The cover story of the print edition of the magazine is "Attack of the Snobs."
Does anyone really think Ted Kennedy or John Kerry shops at Wal-Mart?
I shop there.
Here's is an excerpt from American Enterprise Online:
A prime example of what we are calling The Attack of the Snobs is today's effort to paint Wal-Mart as a diabolical plague. This is not some spontaneous popular wildfire (for the views of ordinary Americans toward Wal-Mart see pages 54-55), but rather a coordinated agitation ginned up in war rooms by professional partisans. It is the most expensive campaign ever waged against a corporation, with more than $25 million having been sunk so far (mostly by unions) to turn public opinion against multiple aspects of the formula that created the world's most efficient retailer.
I quickly count more than a dozen Web sites that beat on Wal-Mart full time. It's a regular terrarium of screamers: hel-mart.com, walmartvswomen.com, sprawl-busters.com, wakeupwalmart.com. The heaviest is Wal-Mart Watch--with 36 employees in Washington, D.C. and a fat budget--a prize project of the Service Employees International Union. It's run by a clutch of political hacks, including John Kerry's 2004 campaign manager and other Kerry and Democratic National Committee strategists. And the other biggest attack squad, WakeUpWalMart, is steered by the political adviser to Howard Dean's 2004 campaign. So give Wal-Mart credit for creating lots of high-paying jobs for otherwise unemployable individuals.
Hillary Clinton knows which way the wind blows. She served proudly and profitably on Wal-Mart's board for seven years, without any recorded objection or complaint. But as soon as the unions and anti-sprawlers went after the firm she flipped, returning a $5,000 contribution from Wal-Mart's political action committee "because of serious differences" with company practices. As is now de rigueur in any culture skirmish, a Michael Moore-style film has been produced, accusing Wal-Mart of every sin imaginable (except profligacy). Its Washington, D.C. premiere was hosted by the honorable pot stirrers George Miller (D-CA) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA).
We've seen this pattern before. Attack a high-flying corporation (preferably one a little naive about politics) and paint it as an agent of dangerous capitalism (or social harm, or toxic cultural or political views). Before Wal-Mart it was Microsoft, the drug companies, Halliburton; now it's Exxon.
As I've commented before, the Left doesn't like Wal-Mart for another reason. Like most of the companies listed above, Wal-Mart became successful with little or no government help--the ultimate sin against their central creed: Government is good, more government is better.
Hat tip to Marshall Manson for the AE article.
Technorati tags: Wal-Mart Politics business Democrats Labor SEIU John Kerry Howard Dean Ted Kennedy George Miller
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