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Scenes From the Shut-up-and-Sing-Sell-Arugula Protest
I just had the world's most delicious Arizona Grille sandwich, complete with chicken, roasted red peppers, and chipotle mayo on a focaccia roll, washed down by some three-dollar carrot juice. It was at my neighborhood supermarket, a Whole Foods, where 10 or so protesters stood outside trying to make people sad and/or angry. On the way in, some shlub in a bright yellow "UFCW for Obama" shirt handed me a flyer with the following claims:
John Mackey is a right wing libertarian. [...]
He has just launched a campaign to defeat a single payer national health insurance system. [...]
This despite the bottom line reality that single payer is the only way to both control health care costs and cover everyone. [...]
And the problem with Mackey's campaign is that it results in the deaths of 60 Americans every day due to lack of health insurance.
Mackey is responsible for these deaths as much as anyone.
After making my purchase with more enthusiasm than usual, I was handed another flyer from some peppy UFCW gals, including the bold-italic question du jour: "Do you really want your shopping dollars going to executives who are undermining President Obama?" One of them asked me (quoting from memory), "Are you aware that Whole Foods CEO John Mackey recently wrote an op-ed attacking national health care?"
"Yes," I replied with a smile. "I read the whole thing." As I walked away one of the gals said, in genuine wonder and disappointment, "Wow...."
More on the pathetic boycott against the only supermarket CEO I'm aware of who advocates ending the Drug War, here and here. I'll just make one observation: The liberal commentariat keeps telling us that we need to have a "serious debate" about reforming our dysfunctional health care system. Well, love 'em or hate 'em, Mackey came up with eight tangible ideas to do just that, and this is the reaction he gets. From people who no doubt treasure their DVDs of Shut Up and Sing.
I wrote about the Dixie Chicks, and the "fair-weather friends" of free speech, in 2004.
|8.21.09 @ 1:41PM|#
Excuse me if I missed this, but isn't Whole Foods nonunion? That
couldn't have anything to do with the hue and cry, could it?
Nah.
Tomcat1066|8.21.09 @ 1:43PM|#
Here's a few terms and their correct meanings:
Bipartisan cooperation = STFU and do what I want you to do.
Serious debate = STFU and do what I want you to do.
Civil rights = shit that we like, not shit that we don't.
These apply to either Republican or Democrats, since they both have
a hypocritical track record.
hmm|8.21.09 @ 1:45PM|#
I hope there are some protesters at our local whole foods. Such an event will make my day.
|8.21.09 @ 1:46PM|#
Mr. Welch,
You're the Toby Keith of Whole foods! AKA, The Angry
Libertarian.
Actually, I think you're kind of the doucho di tutti douchi for
getting a hard-on about the whole boycott nonsense, but it's your
life. Courtesy of the Red, White, and Douche.
JB|8.21.09 @ 1:47PM|#
That neighborhood is extremely Leftist and there are all sorts
of 'Government Health Care NOW' signs within a few blocks of the
store.
That they only managed 10 people is hilarious.
|8.21.09 @ 1:47PM|#
Actually, there ARE right and left wing liberatarians.
HOWEVER, the terms mean nothing to the average person who thinks
'right wing=conservative', 'left wing=liberal'.
These people are obviously "liberal", and so include the term
'right wing' in place of "conservative" to get other lefties to not
like him.
But, hey, what do you expect, considering the rest of their lack of
logic...
|8.21.09 @ 1:49PM|#
howabout the jackasses behind the boycott are the real douchebags? more appropriate.
Tomcat1066|8.21.09 @ 1:49PM|#
"That they only managed 10 people is hilarious."
I guess they couldn't hire enough others to fill out the numbers a
bit, huh?
The Angry Optimist|8.21.09 @ 1:51PM|#
Actually, I think you're kind of the doucho di tutti douchi for getting a hard-on about the whole boycott nonsense, but it's your life.
Well, you are a douche for thinking that.
