I had to go to Hobby Lobby yesterday with my wife to return some crappy product that she bought there last week. It was glitter-glue, and it didn’t set up (i.e. dry), so it was worthless. It also ruined three Xmas stockings that we had meant to decorate.
Another inexpensive Chinese product.
Charlie didn’t want me around when she lit into the store manager, so I wandered around the cavernous store. Thinking about the glitter-glue, and seeing quite a bit of cheap merchandise filling the shelves, I decided to do an un-professional survey…of how many items were “Made in China”.
I sampled every department in the place, randomly checking the manufacturer’s tags. I only found one item out of maybe 25 that wasn’t Chinese. I think it was a Hershey bar.
These Hobby Lobby stores have put a lot of long-time merchants out of business, much like Wal-Mart, Costco, Best Buy and other “big box” retailers have done to Main Street stores, importing Chinese goods that are produced in factories where they pay the workers a fraction of what American employees earn. How can they help it if Chinese prices are low?
Hobby Lobby is unique among all of these retail behemoths because of the in-your-face politics that the owner, David Green, has practiced. He is an evangelical Christian, and really pushes the envelope. Stacks of religious books for sale confront the consumer as one walks into the home decorations store. Customers are reminded, with a big sign on the door, that the business is closed on Sundays so employees and customers can be with families and worship at church. The Hobby Lobby employee manual has Christian biblical references and the massive craft and decorations inventory includes zero Hanukkah decorations. This guy talks the Evangelical talk and walks the walk. He loves guys who are big on the Ten Commandments.
Mr. Green has put a lot of his money into legal and political campaigns attempting to force his religious views on the American people. He is the largest individual donor to evangelical causes in the Nation, including opposition to abortion, gay marriage, and taxpayer-funded health insurance. He is also a major donor to conservative Christian universities like Oral Roberts University and Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University.
Or, perhaps I should say that the Chinese are the major funders of David Green’s evangelical projects, as 99 percent of the merchandise that Hobby Lobby sells is “Made in China”.
That is interesting to me, in that many right-wing conservative buddies of Mr. Green spend a lot of their time bashing those evil Chinese for “taking away American jobs”. Donald Trump, in his campaign, made it a centerpiece of his platform…”We’re going to straighten-out the unfair balance of trade!”, dissolve “stupid” trade pacts which favor China, “Make America Great Again”, “Buy American”, etc.
(Interestingly, President Trump’s signature extra long red and pink ties are made in China, as are the shoes that his daughter, Ivanka, shills.)
Candidate Trump, who early on got the endorsement of the evangelical Christian lobby, went to China this week to use his “Art of the Deal” skills on Chinese Premier Xi. Or, so we were led to believe. Anyway, nothing happened, particularly regarding all of those container ships sailing from China to the U.S., heavily-laden with products that used to be Made in U.S.A.
I don’t expect much to change regarding the U.S. vs. China balance of trade. And, when Chinese labor rates climb higher, I won’t be surprised when we have a crappy trade deficit with India, Malaysia, Bangladesh, or some African third-world country. Or, perhaps, our new-found BFF, Russia.
We U.S. consumers like bargains, and will probably continue to desire a $100 notepad rather than a $200 one, when the quality is comparable. How can you blame us?
It’s just annoying to hear politicians pretending that they’re going to do something about it…particularly when they’re simultaneously getting big campaign bucks from a hypocrite like David Green.
Speaking of hypocrites, there’s a lot a weeping and gnashing of teeth lately in America due to women revealing, many years after the fact, that they were sexually harassed or worse by famous people. I don’t know exactly what started this outpouring of honesty and grief by these women victims, but it might have been the bragging statement (videotaped) by Donald Trump, during the campaign, that he could “grab women by the pussy” because he was famous. No big deal, at that time, it seems, because the cad was shortly thereafter elected President of the United States.
However, this ugly revelation may have released the floodgates of repressed memories by harassed women all over the country. In Hollywood, several big name directors and actors have been outed as lecherous scumbags, and the list seems to grow with each passing day. The most despicable part of this scandal, to me, is that a lot of famous actors and actresses in Hollywood knew about these perverts and their deeds…and said nothing for decades! How shameful is that?
