An Ode to Labor Day

“Would John Wayne Take Any Crap Off WalMart?”.................:Today, I once again made the intrepid journey to my least favorite place - Walmart, or housewife hell as I often call it. I endured the same old guttural search for a spot to park my car, taking care not to run over the weak and weary of the world and finally coming to rest alongside a rusty 1989 Ford pickup and one of those nameless hulking SUV’s.

The same greeter smiled unconvincingly at me and uttered: “Welcome to Walmart!” as I winced imagining what sinuous path had led this poor soul to this destiny. Right then, I decided to write this post - right there, right then - for all the victims of Walmart’s insidious machinations.

My greatest friend, confidant and companion has repeatedly asked me why I hate Walmart so much. My full answer is far too long to put to page, but basically Walmart represents the fall of western civilization to me. Some of you are already saying: “Oh no, Phil has lost it now.” but I intend to elaborate and direct your attention just a little toward what I think is evidence in support of this view.
Workers or Slaves

Walmart Wages - Walmart drives down retail wages $3 billion per year - in 2001 the average sales associate made just $13,861 or about $4,000 below the poverty level in the U.S.
Walmart Employee Health Care - 5 percent of associates and 22 percent of their children are insured under some public assistance program. Reportedly employees are encouraged to seek public assistance. In my state alone (Georgia) there are over 10,000 Walmart employee’s kids on state assistance.
Wailing of the Masses - Walmart currently faces lawsuits in 31 states over wage and hour abuses involving hundreds of thousands of workers - that is 100’s or thousands! If tens of thousands of them are legitimate - then their cry should really be heard late at night by us all.
Slaves and Beasts of Burden - Walmart is settling a Federal allegation for $11 million claiming they used illegal immigrants to clean their stores (I have actually seen this).
Women’s Rights Abuse - A class action lawsuit for discrimination against over 1.5 MILLION female employees.
Walmart Sweatshops- Chinese workers are paid as little as 28 cents per hour, work 7 days a week and are subjected to inhumane treatment. Sometimes these workers life in community houses essentially equipped with a bed and a communal lavatory.
Personal Observations - I My overall impression of the average worker I talk to or see is that each of them have a look about them that cries: “I don’t stand a chance.” This is perhaps the most damning aspect of what this company is doing - reducing human beings to hapless smurfs without hope.
Walmart - Community Savior?

$86 Million per year - The money Walmart cost taxpayers in California due to health and welfare assistance according to the UC Berkley Labor Center.
$4.7 Billion Dollars - The adjusted reduction in retail labor wages since the release of the film: The High Cost of Low Price.
$1.5 Billion Dollars- Estimated combined costs to provide ancillary support for Walmart employees including: housing, tax credits, title one expenses, free or reduced lunches, additional health care costs and low income energy assistance.
$1 Billion - Subsidies that Walmart stores received nation wide. Individual stores receive low cost financing and incentives for just locating stores in cities and towns.
$5.25 Million - Fines Walmart has paid for EPA violations in 12 states (or more).
$50,000 - Walmart’s average charitable output per store to communities. The public assistance cost of each store is nearly 10 times that amount. This is totally discounting the loss of local small business infrastructure, social, cultural and “real” community these stores effect.
.
2 to 1 - The number of local grocery stores that close each time a Walmart moves in.
Personal Observations - In every town I have lived in over the past 15 years literally dozens of vacant stores sit where once thriving specialty businesses once operated. In the town I live in now, no less than 15 stores are either closed or going out of business. Some of these stores are not even in direct competition with Walmart, but are dependent on traffic patterns.
Still more -The most damnable fallacy of “Walmart as champion of the community” is that the money spent there does not filter back into the community - a huge chunk of it goes to the Waltons and stockholders. Local businesses typically recirculate this revenue back through the local economy, but these monies now are diverted to this corporate cow’s blood sucking, idiot, money grubbing stockholders.  (Continued)

Quality Is Job One

Walmart had 10,000,000 items recalled for lead contamination in 2007 alone. Walmart’s products are far inferior to those we used to see on the shelves of local businesses. From steroid injected beef to frozen peaches and inferior electronics, the place is just riddled with either mediocre of sub-par seconds caused either intentionally or due to production/cost pressures.

Made in China is stamped on nearly every product on the shelves and has really come to mean “cheap” in it most derogatory connotation. Sure you can return anything and wait in line for half an hour, but how do you return a steak that tastes like shoe leather? The quality is simply not there, especially for anyone who really understands or has seen what quality is. The Web is strewn with complaints and horror stories about Walmart’s supposed quality.

Fabulous 5 of Forbes

The Walton’s, Alice, Jim, Helen, John T. and S. Robson have an estimated worth of around $100 billion dollars. They occupy the number 4 position (together) of the Forbes 400 richest people at around 18-19 billion dollars each - behind Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Paul Allen of Microsoft fame. I can never say enough about how little I regard these people. I mentioned slavery early on in this article, not to inflame old scars but to point out what these people are actually doing.

How is a human being more enslaved, via shackles and the whip or thru economic necessity? There is no effective difference when the end result is no hope or one so dim that even that plantation slave could have sought escape more easily. I know people who work at Walmart, they live in abject poverty - unable to do much more than give their money back to their employer in the same way workers did the ‘company store” in the 19th century. Beyond the cold stoic cruelty of sweatshops, child labor, ruptured economies and robber baron business tactics - there is a sinister and evil inhumanity in any employer however large or small who could either witness or turn a blind eye to this human sacrilege.

