Costco & Hobby Lobby: When the Double Standard is the standard

[CincyDem]

Over the past week, we've seen the Supremes take another step in validating corporate personhood...this time in the form of enabling the religious believes of owners trump the law.

Three cheers from the right on that one.

Yesterday we have a Costco decision to drop Dinesh D'Souza's most recent book from distribution.

The right's position - this is the most egregious first amendment violation ever and it's all because the CEO of Costco is an Obama supporter. How DARE he assert his political opinion in a way that limits D'Souza's right to get his message out. D'Souza's most recent FB post is essentially a "How dare they?" rant about how this could adversely impact his livelihood - and it's all because of politics. This is the common line from Rushbo to Drudge to Fox - an Obama supporter has quashed the free speech of a dissenter (while continuing to carry Hilllary's book), endangering America's access to the truth and putting the author's livelihood at risk.

Let's skip the fact that there's no right to have your free speech distributed. Let's skip the fact that D'Souza is an overpoliticized hack trying to legitimatize the "truth" of his single minded anti-Obama opinions by positioning his work as "scholarly". And let's skip the fact that businesses for time eternal have been making decisions about their merchandise - adding and dropping items as they see demand change.

Let's skip all that.

Where's the outrage for the cashier at the local Hobby Lobby now denied her access to the full range of appropriate, legal, and sometimes necessary health care? You think that inaccessibility impacts her livelihood?

As always, the double standard is the current that flows beneath the party line. The livelihood of a hack right wing writer challenged - bad. The livelihood (and health) of thousands of women nationwide put in peril - no problem.

You pick the topic, they'll find the double standard. IOKIYAR. Sheesh these guys are slimy.

[JustAnotherGen]

1. They most certainly do have a double standard - don't they?

Excellent post!

[JustAnotherGen]

2. One thing though Costco gave in

But I understand why the CEO did it - or why I think he did it. It's not just 'renewed interest' - he's a huge supporter of Liberal and Progressive causes.

Tee hee - He's probably like -

Put those sales in one column on the excel spreadsheet - so I can give that money directly to Emily's List this year!

[Maraya1969]

55. Besides it is Costco's decision of what they sell. That does not trample on anyone's constitutional

rights.

[nxylas]

3. I thought righties believed in the free market

Or so they keep telling us. Costco has the right not to stock the book and they have the right not to shop there. Where was this outrage when Republican-owned movie theaters were refusing to show Fahrenheit 9/11?

[NewJeffCT]

5. It's okay, though

they're republicans. If Republicans want to ban or boycott something, it's the free market at work. If liberals try to do it, it's a tyrannical quashing of free speech that is setting us on the road to dictatorship.

[QuestForSense]

29. With repugs, it's ALWAYS the same refrain:

All for me, but none for thee.

[cstanleytech]

54. Not to mention the whole first amendent violation doesnt apply as

the first only applies to the government violating freedom of speech.

[MADem]

57. Yeah, the supermarket closest to my house does not sell Kimchi.

I should sue that I have to go to a supermarket further away to get my rotten cabbage fix! The SCOTUS needs to make me whole, NOW!!!

[Cosmocat]

59. Just an interchable talking point

Does not fit their pre-determined poutrage in this instance, so not applicable.

[Cha]

4. Good post, CincyDem.. thank you! Haha, Costco dropped dinesh's hate riddled book from

littering their shelves.

[sinkingfeeling]

6. Beautiful writing. You should send that to Truthout.

[CincyDem]

25. Thank you

Last edited Wed Jul 9, 2014, 10:55 AM - Edit history (1)

I usually just drop in for comments on posts and have only initiated 2-3.

This hobby lobby thing really sticks in my craw. I don't know how people who have daughters, wives, or mothers and still be in favor of this SCOTUS ruling. So it's occupying more of my mindspace than is probably healthy.

[mopinko]

7. i just gotta say, tho- what costco shopper would buy d'douche's book? they gotta have numbers

please ja, tell me that costco does not have that many wingnut customers.
ok, real world, of course they do.
but sheesh.

[littlemissmartypants]

8. They are just a bunch of loudmouth

IDIOT BULLIES. Uncivilized.

