Quotables

But what do I know? I'm just a twice clicken brown shirt teabaggin tjroll. Right? --PatP

Not now. There are dirty, swaying men at my door. They’re looking for Brian. I need to go deal with that. --Thor

If Joss Wedon was near me, I'd of kicked his ass. --PaulC

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Keep shopping at Target

So here’s another blog entry about something PaulC shared on Google Reader. Here’s the link.

Given the choice between Target and Wal-Mart, I'm still shopping at Target. From the "apologized" link (star tribune):

"Target is known in Minnesota for helping sponsor the annual Twin Cities Gay Pride Festival."

This was clearly a matter of "we should have known people would take it this way." This was not a political statement by Target against gay rights. It was a fumble that is being spun to look like such a statement. This is alarmist propaganda. I support gay rights, but Target isn't anti-gay. Should they be more careful about who they give money to? Maybe. Am I going to stop shopping there because they gave money to a Republican? Don't be ridiculous.

I personally don’t think it’s cool for corporations to give money to politicians. I actually don’t think it’s okay for anyone to give money to politicians. But that’s the way it is. People give money to politicians so that, when they get elected, they’ll be nice to the people they got money from. That’s how i

Know where I don't go? Cracker Barrel. Cracker Barrel transparently (if not openly) doesn't hire gays. That's what a corporate anti-gay rights statement looks like. Target gave money to a politician who's economic policies they support. It just happens that he is also anti-gay. They should have thought it through more thoroughly, but they're not anti-gay. How reactionary-alarmist can you possibly be?

From the "donations" link (huffington post), regarding the image in the article: "As has been pointed out to me, yes, the Open Secrets figures here do not necessarily mean anything other than deep-pocketed individual employees of Target are making personal contributions to these ballot initiatives."

First of all, “deep-pocketed” is a pretty subjective term, I suppose. Four thousand dollars doesn’t seem to me to be that much money for a large group of people to donate to a thing. That being said, Target employees can do whatever they want with their money. You can hardly get upset because Target employs backward-thinking Republicans.

But all of this doesn’t matter. Here’s the issue: Target gave money to a Republican candidate. That doesn’t make them anti-gay any more than buying Manischewitz wine makes you a Jew. You can’t nitpick a company’s political contributions every time you decide where you’re going to shop. I don’t know what political contributions Dunkin’ Donuts has made, but that’s where I get my coffee. Because it’s better than their competitors’ coffee. Target gave money to a guy who was going to do well for them if he got elected. That’s all. I give money to the Humane Society because I like animals. I neither know nor care whether they support gay rights, big government or sound fiscal policy. That’s not what I pay them for. I pay them to take care of animals, which they do.

Bottom line: you can’t hate me because the Humane Society is anti-semitic (which I’m not saying they are). That would be ridiculous. A boycott on Target is exactly the same thing. So just chill out, have a Dunkaccino, and decide whether you really want to walk through a Wal-Mart.

Flame on.

6 comments:

  1. Nope.
    Your reasoning is correct, but still... Nope.

    Republicans are anti gay rights, pro big business, and anti poor. SO fjuck target. As well, target and walmart DESTROY communities (independent of their donations) so why would you shop there? go to the small mom and pop shops. As for dunkin donuts, same thing, go to the independent coffee shops, support your local economy.

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  2. So you're saying that you didn't shop at Target in the first place? You can hardly stop shopping there if you didn't shop there to begin with, in which case this is a non-issue for you.

    Also, Target is big business. So why is it surprising that they support a political candidate that is pro-Target?

    I do like to support small businesses, and in the case of Target you have a point. But in the case of Dunkin' Donuts... less so. I like the coffee there. If there's a little coffee shop right next to a Dunkin' Donuts, I'll go there. But if I don't like the coffee as much, I'm going back to Dunkin' next time.

    And what if the small business owner is a Republican? If I shop there, I'm giving money to his cause. Should I still go there? What if he's a teabagger? Everybody should have a sign on their door denoting their political affiliation so I know where it's okay to shop.

    Big box stores don't destroy communities. They compete with small businesses. Closing a factory or a military base can destroy a community. All the commerce stops and everybody loses their jobs. Community = broken. Opening a big box provides jobs and economic growth. It makes life hard for small businesses. True and bad. But it doesn't destroy the community. Much the same way two men being allowed to get married doesn't destroy the "sanctity of marriage."

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  3. Sorry for double-posting, but are you saying you're not shopping at Target anymore because they support a Republican candidate, or are you saying that you never shopped there in the first place because they're a community-destroying big box chain?

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  4. Whatever. The gay card is going the way of the race card.

    http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-august-5-2010/race-card-is-maxed-out

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  5. I agree and disagree. I feel like just about every time I hear of somebody playing the race card, it's total bullshit. Yes, there are still racists around, but nobody takes them seriously. They're racists for Christ's sake.

    But people who are against gay rights are actually all over the place. I think this is the first time that I know of that someone's played the gay card and it was questionable (I won't call it bullshit, but I feel like it probably is). It's still pretty believable in today's America that anyone you run into on the street hates gay people. Less likely that they hate black people.

    I totally agree that the race card is "maxed out," but the race issue has been legislated and debated in court for decades. Nobody goes on TV and says they hate blacks and wins a major election. The gay issue is still a viable political conversation. The Republican platform is to hate them. The official position of one of this country's two major political parties is "God hates fags." The gay card is still a very valid play. Interestingly enough, those same people love to bitch about the separation of church and state when it fits their agenda.

    PS Uncle Pat: I'm super happy to see so many posts from you lately. I've genuinely missed having your opinions (I must have all of the opinions. I need them for the machine).

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  6. Show how the republican platform has an anti-gay plank (I didn't say that they do, but here we go):

    how about a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage? I didn't just imagine that. It was an idea championed by our most recent republican president. How about The fact that there exists a political conversation? This is a purely religious issue, and the republican party is the only religious one.

    I can't even discuss this without wanting to curb-stomp somebody's head. Religion has no place in government. End of story. Without religion getting involved, there is no issue here. The only legitimate platform for denying homosexuals the same legal rights as everyone else is religion. And in America, religion is not allowed in government.

    Of course, that doesn't actually mean anything, does it? How much time are politicians wasting debating this bullshit issue? The only argument is: church and state are separate. That's the only argument anyone ever needs to make, because the only argument against gay rights is religion.

    I personally don't see anything wrong with polygamy. Marriage is an institution of religion, and the government has no right to say anything about it. But, to be realistic, we live in the United States of Jesus Christ (who, by the way, was white, spoke English and was a big fan of big armies), so polygamy, gay marriage and abortion are all valid political issues.

    And stop saying we live in a free society. We don't. I don't have freedom of religion (well I do, because I like Jesus), I don't have freedom of speech (swear at a cop some time), my vote doesn't count (well mine does, because I vote democrat in a state that usually votes that way), I can't marry who I want (again, I can because I want the type of person the state wants me to), and I could go on and on, but you get my point. Those are the things that define a free society. We live in a police republic.

    I can't even talk about this any more. It's making me so angry.

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