Conclusion

In my trip today I had that same epiphany I have had many times as I looked about the store. Staring up at the heaping mounds of virtually worthless crap stacked metaphorically to heaven’s gate, I could not help but feel ashamed. A whole country, and now a world so enamored with saving (seemingly for no one really ever saves anything) a few pennies or dollars at a human cost that surely evokes tears from God almighty. You may ask: “Well, Phil why do you even go there then?”, and my answer would be: “because there is no place left in town to buy freaking dog food! “

These people are the neo-taskmasters of a whole race of enslaved laborers and the moneylenders to a new society of careless, selfish, self absorbed, stressed out idiots. Convenience and the worst kind of economic propaganda are the tools that are destroying America - and soon the whole world. Hell, price has never even really been a consideration to me - quality and beauty have always been my determining drives - and I am no rich man. Walmart and the Waltons represent a world none of us ever envisioned as children. This type of business is about squeezing the sweat out of all people in an effort to supply essentially garbage to a faceless group of rats, conditioned to believe that cheaper is better.

Hell people, weren’t we all told that nothing good comes cheap? In the America I grew up in John Wayne would have sashayed up to the Walton’s private bunker with his ivory handle Colt 45 and demanded: “All right you money grubbin Son’s of butches, come on out and don’t make me come in after-ya.”

Postscript for a lady: The reason I hate Walmart (or anything like it) is that is represents everything I have deplored in my life. Cruelty, greed, mediocrity, falseness, unsustainable growth, cowardice, deceit, excess, inhumanity and the pursuit by a few to take advantage of the many. They do not simply demean employees and the hapless but also diminish our power to reason what true value is.

If we cannot tell a fine watch or refined workmanship from hurried - dread production of necessity, then we have lost something irreplaceable. The Walmart mentality propagates the idea that more crap will make us happy. I can literally hold a scrap of cloth in this store and feel the anguish of the person who made it - this is a detestable gift sometimes, to be able to see the end of things.

Note: Also, check out Charley Cray’s great article about the war Walmart is waging on America.~~~~~~~~~~~~~Phil Butler Unplugged~~~~~~~~~~In memoriam of the “Duke” and all workers who are “duking it out “in the workplace everyday!

The Little Red Hen called all of her Democrat neighbors together and said, ‘If we plant this wheat, we shall have bread to eat. Who will help me plant it?’

‘Not I,’ said the cow.

‘Not I,’ said the duck.

‘Not I,’ said the pig.

‘Not I,’ said the goose.

‘Then I will do it by myself,’ said the little red hen, and so she did.  The wheat grew very tall and ripened into golden grain.

‘Who will help me reap my wheat?’ asked the little red hen.

‘Not I,’ said the duck..

‘Out of my classification,’ said the pig.

‘I’d lose my seniority,’ said the cow.

‘I’d lose my unemployment compensation,’ said the goose.

‘Then I will do it by myself,’ said the little red hen, and so she did.

At last it came time to bake the bread.

‘Who will help me bake the bread?’ asked the little red hen.

‘That would be overtime for me,’ said the cow.

‘I’d lose my welfare benefits,’ said the duck.

‘I’m a dropout and never learned how,’ said the pig.

‘If I’m to be the only helper, that’s discrimination,’ said the goose.

‘Then I will do it by myself,’ said the little red hen.

She baked five loaves and held them up for all of her neighbors to see.  They wanted some and, in fact, demanded a share. But the little red hen said, ‘No, I shall eat all five loaves.’

‘Excess profits!’ cried the cow. (Nancy Pelosi)

‘Capitalist leech!’ screamed the duck. (Barbara Boxer)

‘I demand equal rights!’ yelled the goose. (Jesse Jackson)

The pig just grunted in disdain. (Ted Kennedy)

And they all painted ‘Unfair!’ picket signs and marched around and around the little red hen, shouting obscenities.

Then the farmer (Obama) came. He said to the little red hen, ‘You must not be so greedy.’

‘But I earned the bread,’ said the little red hen.
‘Exactly,’ said Barack the farmer. ‘That is what makes our free enterprise system so wonderful. Anyone in the barnyard can earn as much as he wants. But under our modern government regulations, the productive workers must divide the fruits of their labor with those who are lazy and idle.’
And they all lived happily ever after, including the little red hen, who smiled and clucked, ‘I am grateful, for now I truly understand.’
But her neighbors became quite disappointed in her. She never again baked bread because she joined the ‘party’ and got her bread free. And all the Democrats smiled. ‘Fairness’ had been established.
Individual initiative had died, but nobody noticed; perhaps no one cared...so long as there was free bread that ‘the rich’ were paying for.
EPILOGUE
Bill Clinton is getting $12 million for his memoirs.

Hillary got $8 million for hers.
That’s $20 million for the memories from two people, who for eight years, repeatedly testified, under oath, that they couldn’t remember anything.
IS THIS A GREAT BARNYARD OR WHAT?

Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a measure intended to overturn a Supreme Court decision limiting pay discrimination suits in a politically charged vote certain to be replayed in the presidential and Congressional campaigns.

By a vote of 56 to 42, the Senate fell four votes short of the 60 required to begin consideration of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, named for an Alabama woman who lost a case against the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company when the court found she not did file her complaint in time. Ms. Ledbetter had been paid as much as 40 percent less than her male counterparts doing the same job, according to her allies.

Looking at the final roll call, the measure had the support of 57 senators (Harry Reid switched his vote for procedural reasons, giving him the ability to bring the bill back to the floor before the end of the session). Every Democrat and both independents (Lieberman and Sanders) supported the measure, along with six Republicans, four of whom (Coleman, Collins, Smith, and Sununu) are facing tough re-election fights this year.

What a remarkable coincidence — Republicans sure do get more moderate on good legislation when they’re worried about losing their seats.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other Republicans said the bill, which is opposed by the business community and the Bush administration, could create a flood of lawsuits.