[littlemissmartypants]

9. Wonder what would happen if they created a bin for the books

With a sign attached saying:

100% of the profits from the sale of this book are donated to fund medically necessary women's health care

Costco are you listening?

[littlemissmartypants]

10. Kicking. Thank you. nt

[ReRe]

11. Costco probably boycotted the...

... D'Souza book because it's not selling anyway. Could be that Costco shoppers were vandalizing the book, leaving it in shreds on the book table.

[SCVDem]

12. Two Words!

Dixie Chicks!

Now please go pound sand! I can't stand D'Souzas appearances on Bill Maher!

[mountain grammy]

13. They passed slimy a long time ago.

[The Wizard]

14. Republicans have perfected the role of victim

and their handmaidens in the media give them a soapbox to stand on and megaphone to broadcast.

[rurallib]

15. Wingers: You can get all the hate books you need at Walmart!

see - it's about choice!

[muntrv]

16. Send Dinesh's book to the 99 cent bin at Wal Mart.

[muntrv]

17. Dinesh, it is not Costco's fault that your fellow righties couldn't give away your books

at teabagger meetings, thus inflating your sales.

[WillowTree]

18. Word has it that Costco is caving and putting it back on their shelves.

[CincyDem]

19. That would be a shame.

[CincyDem]

21. Well...there ya go.

Snopes is usually pretty good at this. I don't have the original Costco customer response but "the word is" appears from this to be true.

Now if only Hobby Lobby could see some business results that would cause them to reconsider their position. Oh wait - religious zealots and logic are never in the same room together.

From snopes:

By the end of the day on 8 July 2014, Costco began adding a paragraph to its standard customer response indicating it had reversed its position and would be re-stocking D'Souza's America: Imagine a World Without Her:

After we made the return, a documentary was released about the book. Since then there has been heightened interest by our membership base and brisk sales at locations still in stock. Therefore, we have made the decision to reorder the book.

Read more at http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/dsouza.asp#gisuS2V2sDPkjtwm.99

[rickyhall]

20. Walmart has cut out books, magazines, comics, CDs, DVDs, etc. for decades. So?

[kwolf68]

22. Costco

If Costco was politically motivated, WHY would they even have the book to begin with? I have seen right-wing books in Costco before and have seen books from the left. They seem to operate from a TRUE market perspective where they offer all products to their consumers and let them decide with little regard for politics.

[samsingh]

23. i'm going to go spend another $1000 at Costco

[samsingh]

24. repugs are vile and disgusting imbecile hypocrites

[CincyDem]

27. You are the master of understatement :-) n/t

[samsingh]

40. i had to get back to work!

[bottomofthehill]

26. I cant get my favorite Gay Porn Mags at Walmart

I think it is an outrage that Walmart will not distribute them. Where is the outrage.....

[bayareaboy]

28. On the other hand...

Did you know that when you buy paper products from Costco you are probably buying Koch/Georgia Pacific made items.

That Costco has vacated locations to get out of union agreements, like Hayward, Ca. They closed the warehouse and left it closed for about 2years, then came back without a contract.

I don't know what Costco does now, but my wife worked there for a couple of years as a demonstrator and had no fringe benefits, at all. It seems as though she was a contractor.

Granted that Costco delivers usually good items at a decent price, but they are still a business.

[Sister to TxTowelie]

30. Does that apply to Kirkland paper products?

I'll go without before I buy Dixie, Vanity Fair, or Scott brands at Any store. The only paper plates at costco are made by Georgia Pacific, so I don't buy them there. But I have been buying Kirkland stuff.

[bayareaboy]

63. I wrote an email to them a while ago...

and they did not tell me the manufacturer. They seem to be very secret folks.

I tried an email as well about their no salt substitute at about the same time, because I had heard that they have high phosphorous contents which in some ways are more of a problem with folks who have kidney problems and was told that they don't have that spec available.

Trust me, after my experience with them. They are just a business. Maybe aimed for folks who have more money, but just a business.

[NastyRiffraff]

31. Plus, Costco is well known

for treating their employees well. It is second only to Google in employee-ranked pay & benefits satisfaction.

I am going yarn-shopping today, at AC Moore. I would rather give up knitting, which I love, than shop at Hobby Lobby.

