Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Puppets on the Left, Puppets on the Right (12:20 pm)
Wal-Mart has launched an opinion war by hiring political operatives (a.k.a. media mercenaries) from both the Kerry and Bush 2004 presidential campaigns. The list of Wal-Mart’s operatives stretches from a former Reagan media operative and the national director of President Bush’s campagin to one of Clinton’s media managers and the director of John Kerry’s national delegate strategy .
The New York Times article goes on to describe that such operatives are targeting “swing voters,” middle class shoppers who are wary of Wal-Mart’s actual benevolence, after well-organized critiques of the corporate giant have had significant resonance among the public. (For two examples of those critiques, check out UFCW’s Wake Up Wal-Martcampaign and SEIU’s Wal-Mart Watch.)
What does this say about the American political system when media consultants for both parties join together to use political campaign tactics to shore up a corporation’s deservedly-soiled image?
You can read the story, “A New Weapon for Wal-Mart: A War Room,” here.
This blog was actually written by In These Times Intern Extraordinaire, A. Staley Groves.
posted by Brian Cook
Reader Comments
rmb - i’ll take d. But i would also change the question to: ?What does that say about the political systems that are ubiquitous amongst humans?”.
I suppose i tend to “grade on a curve” when i view most of human affairs. By that standard, i am pretty happy with the dismal government system used by the US. Or more straightforwardly: the US is a great and powerful country that does great good in this world along with some great harm. Compared to other great and powerful countries, both past and present, it may be the best ever. If not, it is pretty near the top. . .
This is not to say we should not work to improve it more. Without constant care and tending, it could easily deteriorate into something much worse. (I realize some believe this has already happened, but i do not agree.)
posted by wolf on 11-2-05 at 12:30 PM
oh, it’s already happened alright, but i believe things could always get worse (theres a cynical definition of optimism, if you like). as for sprawl-mart, one time i was shoplifting in there, & they had me arrested! what a bunch of fascists!
seriously though, i also think america is #1, but how did things ever get so slack around here? actually, i have many theories, but it just comes down to this:
plutocracy vs hyper-pluralism meets population explosion in the 21st century…
no, wait…it all comes down to: bad education + technology eliminating the need of so many basic life-skills = an ever-increasing state of decadence…hold on, now i remember, it was all about: the government is incompetent & insincere, the private-sector is corrupt & greedy, the media is bought & sold, & the mass of people just couldn’t care less…yeah, that’s it, for starters…
posted by Dave on 11-2-05 at 2:51 PM
terrific. rather than address the actual problems (low-wages, no insurance, exorbitant tax-breaks, etc.) it becomes a battle over public opinion. appearances are emphasized over substance and fact, and the american public tolerates this incredible dumbing down and side-stepping of the actual issues. isn’t this how we ended up with our current retard of a president? twice?
posted by natas kaupas on 11-3-05 at 1:52 PM
.....not to sound like a luddite…argentina is unsatisfactory…
posted by Dave on 11-5-05 at 3:58 AM
joel klein had a good article in the last TIME
posted by Dave on 11-5-05 at 4:08 AM
Is that why Wal-Mart’s a sponsor of Public Radio? I just heard (on NPR actually) that they built their 2nd environmentally-friendly store.
How could anyone possibly hate Wal-Mart now?
posted by otter on 11-9-05 at 10:52 AM
Alight then.. I?m really not trying to be controversial here and I really don?t feel like being political either but I have got to say WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE THINKING I MEAN DAMN!!!! Ok so I heard that a bunch of really STUPID ?undereducated anyway? people are considering supporting that bitch Hillary Clinton for president. Are you fucking insane, you don?t remember those hillbillies ripping off furniture and other national treasures when they left the Whitehouse? Maybe you don?t remember her psychotic rant about ?the vast right wing conspiracy against her husband ?hello, nut case?? Maybe you don?t remember him saying how he just might be our last president and her saying we will have to give up our rights as Americans for the good of the world, did any one study communism? Does anyone see some similarities??? I mean there are pictures of him rubbing elbows with the communist for peat sake. And that was before he was even president, what the hell? And the film ?Clintons Rise to Power? or the book, ?The Year of the Rat? anybody?anybody?.. common people that couple gave away national land marks to the UN!! HE EVEN TRADED MISILE AND NUKE SECREATS TO COMMUNITS CHINA FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO HIS REELECT CAMPAIN FOR GOD SAKE!!! Please tell me the whole idea of that virus getting back into the Whitehouse is just a bad dream. PINCH ME DAMMIT!
Its ok I?m cool? what?
posted by Dean on 12-6-05 at 12:58 PM
“the vast right wing conspiracy against her husband” At the time I thought that Clinton was getting what he deserved because he lied. Now that I see how slow everyone has been to make Bush accountable (and the things he’s done are 100x worse), I now agree with her theory.
“we will have to give up our rights as Americans for the good of the world” Isn’t that what the Patriot Act is in a nut-shell?
Quit bashing communism too… it’s at least good in theory. It’s the people in charge who give it a bad rap.
posted by otter on 12-7-05 at 6:50 AM
Ok so I’m evidently not a historian or for that matter any such student of government policy.
Wow what ever!
Communism should never be so lightly taken, how I long for the days when such counter American promotion was harshly dealt with.
Surly your one of the she witches, flying monkeys.
There is a reason some governments fail.
Our own forefathers warned about the despair caused on a populace when power is given to an elect few instead of the people at large. Bro if you think Clinton nailing his underlings is better than Bush you must not be a family man.
You have no problem with his selling American monuments, or safety to those that acknowledge a desire to see us fail? You have no problem with the Clinton history that shows how bad a man can truly be once free of the view that there is a time of judgment?
Who knows maybe the wicked RED stripe in that family’s eye comes from a deal made with a different god. Boy wouldn’t that explain a lot. You know when the undereducated speak on matters they don’t understand fully you feel like your watching the personality types that like the yellow of years past fought against Americas independence. Maybe even the same spirit of all those cowards that thought we should stand for and fight for nothing in every war ever
Man when history recalls this time, W. will be heralded as a powerfully dedicated, and staunchly devoted, “visionary” President and servant of the American vision for “freedom of people.” “Against the dominant control of dictatorship.” I’m deeply concerned that those that prefer the bondage of dictatorship are given days out of the
“who who” house and evidently aloud internet privileges. What do you have to hide that you should sweat the patriot act? Do you not know that terrorist use our own technology to do their damage against us? I’m not promoting “big brother” types of controlling government but I’m all for looking at new ways to kick homeland security a notch or two. If I should ever need my day in court, against my government’s actions toward me, I will rest better knowing I can do so in an environment of strong democracy.
People please, let’s not give the key to the city to such as these. Everybody makes mistakes, and so what if we once elected one. But he and Billery are not in the white house now so let’s just learn from our mistakes and move on.
The answer to the question “What does that say about the American Political system?” is obviously best expressed as a multiple choice question.
What does that say about the American political system?
a) it is corrupt
b) it is for sale
c) it is owned by big business
d) all of the above
posted by rmb on 11-1-05 at 2:06 PM