Wal-Mart is the shame of Arkansas. At this point, we wouldn't hesitate to to say it's the shame of the nation and maybe the world. And yes, we don't think that's taking things too far. And what's worse, it's because of a bone-headed move the company made that knocks out a few years of cautious, expensive community outreach and PR.



This picture is of Debbie Shanks, a former Wally employee. Right now, and probably for the rest of her life, she won't be working for anyone. Here, from CNN, is the rest of the story...

Shank suffered severe brain damage after a traffic accident nearly eight years ago that robbed her of much of her short-term memory and left her in a wheelchair and living in a nursing home.

It was the beginning of a series of battles -- both personal and legal -- that loomed for Shank and her family. One of their biggest was with Wal-Mart's health plan.

Eight years ago, Shank was stocking shelves for the retail giant and signed up for Wal-Mart's health and benefits plan.

Two years after the accident, Shank and her husband, Jim, were awarded about $1 million in a lawsuit against the trucking company involved in the crash. After legal fees were paid, $417,000 was placed in a trust to pay for Debbie Shank's long-term care.

Wal-Mart had paid out about $470,000 for Shank's medical expenses and later sued for the same amount. However, the court ruled it can only recoup what is left in the family's trust.

Her husband has cancer, she can't care for herself, can't remember anything, and her son was killed in Iraq. She can't even remember that he's died, so she gets to live that little piece of news over and over.

Wal-Mart, how could you? Is anyone at the wheel up there in Bentonville? Can Rev. Floyd pull something out of his bible and pick up the phone to tell them to knock it off? Wow, one boneheaded action spectacularly destroys several years worth of investment in good PR and community outreach.

That's it -- our Wal-Mart boycott is on, for the workers -- and for the veterans.

Wal-Mart, you're scum - do the right thing, give this money back to this woman, show the other employees you have that you care, that Sam Walton isn't rolling over in his grave because of this.

To add insult to injury, and to swerve wildly off-track, Joe Palermo at The Huffington Post recalled Hiilary Clinton's days on the company's board of directors, and uses it against her AND Wally-World...

Maybe Hillary Clinton should visit Debbie and Jim Shank in Missouri and tell them how sorry she is for what her lovely Arkansas corporate campaign donor has done to them. Maybe she can bring along a Fox News camera crew.

Finally, the Walmartians got trashed in court. Seems a Georgia man won his case and a judge allowed him to print T-shirts bearing the Nazi eagle you see at the top of this post.

A Conyers, Georgia man has won a legal battle with retail giant Wal-Mart who accused the man of violating its trademark for selling T-shirts and other items that featured the phrases "Wal-ocaust" and "Wal-Qaeda."

U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten in Atlanta ruled that Charles Smith may continue to run his Web sites, www.walocasut.com and www.walqaeda.com. Smith also can continue to sell his parody merchandise that criticizes Wal-Mart the judge said.

We'll take two, thank you.

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