thanks for this info - it reminds me of Coffee People back in the day. everyone thought they were hippies, when they were really pro-life activists.

isn't urban outfitters the chain that was selling the t-shirts emblazoned with "voting is for old people?"

Holy cow, this guy is loaded. Must learn to sell things to Portland hipster crowds.

My father once gave 10 dollars to the Republican party, and he is always getting swamped with requests for more donations. Wonder what kind of pressure you get after a $13,000 donation.

You know, I've been working on my right-wing nut certification for years now and I still haven't gotten it. Damn.

The 13 grand was just to santorum. There's plenty more where that came from.

And your guy, P Diddy, has them making his clothing line in some third world sweatshop for eleven cents an hour. "Vote or Die" is his slogan. Who is worse ?
By the way, what do they pay the workers at the Heinz katsup factory ? Enough to send two kids to college ? Does a full-time worker there make more than Teresa spends on shoes in a year ?

Spoken like a true Union Man for Bush.

this guy is a real right-wing wacko with a suprising anti-gay agenda. also - do not drink Coors...not only for the watered down horrible flavor, but also because they are huge Republican donors.

Brett: I think its possible to be a pro-life Hippie.

To everyone else: Once you go down the "I won't purchase Y, b/c its owner supports X" road, where does it stop? No business is perfect, and it seems there are much more effective ways of getting your message across than boycotts.

Isn't it impossible to give $13,000 to a political candidate because of campaign finance reform?

I did a check on Richard Hayne on www.opensecrets.org, and found the following contributions going back to 2000:

GOP in Penn...$7,500 (A Margaret Hayne gave $5000 on the same date as Richard)
Sen Specter...$1,000
Melissa Brown...%500 (she's running for Joe Hoeffel's old seat)

Between the two of them, there's another $12,400 in contributions to Santorum and some PAC's in the '96 and '98 cycles.

I'm not doubting Hayne is a wing-nut, but I'm wondering if the $13,000 statistic is slightly misleading or inaccurate?

Jack,

Your recent post leads me to believe you're a fellow Costco-lover. Did you see the following article in Slate?

http://slate.msn.com/id/2104988/

Costco vs. Wal-Mart. Costco comes out on top in almost every category, including politics.

Justin - Just because you could probably find something wrong with every company's business practices doesn't mean it's impossible to distinguish between the mildly offensive and the truly horrible. Sheesh. And to suggest that you shouldn't try - well, I can find something wrong with all political parties, so let's all join the American Nazis, shall we. Finally, wouldn't a free market philosophy suggest shopping your conscience as THE most effective way to effect change in a business owner's behavior?

Re: P. Diddy.

I've been using that slogan since 1999.

I'm all for consumer activism. I think the almighty dollar speaks louder than anything. Thanks, Jack, for the tip off on where NOT to shop!

Knew there was a reason I shouldn't shop there outside of the fact that I can never find parking in that neighborhood, and it seems unnatural to pay $30+ for someone to fade the screen printing on a t-shirt for me to make it look more hip . :)

Voting with your dollar may have an impact, or it might not. But for me it makes me feel a little better about myself.

If I can limit (not completely cut out) supporting businesses with ideologies that I oppose, I feel better about myself...and if it has some impact, that's even better.

By the way, did you all know that Shilo Inns are owned by a rather conservative right-wing wingnut?

AAAUGG!! I'm going into meltdown and shock. Don't do this to me! I must have my Urban Outfitters!! Is there no place sacred any longer!?

/me plans on now moving to an island and wearing only cocunut leaves.