.. with Jethro Bodine at the helm

Yes, I'll admit it: Wal-Mart makes me laugh. I'm not talking about their stores, I'm talking about their incompetence in Public Relations. I haven't been inside a Wal-Mart in probably 10+ years. When I'm in need of something they're selling, I go to SuperTarget instead. Target's stores are cleaner, they don't look like a warehouse, and the staff actually has a clue which way is up. Not to mention, their politics are all wrong .. 78% of Wal-Mart's political contributions back President Quagmire's regime.

Full disclosure: Target's percentage is even worse (83%) but the contribution was much lower: $181,060 versus $1,354,790.

I laugh at Wal-Mart partly because of this morning's New York Times article; it seems Wal-Mart's so afraid of Robert Greenwald's new movie ("Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price") that they commissioned their own propaganda film called "Why Wal-Mart Works & Why That Makes Some People Crazy" (directed by Ron Galloway - I guess Leni Riefenstahl wasn't available). The former film will be showing here in Dallas [14/11 at the FunAsia theatre in Richardson], but it's sponsored by the local AirAmerica group that banned me, so I'll have to find a viewing at someone's home that week (November 13-19).

There's now an official Wal-Mart War Room which has hired image consultants from both Clinton and Reagan's campaigns: fascinating.

Conspiracy time: curiously, today's Dallas Managed News (print edition only) has an article (Maria Halkias' "Wal-Mart's urban push") that says that Metroplexers spend 31% of our consumable goods dollars at Wal-Mart, leading all major cities. Wal-Mart claims a 27% share of the local grocery market, well past Kroger and Tom Thumb who have 15% each and are tied for second.

For what it's worth: they're building another Wal-Mart SuperCenter a few miles from me (not sure when it's due to open), and I won't be shopping there, either.