Wal*ocaust

I don’t like Wal-Mart.  It has nothing to do with the usual reasons spouted by the leftists.  It’s more of a texture thing.  My wife likes it and shops there occasionally, but I don’t care for the place.  It seems it’s always popular with 300 lb women who wear spandex.  (My wife is NOT 300 lbs and she dresses quite tastefully, thank you very much.) 

To hear the lefties talk about it, it’s the worst retail chain in the history of retail chains.  Wal-Mart doesn’t pay a lot of people six figure incomes.  They usually start people out at minimum wage or slightly higher as does every other discount retail chain like Kmart, Target, or even Sears.  They sell a lot of stuff made in china.  So does everybody else.  If you look at the computer you are reading this on, it’s a reasonable assumption that most of it is a product of China and I’ll bet that the vast majority of you bought your box from somewhere other than Wal-Mart.  You don’t want to pay a 1000 bucks for Americans to build a computer or its parts so you buy a 500 dollar Dell assembled in China. 

When it comes to manufacturing jobs, if I told you what the average flunky rivet banger makes up at the Boeing factory, your jaw would drop.  Add to that the benefits of bonuses, health and dental, their form of 401k, and other benefits, your jaw would continue on to the floor.  Hint:  They make a lot more than me.  I know, I was one of those flunky rivet bangers before I got laid off in 2002 from the 767 line.   

Most lefties hate Wal-Mart because they are big and successful.  I know they’ve run afoul of labor law a few times.  I doubt it was company policy.  Usually this sort of thing is the result of a manager or regional manager trying to show how profitable he or she can make things to get that next promotion.  I know that because I used to work for a major retailer a time or two.  They say they take away mom and pop stores and they might, but if people will go where they can afford to shop. 

Now comes this idiot equating Wal-Mart with the Holocasut by calling it Wal-ocaust:

When Charles Smith of Conyers started marketing "I (heart) Wal-ocaust" T-shirts, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart predictably hit him with a cease-and-desist order, which in turn inspired Smith on Monday to file suit in federal district court in Atlanta.

Wal-Mart says Smith is engaging in trademark infringement and has threatened to sue him for damages if he continues to display the logos on his Web site and print them on products.

Smith, a 48-year-old computer repairman who says he has no deep connection to the company, asserts it's a free speech issue, and he wants a judge to decide whether he can go forward with this business enterprise.

                

Complete with Nazi-esque symbol.   Cute, huh?  Typical stupid lefty thinking everything and everybody that disagrees with them is some kind of Nazi. 

Despite this jerk’s assertion that it’s his right under the First Amendment, I think he’ll lose.  He deserves to lose.  This is not free speech in the classical sense, this is speech meant to do harm. 

Associating Wal-Mart with the Holocaust is despicable.  It cheapens one of the most evil periods in the 20th century.  What he is saying by making the association is having a Wal-Mart in your community is akin to having an Auschwitz or a Dachau in your town.   The top of his website says:  Wal*ocaust: “The world is our labor camp!”

If the courts have any sense, he will lose his suit and Wal-Mart will win theirs.

One last thing:

This is the latest salvo in the increasingly noisy battle between Wal-Mart and its critics. Union groups fire off e-mails nearly every day. Filmmakers release dueling films. The company fights back by hiring bloggers for a public relations push. And so on.

Please note — Full Disclosure:  Wal-Mart, or anyone associated with Wal-Mart, or anyone else for that matter, did not pay me, or offer to pay any money to write anything on this blog.  Wal-Mart probably doesn’t even know I exist.

VW

Comments

[pram]

It seems it’s always popular with 300 lb women who wear spandex.
What an apt description :D Great post, and thank God you put the disclaimer in the end. With all these Walmart sponsored blog wars, you never know.

[thirdee]

I'm heading to Wally world in a few.

That was a telling description of Wal-mart shoppers :) And why is that? IT's like they attract a certain persona.

Our Walmart can be described as a madhouse. But that's only if you look at the parking lot. If you make it to the entrance, where are all the hourdes of people? (Usually in electronics or by the car stereo's.)

So, I'm heading to the little Walmart outside of our city-to avoid their awful supercenter.

Hey, you just can't beat the prices.

I can go pick up a shirt, toe rings and earrings for $15.oo. That's the life ya know, for us females anyway. :)

I should shut up now. ;) Sorry

[Violence Worker]

I'm glad the two of you agree with my observations!

People will shop where they think they will get the most value. The only thing the lefties hate is that they are so successful. I wouldn't be at all surprised that some of this is driven by their competition.

If they can get laws past forcing Wal-Mart to pay for things like healthcare when they don't have to, that will make it easier for them to "compete"

I think it was in Maryland they passed a law directly aimed at Wal-mart requiring them to give their employees health insurance. The law targeted retailers with a certain amount of employees in the state. Smaller operations like Target and Kmart are exempt.

VW

[Jon]

VW,

I shop at Walmart because it is much cheaper for me than any other grocery stores in my area. I also can get just about anything I need there. I really don't take into consideration how the compensate their employees when I walk into the door. Just like I don't consider how much profit Shell makes every month when I pull into the station to gas up my car. I chose it because of thew quality of the gas as compared to my local discount retailer.

[angellove]

I love free speech. Don't you?

Wallyworld is like the ACME company in bugs bunny. You know ACME. They were the ones who could turn a redwood into a single toothpick with as much waste and destruction as possible.
Then when all the trees (and everything) is gone, they just put down a sign that says "A new walmart to be built on this spot" and leave.

Kind of like filling a water hole with shit and calling it progress.

[Violence Worker]

You must hate malls, Lovey - all the real estate they gobble up! Your argument is an idiot's argument. Wal-Mart is no worse and perhaps slightly better than most. Last year they gave 170 million bucks away to national and local charities, including 16 million for literacy programs.

VW