This page was last updated on December 8, 2011.
Is Black Friday Really Just “Occupy Wal-Mart?”; State Rep. Jesse White (D-46); December 1, 2011.
Mr. White lost in Beaver County in both 2006 and 2010. On Facebook, Mr. White describes his “Political Views” as “Moderate.” Sure. “Moderate,” “centrist,” etc. are leftyspeak for “liberal,” “progressive,” and other leftisms. On his campaign website, Mr. White describes his “style” as “fiery and aggressive.” According to his biography on his official website, Mr. White “operates his own law practice, White & Associates.” Despite the name, White & Associates appears to be a “one-man band.” Mr. White’s biography also indicates “He worked … in the legal department for the United Steelworkers of America in Pittsburgh.” Mr. White was convicted of defamation and invasion of privacy in April 2011.
Previous White pieces I critiqued are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Mr. White sometimes spams his opinion so you may also find this piece on the Beaver Countian and/or Canon-MacMillan Patch.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject opinion piece.
“I just don’t get Black Friday. I’ve tried to understand but it’s just not happening.”
[RWC] This piece is an example of why I believe the more a lefty says the better. Sooner or later, a lefty’s real positions leak out and these folks don’t like to get into a debate with knowledgeable non-believers. Here’s a summary of the lefty talking points you’ll find in this piece.
1. Anti-business rhetoric
2. Blaming the misbehavior of people on someone else
3. Telling other people how to spend their money
4. Telling businesses how to conduct their business
5. A Wal-Mart bash-fest
“Somehow the wonderful holiday of Thanksgiving, designed for us to spend time with family and friends and simply relax, has been unceremoniously cut short because people have to go stand in line outside big-box retail stores in the middle of the night in the hopes of saving money on their Christmas shopping.”
[RWC] Since Mr. White is younger than I, perhaps this is what was taught in grade school when he attended. It’s not what I was taught, however. Here are Thanksgiving proclamations by Presidents Washington and Lincoln and neither appears to indicate Thanksgiving was “designed for us to spend time with family and friends and simply relax.”
“I’m all for good deals, and I have no problem with people trying to get the most bang for their buck in tough economic times, even if it means camping out in a parking lot all night to do so.
“My problem is with the retailers themselves.”
[RWC] Gee, what a shock! A lefty who has a problem with business, except his own law practice, I assume.
“They have created, promoted and celebrated a dangerous feeding frenzy as some sort of essential component of the American holiday shopping experience.
“We are bombarded by television commercials featuring catchy jingles celebrating Black Friday, which include singing women happily stealing items from other people’s shopping carts. Somewhere along the way, these conglomerate stores have turned what is traditionally known as the season of giving and turned it into the season of taking—with no holds barred.
“Don’t believe me? Here are just a few incidents of reported violence from Black Friday 2011:”
[RWC] My experience is you accept Mr. White’s facts without performing due-diligence at your own peril.
“At a Wal-Mart near Little Rock, Ark., a screaming mob of shoppers tussled over $2 waffle makers. The riot was caught on video and went viral. At a Wal-Mart in New York, two women were taken to the hospital for injuries they suffered while trying to get a $35 smartphone deal. One woman was shoved down and kicked in the face, suffering bruises and cuts on her face, arms and hand. She described the scene as a ‘stampede.’
“At a Los Angeles Wal-Mart, a grown woman determined to buy a discounted video game system allegedly pepper-sprayed about 20 people trying to get the same merchandise. According to a police report, the pepper sprayer managed to get her merchandise, pay for it and leave the store. Here’s the video:
“A 54-year-old man was left lying unconscious in a pool of his own blood for about 10 minutes at a Wal-Mart in Arizona before being arrested. According to his grandson, he had grabbed a video game and tucked it under his arm to guard it from the swarming masses when police pulled him out of the crowd.”
[RWC] “[T]ucked it under his arm” is Whitespeak for “put it under his shirt.”
“Eyewitnesses said he appeared to be cooperating when an officer suddenly slammed his face first into the floor, knocking him out. The impact was described as ‘like a bowling ball hitting the ground’ by his grandson. Police have charged the man, who is still recovering from incident, with shoplifting and resisting arrest.
“Black Friday shoppers were held up at gunpoint in Wal-Mart parking lots from coast to coast. In California, a man and his family were crossing a store parking lot between 1 and 2 a.m. when a group approached and demanded they hand over their purchases. When the family refused, one of the suspects pulled out a gun and shot the man, critically injuring him. A woman was also shot outside a Wal-Mart in an apparent robbery attempt in Myrtle Beach.
“Of course, this is nothing compared to the horrific events of 2008, when a Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death in a rush of thousands of early-morning shoppers as he and other employees attempted to unlock the doors of a Long Island, New York, store at 5 a.m. In an unrelated incident, two men were shot dead in a Toys R Us in Palm Desert, Calif., after they argued in the store.
