Finally. Aquiet day to shop....

[CCTAU 3,362]

I like this guys idea. That way me and my family might be able to get around the Wal-mart without bumping into all the feeble-minded, slow-witted liberals who stand in the middle of the aisle trying to figure out where they are.

Leftists Call for Inauguration Day Boycott

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

DETROIT  — David Livingstone says the idea behind the economic boycott he's organizing is simple: If people don't show up at work or buy things, companies lose money.

As he sees it, that's money the Bush administration can't tax, and can't use to run the war in Iraq, protect polluters or chip away at the Constitution.

So the Detroit Democrat and a handful of other anti-Bush groups across the country are urging others of like mind to withhold their cash and labor on Inauguration Day (search) — from all businesses. They don't think they'll inflict a huge economic pain, but they do want to make a point.

"I view the inauguration of Bush as a black Thursday for this country," Livingstone says. "We've tried marching in the streets to stop the war, we tried writing letters, we tried initiatives on the Web, but Bush doesn't listen. It seems to us the only thing Bush and the Republicans will listen to is money."

Livingstone, a 41-year-old writer, hopes to be in Washington for the Jan. 20 festivities, which for him means protests, black armbands and backs turned to the parade route.

And he's vowing not to buy gas, food or use his credit card that day: He wants the GOP, big oil, big banking, big box stores and any other "bigs" to know they can't push him around or ignore him — at least not on Jan. 20.

The White House is taking all the boycott talk in stride. Bush "is proud that we live in a society where people are free to peacefully express their opinions," spokesman Jim Morrell says.

Other groups nationwide, many loosely connected through the Internet, have put out calls similar to Livingstone's. Jesse Gordon, 44, of Cambridge, Mass., spreads the word through his Web site, Not One Damn Dime!

Gordon doesn't expect to shake the economy, but does want to see the president recognize dissent.

"I think Bush should acknowledge the boycott. If we're effective, he'll know about it, and he should acknowledge it," Gordon says.

In New Orleans, Buddy Spell says his January 20th Committee (search) eagerly endorses the idea of an economic boycott. He remains primarily concerned with organizing a jazz funeral procession through the downtown to mourn a second Bush term and what he calls the death of democracy. But he says a boycott is worth pursuing, in part because it can help unite disparate anti-Bush forces.

The groups hope to see several million people eating brown-bag lunches and dinners on Inauguration Day. If people don't want to boycott all business, the groups suggest buying from just those that support Democrats. The protesters say they'll measure success not in economic terms, but by whether people know about the boycott and if it sparks future activism.

And if there's by chance a blip in the GDP, that would be a bonus.

A bonus indeed, say economists and historians.

"I can't imagine it would have any impact whatsoever," says David J. Vogel, professor of business ethics at the University of California at Berkeley (search). "Even if everyone didn't buy on that day, they'd make up for it the next day."

Historian Lawrence Glickman says boycotts rarely accomplish any substantial economic goal, and if they do, it's usually because they are tailored to a specific product. Boycotts tend to have more success applying political pressure, but even that is limited.

Still, he said, their record of failure never seems to stop Americans from launching them.

"There's this appeal about boycotts, anyone can take part in them and you can use your pocketbook to express your dissatisfaction," says Glickman, who studies labor and consumer activism at the University of South Carolina (search) in Columbia.

"It's a way of feeling like we're participating in something bigger than ourselves."

linky-dinky

[Tigermike 3,117]

Let me get this straight. This guy lives in Detroit and plans to go to Washington to protest. His idea is to not spend any money.

Livingstone, a 41-year-old writer, hopes to be in Washington for the Jan. 20 festivities, which for him means protests, black armbands and backs turned to the parade route.

And he's vowing not to buy gas, food or use his credit card that day: He wants the GOP, big oil, big banking, big box stores and any other "bigs" to know they can't push him around or ignore him — at least not on Jan. 20.

He will spend his money before and after the inauguration. Will he sleep on the street? Will he eat scraps from the garbage cans? Maybe he will carry his granola bars with him.

