Mzgraciev: Fighting Back--the Right Way

Admittedly, we don't visit Wal-Mart's corporate blog very often. But maybe we should; there's a recently-posted item that suggests the retailing giant may be taking a new approach with some of its critics and reminding us that "turning the corporate cheek" isn't always the best policy.

The item we reference is Wal-Mart's response to a recent op-ed in The New York Times by Timothy Egan. As you might expect, Mr. Egan's column on Wal-Mart is a litany of the usual complaints about the company; workers earn starvation wages while senior executives rake in the big bucks; profits are excessive (and the Walton family is too rich), while rank-and-file associates have to rely on welfare to make ends meet.

Instead of ignoring the piece--or issuing some bland news release--Wal-Mart decided to do something a little different. He critiqued Egan's piece much like an editor--or English instructor--pointing out factual errors, flawed sourcing and obvious distortions, all highlighted in red.

The "fact check" was the work of David Tovar, the company's vice-president for corporate communications. "Tim--thanks for sharing your first draft," Tovar scrawls across the top of his review. "Below are a few thoughts to ensure something inaccurate doesn't get published. Hope this helps."

For his clever takedown of the Grey Lady, we'd say Mr. Tovar deserves a bonus or a raise, giving Egan more fodder for a future column. But we also hope that David Tovar's colleagues in the corporate communications and public relations business are paying attention. Despite that overwhelming urge to ignore critics, or be "helpful" by gently pointing out the company's side of the story, there are occasions when media snarks and critics deserve a little slap across the face. And, if you can do it with a little style and flair (like Mr. Tovar), so much the better.

Clearly, Mr. Egan's column was an opinion piece, but it's equally obvious that he long ago abandoned any notion of fairness or objectivity towards Wal-Mart. Indeed, we've always marveled that Sam Walton's big box chain has become the epitome of corporate exploitation and greed while competitors (helloooo....Target) get off scot-free. Maybe it's because most of the political donations by Wal-Mart execs have gone to Republicans (or so we're told), while much of Target's political money finds its way to Democrats. If Egan made a trip to Target, he probably find many of the same problems that are supposedly rampant at Wal-Mart. But in the alternative universe of The New York Times editorial section, there is room for just one evil retailer, and that honor is reserved for the company in Bentonville, Arkansas.

One final thought: had we been in Mr. Tovar's position, there would be a little addendum to our critique, something along the lines of "Hey Tim: at least we have a business model that works." At last report, Wal-Mart was both the largest employer and tax payer in America, and its economic muscle to force lower prices amounts to a 6.5% boost in household income for the nation's poorest families. And by the way, that statistic comes from the liberal economist Jason Furman, appointed last year as Chairman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers. Hardly a member of the Vast Right Wing conspiracy.

As for The New York Times Company, not long ago it was begging Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim for a loan. While digital circulations are on the upswing, the company has been bleeding red ink for years, thanks to such savvy moves as buying the Boston Globe for a cool $1 billion in the early 90s, then unloading it last year, at a fire-sale price of only $70 million.

Cartoon used in a prior post but appropriate here as well!

Quit trashing Obama's accomplishments. He has done more than any other President before him. Here is a partial list:

· First President to apply for college aid as a foreign student, then deny he was a foreigner.

· First President to have a social security number from a state he has never lived in.

· First President to preside over a cut to the credit-rating of the United States.

· First President to violate the War Powers Act.

· First President to be held in contempt of court for illegally obstructing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico .

· First President to require all Americans to purchase a product from a third party.

· First President to spend a trillion dollars on "shovel-ready" jobs when there was no such thing as "shovel-ready" jobs.

· First President to abrogate bankruptcy law to turn over control of companies to his union supporters.

· First President to by-pass Congress and implement the Dream Act through executive fiat.

· First President to order a secret amnesty program that stopped the deportation of illegal immigrants across the U.S. , including those with criminal convictions.

· First President to demand a company hand-over $20 billion to one of his political appointees.

· First President to tell a CEO of a major corporation (Chrysler) to resign.

· First President to terminate America ’s ability to put a man in space.

· First President to cancel the National Day of Prayer and to say that America is no longer a Christian nation.

· First President to have a law signed by an auto-pen without being present.

· First President to arbitrarily declare an existing law unconstitutional and refuse to enforce it.

· First President to threaten insurance companies if they publicly spoke out on the reasons for their rate increases.

· First President to tell a major manufacturing company in which state it is allowed to locate a factory.

· First President to file lawsuits against the states he swore an oath to protect (AZ, WI, OH, IN).

· First President to withdraw an existing coal permit that had been properly issued years ago.

· First President to actively try to bankrupt an American industry (coal).

· First President to fire an inspector general of AmeriCorps for catching one of his friends in a corruption case.

· First President to appoint 45 czars to replace elected officials in his office.

· First President to surround himself with radical left wing anarchists.

· First President to golf more than 150 separate times in his five years in office.

· First President to hide his birth, medical, educational and travel records.

· First President to win a Nobel Peace Prize for doing NOTHING to earn it.

· First President to go on multiple "global apology tours" and concurrent "insult our friends" tours.

· First President to go on over 17 lavish vacations, in addition to date-nights and Wednesday evening White House parties for his friends paid for by the taxpayers.

· First President to have personal servants (taxpayer funded) for his wife.

· First President to keep a dog trainer on retainer for $102,000 a year at taxpayer expense.

· First President to fly in a personal trainer from Chicago at least once a week at taxpayer expense.

· First President to repeat the Holy Quran and tell us the early morning call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on earth.

· First President to side with a foreign nation over one of the American 50 states ( Mexico vs Arizona ).

· First President to tell the military men and women that they should pay for their own private insurance because they "volunteered to go to war and knew the consequences."

· Then he was the First President to tell the members of the military that THEY were UNPATRIOTIC for balking at the last suggestion. (Thank God he didn't get away with THIS one.)

How is this hope and change' working out for you?

It's hard to comprehend all this guy has gotten away with. Any other president would have been impeached!!!!

What in God's name is wrong with our government that they allow this guy carte blanche. It absolutely boggles my mind.

Read more at http://politicsandfinance.blogspot.com/#iyYlG6cA12chhgSx.99

- See more at: http://politicsandfinance.blogspot.com/#sthash.58IWQVO9.dpuf