I emailed Wal-Mart about selling Savage's book

[Killarney]

Michael Savage's new book comes out today and all Walmart stores are selling it. I emailed them this:
I am deeply disappointed with Wal-Mart's decision to sell Michael Savage's book in their stores.

Michael Savage was fired from his MSNBC show for saying to a gay man, "Oh, you're one of the sodomites," Savage said. "You should only get AIDS and die, you pig. How's that?"
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-07-07-talk-host-fired_x.htm

And last week, he hit a new low on his talk radio show by saying that God killed the 60,000 people in Iran (in the earthquake) to help the United States and that instead of sending them aid, the U.S. should send them blankets laced with small pox.

Does Wal-Mart really support this? By selling Savage's book... it tells me you do. Please respond to me at XXXX (my email). I will not shop at another Wal-Mart store until trash like this is taken off the shelves.

Thank you.

If anyone else would like to tell Wal-Mart they should not be selling Savage's book, you can contact them here. It only takes two seconds:
http://www.walmartstores.com/wmstore/wmstores/Container.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0131050870.1073313875@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccceadcjjgkkfihcfkfcfkjdgoodglh.0&template=OnlineForm.jsp

[Skittles]

1. "family values"

I am disgusted yet not surprised.

[bearfartinthewoods]

2. just thought you'd like to know that this thread appeared just below yours

'Bush stifles free speech'
censorship....bleech

[Killarney]

3. Just curious

Since you think Walmart should sell his book... Do you think MSNBC should have let him keep his show? I mean, free speech and all?

I'm as much for free speech as anyone, and I'm exorcising my right to free speech by telling Wal-Mart that I'm disappointed that they would help hatred like this become a bestseller. He has the right to say it. He has the right to print it. But the #1 chain the in the country doesn't have to sell it. ;)

[sendero]

4. Exactly...

... it's not like Wal-Mart isn't censoring plenty of views already in its decisions of what to sell and not sell.

All anyone is asking for here is a little consistency.

[bearfartinthewoods]

5. he had a show? BWAhahaha

i've had it with boycotts. the whole dixie chicks thing turned me around. i've decided to stop fearing ideas and wasting time trying to control what info other people have access to.

if savage had a show it must have been piss poor to have come and gone without me noticing. the cream does rise to the top and we are winning in the arena of ideas.

i have decided that we better start fighting harder for freedoms, even it it means the freedoms of people who make me ill.

[liberalhistorian]

9. Believe it or not, I

find myself agreeing with you, BFITW.

Yes, Savage is the most disgusting inhumane ape currently living (his calling inner-city children murdered by gun or other violence "ghetto slime" was simply beyond my comprehension), but in this country he has the right to publish whatever he wants and ignorant, stupid, bigoted idiots have the right to purchase it wherever they want.

Remember how angry we get when the wingnuts try to censor things, stopping a certain book from being sold, etc., etc.? Well, this is the same thing. Yes, you have the right to email Wal-Mart your disgust at their selling Savage's book, but you don't have the right to determine where a particular book is sold and where people have access to a particular book.

What's the difference between that and some wingnut trying to get a store not to sell one of Franken's or Moore's books because THEY don't like it?

[drdigi420]

11. There is no difference

but you have to fight fire with fire.

BTW, Wal-Mart IS a right-wing store.

Savage is free to write what he wants, and so are we.

If he can express his desire to see all Arabs killed, I can express my disgust with him.

We arent talking about forcing Wal-Mart to do anything. Why should we censor our opinion though?

Seems like you are being quite selective about freedom.

[liberalhistorian]

13. Where in my post did I say

that you didn't have the right to email Wal-Mart, or otherwise express your opinion, and where did I say ANYTHING AT ALL about censoring anyone's opinion? You're preaching to the choir, here, I hate Savage as much as you and agree with you. I never said anywhere that you didn't have the right to express that.

[Killarney]

12. I'm sure they do it.

I'm sure Wal-Mart has received hundreds of emails shouting they shouldn't be selling Moore's book because he disparages the president.

And I stand by my right to email them MY opinion as well. If we all sit back and let the Repubs be the only ones who voice their opinion... will we soon not have a voice.

And you can't even compare Moore and Franken to Savage. You can compare them to O'Reilly and others. But Savage is in a league of his own. He sells hatred. There is no liberal comparison to Savage in the bestselling world. That's why I voiced my opinion on the matter. If there was a liberal saying that we should kill all the Republicans, burn their churches down, sterilize them so they cannot reproduce more Republicans... I would be voicing my opinion against that author as well.

[Skittles]

23. EXCUSE ME

WAL-MART CENSORS COVERS OF MAGAZINES LIKE COSMOPOLITAN BECAUSE THEY DEEM THEM "RACY AND OFFENSIVE."

[rman]

6. so, Savage doesn't support Bush's liberation of Iraq?

does that make Savage unpatriotic?

[Killarney]

7. Really? Where did you read that? n/t

[Wink]

8. I sent them a scathing note.

It probably won't help but who knows.

[drdigi420]

10. Here's what I sent:

How hypocritical of you to censor music with 'bad' language and yet you sell the book by the bigoted hate-monger, Micheal Savage!

This man calls for the death of arabs and even celebrated the Iranian earthquake that killed 60,000, and suggested we don't send aid, we should send blankets laced with smallpox.

You censor music that discusses sex and yet you support a man that calls for biological warfare against an entire population of civilians?

You are sicker than I thought!

Target is looking better and better every day.

-------------------------------------------------------

Of course, I didn't mention that I would never shop at a Wal-Mart anyway because of their labor practices.

