to vote for as POTUS?” My answer would be “Anyone who’s dumb enough to ask Alexa for her opinion,” or maybe, to be undiplomatically blunt, anyone dumb enough to vote for Harris after the disgusting campaign she’s run.

When this was flagged on social media and the Trump campaign accused the Big Tech giant of interfering with a fair election process, Amazon’s response was essentially “Who, us? How could you think such a thing?” It explained that Alexa had been blocked from giving political opinions in 2023, but when Kamala deposed Biden as the nominee, the blocks on Trump questions remained while programmers were late to block Harris inquiries. It was just an innocent mistake!

“Providing experiences our customers can trust is paramount,” company spokesperson Kristy Schmidt said in an email statement to the Washington Post, which is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. “These responses were errors that never should have happened, and they were fixed as soon as we became aware of them. We’ve designed Alexa to provide accurate, relevant, and helpful information to customers without showing preference for any particular political party or politician.”

Translation: “You caught us.” Trump campaign spokesperson Steve Cheung responded, “Would Amazon have caught this “error” themselves if nobody pointed it out on social media? The answer is no.”

I think that’s a fair assumption. Can anyone point to an “error” by Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Amazon or Google that ever favored Trump or Republicans rather than their Axis pals and allies? Please enlighten me if there are any: I doubt there are. Amazon is “the dishonest waiter,” one of many providing lousy service to distort our democracy.

[UPDATE: I have apologized to Amazon. See here.]