Not to be outdone, the embarrassment has hit the political scene, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been dodging sexual harassment claims right and left. Of course, their “thoughts and prayers” go out to those who might have been offended, and there is now (this week) established a Sexual Harassment Training Course for Congressmen…something that regular government employees in America have attended for decades!
This biggest political fish to be landed via the sexual harassment scandal has been the Republican candidate for the Senate from the Great State of Alabama…ex-Supreme Court Judge Roy Moore. Allegations were recently made by a woman who claimed that then-Asst. D.A. Moore (who was married and 32 years old at the time) sexually assaulted her when she was 14 years old. This story was big news a couple of weeks ago, and, of course, Moore denied ever touching the teenager. But, then, four other women came forward, with similar stories. That sent GOP leaders scurrying for cover.
Other than being (apparently) a pervert, Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore is famous for some other aspects of his life…he is a Bible-thumping, evangelical Christian who believes that God, not our democratic government, should be running this Country.
Moore is one of ex-Trump Chief Political Strategist Steve Bannon’s fair-haired boys who, it was hoped, would help put God back in charge of the U.S. Senate.
Back in 2003, then-Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore was removed from his position for refusing a Federal Court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument (at the State courthouse) commissioned by him.
In 2016, when he was again the Chief Justice, he was suspended for directing probate judges to enforce the State’s ban on same sex marriages, despite the fact that this ban had been declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Until a few weeks ago, this Alabama icon, the darling of the Bible Belt and role model for the Moral Majority, was cruising toward a U.S. Senate seat with God’s apparent blessing. Judge Moore is now radioactive; both the Majority Leader of the Senate and the Speaker of the House, the Nation’s two highest ranking legislators…and Republicans, to boot…have (publicly, at least) called for Mr. Moore to drop out of the race. At least, that’s their position this week.
We’ll see about that; all indications are that the stubborn fellow intends to ignore criticism of his Christian credentials. Unfortunately for the ex-Justice, however..one of the accusers has a high school yearbook…signed by the would-be U.S. Senator.
I wonder…What would Jesus say about this?
Being the skeptic that I am, I don’t think he’ll resign from the campaign, the God-fearing folk of Alabama will elect him, and ex-Judge Moore will go on to make a damn fool of himself alongside the other 99 hypocrites in the U.S. Senate. Bet on it.
(One of the hypocrites/legislators caught in the sexual harassment net this past week is none other than Democratic super-Liberal, ex-Saturday Night Live regular Al Franken. The Senator from Minnesota apparently offended some lady a few decades ago. I’m sure it happened, and he’s probably mortified by it now. Of course, Franken was a stand-up comedian in those days, and his job was to say and do offensive and vulgar things every night to get a laugh from the audience.
Apparently, Senator Franken (or, is it “Animal House” Blutarski?)…
…stepped over the line with this nice lady. The Senator, usually the Democrats’ go-to, tough-as-nails interrogator, will now be hard-pressed to give Judge Roy Moore a tough grilling.) “Let he who is without sin…”
(BTW, speaking of guys who say and do offensive and vulgar things on a regular basis…President Trump has been busy scrounging up warm bodies to fill some of the vacancies in the Federal judiciary. Typically, a President draws such appointments from the vast pool of judges who have many years of experience at the craft, or possibly having been a jurist in a State court, or perhaps an experienced lawyer who is used to pleading cases before a State or Federal court.
Not surprisingly, Mr. Trump recently nominated for a lifetime Federal judgeship, a young blogger who has been a lawyer for three years and who has never tried a single case. (I’m not joking!) Here he is:
When he isn’t carving pumpkins, nominee Brett J. Talley has found other ways to earn President Trump’s admiration: his blog has regularly denounced “Hillary Rotten Clinton”, and he’s a major honk for the National Rifle Association. He’s also only the third nominee for a Federal judgeship since 1989 to be rated “not qualified” by the American Bar Association. Also, coincidentally, he’s a graduate of the University of Alabama. If Talley gets the job, he will join Rednecks, KKK lynchers, Bull Connor, George Wallace and Judge Roy Moore in the Alabama Hall of Fame.)
Can this Administration stoop any lower?
I think you know the answer.