Seriously, schandenfreude and glee directed at a bunch of
slack-jawed, economically illiterate fuckheads who never know what
they fuck they are talking about but want to force their worldview
on everyone anyway is not "douchey" behavior.
LarryA|8.21.09 @ 1:52PM|#
What we have here is the emerging Religious Left.
I wish President Obama would gird his loins and say something like,
"The People elected we Democrats to create change. We control
supermajorities in both houses of Congress. So pass health care
already. Since we know what we're doing is the right thing we
shouldn't be afraid of being held responsible for the
results."
I can dream, can't I?
JB|8.21.09 @ 1:54PM|#
I guess they couldn't hire enough others to fill out the
numbers a bit, huh?
Nearly every union protest in the city pays homeless people to walk
picket lines. And guess what? They neither pay them union wages
(very far from it) nor medical benefits.
|8.21.09 @ 1:57PM|#
Hah, back at my crap McJob in high school (at a Syracuse-area
grocery store) I was forced to join the UFCW to work there.
In addition to stealing significant percentages of my first few
minimum-wage paychecks, they had the break room filled with
democratic political fliers (this is back when Hillary was making
her bid for Senator).
Oh, and the chain continued its precipitous decline that began when
the workers unionized, and has lost almost the entire market to
Wegman's, which is simultaneously non-union and often featured
highly on the "Top X Companies to Work For" lists.
Matt Welch|8.21.09 @ 1:57PM|#
That they only managed 10 people is hilarious.
In fairness, that was within the first 10 minutes of the protest.
When our colleagues come back I'll update with their head
count.
oh no not this again|8.21.09 @ 1:58PM|#
I was gonna say it on the other thread, but I've seen this story here more than any other news site. I read a fairly progressive site and I have only seen two posts about whole foods and the ten oroles should prove this is a non story but have fun I suppose
The Angry Optimist|8.21.09 @ 1:58PM|#
oh goody Richard the Dog-Whistler is here, to tell us all how awful living next to black people is...no racism!
Tomcat1066|8.21.09 @ 2:01PM|#
JB,
I'm shocked. I'm also shocked that birds can fly all on their own!
They don't need planes at all. It's amazing!
Paul|8.21.09 @ 2:06PM|#
Matt, did you call the 1-800 number and report some fishy information on healthcare?
Naga Sadow|8.21.09 @ 2:06PM|#
Epi,
Personally, I don't believe what you're saying, I always keep my
eyes on the road I don't miss a thing.
|8.21.09 @ 2:06PM|#
Well, you are a douche for thinking that.
I'll definitely cop to being a douche, but not for thinking Matt
Welch is a douche. His douchitude re Whole Foods is fairly
apparent.
Mackey had his say; some folks disagree; Some folks disagree with
the aforementioned disagreers. BFD.
Fist of Etiquette|8.21.09 @ 2:07PM|#
I still say the businessman who dips toe into political waters
does so at his own peril. Luckily the hit from the hippy
boycott personcott is no doubt minor and
short-lived.
In a few months, when the possibility of the utopia that is
state-run health care is a distant memory, these protesters will go
from making a show of caring about the medical needs of the
nation's poor back to making a show of caring about what they put
in their bodies by shopping, once again, at Whole Foods.
Ward S. Denker|8.21.09 @ 2:08PM|#
I love the irony of UFCW's slogan:
"A Voice for Working America."
They actively campaign against the workers of Whole Foods, who may
or may not support what their CEO wrote but have families to feed
just like any other company. I somehow doubt that they're getting
paid too much more than your average supermarket workers, so the
only thing that could possibly result from a substantial decline in
business (if UFCW gets their way) would be layoffs.
Yep, they're a real voice for the workers of America alright. Do
what they want. Conform, or be out of work. This is how they
support WORKERS.
Mike Laursen|8.21.09 @ 2:11PM|#
what the hell is a right wing libertarian?
Neal Boortz and John Mackey. They're like twins.
