Outrage. Lots of empowering outrage.
But don't worry, they'll always be able to find something to get their knickers in a twist about.
Which, I suspect, is why they are so often ignored.

The truth that sets them free? Nah.

What they wind up with is what they start out with: baseless moralizing presumption.

Now look, Kerry and Edwards and their wives went to Wendy's last year during the campaign. Sure, Tereza didn't know what chili was, and sure, they had vindaloo waiting on the bus, but I'm sure that John Kerry and his husband could find their way around Wal-Mart. After all, toothpaste is toothpaste, and underwear is underwear, no?

You're asking oj that question?

Wal-Mart's biggest beneficiaries over the years have been the rural lower income families, since Wal-Mart's strategy back in the 1980s was to open everywhere, while other stores like Target focused their attentions on expansion into suburban areas or cities with populations of 100,000 and up.

Since those yelling the louded about Wal-Mart's explotive practices (and admittedly, there are some) wouldn't venture into a really rural area -- i.e. no big city within 100 miles -- unless you put a gun to their heads, you're not going to see the same mixed signals you see in the case of Starbucks, which is also one of the far left's main corporate demons. But they haven't gained the same sort of antipathy from the more cynical/pragmatic politicians and activists on the left, because they know too many of their core supporters actually go to, and like the place, overpriced lattes be damned.

They also keep thousands off the welfare roles. They hire many people that cannot compete successfully in ‘the glamorous, smart' retail sector. This contribution may be of greater value than the low prices. Especially to those who are able to gain meaningful employment at Wal-Mart.

It really irritated me when Daley and the local alderman wouldn't permit a Wal-Mart be built on the west side of Chicago. It would have brought 300 or so steady jobs and good quality merchandise at great prices to a neighborhood that has precious few of either.

Every Walmart I have visited has lots of Blacks, Hispanics, old white people and poor people of all types. I think most anti Walmart screeds are a screen for classism, racism and ageism (for lack of a better word on the last one).

That's why I buy all my clothes at K-Mart--to avoid the Wal-Mart trash.

Unfortunately, Wal-Mart doesn't really have "every day low prices." What it has are the lowest prices on a select amount of goods designated to attract customers to the stores. All other goods, the vast majority, may be priced equal or greater than their competitors.

I'm not anti-Wal-Mart. I shop there myself, but one should not assume that they are getting cost savings simply by buying there. Going to other discount stores could be just as beneficial. I'm very interested in exactly how these cost benefits are calculated. What's the baseline?

Wal-Marts in central PA are the only places I know where you can see Mennonites, Goths, punkers, rapper wannabes, new immigrants (legal, illegal - who knows?), and 400-pounders in close proximity.

For that alone, it's worth the trip.

OJ - does that mean you're buying Martha Stewart?

Chris: That's not my experience. I find their prices to be uniformly low, with few exceptions found almost entirely in the electronics/software/music area. Moreover, the savings in food and house-hold goods are steep. Some of their pricing can be beat on the Internet, but I'm not sure that the transaction costs don't make it a wash.

I do find that their quality tends to be lower and I've pretty much stopped buying adult clothes there, as they don't hold-up well. For kids' clothes, it's great.

It's pronounced "K-Marché"

it's the mutants that put me off Walmart.

Not that I'm bragging about my poverty like those guys in the old Monty Python sketch, but I make much less per year than the average Wal-Mart shopper outlined in this article and, trust me, Wal-Mart has been very helpful in getting me good products at low prices.

It's particularly galling to read leftist garbage about Wal-Mart when you're trying to make rent payments while limousine liberals haughtily sniff the air at the merest mention of the nation's #1 private-sector employer.

In the interests of full disclosure, I should also note that my younger brother, who is in a tight financial situation as well, works at a Wal-Mart.

Sometimes I shop at a Cost-Plus 10% store, but Wal-Mart's prices come out about comparable for me and the meat and producer seem to be better, usually. You are right; you can't beat Wal-Mart for kids clothes. $6 for a Garanimals outfit! All 3 of my kids have worn plenty of Wal-Mart clothes over the yrs, and when I only had $60 a week to feed a family of 5, you can bet I was spending a lot of time in Wal-Mart.