“We think that this bill is primarily designed to create a massive amount of new litigation in our country,” said Mr. McConnell, the minority leader.

Well, actually, yes. But therein lies the point — if American workers are facing unjust wage discrimination, they should be more lawsuits. Those are worthwhile lawsuits, challenging an injustice. Ideally, employers would stop discriminating, and in turn, there’d be fewer lawsuits. It’s about creating an incentive.

As for the politics of this, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama came back to the Senate to vote for and speak out on behalf of this legislation. And what about John McCain? He didn’t show up for work (again), but he made a point of telling reporters he’s against the legislation: “In New Orleans today, McCain explained his opposition to the bill by claiming it ‘opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems.’ He added that instead of legislation allowing women to fight for equal pay, they simply need ‘education and training.’”

It’s almost as if he doesn’t want women to vote for him.

One last thought: was this bill really worth filibustering? Was the legislation so offensive to the Republican minority that they couldn’t even allow an up-or-down vote on a measure to protect pay-equality in the workplace?

Or did a bunch of corporate lobbyists show up at Republican lawmakers’ offices, demanding that they shut this down?_____________________________________________________Carpetbagger Report____________________________________________________Hmmmh...corporate lobbyists involved in multimillion $$class action lawsuits invoving gender discrimination,perhaps? WHOA! Expect that McCain response to resonate with WalMart moms-AND -working women,in general! Wonder what Sarah Palin will say to WalMart moms,and women in general about equal pay and the issue of unions,since she AND her husband are union members?And how schizophrenic must WalMart be,now that they’ve taken an anti-union stance ,endorsing Repubes,and NOW-the Veepette is tied to unions!!!

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other Republicans said the bill, which is opposed by the business community and the Bush administration, could create a flood of lawsuits.

“We think that this bill is primarily designed to create a massive amount of new litigation in our country,” said Mr. McConnell, the minority leader.

Well, actually, yes. But therein lies the point — if American workers are facing unjust wage discrimination, they should be more lawsuits. Those are worthwhile lawsuits, challenging an injustice. Ideally, employers would stop discriminating, and in turn, there’d be fewer lawsuits. It’s about creating an incentive. ~~~~~~~~Capetbagger Report~~~~~~~NOTE: It is worth repeating that Mitch McConnell is married to Elaine Chao, the Secretary of Labor, which, under the GWBush administration, has essentially become a labor busting tool,with ties linked to Anti-union hatchetman Richard Berman.

Mark,

“Individual initiative had died, but nobody noticed; perhaps no one cared...so long as there was free bread that ‘the rich’ were paying for.”

Nice post, I just have one question:  What happens when all the ‘red hens’ that make the bread, finally ‘give up’ (because they ‘see the light’ about ‘Why work, when you can get it for free’) or are forced ‘out of business’ and join that “Where’s Mine” group?  What will they all EAT then, when all the bread is gone and NOBODY is making any more?

ddrb,

Isn’t it great how all you have to do, is put the word Wal-Mart, in front of ANY problem and it sounds good to your side?

For example:

“Walmart Wages - Walmart drives down retail wages $3 billion per year - in 2001 the average sales associate made just $13,861 or about $4,000 below the poverty level in the U.S.”

But, the government figures say something completely different:

2008 HHS Poverty Guidelines
Persons in Family or Household 48 Contiguous
States and D.C.

1 - $10,400
2 - $14,000
3 - $17,600
4 - $21,200
5 - $24,800
6 - $28,400
7 - $32,000
8 - $35,600
For each additional person, add $3,600

SOURCE:  Federal Register, Vol. 73, No. 15, January 23, 2008, pp. 3971–3972

http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/08poverty.shtml

Unless you believe that the poverty level ‘cost of living’ has gone DOWN in the last 7 years, from $17,861.00 to $10,400.00!!  And, if THAT is TRUE, then maybe Wal-Mart’s “Lower Prices” might just have contributed to it!!

Bill Clinton is getting $12 million for his memoirs.

Hillary got $8 million for hers.
That’s $20 million for the memories from two people, who for eight years, repeatedly testified, under oath, that they couldn’t remember anything.
IS THIS A GREAT BARNYARD OR WHAT? ~~~~~~~~N OTE: And Tom Coughlin , one of the Biggest Roosters on WalMart’s “ Cock of the Walk “,is $6.75 million richer, for NOT “crowing “ any barnyard gossip about the circumstances involving his admitted theft of about a quarter mil from the “Mart”.That ain’t chicken feed, but it is chicken----................

ddrb,

Isn’t it great how all you have to do, is put the word Wal-Mart, in front of ANY problem and it sounds good to your side?  RDS~~~~~~~~~Good and WalMart together is rather an oxymoron, unless its good riddance.

The Walmart mentality propagates the idea that more crap will make us happy. ~ Phil Butler

Someone email Bill Clinton and see if he can give us a definition for “better”.

“Success isn’t measured by how much merchandise you sell. Real success is found in the development of, and opportunities you provide for, the people who are selling it.” ~ Barney Kroger

enough of your baloney ddrb

It’s just a shame that the original meaning of Labor Day, like so many other holidays has been lost in the shuffle and turned into a “let’s get drunk” day.  Too many people in our society fail to appreciate people that work for a living.  They forget that ditch digging, toilet cleaning, floor sweeping, operating a cash register, taking orders for food, stocking shelves, etc, are all important.  With the sickening way a lot of people look at retail workers it tells me that Labor Day is basically a dead holiday except for a small percentage of the population.

Mark what universe do you live in?  Almost NO ONE generates wealth all by themselves, there are usually people helping them (i.e., workers) and asking for a fair share is not the same thing as wanting something for nothing.  In fact, a lot of rich people get something for nothing (and no I’m not demonizing all rich people).  Even if someone does do this they usually had to ask someone else for money which would put them in the same category as the animals that are begging in your little story if you really think about it.