“Those are the kinds of incidents you expect when there are massive food shortages, not because there’s a new Nintendo game coming out.”
[RWC] Here’s what Mr. White is complaining about. Evil retailers cut prices (as Mr. White encourages below) for a sale and have the gall to advertise the sale. Other than the lefty belief private business (“the oppressors”) is guilty by simply existing, perhaps Mr. White can explain why the retailers are responsible for the bad behavior of customers (“the oppressed”).
“Here’s an idea. Maybe retailers should take some of the millions and millions they spend on advertising and promoting this whorish feeding frenzy known as Black Friday and use the money to cut prices.”
[RWC] Don’t you love it when lefties tell people how to spend their money?
According to Fortune Magazine, retail (General Merchandisers) in 2009 ranked as the 29th most profitable industry with a return on revenue of only 3.2%.
Referring to someone/something as “whorish” is probably something most politicians should avoid. The saying about throwing rocks while living in a glass house comes to mind.
As for telling businesses “to cut prices,” isn’t that what sales are all about? The people who flock to buy on Black Friday weekend aren’t doing so to buy stuff at non-sale/everyday prices.
As for telling retailers to “take some of the millions and millions they spend on advertising,” Mr. White does realize this would hurt employees and owners of advertising-related businesses, right? What does Mr. White have against those who work in the advertising industry and related businesses? Apparently, Mr. White wants retailers to cut prices but not tell customers about it.
Can we expect Mr. White to call on labor union management to “take some of the millions and millions they spend on” political activities and lobbying and use it to cut dues? According to their Department of Labor LM-2 forms, USW management spent over $6 million in 2010 on “Political Activities and Lobbying” and AFL-CIO management spent over $29.6 million in 2010 on “Political Activities and Lobbying.”
As for cutting prices, when can we expect proposals from Mr. White to cut the price (taxes) we pay for the Commonwealth? And what about calling on the education industry to lower the price for a college education? Don’t hold your breath.
“Or if they want to get really crazy, pay their workers a decent wage or give them adequate health insurance. Despite what the annoying lady in the Kohl’s commercial sings about it, the spectacle of Black Friday is American materialistic sensationalism at its very worst—a celebration of greed tinged with a tacit endorsement of lawlessness.”
[RWC] Yet again Mr. White tells people how to spend their money. Guess who wants to define “a decent wage or … adequate health insurance.” Here’s a hint; his initials are JJW.
As for the remainder of the paragraph, wow!
“Ironically, many of the people who own, run and profit from these large companies have decried the Occupy Wall Street movement—which features large crowds of people assembling peacefully to protest American corporate welfare and greed.”
[RWC] Does Mr. White know the definition of irony? There’s nothing ironic about businesses not being fans of the people attacking them.
“Occupy Wall Street movement—… features large crowds of people assembling peacefully?” Seriously? I’d love to know where Mr. White gets his news.
Mr. White writes of “American corporate welfare and greed.” Keep in mind lefties use “corporate/corporation” as synonyms for business. That is, while lefties want us to believe they are railing against a specific type of business organization, they are really bashing all businesses regardless of organization type (corporation, partnership, proprietorship, etc.) and size. The idea is to get us to believe lefties only have a problem with big businesses when they really have a problem with private enterprise regardless of size.
As for “corporate welfare,” lefties believe corporate welfare is when government makes broad cuts to taxes paid via all businesses. The same is true for cutting undue regulation. Corporate welfare becomes “economic development” when politicians can target specific businesses, however. Once again, leftists have the definitions backwards.
Likewise, lefties define “greed” differently than most of us. In general, lefties define greed as the desire of a family to keep its earnings, savings, and possessions. Oddly, it’s not greedy for persons with lesser earnings and possessions to lay claim to earnings and possessions of others. For example, if a person with an income tax rate of 38% thinks that’s a little confiscatory, he’s greedy. However, a person who pays no income tax is not greedy when he demands ever-greater “refunds” of tax payments he never made.
“Maybe they would be more tolerant of the movement if the name were changed from ‘Occupy Wall Street’ to ‘Occupy Wal-Mart,’ complete with nightly unveilings of cheap consumer merchandise for protestors to fight over.”
[RWC] Despite how Mr. White portrays Black Friday customers, at least they plan to pay for what they want. The OWS gang, however, is all about getting someone else to pay for their stuff.
“What does it say about our society when peaceful protestors are arrested (whether you agree with their politics or not) but acts of violence are practically encouraged with jingles and snappy commercials?”
[RWC] Again Mr. White asserts OWS consists of “peaceful protesters” and again I’d love to know where Mr. White gets his news. Perhaps Mr. White is counting on us being ignorant.
As for the assertion “acts of violence are practically encouraged with jingles and snappy commercials,” I hope Mr. White’s parents didn’t let him watch Bugs Bunny, the Road Runner, The Three Stooges, et cetera.
“Kind of makes every day seem like Black Friday, doesn’t it?”
[RWC] Huh?
© 2004-2011 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.