Conservatives Mobilize Against Wal-Mart

CNS News ^ | 11/09/06 | Susan Jones

[Froufrou]

Wal-Mart, long pummeled by the political left, is taking additional flak from the right.

A conservative activist group is trying to recruit one million families who will refuse to shop at Wal-Mart or Sam's Club on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, traditionally two of the busiest shopping days of the year.

The American Family Association is furious with Wal-Mart for reaching out to homosexual advocacy groups that support same-sex marriage.

The criticism began when Wal-Mart announced it would join the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. And now Wal-Mart has made a deal with the Washington DC Center for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender People, agreeing to donate 5 percent of the sales made through the group's website to the Center.

"Every purchase made online for books, music, videos, clothing and accessories, children's clothing and toys, and electronics at the site will automatically send 5% of the sales to the CCBLBT People," the AFA said in a message to its supporters.

"The agreement is an indication that Wal-Mart is totally committed to supporting the homosexual movement," the AFA said.

The conservative advocacy group complains that Wal-Mart also gave a "generous cash donation" to the Northwest Arkansas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center, helping to provide a place where homosexuals can come together to "socialize."

The AFA says Wal-Mart should have remained neutral in the cultural battle over homosexual marriage.

It says Wal-Mart made an "ideological" decision, not a business decision.

[Cousin Eddie]

This is what get's me crazy about some on the right. This is being purposely distorted by the anti-gay groups.

All walmart is doing is paying a commission. Walmart is NOT paying 5% of their online sales to gay groups...only 5% of the sales from trafic that the gay website sends to the Walmart website. So don't worry, you're online sales will not generate a penny for the gay goups.

Say you're on Yahoo and see an ad for a book on Amazon. You click on the ad and buy the book. Amazon pays a commission to Yahoo for directing you to the Amazon site...not on Amazon's total sales...just on the sales that are generated by Yahoo leads.

The same is the case here. If someone is on the gay website and clicks the site's link to WMT, WMT will pay them a commission.

What is the big deal???

Can you guarantee that every salesperson working for your employer isn't gay. Because if one is gay, then you're employer is paying a commission to a gay person. Horrors!!! That gay person may donate to a gay cause or lobby for gay marriage. The world is comming to an end!!!!!!

[Arrowhead1952]

Never happen with the wife. She loves that place. We should invest in Walmart stock, and make a few extra bucks.

[Gabz]

It's one thing for Walmart to "court" business. But I can't buy stuff online from Walmart, knowing that 5% of what I pay them is being sent to a group advocating things I think will harm society.

That will only happen if you access WalMart through the website of the group you think is harming society. Since you have a problem with that group, you obviously won't be going to their website, so therefore your objection is baseless.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Me too. Just because the lefties go off on some stupid crusade doesn't mean we have to match their stupidity. Wal-Mart is the probably the most powerful anti-union force in the country right now, and we should all patronize them regularly. And since most gays vote pro-union/Democrat, Wal-Mart's efforts to build ties to the gay community has the effect of making gays feel more warm and fuzzy about a firmly anti-union company, which is likely to change some gay votes to the benefit of all.

[Gabz]

In other words, you're happy about the fact that Wal-Mart is going to donate (what 5%?) of post holiday sales to gay groups?

What part of only purchases through the gay group's website do you not understand?

If I make my purchases from WalMart's website by typing www.walmart.com into my browser that group gets nothing.

[GovernmentShrinker]

And now Wal-Mart has made a deal with the Washington DC Center for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender People, agreeing to donate 5 percent of the sales made through the group's website to the Center.

Reading comprehension alert!

Unless you do your Wal-Mart shopping via the website of the Center for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender People, none of your money will go to said Center. Wal-Mart does this sort of deal with other organizations too, allowing customers to steer Wal-Mart's charity dollars to the organizations of their own choice.

[nascarnation]

You're way too logical in your explanation.

sorry pal, you're outta here /sarc off

[E. Pluribus Unum]

As if filthy, crowded, noisy stores aren't enough reason to avoid Wal-Mart.

You must live in a filthy, run-down part of town.

All the Wal-Marts I've seen are very clean, though they are crowded.

[untrained skeptic]

5% could be a standard commission, but it's not something I've previously heard and I'm in a business catering to websites and pass-thru rates.

I know that other companies offer such things or have offered such things. But I've never heard of Walmart doing it in the past, but I don't work in that industry.

It's illegal in the United States but that makes no difference. For what it's worth, NAMBLA was based out of Denmark the last I heard. If Walmart supported any organization, illegal or not, and that organization was one in which you are opposed, perhaps then you would better understand the position of the AFA.

Do you have any evidence that Walmart supports NAMBLA? If not, throwing out an open ended question like that only serves to make lose insinuations that Walmart supports similarly horrible groups. If you want to use such a group as an example, you should at least try and make it clear that you don't have evidence that they support NAMBLA or another such group. Otherwise you're making a dishonest character attack, maybe not intentionally, but it's still the end result.

As for understanding the position of the AFA, I know for a fact that Walmart does provide a lot of support for groups I do like. They also do more to benefit the communities in which they do business than their competitors such as Kmart.

I've also seen dishonest attack after dishonest attack on Walmart by groups who misrepresent the facts because they don't think I'd make the "proper" choice if they portrayed the situation honestly.