Ailurophile|8.21.09 @ 2:13PM|#
Society would be far better off if these boycotters boycotted all food, not just Whole Foods.
|8.21.09 @ 2:13PM|#
Oh shit, Naga is off his programming again. Somebody put him on Network 23 again.
|8.21.09 @ 2:14PM|#
Do you really want your shopping dollars going to executives
who are undermining President Obama?
Why, yes. Yes, I do.
Sadly, there is no Whole Foods where I live. But I used to shop
there nearly every week. They have a great lineup of specialty
items - cheese, beer, spices, oils, etc.
hmm|8.21.09 @ 2:15PM|#
Mackey had his say; some folks disagree; Some folks disagree
with the aforementioned disagreers.
So, Welch commenting on something that happens in politics and
society all the time. Clearly that constitutes douche. At least in
unicorn land where purple ponies shit rainbows and skittles.
Not to mention the event directly relates to someone who at least
at some level participates with the site.
I'm just not seeing the douche here. I see some retard on one side,
but no douche at all.
|8.21.09 @ 2:21PM|#
They have a great lineup of specialty items - cheese, beer,
spices, oils, etc.
Beer? At a supermarket? That's crazy talk!
Ska|8.21.09 @ 2:23PM|#
At least in unicorn land where purple ponies shit rainbows
and skittles.
So that's what taste the rainbow means!
|8.21.09 @ 2:24PM|#
I am absolutely fucking gob-smacked that any libertarian (or any
person) gives the Mackey / boycott / counter-boycott more than two
seconds worth of thought. (See also Glenn Beck / boycott /
counter-boycott)
People who disagree with you on public policy will behave in ways
you don't like. Which is their right. Cope.
Boycott if you want; counter-boycott if you want. Absent a national
frenzy of boycotting that favors one side over the other, the
difference to the targeted company is less than if they changed
garbage bag suppliers.
Crikey Moses!
oh no not this again|8.21.09 @ 2:25PM|#
That may ruffle lone wacko's feathers, but I guess you're all easily entertained
|8.21.09 @ 2:26PM|#
I somehow doubt that they're getting paid too much more than
your average supermarket workers
Yeah they don't at all, I used to be a pimple-faced UFCW member
stocking shelves and smoking pot in the dairy cooler. For minimum
wage.
hmm|8.21.09 @ 2:27PM|#
That may ruffle lone wacko's feathers, but I guess you're
all easily entertained
I can't speak for others here, but you give me a rubber band and a
McDonald's straw and I'm good to go for at least 6-8 hours.
|8.21.09 @ 2:27PM|#
some shlub in a bright yellow "UFCW for Obama" shirt handed
me a flyer with the following claims:
I'd have handed it back to him. After visiting the men's room,
IYKWIM.
|8.21.09 @ 2:28PM|#
de stijl,
There is something odd about boycotting a publicly traded company
for some opinion that the CEO has that isn't all scary evil or
radical. The fact that some people do, in fact, view his rather
mild statements as scary evil and radical is really weird.
The union angle makes me suspect the motives of some of the
protesters, too, if my recollection about Whole Foods not being
unionized is correct.
hmm|8.21.09 @ 2:29PM|#
I am absolutely fucking gob-smacked...
I'm absolutely, completely, fucking god-smacked that you care this
much about how "libertarians" view the situation.
.|8.21.09 @ 2:31PM|#
oh goody Richard the Dog-Whistler is here, to tell us all
how awful living next to black people is...no racism!
Yeah, buy at least he's publishing a blog that isn't a predictably
politically correct establishment organ masquerading as
anti-establishment chic.
Tomcat1066|8.21.09 @ 2:33PM|#
"People who disagree with you on public policy will behave in
ways you don't like. Which is their right. Cope. "
And it's our right to mock them in any way we see fit. It's our
right. Cope.
Ska|8.21.09 @ 2:35PM|#
I used to be a pimple-faced UFCW member stocking shelves and
smoking pot in the dairy cooler.
I went with the produce dept. - right next to the deli, close
enough to the beer, and it had its own assortment of treats.
|8.21.09 @ 2:36PM|#
What we have here is the emerging Religious Left.
