Archive for September 16, 2011
The Insidious Plot
by John Weckerle
Our readers may have noted that we’re occasionally sporadic with respect to the frequency of our posts. The challenging economy is becoming a challenge, and sometimes we find ourselves working hard just to keep working hard, and the need for some of us to continue generating an income sometimes means a need to take a break from other pursuits. We returned to the online world today and took a quick look in on the folks at the Sandia Tea Party, and noted a September 15 post by Edgewood Town Councilor Chuck Ring on the Rebuild the Dream Contract for the American Dream. A copy of said contract is provided in image form – not surprisingly titled “Communist Contract AD Alliance Partners” by the author – as is a graphic providing the logos of organizations affiliated with Rebuild The Dream. Mr. Ring invites us to go conspiracy hunting at a site called “Discover The Networks: A Guide to the Political Left.” He then suggests that there is something misleading about Rebuild the Dream’s use of the logo of one of the supporting organizations, “OUR Walmart,” insinuating that OUR Walmart is a fictitious organization or one that may have “misused” Walmart’s name. He points out that a Google search leads to a listing for “ourwalmart.org,” a site no longer in service with a link to Walmart’s corporate home page.
In this, Mr. Ring indulges in a little fast footwork himself – so fast that he apparently shot past the first three hits on the search he recommends. The first two lead directly – and predictably – to the organization called Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OURWalmart), an association of Walmart employees who quite pointedly state that they are not satisfied with the conditions of the their employment. In that context, we don’t see anything misleading. A little research indicates that Walmart challenged the use of the domain name “ourwalmart.org” by the organization – a challenge that appeared valid given domain naming conventions, which is something your editor knows a little about. However, we’ll point out that the logo on the “commiegraph” does not include a domain name, so we fail to see the deception in its inclusion on the graphic, which was clearly lifted from the Rebuild the Dream site and presented without attribution on the Sandia Tea Party site.