North American society became great because of the hard work and tenacity of the settlers who cleared the forest and worked the land by hand. That is what made us great. Today we have people (some of them write on this blog) who suggest that workers are of no real value unless they have ‘an education’. Workers who make it possible for the machine to work should exercise their influence by sticking together to be heard. Other parts of society do it.
Call it a federation, organization, corporation ,confederation, league, association, fraternity or union, it all means the same thing. Strength in numbers.
Companies do it all the time. Why can’t the workers?

R E M E M B E R
J O N Q U I E R E
Q U E B E C
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

R E M E M B E R
J A C K S O N V I L L E
T E X A S
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

Gustov, PART 1:
Hi All,
It’s a Beautiful Day in NYC. This time of year is always incredible. The temperature is perfect, the sky is deep blue with hardly a cloud and the breeze is hints at the end of summer. I can’t help but think about similar beautiful mornings in the past. In particular one in early September in 2001. A little cooler than today, But so nice that I was literally singing to myself as I walked to the sub-way. I walked down the stairs and by the time I got off at my stop (a mere 10 minutes). The world had changed forever. My family and employees survived, but lost everything that we had worked for years. This didn’t happen because a building fell on us. It didn’t happen because of a lack of generosity on the part of the American People and it didn’t happen because God was mad at us (well actually I still run things over and over in my mind trying to figure out what we did to deserve it). But, no it happened because the Bush administration, FEMA, and the Small Business Administration under Senator Snowe of Maine just didn’t “get it”.

Our little business like thousands of other’s located in the Metropolitan Area of NYC, as well as Washington DC. Saw less than 8% of the SBA/FEMA backed aid. The reason given over and over again to countless small business owner’s was a simple “rubber stamped” No proof of ability to repay. To clarify this, what they were saying was “ We can’t give you aid because your business is in trouble because of the disaster and you may not be able to pay us back”.

You may want to take a moment to ponder the irony in what I just wrote. I have, everyday for the last 7 years. “Your business can’t have the disaster aid because your business was hurt by the disaster”. This was the logic of the SBA under the Bush Administration and Headed by United States Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R) Maine. Under this administration less than 9% of the FEMA backed SBA loan aid that was budgeted was distributed to local businesses in NYC and Washington DC. At the time there were several articles written in the New York papers that the Government was in a quandary because they had all this business aid money to give out, but no businesses to give it to. I’m not making this up. So the SBA came up with the “STAR” loan program. They gave the extra (91%) of the billions of dollars in loan aid to the Banks. The banks then would figure out what to do with it. Well, if you want to know where it went, $310 Million went to Dunkin Donuts, $750K went to a BBQ place (I do love BBQ) in Austin Texas and the list goes on. (Google the NY Daily News for more info).

While all the American’s generosity was being doled out to the least needy. New York City was becoming a town of Shuttered Store Fronts and Massive Un-Employment. People’s life’s work wiped out. Small Business owners standing side by side with their former employees in the Un-Employment and Welfare Lines. I still remember the job fair held at Madison Square Garden. The lines of people running off into the distance and the near riot that ensued. I remember stopping by a work fair office and seeing former executives sitting next to ex-cons, being instructed on how to write a resume’ and to dress for a job interview. 55 year old men who had worked, built careers and paid taxes their whole lives brought down to equal ground with criminals.

Of course none of this had to happen. It didn’t have to be this way. The American people did an outstanding job coming together offering financial and emotional support! This was the result of a small group of supremely evil terrorist and then made even worse with the aid of the US Government. The American people who gave and gave some more were hornswagled. I remember a group of people traveling from New Orleans and serving some mighty fine Jambalaya to the worker’s at ground zero.

Gustov, Part 2”

New Orleans (and the Gulf Coast) then got Katrina and we as a people got to see the full degree of government incompetence on a much greater scale. It was an associated press reporter’s work on the Katrina Debacle that uncovered the STAR Loan Scandal relating to 9-11. The government had years to get its act together between 9-11 and Katrina. We all have seen what a stellar job they did.

Now we are faced with Gustov, and when I say we I mean the American people. The supreme Irony that the storm is due to hit at the beginning of the Republican convention will be analyzed and many fingers will be pointed. Both political parties will try to capitalize on the suffering that is bound to follow the storms aftermath. Wal*Mart and Home Depot will be all over the News as they help deliver supplies. The Republicans will try to come off as heroes this time around. They have to, the White House is at stake. This coming disaster will be a huge boon to Big Business and Politicians alike. The marketing of Gustav has already begun. If you look closely you’ll find an element missing. Small Businesses and the People that they employ. We can’t control the weather but we sure as hell can control who’s in charge of FEMA and the SBA.

Mine and my family’s hearts and prayers are with the people and small businesses along the Gulf Coast, and especially with the people of New Orleans, who need protection from the Government almost more than they need it from the Storm.
Bless You!

“......and especially with the people of New Orleans, who need protection from the Government almost more than they need it from the Storm."~Bobby in New York, Kentucky, Los Angel

Why are Americans so afraid of their government?
Just wondering.

Alex

Did you read Part 1 & Part 2? Where does Canadian Tax $$$ Go? I bet you you can answer your own question. Let me put it another way: If America and Canada were Jet Liners with no auto pilot, would you trade pilots and co-pilots with us?

Why are Americans so afraid of their government?
Just wondering.

Alex

Alex in Ontario, Canada

Maybe just the price we pay for what we are told is a Democracy.

Obama Makes History—in Many Ways
Posted on: August 28th, 2008

Thursday, August 28, 2008

National Review’s - The Corner

Obama Makes History—in Many Ways [Peter Kirsanow]

It’s a great and historic moment. We have the first black presidential nominee of a major party in the United States. As Jonah notes, however, it’s unfortunate that the nominee is a liberal with little experience and poor judgment.