Emerging? Come here to the South Side of Chicago; it emerged a long
time ago. Every Democrat here has to make the usual rounds to all
the major black churches. Why do you think Obama went to Trinity
UCC (a/k/a Rev. Wright's Church)? They may not have the numbers
that the Religious Right have (yet), and their issues of choice are
different (in this case, "social justice") but it's the same idea
of transforming a partisan ideal into a moral one.
|8.21.09 @ 2:39PM|#
And it's our right to mock them in any way we see fit. It's
our right. Cope.
Please feel free to do it. It absolutely is your right. It's pretty
silly in a DailyKos RedState kind of way, but knock yourself
out.
The Angry Optimist|8.21.09 @ 2:40PM|#
"." - oh boy, un-PC! How cutting edge. I guess I should have praise falling out of my asshole or something?
The Angry Optimist|8.21.09 @ 2:40PM|#
de stijl, for someone who doesn't care that much, you sure are spending a lot of time proving how little you care.
|8.21.09 @ 2:40PM|#
Yeah, buy at least he's publishing a blog that isn't a
predictably politically correct establishment organ masquerading as
anti-establishment chic.
Yes, being a useless piece of racist shit is so
courageous.
|8.21.09 @ 2:44PM|#
I went with the produce dept. - right next to the deli,
close enough to the beer, and it had its own assortment of
treats.
Your ideas are intriguing to me, and I'd like to subscribe to your
newsletter.
Russ 2000|8.21.09 @ 2:45PM|#
What we have here is the emerging Religious Left.
Emerging? The Democratic party has historically been strongest in
the Bible Belt. The "Religious Right" is the historical
anomaly.
Geoff|8.21.09 @ 2:47PM|#
Whole Foods should stand by there CEO and stop buying products produced by UFCW companies. They are a customer too, right?
|8.21.09 @ 2:54PM|#
I went with the produce dept. - right next to the deli,
close enough to the beer, and it had its own assortment of
treats.
When I first moved to a state that had beer, wine, and
liquor for sale at the grocery stores I was floored. The
first time I shopped on a Sunday I had to ask an employee if it was
legal to buy beer that day. It was.
Blue law dissonance.
|8.21.09 @ 3:03PM|#
The UFCW, my former master thralls are against this?
I may have to do all of my shopping there now. I already stopped
shopping at Giant and Safeway (DC area) when the UFCW and Giant
colluded with the Monkey County govt to ban Wal-Marts that sell
groceries from setting up shop in the county, so this is only one
more reason to shit on their parade.
Colin|8.21.09 @ 3:12PM|#
I wish there was a Whole Foods nearby so I could frequent
them.
Imagine, boycotting a company not because of something they did,
but because of the thoughts of the owner.
oh no not this again|8.21.09 @ 3:13PM|#
I must be missing the union plot or something. "as Mr welch walked away the casual protester remarked isn't that the guy who uses his magazine to further his personal vendetta against newspapers? He must be looking for more magazines to ruin. He's a piss poor Eic."
|8.21.09 @ 3:19PM|#
This despite the bottom line reality that single payer is
the only way to both control health care costs and cover
everyone.
People actually believe this nonsense.
|8.21.09 @ 3:22PM|#
Huh. Nobody is protesting or handing out flyers at the downtown Seattle Whole foods. I was hoping for a confrontation.
creech|8.21.09 @ 3:24PM|#
The boycott is a joke. On the other hand, as we speak, there's probably an IRS audit notice going in the mail to Whole Foods' hq, there are local health inspectors ready to close down "unsanitary" stores, and a whole host of other enforcers ready to make life hell for them.
Matt Welch|8.21.09 @ 3:24PM|#
isn't that the guy who uses his magazine to further his
personal vendetta against newspapers?
A vendetta so profound, I might add, that I've worked for
newspapers 17 out of the past 23 years, started one from scratch,
finished at least the prototype of another, and continue to write
for newspapers every chance I get.