Companies also have legal obligations in many areas to do work with groups that they may not support due to the fact that we have let our government try and insert itself into every aspect of our lives.

Therefore in my opinion the burden of proof that Walmart isn't remaining neutral and is instead supporting CCBLBT is in the hands of the AHA.

A 5% commission on sales through the CCBLBT web site doesn't sound like they are giving the CCBLBT a particularly generous deal.

In my opinion, people treat their supporters as fools who must be lied to in order to do the right thing aren't conservatives, they are liberals.

Calling them conservatives simply because they are opposed to homosexuality is like calling gun grabbers conservatives because they oppose people having a right to keep and bear arms.

[Gabz]

I dont shop at Wal-Mart because everything is made in China right down to the Christmas decorations.

Prove it.

[Xenalyte]

Come to Houston. I'll show you a Wal-Mart just on the edge of the ritziest neighborhood in town that fits my complaint exactly.

Houston Wal-Marts are nasty across the board, which is why I can't speak for Wal-Marts elsewhere - I don't go out of my way looking for dirt.

[Gabz]

It might be just my local store, or it might be the training.

It's not just your local store, unless we both shop in the same WalMart, because that is SOP at the one I shop in.

The one I shop in is also very clean. As to crowded, I've just learned the best times to shop there to avoid the crowds and generally have no problems.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Thanks, I thought it was the COMPANY'S web site, not the groups. I should read more carefully.

[El Cid]

I love Walmart (well, OK 'love' is too strong a word).
They sell guns and ammo.
They did a heckuva lot of good for a lot of folks when Katrina hit (without prodding, and with little fanfare, they donated a lot to the folks in the stricken communities).
If throwing some 'protection money' at the Homosexual lobby is required to do business, then so be it -- particularly when the money getting scarfed off is 5% of the profits purchased on-line from some specific Homosexual website. How much money are we actually talking here? Do Homosexuals actually shop at WalMart?
Seems like much ado about nothing to me.

[Domandred]

Who here would shop at Walmart if Walmart donated to NAMBLA 5% of their sales coming through the NAMBLA website? I certainly hope nobody here would shop at Walmart at that point, which obviously varies for different people.

Well if you read through the Walmart affiliate program you would find that NAMBLA would not be qualified for the program in the first place, so that is a non-issue.

[Long Island Pete]

Would you like to go with me and see for yourself. I am sure the Christmas decoations are out now considering Thanksgiving has arrived yet. Or you can check for yourself.

[BritExPatInFla]

Wal-Mart is doing more than courting business. It is promoting same sex marriage.

Oh, I'm sure that Wal-Mart wants to add a whole bunch more "spouses" added to their benefit costs. These little boycotts end up being quite laughable. Anyone remember the Great Southern Baptists Disney Boycott?

[scripter]

Do you have any evidence that Walmart supports NAMBLA?

I never said Walmart supports NAMBLA. I said would those who disagree with the actions of the AFA might have an issue with Walmart if they catered to NAMBLA. What if Walmart said they would send 5% of the proceeds of online purchases through the NAMBLA website to the NAMBLA office? Would you support Walmart if they had a similar agreement with NAMBLA?

It all has to do with individual degrees of tolerance. Many social conservatives have reached their tolerance level for what they find acceptable from Walmart. Others here, such as yourself, haven't reached that level.

Many also understand that Walmart supports other groups, groups with which they might agree. But that doesn't mean they should continue supporting Walmart.

[ZULU]

Thanks for that article. Its great. It explains why we are where we are economically, and where we are headed.

I HATE Wal-Mart for all the reasons in that article.

I'm 60 years old. I remember when a product made in America was a quality product. It was worth waiting and saving for it - it lasted a lifetime and performed excellently. Quality tools, quality clothes, quality cars.

Wal-Mart represents greed and capitalism taken to an insane level. A corporation with the single-minded goal of an insect. They drive producers to make cheaper and cheaper junk and to do it overseas. They have contributed to the already alarming erosion of our industrial base.

Sure, companies should produce goods in the most efficient manner possible. But those goods should be quality goods and they should be made here in America, giving jobs to Americans and keeping money and capital in the U.S. for investment here.

Free trade is great - as long as the parties involved operate on an equal playing field. There is no way an American company producing a product here can compete with an operation in Red China where slave labor employees receive no benefits, there are no environmental controls, the cost of living is far lower and the prod-cut produced is a piece of crap.

Even more insidiously, not only does this contribute to a trade imbalance with the U.S. becoming more and more an economic fief of the orient, but it is destroying our ability to defend ourselves.

I have a rifle called an Eddystone Model 1917. It was built in a factory originally run by the Baldwin locomotive company. The knowledge and tooling that went into building that rifle came from manufacturing locomotives, not from providing financial or communications services to foreigners. That rifle was the main arm of American doughs in WW1. Nor is that a unique situation. In the Civil War, companies that made all kinds of consumer goods in the north converted to making war material for the northern war effort. One of the reasons the south lost was because they HAD no factories to convert. This was also the case in WW2, and throughout the "Cold War".

Wal-Mart and companies like them which are responsible for marketing cheap junk made overseas for the American market and routing American dollars to places like Red China are the enemy.

The sooner we recognize it, the better off America will be.

[scripter]

It doesn't have to be NAMBLA. It could be any organization that hits your personal hot buttons. At that point you could make a decision to support or not support Walmart.