And it won’t be the only first. In addition Obama will be

* the first presidential nominee known to have a terrorist as a friend and working associate

* the first presidential nominee to vote against a measure designed to prevent a form of infanticide

* the first Commander-in-Chief nominee to dismiss as an elitist a veteran who spent 5 1/2 years being tortured by the enemy

* the first presidential nominee to favor giving habeas corpus rights to foreign terrorists

* the first presidential nominee known to have a pastor who exclaimed “God damn America “

* the first presidential nominee to state that he will talk without precondition to the leaders of state sponsors of terrorism

* the first presidential nominee to support giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants

* the first presidential nominee to assert that he’s embarrassed that his countrymen don’t speak French or German

* the first presidential nominee to compare the U.S. infrastructure unfavorably to that of a communist country

* the first presidential nominee to have a more extreme position on life issues than NARAL

Is whatever societal benefit that may be derived from electing the first black president worth having a president who has established the other firsts?

Why Martin Luther King Was Republican

by Frances Rice

08/16/2006

It should come as no surprise that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican. In that era, almost all black Americans were Republicans. Why? From its founding in 1854 as the anti-slavery party until today, the Republican Party has championed freedom and civil rights for blacks. And as one pundit so succinctly stated, the Democrat Party is as it always has been, the party of the four S’s: slavery, secession, segregation and now socialism.

It was the Democrats who fought to keep blacks in slavery and passed the discriminatory Black Codes and Jim Crow laws. The Democrats started the Ku Klux Klan to lynch and terrorize blacks. The Democrats fought to prevent the passage of every civil rights law beginning with the civil rights laws of the 1860s, and continuing with the civil rights laws of the 1950s and 1960s.

During the civil rights era of the 1960s, Dr. King was fighting the Democrats who stood in the school house doors, turned skin-burning fire hoses on blacks and let loose vicious dogs. It was Republican President Dwight Eisenhower who pushed to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and sent troops to Arkansas to desegregate schools. President Eisenhower also appointed Chief Justice Earl Warren to the U.S. Supreme Court, which resulted in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision ending school segregation. Much is made of Democrat President Harry Truman’s issuing an Executive Order in 1948 to desegregate the military. Not mentioned is the fact that it was Eisenhower who actually took action to effectively end segregation in the military.

Democrat President John F. Kennedy is lauded as a proponent of civil rights. However, Kennedy voted against the 1957 Civil Rights Act while he was a senator, as did Democrat Sen. Al Gore Sr. And after he became President, Kennedy was opposed to the 1963 March on Washington by Dr. King that was organized by A. Phillip Randolph, who was a black Republican. President Kennedy, through his brother Atty. Gen. Robert Kennedy, had Dr. King wiretapped and investigated by the FBI on suspicion of being a Communist in order to undermine Dr. King.

In March of 1968, while referring to Dr. King’s leaving Memphis, Tenn., after riots broke out where a teenager was killed, Democrat Sen. Robert Byrd (W.Va.), a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, called Dr. King a “trouble-maker” who starts trouble, but runs like a coward after trouble is ignited. A few weeks later, Dr. King returned to Memphis and was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

Given the circumstances of that era, it is understandable why Dr. King was a Republican. It was the Republicans who fought to free blacks from slavery and amended the Constitution to grant blacks freedom (13th Amendment), citizenship (14th Amendment) and the right to vote (15th Amendment). Republicans passed the civil rights laws of the 1860s, including the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Reconstruction Act of 1867 that was designed to establish a new government system in the Democrat-controlled South, one that was fair to blacks. Republicans also started the NAACP and affirmative action with Republican President Richard Nixon’s 1969 Philadelphia Plan (crafted by black Republican Art Fletcher) that set the nation’s fist goals and timetables. Although affirmative action now has been turned by the Democrats into an unfair quota system, affirmative action was begun by Nixon to counter the harm caused to blacks when Democrat President Woodrow Wilson in 1912 kicked all of the blacks out of federal government jobs.

Few black Americans know that it was Republicans who founded the Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Unknown also is the fact that Republican Sen. Everett Dirksen from Illinois was key to the passage of civil rights legislation in 1957, 1960, 1964 and 1965. Not mentioned in recent media stories about extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act is the fact that Dirksen wrote the language for the bill. Dirksen also crafted the language for the Civil Rights Act of 1968 which prohibited discrimination in housing. President Lyndon Johnson could not have achieved passage of civil rights legislation without the support of Republicans.

Critics of Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater, who ran for President against Johnson in 1964, ignore the fact that Goldwater wanted to force the Democrats in the South to stop passing discriminatory laws and thus end the need to continuously enact

Hi Larry,
In case you didn’t notice this is an Anti Wal*Mart or “improvement site”. So you may want to find the FOX news site. just type “foxnews.com” and you’ll find all yer buddies.
Now My dad and most of my friends dads all served with honor defending the World against The Nazis, Chase Bank, Brown Brothers Harriman, The Union Bank of America, The Japanese and the rest of the Axis Powers and IBM.
Now I would have to point out that if you are way off in your beliefs. The Reagan Administration gave Chemical Weapons to IRAQ and told Sadam to feel free to use them against aggressors, Traded Arms for The Hostages with Iran and Helped Train and Fund Osama Bin Ladin.
I could make a snide comment about your age, but out of respect for my own and friends fathers who have moved on to the here after. I’ll just leave it to this, You’re freaking on Glue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bobby,

“In case you didn’t notice this is an Anti Wal*Mart or “improvement site”.”