Tomcat1066|8.21.09 @ 3:26PM|#
And there's the proof Matt! You're trying to bring them down
from the inside!
Insidious I tell ya.
Meta4|8.21.09 @ 3:27PM|#
"oh no not this again | August 21, 2009, 2:25pm | #
That may ruffle lone wacko's feathers, but I guess you're all
easily entertained"
Apparently not as easily as you.
Meta4|8.21.09 @ 3:32PM|#
"A vendetta so profound, I might add, that I've worked for
newspapers 17 out of the past 23 years, started one from scratch,
finished at least the prototype of another, and continue to write
for newspapers every chance I get."
Is that a threat?
|8.21.09 @ 3:43PM|#
"Do you really want your shopping dollars going to executives who are undermining President Obama?"
Damn straight I do. Next question.
|8.21.09 @ 3:47PM|#
I've worked for newspapers 17 out of the past 23
years...
Yeah, but in the six years years you weren't working for a
newspaper you were prolly slagging them as much as you could!
;-)
oh no not this again|8.21.09 @ 4:00PM|#
Ouch fully chastised, I must have mistaken the constant cheerleading of the industry's problems transition as something benign. Poor word choice but at least you're magazine got a chance to tell us how pervasive the boycott is
|8.21.09 @ 4:07PM|#
"Do you really want your shopping dollars going to
executives who are undermining President Obama?"
Of course. What it this, a trick question?
By the way, thanks for pointing me to an executive doing just that.
Without you making an issue of it I wouldn't know that shopping at
Whole Foods undermines that petty tyrant.
|8.21.09 @ 4:22PM|#
I feel so guilty for not having shopped at Whole Foods recently. I'm making it a point to go there tomorrow.
Me|8.21.09 @ 4:27PM|#
There's gotta be something going on at the Berkeley Whole Foods. I must remember to shop there this weekend.
Michael|8.21.09 @ 4:28PM|#
Serious question....can workers vote to de-unionize? Is that even possible or is being in a union one of those "you break it, you buy it" kind of situations?
|8.21.09 @ 4:36PM|#
Poor word choice but at least you're magazine got a chance
to tell us how pervasive the boycott is
actually it's really just a blog post.
Rich|8.21.09 @ 4:42PM|#
Imagine, boycotting a company not because of something they
did, but because of the thoughts of the owner.
Think I smell a hate crime *somewhere* in here.
|8.21.09 @ 4:46PM|#
Serious question....can workers vote to
de-unionize?
Yes, they can. Its essentially the same election process as got the
union in, in the first place. It actually happens from time to
time.
|8.21.09 @ 4:57PM|#
Anyone have a report from the Columbus Circle Whole Foods in Manhattan? That one is located at the ground zero of Moscow on the Hudson. (Not my 'hood.)
|8.21.09 @ 4:58PM|#
Nothing going on at El Segundo WF yesterday--in fact the place
was jammed more than usual.
And no drop in quality on the Fried Chicken or the Rodizio bar,
either.
Biggest problem is that the organic bell peppers looked like crap,
but the produce clerk told me the truck hadn't come in that
day.
|8.21.09 @ 5:09PM|#
Do you really want your shopping dollars going to executives
who are undermining President Obama?
Yep, I sure do. Can someone get me a list?
-jcr
|8.21.09 @ 5:11PM|#
I guess they couldn't hire enough others to fill out the
numbers a bit, huh?
Astroturfing is expensive, and the lefties need every billion
dollars they can get to keep incompetent bankers in business.
-jcr
The Libertarian Guy|8.21.09 @ 6:15PM|#
"And the problem with Mackey's campaign is that it results in
the deaths of 60 Americans every day due to lack of health
insurance.
Mackey is responsible for these deaths as much as anyone."
What utter horseshit. I was told something similar, replace "health
insurance" with "global warming" - IOW, my vocal opposition to
Chicken Littleism, will result in the deaths of millions of
humans.
That was utter horseshit, too, but liberals just love this
tactic.