Once again a leftist liberal proves that style comes before substance.

[TitanTiger 20,576]

*yawn* Whatever.

[Jenny AU-92 0]

I'm with CCTAU - knowing that the liberals are all gonna stay home will make me more inclined to go out and shop, thereby overriding the basic premise of their boycott.

Morons. They are certainly free to do it, bless 'em... but they are still morons. Jousting at windmills.

[Auburn85 434]

He probably buy everything from overseas.

This is not right, (yeah it's the left! aw, j/k)

You should still support your country. He's deliberately trying to hurt me and you

[bigsixfive 328]

This guy was on Hannity and Colmes tonight. He is about as dumb as they come. He had this dumb "I'm about to cry" face on through the whole segment. Hannity tore him a new one, and his only defense was "This isn't about Bush. Let me just tell you what this is about. This is about the American people saying they don't like the direction the country is headed." Then, given any chance to utter something stupid, he proceeded to bash Bush and rattle off incorrect and misleading statistics. My personal favorite was something like Bush had equaled Saddam's number of murders....

Ann Coulter had a good one liner... "The liberals' solution to everything is 'Don't Work.'"

[Ranger12 46]

This group really shows their lack of intelligence period! They only reveal their selfish agenda..if we don't get our way, we are going to take our ball and go home! They think that everybody should believe like them. You lost people...get over it!!! Why all of a sudden to these morons want to act like this just because their candidate lost? I don't recall an losing party's supporters ever acting like this before. This does nothing but tears the country apart and in my eyes these people are treasonous. That may be a harsh word, but it if you take what they have been saying, it is anti-democratic, as in our type of goverment, not the party. I have read where this same group Bush of stomping on democracy, yet it was democracy that elected him again! It was the majority of the United States of America that decided they wanted President Bush and not John Kerry. That maked me think that the do no support the election process, thus they are against democracy. That makes them an enemy of the state in my opinion. Do they not think that the terrorists love their idea?! I think too many of our liberal friends got spoiled by the Clinton's 8 year reign and now they act like a bunch of brats when they can't get their way. Hey morons, newsflash! It is called Amercia, get used to it or get the hell out and go live in a country where there are not elections are that the elections are just window dressing for some dictators, kinda like the ones Iraq had under Saddam. Another newsflash for these idiots, not only did your candidate lose the presidential election, but you your party also lost some more seats in Congress. Has it kicked in to your little brains that there is a trend here and maybe the problem is your party your support. It seems the majority of Americans seem to think so.

BTW...just for clarification this post was not pointed at our liberal board members, but at the "geniuses" in this article. However, if you do agree with what they are doing, then go ahead and include yourself afterall. G-day!

[Jenny AU-92 0]

Ya' know, the thing that is beginning to really chap me is how the so-called "liberal elite" so quickly dismissed the vast majority of Americans in this country as stupid, ignorant, backwards, etc. They sit in their tofu cafe's in their little blue coastal enclaves and moan and groan about how the "fly-over country" re-elected Bush and ruined the country. Well, hasn't it even begun to occur to them that maybe THEY are the ones out of touch? That the majority of voters, yes, the MAJORITY, flyover country or not, elected the man they felt was the right one for the job? It's not like the only college educated people in the US life in New York and LA. On the contrary!! They do not have a corner on the market on intelligence, so why they persist on thinking that their beliefs and opinion are the be-all-end-all is beyond me.

The last time I checked, majority ruled in this country, but the liberals so very conveniently forget that when it is not in their best interests to recognize the majority. Like the whole religious display of Christmas thing. Just because a majority of people in this country practice a Christian religion does not mean that by singing Christmas carols in school or having a nativity scene on a float in a city sponsored "Holiday parade" means that we are forcing anything down anyone's throat. But the vast majority of us WANT to sing those songs and see that nativity, and as long we are not holding a state sponsored Grand Inquisition and burning heretics at the stake or arresting people who display a Menorah or a Crescent, then get over it, pinkos!!