Excellent post, CincyDem!

[nxylas]

39. Aren't a lot of baggers already boycotting it because of that?

Because socialism, obviously.

[NastyRiffraff]

45. Probably. Wouldn't surprise me

If it's prejudiced and small-minded, tea baggers will do it.

[AlbertCat]

32. Did Costco "ban" the book, or "pull" the book ....

.... because it was taking up shelf space and wasn't selling?

Now that D'Souza has created free publicity for his lousy book, Costco can put it back up. Who knows....maybe some Teabaggers will join Costco just to go in and buy D'Souza's book (making Costco money). That'll show 'em!

[CincyDem]

34. They dropped it from distribution, and appear to have since reinstated it

It was always a business decision but it will be framed up as a "win" for conservative groups putting pressure on a distributor. People started to show up and push money across the cash register to pay for it so Costco will provide it. I'm sure Rushbo will be touting it this afternoon.

Since corporations are people ( I learned that in my 2013 SCOTUS history class), it's worth noting that all people have flaws and we should take the total merit. I'm sure there are soft spots in Costco's business activities but by and large, especially in the broad area of HR policies, they seem to be pretty good. There will always be instances and specifics that exist but when taken in general, they seem to be working for the greater good.

As to GP paper products - haven't been in a long time so I don't know what they're carrying. Used to be Kirkland and Bounty or Charmin. May have dumped everything but Kirkland as they have in many categories. I couldn't find anything on who makes Kirkland - could be Koch. I know it's not Procter.

[rpannier]

56. Checked. All I could find was toilet paper

That's Georgia Pacific. I wouldn't be surprised if they made the towels too

[hamsterjill]

33. But, but, but...it's bad when it's not fair to the Repukes!!!

Oh, the whining. Your post is terrific and illustrates very much the truth in how the right looks at things. It's okay when someone ELSE is victimized in some way but a whole different matter when it's THEM.

One comment about Costco - my understanding is that each Costco store limits its inventory to something like 4,000 items. That's part of the business plan and part of the success. I'm sure that no Republican would ever believe that D'Souza's book simply might not have made the cut for the inventory. They are always looks for conspiracy!

[DesertDiamond]

35. Double standard every minute of the day. There is never a single issue in which they are not

indignantly accusing the left of something they themselves are doing.

[wandy]

36. Months from now the GOP will still be pointing out how Obama forced .......

Costco to deny D'Souza's first amendment rights.
There will be articles in the Blaze. Breitbart will continue to publish lead stories. Fox news will dedicate whole segments to the dictators suppression of this very important book.
E-Mails will be sent reminding the rank and file of the denial of D'Souza first amendment rights mentioned right after Benghazi, Fast and Furious, the IRS SCANDAL and how in December of 2013 Obama denied veterans access to national monuments.

Of course by then we will have forgotten the 'green eggs and ham' government shutdown or the 'Bundy Cow-Pie rebellion' allowing and accepting that the double standard lives on.

And we wonder how the GOP gets out the vote!

[Enthusiast]

37. Kicked and recommended! "these guys are slimy"

Like an eel.

[IronLionZion]

38. I haven't heard of the book until now

so D'Souza obviously did it for the free publicity since it wasn't selling. A certain type of person is attracted to things that are supposedly "banned", so this is a ploy to increase his sales, that's all.

As if there were no other stores to buy it. They could carry it in Hobby Lobby too.

[ybbor]

41. I love Costco even more now

Didn't know I could.

[emsimon33]

46. I agree with you, ybbor!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

42. I half expect this court to outlaw Co-Ops....

They'll claim it's morally wrong for the labor class to share the wealth.

[AverageJoe90]

43. Just another reason to like Costco. =D nt

[supercats]

44. Well Put....

Not to mention that D'Souza is a total a..whole. Bill Maher ripped him apart on his show.

[emsimon33]

47. Very well made agrument

[niyad]

48. talk about hypocricy--businesses should be free to do whatever they want, however they want, free

of any sort of government interference, UNTIL a business does something of which the rwnj's disapprove.

how many times did KO point out to the cretins that the 1st amendment is all about the GOVERNMENT and free speech?