Don't they, Tony?
The Libertarian Guy|8.21.09 @ 11:21PM|#
Aw, hell, it didn't work. Hit the link above. My HTMLin' skilz ain't all that and a bucket of Cheerios, after all.
B|8.22.09 @ 1:54AM|#
"This despite the bottom line reality that single payer is the
only way to both control health care costs and cover
everyone..."
Well at least these fuckers are finally admitting, albeit in a
roundabout way, that single payer would necessitate rationing.
|8.22.09 @ 11:00AM|#
W/ all due respect, liberals are not advocating serious debate. The liberal commentariat tells us that "they won", the debate is over, and that we should shut up. Mackey had some very good suggestions which he offered in good faith, and in return he gets a boycott. While both Mackey and the boycotters are fully within their rights, which side is more open to serious discussion and debate? The answer is obvious.
ksm|8.22.09 @ 11:06AM|#
Go here to find the Whole Foods store nearest you.
Let them know that you appreciate Mackey's stand.
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/index.php
|8.22.09 @ 11:12AM|#
If we had a Whole Foods Market here in the alternative capital of North Carolina - Asheville - I'd shop there just to piss off the protesters.
|8.22.09 @ 11:18AM|#
this is the reaction he gets
To be fair to the liberal commentariat (whatever that really is),
we're talking about a small group (I think) of people acting like
reactionary fools to Mackey's proposals.
Mabye these fools are more representative of their larger group
than I think.
Anecdotally, my liberal friends/coworkers rolled their eyes over
this "boycott" even though they were none-too-thrilled over
Mackey's ideas.
Knuckleheads cross the political spectrum.
Brian Crouch|8.22.09 @ 11:55AM|#
Handed a flyer...
me:"Do you know how much John Mackey earned from Whole Foods last
year?"
she:(Thinking I'm on her side, clucking) "Right, these millionaires
don't care ab..."
me:"$1. He doesn't take a salary-- since 2007."
she:(nonplussed)
me: "So, who does you boycott hurt? Those workers in there
(indicating store) are the ones who could be hurt by a boycott, not
Mackey. Look, he wrote a opinion piece... just words on paper. Is
that really worth hurting workers for, really? For that matter is
it worth wasting your life protesting?" (walks away)
[Yes, I know he earned more from his stock, but whatever]
|8.22.09 @ 11:56AM|#
Even with 10, it's more than they got at the local WF, here on the edge of Boulder.
|8.22.09 @ 12:04PM|#
The Whole Foods at Columbus Circle in New York City was packed last night when I bought groceries there. I suppose it's possible - but doubtful - that the place would be even more packed without the boycott - but in any case the place seemed to doing quite well. Long lines and happy customers (but the initial lines dissipated quickly, as they use a lot of cashiers.)
Kev|8.22.09 @ 12:12PM|#
My anti-union sentiments actually began because of the actions
of a union grocery store worker.
When I was a kid, my dad and I went to the store to get a few items
for dinner that night. One of the things on the list was potato
salad, but when we got to the deli, there was nobody working there.
It took them about ten minutes to find someone to perform the
simple task of scooping the potato salad from the bin, putting the
lid on, weighing it and slapping on a price tag. The guy they ended
up finding was from the meat-wrapping department, and he was
complaining the entire time that his union contract said he wasn't
supposed to do this.
Even as a 14-year-old, it occurred to me that if a union forbade
someone in the service industry from actually helping a
customer, there must not be very much good in unions. Nothing
that has happened in the intervening years has changed my mind one
iota on this subject.
|8.22.09 @ 12:51PM|#
These are all knucklehead. Where are they gonna go? Plant their own garden and raise their own chickens. Hah! I saw that guy on TV saying Mackey is a bad guy. Let us see how much these liberals send money to charity. Another astroturfs received from Soros stimulus money, heh?
|8.22.09 @ 1:12PM|#
I am a loyal customer and will remain one. John Mackey just gave
me all the more reason to do so.
