Apple renames the Gulf, and conservatives spring into action

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) is upset that Apple Maps still calls the U.S. Gulf the Gulf of Mexico. So upset that he tagged Apple CEO Tim Cook on X and said he filed a complaint. “Hey @tim_cook, just noticed that Apple Maps still calls it the Gulf of Mexico. I sent a report through the app, but thought you’d want to know!” said the former Navy Seal.

Crenshaw seems upset, if you will, challenged that Big Tech isn’t changing as quickly as he’d like. He’s so upset that he made a post in the style of an upset suburbanite at Target. Crenshaw’s whining epitomizes behavior I’ve seen among right-wing pundits and politicians over the past few years, the rise of the kind of posts and style once ascribed to the left in online spaces.

Crenshaw exposes horror and doubles down on the culture war. They obsess over identity politics, try to eliminate their enemies, control gender norms, and demand that the culture bend to their whims, even though the culture doesn’t care. These are all things the left has long been accused of.

hey @tim_cookjust noticed apple maps still calls it gulf of mexico. You submitted a report through the app, but I thought you’d want to know! pic.twitter.com/fA7cWtOGY1

— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) January 21, 2025

Less than 24 hours ago, at the time of writing, Trump signed an executive order titled “Restoring names that honor American greatness.” Along with numerous other changes, the order stated that henceforth the United States would refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. Google and Apple have not updated the name.

These things take time. But Trump saying the name is different doesn’t make it so. It is a body of water that is not exclusively used by the US and Mexico, and the rest of the world will still call it the Gulf of Mexico. Lots of people who don’t live in the US use Google and Apple Maps, and it’s a good bet that the name will not change for them.

Wikipedia has also not changed the name of its entry for the Persian Gulf. “Even if it was official, America cannot own Wikipedia entries. (It) remains the Gulf of Mexico as the rest of the world calls it,” Ann said unnamed Wikipedia editor in the revision history of the page.

“It’s a modern version of the jingoism of the freedom fries, which has nothing to do with geography and everything to do with politics,” said another Wikipedia editor, referring to conservatives’ post-9/11 attempt to rename the fries. “We have the same thing as a perennial complaint with the British Isles from a series of Irish editors. This is nothing new or special and can be documented on its own and with just a passing mention in the article if and when it becomes more than a soundbite at a press conference.”

But conservatives like Crenshaw will publicly make the claim, posting and shaming themselves. Ignoble in victory, they now display the traits they have long accused their opponents of.

The American right controls the Supreme Court, the presidency, and the legislature. This kind of total political victory is not enough. They want you to like them too. They want you to laugh at their jokes, take their memes seriously, and call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of Mexico.

The pinned post on Crenshaw’s X account is “A Conservative Guide to the Culture Wars” from 2021. The second item on the list is the statement that “a winner’s mentality is better than a victim’s mentality.”

I suspect that over the next four years we will see many more appalling posts from Crenshaw and others as winners become victims when every little thing goes wrong. Or when things aren’t going as fast as they’d like.