I find it interesting, that YOU, after posting a long dialogue about Bush, the SBA and FEMA, none of which have to do with Wal-Mart, then, go on to criticize Larry for his post and tell him to move on to a site that is relative to his post, because it was NOT about Wal-Mart!!  Guess it is because YOU were bashing Bush and that is ‘fair game’ here, but NIX to people who would talk ‘sour grapes’ about Obama, and they should ‘peddle their views elsewhere!!  Is this a “Double Standard” site as well as a Wal-Mart site?

england tree water frog mail all elephant stay kitchen day are site kitchen

why in the hell are we talking about politics on this blog?what do politics have to do with this blog?

RDS in I mentioned Wal*Mart in my dialog and just to be fair I threw in Home Depot too.

ddrb:
Nice essay, would you be interested in blogging for us at theWritingOnTheWal.net ?

If you would like to give it a try contact Jeff Hess via email (address on the site). He will fill you in on our minimal requirements.

You could continue your efforts here as well, although we have our own set of pet trolls.

“Isn’t it great how all you have to do, is put the word Wal-Mart, in front of ANY problem and it sounds good to your side?” ~RDS

So much for another one of your dumb statements, RDS.  These all still sound <b>bad to me!

I love HTML… Sometimes!

“Isn’t it great how all you have to do, is put the word Wal-Mart, in front of ANY problem and it sounds good to your side?” ~RDS

Hmm… WalMart Illegitimate Wars, WalMart AIDS, WalMart World Hunger, WalMart Pollution, WalMart Global Warming, WalMart White Collar Crime, WalMart Greed, WalMart Corruption, WalMart Theft, WalMart Murder, WalMart Discrimination, WalMart Racism, WalMart Cancer, WalMart Muscular Dystrophy…

So much for another one of your dumb statements, RDS.  These all still sound bad to me!

ddrb:
Nice essay, would you be interested in blogging for us at theWritingOnTheWal.net ?

Atta’ girl, Double D! Not bad for a dyslexic. :o)

Comment bb?

“Are you better off now than you were four (or 8) years ago?” ~ Ronald Reagan

“Comment bb?”

“bb” may be busy commenting over at WritingOnTheWal using his other persona,Someone in USA.

There, like here, he’s pretty much seen as a persona non grata.  Just ask robertdfeinman… “ although we have our own set of pet trolls.”

...using his other persona...

I honestly don’t know (or care) if bb and Someone are the same person. I will say, however, they share certain characteristics.  A large and vulnerable ego is the most fun to exploit.

If bb and Someone are the same, this invitation to Double D has really got to hurt.

“They had a sign up in our Layaway Dept. - Now Hiring: TLE Service Techs. No Exp. Required” ~ Hawkeye

I will be very interesting to see which of the “Big Box” Stores are the first to embrace progressive pro-employee/productivity reforms with regards to their human resources and management. Wal*Mart and their investors should be worried they are working with an extremely saturated market and have been counting on a severe recession and a rising missery index. Their recent stock gains indicate this as the case. It is also evidenced in Wal*Mart’s rebranding efforts. Without the support of the American consumer they would be in a bit of a pickle.

....a pickle.

Would that be a Vlasic pickle? $2.97 for a gallon jar?

Given the impact of tenure on wages and benefits, the cost of an Associate with 7 years of tenure is almost 55 percent more than the cost of an Associate with 1 year of tenure, yet there is no difference in his or her productivity. ~ Chamber’s memo

Comment bb?

Seems elongated holidays are only for the WMW elite…

If bb and Someone are the same, this invitation to Double D has really got to hurt.

Doesn’t bother me, in the least—if WotW wants to lower their standards to soliciting dated material (peppered with the occassional pun), that’s their business.

Ken and Screwed:~~~~~~~~” honestly don’t know (or care) if bb and Someone are the same person. I will say, however, they share certain characteristics.  A large and vulnerable ego “~~~~~~~~NOTE: They do seem to share a misanthropic attitude in general,and a misogynistic attitude towards women,in particular. Here is an entry from Someone dated August,’06, long before I began commenting here. I ran across it quite coincidentally,a few days ago.....:” JM-

You might not of heard of this, but I hear these things called condoms are also helpful.  I also suggested that she not lie on her back in the first place.  Plenty of options available.

IRONHEAD-

Barring a husband’s death, there are few excuses for being a single mother.  Any other outcome is a choice.  No one makes her have and keep the child if she is not married, and, generally, a woman should be able to judge the character of a partner before spreading her legs.  Is that so hard to understand? 

Then we go back to what Richard said: Wal-Mart pays a fair wage based on the market for employees with the necessary qualifications.  They do this for everyone.  They don’t cheat single mothers, nor do they give them special treatment.  It’s actually quite fortunate jobs like Wal-Mart exist to help women with children and no skills.

Someone in USA
Tuesday, August 29 at 09:38 AM~~~~~~~~~~~~~Gee, too bad Someone/bb didn’t counsel Republican VP candidate,Sarah Palin’s teenage daughter. But then again, her mother doesn’t endorse sex ed.Palin is pro abstinence only. I guess that is another kind of “union” issue ,altogether.

rdf: You talkin’ to ME?

Bobby,
No glue, just JD & pain killers, account the Nip in the Kamikaze that hit the deck.

I dont get either at Walmart.

Anyway, to get back to the original intent of this thread, next time any of you who are better off enjoy a good or a service maybe it would be nice to think about and appreciate the person/people that made it possible.  Has anyone ever watched Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel?  This is the ULTIMATE example of this.

Since Wal-Mart’s prices were mentioned the new slogan at my store on all of the features is “Unbeatable” with the new logo.  Not sure if that’s accurate but it’s the IMPRESSION that the prices are unbeatable that counts because it draws people in.