Like the poster above, I just hope there are protesters today when
I go pick up that baguette I really do not need.
Tom Walls|8.22.09 @ 1:48PM|#
Matt, I really disagree with your choice of Whole Foods sandwich. Clearly, the Caprese Classico (tomato, basil pesto spread, mozzarella) with extra walnuts and kalamata olives is the only viable sandwich option for anyone with taste. Because you think otherwise, I'm going to boycott reason and encourage others to do the same.
|8.22.09 @ 1:58PM|#
People have serious concerns about a single-payer health care
system that supposedly "covers everybody". It may cover everybody,
but will not treat everybody adequately. This system raises
questions about cost handling, possible rationed care, and what
will happen to the quality of health care. Imagine belonging to a
big giant HMO that is run by the same people who run the Post
Office and the DMV. No thanks!
For once someone doesn't go along with the pied piper, but calls
Obama to task for what he wants to do with our health care system,
and what does he get? A boycott! Good for him, more power to
him!
Where is the Whole Foods nearest me?
|8.22.09 @ 2:03PM|#
"I wrote about the Dixie Chicks, and the "fair-weather friends"
of free speech, in 2004."
Yes you did, and you criticized Cumulus for dropping the Dixie
Chicks from their airplay. An act which also consititutes a form of
free speech.
rrr|8.22.09 @ 2:09PM|#
"People who disagree with you on public policy will behave in
ways you don't like. Which is their right. Cope. "
I couldn't help but laugh at somebody getting so pissy with folks
who are doing the same thing he's telling folks to cope with! Do
people even pay attention to what they write anymore?
|8.22.09 @ 3:23PM|#
I'm going to hit the Town and Country WF come Monday when I'm in the area. Never been there, but I have a reason to check it out now.
|8.22.09 @ 4:00PM|#
I'm enjoying the Mackey/Whole Foods boycott immensely. Among regular Whole Foods customers, I'm probably the 1 out 1000 who's a libertarian, and after I found out, about a year ago, that Mackey was a libertarian, I thought: "Uh-oh . . . this is gonna be trouble someday." If you ever looked at the check-out counter magazine racks in Whole Foods stores, you could tell by the selection that he knew his clientele and was catering to them; but you'd have thought there might be some occasional pro-freedom magazine--what about REASON?--amid MOTHER JONES, ADBUSTERS, etc. Now the jig is up and the mob has turned against him. The Whole Foods boycott reminds me of "We Don't Read Wynand" in THE FOUNTAINHEAD. And these were the same people complaining about Big Brother regulating or even banning their food supplements. Boo-hoo, retards. To paraphrase an oldie-but-goodie cliche about government, "The government that is powerful enough to give you everything you want--like State-run healthcare--is a government powerful enough to take away all the supplements you have."
|8.22.09 @ 4:19PM|#
"Do you really want your shopping dollars going to
executives who are undermining President Obama?"
Couldn't care less what the executives of a grocery chain think or
do. I'll continue shopping at stores that have the food I want with
good quality and prices.
|8.22.09 @ 4:49PM|#
Love it when the wingnuts get a taste of their free market
medicine. If people don't want to shop at Wingnut Foods, so be it.
Let the Wingnuts go there instead.
Memo to John Mackey: If you want to get the Teaparty crowd into
your stores, you'd better find some organic Cheetohs, gallon jugs
of organic Coke, and organic Cool Whip. And you'd better cut the
prices in half.
max hats|8.22.09 @ 5:15PM|#
To be fair to the liberal commentariat (whatever that really is), we're talking about a small group (I think) of people acting like reactionary fools to Mackey's proposals.
Mabye these fools are more representative of their larger group than I think.
Anecdotally, my liberal friends/coworkers rolled their eyes over this "boycott" even though they were none-too-thrilled over Mackey's ideas.
Knuckleheads cross the political spectrum.
Nonsense! Every liberal who has ever lived is protesting Whole
Foods when they're not too busy reading Naomi Klein. Just like
Hitler!!!
|8.22.09 @ 6:08PM|#
Maybe if they'd been brandishing guns it would have been
acceptable to you?
