Here is an open letter to Walmart. Feel free to post this all over the place… much appreciated. Free speech matters in America, whether right or wrong. If Beck is so off base, let the viewers, the individuals out there, exercise their right to turn him off.
To Whom It May Concern,
I have been a consistent shopper in your stores for years now. I cannot think of a time where I was not it one of your stores at least once a week. I cringe considering the amounts of money that I have sunk into purchases made in your stores. The first place I think to go when I need something is the local Walmart… sadly, your actions as of late have forced me to reconsider. Your stance on healthcare given this political and economic climate was perplexing but you had a right to consider your best interests and to speak your mind on the matter. I’m sure there is a financial offset that is beneficial to your corporation in laying costs such as insurance on the backs of the taxpayers while at the same time diminishing your own responsibility to your employees. I am a capitalist, a conservative and a realist. I do not begrudge you the right to maximize your profits; in fact I expect you to do just that, it’s good business. So while I oppose the healthcare reforms being proposed, I respected Walmart’s right to disagree and to pursue what was best for them. It was not a stance that would make me consider shopping elsewhere.
This week however, you have elected to back a boycott of the Glenn Beck Program. I cannot express to you just how irksome it is to have supported a corporation’s right to free speech, while that corporation, has decided to aid in the squashing of an individual’s speech rights. This boycott is not about right and wrong, it is about destroying an opposition viewpoint. You are a party to an action I find vile, and that I abhor. How dare you join an effort to shut somebody up. I think I am going to have to reconsider whether or not corporations should have the same kind of free speech rights as individuals. I think perhaps it is reckless to give rights granted the individual to nebulous entities who cannot be held singularly accountable for what they say and the positions that they take. Perhaps we should all be considering whether or not corporations should be allowed an opinion in public debate at all. Your choice to pull ads was cowardly. Avoidance of controversy is one thing, bailing out on a program you didn’t find offensive until threatened, is another. Beck has a right to consider the president a racist if he believes it… and further he has a right to say it. People are free to stand up and say, “You’re wrong,” but that’s where it should end. There should not be a concerted effort to destroy a man because he has an opinion. That you have joined in this action is galling to me.
So, I want you to know that you have lost a loyal customer. My family of four will shop elsewhere and I will likewise tell my extended family and friends to also boycott your stores. The Sam’s Club membership will not be renewed. We’ll purchase clothing at Kohl’s, incidentals at Target or K-mart, and return to the local grocery store. Sure, in the short term it will cost us a few bucks to make this change, but in the long term the costs associated with stances like the one made by your spineless corporation, are all the greater. We as a nation cannot afford to have our free speech rights threatened in any way. I urge you to reconsider your position, but if you will not, so be it. Let my voice be the first to say, enough… and hopefully others will follow suit. I will be posting this to my blog and will encourage others to do the same. You may find the loss of one customer laughable, but we’ll see how funny it is when others join in.
Respectfully,
Cleetus the Elder
Kudos. A line has been drawn through the heart of this country and it’s name is free speech. I seriously question why a powerful company like Wal-Mart, knowing Beck’s great ratings and huge conservative, middle America following, would kow-tow to a little known organization of unknown membership and questionable agenda. That such a large corporation could be swayed by a small, but admittedly vocal cabal of dissidents, concerns me. It reeks of Jackson/Sharpton tactics. Or could it be even more nefarious and come from upon high. How dare he question the messiah?
Beck’s opinions are just that, his opinions. I don’t know if Obama is a racist or not, but I do know that he’s 50% white, 50% black and 100% wrong. If Beck calls Obama a racist, let him back it up with documentation. Personally, I think the redistribution of wealth through government take over of corporations, banks and other formerly private entities, massive amounts of tax dollars to minority run advocacy groups and minority dominated entitlement programs, the socialization of medical care, etc., etc., bode poorly that Obama is watching out for the white man. That he backed his buddy in the Gates debacle admittedly without knowing the facts bodes poorly that Obama is objective. Does that mean he’s a racist, I don’t know but Beck thinks so. But in this country, he’s allowed to think so and SAY SO.
As a resident of New York City I don’t have the option of shopping at a local Wal-Mart because the liberal dominated political machine won’t allow one to be built within the city. This further begs the question, why would Wal-Mart kow-tow to liberals and radical
race baiters in opposition to its own fiscal well being.
Only the hierarchy of Wal-Mart know the answer to that question. I have staunchly supported Wal-Mart when I have had the opportunity in the past, but no longer. The line has been drawn. Pick a side.
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DrDoug
Beck is a buffoon, Walmart is a coward and Whole Foods looks heroic. I know which company I would prefer to keep.
Beck is a comedic entertainer now operating in the political sphere. In this arena, stuff gets said and sometimes it is ridiculous. I don’t think Beck thinks Obama is a racist in the way most of us use the term. Even if he did, we can turn him off.
Walmart doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt. Too many advertisers have caved to ephemeral, unsubstantiated and scurrilous challenges by self-righteous groups. In Walmart’s case, I don’t think they ever have bought Beck specifically. They may buy the Fox network. If they are publicly saying they are not buying Beck that is worse. It is the timorous and weak response to what otherwise would the ineffectual pressure of anemic boycotters. This is not a company that chooses to participate in the public sphere that I want to have anything to do with.
Stop going to Walmart, Mark. Take the hit.
Go to Whole Foods. It is a company that seems to know how to take care of its employees, have a disciplined approach to community issues and clearly speak their mind on issues that are important to them. I don’t know if it is a good grocery store or not but it isn’t led by cowards.