Also, Martin Luther King was a Democratic Socialist/Christian Leftist - just had to clear that up (at least this was the ideology that he embraced towards the end of his life before he was murdered).  Also, the fact that both the Democratic and Republican parties have both had the support of as well as the condemnation of the KKK during various points in their existence shows what worthless garbage political parties they really are.  Anything good that has ever happened in our society came from preasure from outside groups and the Democrats and Republicans adopting these policies in some way or another to try to maintain their position and control while appealing to popular sentiment.

Robert,

Does Jeff know you are making the blog sound so desperate? Pet trolls, huh? That’s rich.

ddrb,

If you are that interested in my posting history, I’d be happy to e-mail it to you. There are literally hundreds of pages.

If bb and Someone are the same, this invitation to Double D has really got to hurt.

Not really, Ken. I’ve been invited to post there many times and we all know which side I’m on. I don’t have anything particular against ddrb, either, except for her longwinded posts and inattention to the topic. I’ve encountered many people online I dislike more - you should know, Ken, as there are few more well-known around the anti-Wal-Mart parts of the Internet than you. We’ve encountered one another on probably a dozen sites before my semi-retirement from writing about the company.

...my semi-retirement from writing about the company.

Semi retirement implies a vocation and we both know that didn’t happen.

Are you threatening us with “literally hundreds of pages” of your posts?

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that. ~ George Carlin

“my semi-retirement...” ~Someone in USA

That was a euphemism if I ever heard one!

I think what it’s called is a lack of interest!

Maybe you shouldn’t have been so pretentious when you tired to launch that pathetic website of yours, Someone.  I think it was this statement that pretty much killed it for you: 

“Someone in USA’s assessment of the claims of Wal-Mart’s critics, his take on the company itself, and some free advice for his friends in Bentonville.”

Larry in USN WWII (Ret)
JD & Pain Killers… You should be a rock star! Sorry I can’t join you.
Be well, and thanks for fighting for the country most of us love.

Screwedby,

“Maybe you shouldn’t have been so pretentious when you tired to launch that pathetic website of yours, Someone.”

I wouldn’t talk too loud, what about that pathetic movie you were associated with?

“...thanks for fighting for the country...”

Maybe you have the answer to my questions, Bobby.

Why did we fight the Vietnam War?  Was it a victory for America?

Hi Screwed,
As far as Vietnam goes, I always just go back to IKE’s farewaell speach. It can be viewed at the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY

The Military Industrial Complex.
The term “MIC” is most often used in reference to the military of the United States, where it gained popularity after its use in the farewell address of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, though the term is applicable to any country with a similarly developed infrastructure. It is sometimes used more broadly to include the entire network of contracts and flows of money and resources among individuals as well as institutions of the defense contractors, The Pentagon, and the Congress and Executive branch. This sector is intrinsically prone to principal-agent problem, moral hazard, and rent seeking. Cases of political corruption have also surfaced with regularity. A similar thesis was originally expressed by Daniel Guérin, in his 1936 book Fascism and Big Business, about the fascist government support to heavy industry. It can be defined as, “an informal and changing coalition of groups with vested psychological, moral, and material interests in the continuous development and maintenance of high levels of weaponry, in preservation of colonial markets and in military-strategic conceptions of internal affairs”

Now personally I find it supremely ironic when we send our service men into harms way and they are fired upon by weapons that are made in the USA. I’m sure we are off shoring that too now. Does this lead to questions of threats to our national security? It should.

Why are we in Iraq when the real fight is in Afganistan. There are two movies that should be seen Charlie Wilson’s War, Rambo-2 and what the heck, throw in Flight 23 or 9-11.

This is an issue that has crossed party lines.

The Soviet Union played this game and lost. The US is playing the same dangerous game and Putin, who does know his history, as well as China’s government are watching the United States squander it’s millitary might. For what? So the same group of people who are friend’s of the Bush, Cheney, Bin-Laden Family and the Saudi Royal’s can all make an “honest buck” Bush senior once reffered to soldiers as “Fodder Units”.

My question to you is who is worse: Drug Dealers or Arms Dealers?

Vietnam? Iraq? Well, I always go back to what Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower had to say:

*In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

*Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society’s future, we—you and I, and our government—must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow

http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html

Or we can take note of the words of another person:
“Well come on Wall Street - don’t move slow,
Why man, this is war-a-go-go!
There’s plenty of money to be made
By supplying the army with the tools of the trade”.

Arms “dealers”

Sorry Bobby...That Didn’t Help a Bit!

“Now personally I find it supremely ironic when we send our service men into harms way...” (in Vietnam)

and now we can buy $5.00 pairs of pants at Wal-Mart that are being made in Vietnam.

God Bless America!

To All Concerned:
We are entering into a very energetic political campaign. I’m going to try to avoid getting bated into off topic discussions. No Monica Lewinskies, Pregnant 17 year olds etc. It’s just BS to keep EVERYONE from focussing on issues.

As a follow up to my response to “Screwed” I’d like to emphasize my second quote from IKE’s farewell speach, as I think its something the “pro Walmart contingency” as well as the smarter of us, should ponder…

*Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society’s future, we—you and I, and our government—must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.”

This was a speach made from the heart, before we had “Buzz Words” and “Sound Bites” and FOX news. It’s a farewell speach and not a campaign speach. It is a speach based on the assumtion that the country’s citizens had a clue, were smart and not drones. If you watched the Republican Convention speaches last night, all you got was “button pushing” and “sound bites”. This means they think we are not Smart, are drones and don’t have a clue. It is also interesting to note that it is a speach made by the golfing buddy of a man named “Prescott Bush”. I pick up some of my best inside info in social settings. Makes you wonder what they talked about on the 19th hole…

Here’s a link to the speach in its entirety:

http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html

Hi Screwed!
Point blank, I think the Vietnam War was a sham. I think that when the Nation lost both JFK and RFK we were witnessing a giant shift of power in the United States. A group of opportunist were using the cold war as an excuse for selling off our nations heritage to countries like Japan. I’ve written about our trade deal to alow Japan to “dump” their manufactured goods into our economy in return for them not selling high technology to the Soviets. Ross Perot spoke at lenth about this on several occasions.