Whiner
|8.22.09 @ 8:14PM|#
The trick to dealing with leftist clowns it to take the moral
high ground. THEIR moral high ground.
For example in the guns debate you hit them with things like "how
many gay men do you feel it's OK to make into victims because you
want deprive them of the security that your privilege provides
you?" and things of that nature.
|8.22.09 @ 9:02PM|#
consistency | August 21, 2009, 1:39pm | #
printed flyer?
astroturf.
idiot.
i made a printed birthday card over 20 years ago. if you want to
influence public opinion in 2009, you're using what? crayons?
who said we need honest debate about health care. random,
nonsensical, baseless conspiracy theories seem to be getting us by
just fine.
|8.22.09 @ 10:12PM|#
I can't believe that I'm the first person to point this out, but
here we go:
"He has just launched a campaign to defeat a single payer
national health insurance system. [...] This despite the bottom
line reality that single payer is the only way to both control
health care costs and cover everyone."
Wait, what "single payer national health insurance
system"??? The various proposed bills are all pretty awful, and may
have the result (down the road) of pushing private insurers out of
busines, but none of the bills set up a single payer system. Obama
has been running like hell from any suggestion that there will be
anything but robust private competition after the bill is signed. I
have no idea what, if anything, will ultimately get passed in this
Congress and signed by Obama, but whatever it is, it won't be
single payer.
We know that a substantial number of people, including
Congressional Democrats and these protesters want single payer. I
know that's their ultimate goal, because they've said as much. But
this bill isn't single payer. If these people think that
passing any of the proposed bills will establish a single payer
system, they're just not paying attention.
|8.23.09 @ 12:34AM|#
The wife and I went out of our way and spent a few extra bucks today to shop at Whole Foods. Just doing our part to resist P-BHO's Socialism.
The Libertarian Guy|8.23.09 @ 12:50AM|#
WTF is this Balloon Juice? Seems like yet another haven for
big-government cocksuckers...
like there aren't enough of those around.
Art-P.O.G.|8.23.09 @ 12:08PM|#
WTF is this Balloon Juice? Seems like yet another haven for big-government cocksuckers...
Correct. And it's odd, I missed the "PWNing" on that page.
The Libertarian Guy|8.23.09 @ 12:32PM|#
I went to the link and checked it out... just more arrogant liberals circle-jerking over their corrupt belief system. No different than any right-wing blog/website, in essence... they do the same thing.
|8.23.09 @ 2:19PM|#
Masturbatin' Pete | August 22, 2009, 10:12pm |
"But this bill isn't single payer. If these people think that
passing any of the proposed bills will establish a single payer
system, they're just not paying attention."
Ummm, I think it is a single payer bill. The lefties think it is a
single payer bill. Maybe you are not paying attention.
As to Obama, he is just a liar.
|8.23.09 @ 4:17PM|#
Did Mackey hire you knob-slobberers? His great ideas were tort
reform, which is a joke, and to buy whole foods products.
He's a dumb wingnut. Whole Foods shoppers have EVERY right in the
world NOT to spend their money there, and they also have the RIGHT
to ask others to do the same.
I guess glibertarians aren't actually that smart to be consistent
huh?
The Libertarian Guy|8.23.09 @ 5:01PM|#
Who flipped your be-an-asshole switch, Egilsson?
Nobody said to hold a gun to people's heads to make them shop at
Whole Foods. THAT would be inconsistent.
Go peddle your anti-capitalist worldview somewhere else, prick.
|8.23.09 @ 6:36PM|#
Whole Foods shoppers you should print up some copies of the editorial to hand to protesters.
Brendan|8.24.09 @ 5:06AM|#
Went to Whole Foods in Chicago over the weekend for the first time in a couple of months. Mackey's comments didn't seem to stop many people. There were loads of people there (including some of the best looking women I've seen all summer ... which is neither here nor there).
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