[Turn CO Blue]

49. Yep. The noise machine praises Hobby Lobby for not stocking Hanukkah decorations

because "that is their right" but goes ballistic if Costco takes a loser (no sales) book off the shelves "how dare they, they don't have the right".

They're nuts. How is it that the harmonic frequency of all the cognitive dissonance has not caused some big kabooms all around the country?

[ballyhoo]

50. Hobby Lobby was an outrage; however,

until a real revolution starts--not gatherings at parks with signs, emails to Bernie Sanders, posts to like-minded people then nothing will change. The MIC doesn't care about that stuff. I'm from Cincinnati too: Finneytown, a small berg you probably never heard of. I've been in California since 1966. It definitely ain't Cincinnati or Finneytown. Your post was well-written and I am on your side. Is the Keg still open, a little college bar right off Clifton Ave?

[CincyDem]

51. The keg

I'm not familiar with it. I'm well beyond the college bar scene (expect to pick up kids who are smart enough to call home and say they don't feel comfortable driving home themselves).

Finneytown is right next door. I've been in cincy about 25 of the last 35 years. Most of that time has been in the Compton/Vine area with a short stint over in Hyde Park.

So maybe you're the person to help me out. I've always heard that the Right to Life movement was founded over in Finneytown up at some church on Compton/Daly in the mid 70's. I know you left before that but I figured I would ask.

[ballyhoo]

53. It's name actually was the

Wooden Keg. There was a church on Compton and Daily. But we went to Northminster on the Compton on the other side of Winton, up on the right. Sorry. Been a long time gone.

[CincyDem]

58. Drive past Northminster daily.

Have to confess, I think I'd rather be in California than here.

I'd love to live in a blue congressional district, a real blue district. We had Driehaus for 2 years but that was just a fluke of the weather on election day. 2 years later Chabot was back in the saddle. He's such a POS and I hate listening to the neighborhood talk about how he's such a great guy, committed to the people, blah blah blah.

[ballyhoo]

61. Well, it's not great here either. It is

going downhill rapidly. I just recently heard from a classmate from Finneytown High School of fifty years ago. He says the area is all different. I'm trying to remember where Hyde Park starts. I'll Google Earth it later. Did they ever tear that Cincinnati Workhouse down? It was a jail right in downtown.

[Beartracks]

52. THe rightwing is ALWAYS confused about what constitutes a violation of free speech.

The government silencing you... is a free speech issue.

A private enterprise not choosing to sell your book... is not.

People getting in your face and telling you to shut up... is not.

People boycotting your business because you get political with it... is not.

Nobody HAS to sell (or buy) your book.
Nobody HAS to put up with your bullshit rants.
Nobody HAS to patronize your business.

Only the government HAS to let you speak your mind. And when the rest of us REACT to what you say, that is not a violation of free speech. It is merely us practicing OUR right to free speech, too.

====================================

[packman]

60. I got my undies in a wad

when I went to my favorite upscale supermarket-which I thought had a liberal leaning-and saw some Duck Dynasty shit on their shelves. When I complained in an e-mail to corporate offices they wrote back that they are just trying to meet their customer needs in a demographic area. True, I live in a highly conservative area and they probably felt they could make a few bucks selling this crap. My only alternative was to not shop there; however, there is no other place to get decent produce and meats in the area and I'll be damned if I ever go into a Wal-mart.
Happy to say, the items disappeared after a month and things are back to normal for me. Bravo to Cosco, wish we had one around here in the western section of the Florida Panhandle.

[brett_jv]

62. Smart business move ... this way they'll dump their overstock ...

As a retailer (err ... wholesaler in this case?), if you find yourself wallowing in an over-abundance of some right-wing trash book like this one, you simply pull if off your shelves, and make sure everyone finds out you did it. Tell the world in a semi-winking way that you did so cause 'nobody was buying it'. The right will predictably go apeshit, soon after you 'acquiesce', and the righties show up in droves at the store and buy the book, with an attitude of 'lookee here, Mister MAN, we're gonna show YOU a thing or two about how nobody's BUYING this right-winger book! Look what POWERFUL consumers WE are!' ... now, boom ... overstock problem is solved ... everybody's happy.