There was another poster named “Mary” who wanted to talk about Jimmy Carter’s handling of the economy. Well, historically and you can check me on this, the economic conditions inherited by Gerald Ford and then Jimmy Carter were the result of our Nation’s overspending with regards to the Vietnam War. Which directly opened the door to “Reaganomics”. I’ve been fortunate to have had a pretty amaizing life. I must admit that there are times when I wish I could “dumb down” and be back in my 20’s.

We have a new group of young voters who have grown up in the “live for today age” (see Ike’s speach). And many of them are soooo easily manipulated, that its scary! I would hope that they take their voting and their politics seriously and take the time to dig a little and look for the truth. We have alot at stake.

OH Screwed,
Sorry I sort of ignored the second part of your question;
Maybe you have the answer to my questions, Bobby.
Was it a victory for America?
No Vietnam was not a victory for America. It unquestionably hurt the country to this very day.

It was however a huge victory for the people involved in running the War Machines the World over. There are AK47’s EVERYWHERE! The Arms Manufacturers in the United States as well as the Soviet Union have Armed the World least stable countries to the teeth.

We have a new group of young voters who have grown up in the “live for today age”...

You combine that with their parent’s belief that “he who dies with the most toys, wins” and you have the possibility of a social mess.... Oh, wait! We already have a mess!

“A better legacy than a Wal-Mart would be a vacant lot.” ~ Linda Bevard

Are McCain’s handlers playing the wrong card?
By David H. Hackworth
January 25, 2000

John McCain is being hailed by the press as a “genuine war hero.” But is he a war hero in the conventional sense like Audie Murphy and John Glenn?
Or is his “war hero” status the creation of a very slick publicity campaign that plays on flag, duty, honor and country?

For sure, McCain has the fruitsalad a Silver Star, a Legion of Merit for Valor, a Distinguished Flying Cross, three Bronze Stars , two Commendation medals plus two Purple Hearts and a dozen service gongs.

On a purely medal count basis, he outweighs Murphy and Glenn, who both for years repeatedly performed extraordinary deeds on the ground or in the air against an armed enemy.

McCain’s valor awards are based on what happened in 1967, when during his 23d mission over Vietnam, he was shot down, seriously injured, captured and then spent 5 1/2 brutal years as a POW.

In an attempt to find out exactly what the man did to earn these many hero awards, I asked his Senate office three times to provide copies of the narratives for each medal. I’m still waiting.

I next went to the Pentagon. Within a week, I received a recap of his medals and many of the narratives that give the details of what he did.

None of the awards, less the DFC, were for heroism over the battlefield where he spent no more than 20 hours. Two Naval officers described the awards as “boilerplate” and “part of an SOP medal package given to repatriated (Vietnamera) POWs.”

McCain’s Silver Star narrative for the period 27 October 1967 the day after he was shot down to 8 December 1968 reads: “His captors… subjected him to extreme mental and physical cruelties in an attempt to obtain military information and false confessions for propaganda purposes. Through his resistance to those brutalities, he contributed significantly towards the eventual abandonment…” of such harsh treatment by the North Vietnamese.

Yet in McCain’s own words just four days after being captured, he admits he violated the U.S. Code of Conduct by telling his captors “O.K, I’ll give you military information if you will take me to the hospital.”

A Vietnam vet detractor says, “He received the nation’s third highest award, the Silver Star, for treason. He provided aid and comfort to the enemy!”

The rest of his valor awards issued automatically every year while he was a POW read much like the Silver Star. More boilerplate often repeating the exact same words. An example: “By his heroic endeavors, exceptional skill, and devotion to duty, he reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Naval Service and the United States Armed Forces.”

Yet McCain’s conduct while a POW negates these glowing comments. The facts are that he signed a confession and declared himself a “black criminal who performed deeds of an air pirate.” This statement and other interviews he gave to the Communist press press were used as propaganda to fan the flames of the antiwar movement.

Accounts by McCain and other writers tell of the horror he endured: relentlessly beatings, torture, broken limbs. All inflicted during savage interrogations. Yet no other POW was a witness to these accounts.
A former POW says “No man witnessed another man during interrogations… We relied on each other to tell the truth when a man was returned to his cell.”

The U.S. Navy says two eyewitnesses are required for any award of heroism. But for the valor awards McCain received, there are no eyewitnesses, less himself and his captors. And they’re not talking.

Our POWs in Vietnam were treated appallingly. The Viets would either break a POW or kill him. POWs provided info beyond name, rank and serial number or they didn’t come back.

Based on these stalwart men’s horrific experiences, the Code of Conduct has been changed. A POW says, “Now the training is to give them something… don’t risk permanent damage to health, mind or body.”
McCain refused an early release. An act of valor? Three former POWs told me he was ordered to turn it down by his U.S. POW commander and he “just followed orders.”

McCain certainly doesn’t appear to be a war hero by conventional standards, but rather a tough survivor whose handlers are overplaying the war hero card. ~~~~~~~

NOTE:David H. Hackworth died in June 2005, he was a much-decorated and highly unconventional former career Army officer who became a combat legend in Vietnam. Col. Hackworth received 78 combat awards — including a Distinguished Service Cross, a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and eight Purple Hearts — during his 25-year military career which spanned the Korean and Vietnam wars.