[OneTwentyoNine]

14. Sell Savages hate filled book but watch out for their photo developing..

Me thinks Walmart in Salina Kansas settled very,very quietly with a woman they had ARRESTED IN THE STORE for supposed kiddy porn photos that Walmart had developed.

The photo's were HER small children in the tub,pool etc with out tops on and maybe bottoms off also..you know,the same kind of pics that ALL parents have of their very small children--well unless you make your kids take a bath with GD CLOTHES ON!

She was arrested by Police and handcuffed as she continued shopping in the store and was made to walk back through the store with Police and her children while other shoppers looked on. Boy...you'd think a big child porn photographer would quickly get the pics and exit the store as fast as possible!

Well...Walmart FUCKED UP,this womans husband just happened to be an attorney. I remember in the Wichita paper seeing that they were suing Walmarts ass for 100K or more and then suddenly nothing more was said about the incident. I hope they got the 100K or much more. I would have also demanded a public apology in the local newspaper from those fuckers....

STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM WALMART!!

David

[Frangible]

15. I support Walmart selling it

And Savage's rights of free speech. That said, I really don't like the guy at all. I hate conservative radio. But... whatever. As far as I'm concerned, pretty much every book at Walmart is crap.

[gator_in_Ontario]

16. Oh

lets not get into banning books....even stupid ones

[Suziq]

17. You Shouldn't . . . .

shop at Wal-Mart under any circumstances!

:hippie:

[arcane1]

18. I bet if the text was sung to hip-hop music..

Wally-world would be pulling it off the shelves immediately

[JesusNoRepublican]

19. Nobody has a RIGHT to have his books pimped at Walmart!

Is it CENSORSHIP that prevents you and I from having the chance to have our books sold at Walmart. Of course not! People like Savage don't have a Constitution right to have their books sold there! And by recommending that Walmart not do it, we aren't doing anything to prevent Savage from exercizing his free speech. Hell he has a lot more exercize of free speech than everybody here at DU PUT TOGETHER !!!!

Those who say that we can't tell Walmart what we think about their cashing in on Savage's perversity are the one's trying to prevent US from excercizing OUR RIGHT to free speech!

JesusNoRepublican, author of http://www.JesusNoRepublican.Org

[Beearewhyain]

20. Here, Here

We don't need to confuse commercial speech with free speech. If I was the owner of a bookstore didn't want to sell a book for any reason, I have that right. Whether that is due to public pressure or economic reason the "free speech" argument does not apply. Savage has every right to spew his filth but that also means I have the right to 1. Not buy his book. 2. choose to not shop at places that carry his book and 3. Let the owners of said stores know of my reasoning. If walmart chooses to stop selling it for the above reason, then that is their right but we can't just let the RW dictate what is acceptable in the commercial world, we need to use our dollars for the same thing.

[arcane1]

24. exactly. Wally-world refuses to sell LOTS of books and music

hell, they make record companies censor their own material (even issuing WalMart-only CD jackets) if they want to be sold there.

fair is fair

wasn't there a big stink about Stupid White Men, and Wally?

[lapislzi]

21. Just one of a laundry list of reasons not to shop at Wal-mart

Sure, they have the right to sell anything they want to. They even have the right to market their ideology...which they do, persistently. But they will never reach this consumer, who will not set foot in a Wal-mart store, no matter what.

On the other hand, having said that (and playing devil's advocate with myself), does Wal-mart really have an ideology, other than lining its own pockets? Do they really care what's in the books so long as people buy them? Do they have any ethics whatsoever?

I think not.

[spindoctor]

22. Bad move

I will say it again (and again, and again...), this kind of action will force stores and publishers to limit their selection of books to the latest Martha Stewart and the collected works of Bob Ross, featuring his personal illustrations.

If you want Michael Moore and Al Franken to be on the shelves, you will have to deal with the likes of Savage, Coulter and O'Reilly as well.

Unless you are really into Bob Ross, you might want to leave these silly little actions to our Republican friends.

[moez]

25. Exactly!

Someone please explain how the call to ban Savage's book is any different than the freepers' call to ban Dixie Chick music???

[drdigi420]

26. straw man

nobody is calling on anyone to ban anything

we can voice our displeasure the same as the freepers can when Molly Ivans and Al Franken write

it's important, even vital, that we push the demographic of non-right wing nutballs

he who has the cash makes the rules

i boycott wal-mart for a variety of reasons, mostly because of their censorship of 'bad' language in music

we are just calling them out on their hypocrisy

[jokerman93]

27. Censorship? WTF?

The last time I looked, the reader is never in a position to censor what is put into print.

Censorship comes from the top down. The publisher might censor a piece if it feels it has some mandate (real or imagined) to do so.

The reading public does not sensor.

This backward logic is a little bit like magical thinking when you consider it. It's like the French government trying to make a point about church/state separation by telling children they can't wear religious items of clothing at school. Church/state separation comes from legislation that ensures the state makes no special provisions for the establishment of religion. Placing the burden on the children's dress code is BS.

So also is the idea that a public outcry against something is the same as censorship.

Let's get our thinking straight folks. This is embarrassing.

[Zomby Woof]

28. fuck WalMart

[yankeedem]

29. Savage needs to be front and center on every bookshelf

TV station, and radio program in the land. His name associated with the Republic party can only be good for the Democratic cause.

[economic justice]

30. CENSORSHIP! I hate it.

What Savage said was despicable....no question about it. But, I believe ANYBODY should be able to state their views clearly in a book and have WalMart sell it. Next, it will be YOUR opinion someone believes the stores shouldn't sell. A slippery slope indeed.