"It is an unwarranted intrusion on private property rights,”Excuse me?- Tri-State owner Gerard Connelly, quoted in today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News on the proposed Moscow "dark-store" ordinance.
Is this the same Gerard Connelly described by PARDner Greg Hooks as being "struck by the naivete of Pullman's mayor, Glenn Johnson" and feeling that "Wal-Mart has a track record of predatory competition that harms local businesses, sapping the vitality of downtown"?
Is this the same Gerard Connelly that in a letter to the editor urged Ed Schweitzer to drop his support of Wal-Mart because of its "poor wages and benefits"?
Is this the same Gerard Connelly whose motives for attacking Wal-Mart were lauded by PARDner T.V. Reed as being purely "in the community interest, not of economic self-interest", a merchant "who has donated so much time and money to local community projects"?
This man is now the champion of private property rights?
If so, the Caped Crusader would like to welcome Connelly to the Justice League.
I suspect, however, this is more a case of Connelly's ox getting gored than any sudden conversion. The "dark-store" ordinance will apply to Tri-State if it merely expands by 5,000 square feet.
And Connelly's opposition to Wal-Mart has depended exclusively on what side of the border the store will be located. Digging through the archives of the Lewiston Tribune from way back in 1992, I read several stories where Connelly said Wal-Mart was nothing to be afraid of......in Moscow. Earlier this year, we saw Connelly flip-flop on Wal-Mart again when a Supercenter was proposed for Moscow. A Pullman Wal-Mart seems to be the only Wal-Mart to which Connelly is truly opposed.
Hey, I give the guy credit. He's a Moscow businessman. Even though his stance on Wal-Mart is hypocritical and expedient, I can understand it a lot better than opposition from a bunch of snobby English and Sociology professors who lack the business acumen to open a lemonade stand.
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3 comments:
professors who lack the business acumen to open a lemonade stand.
Tom, that was a killer line, but oh so true. They are so brainwashed into the marx line of thinking that "Private Property" is some how 'bad'.
I have physical proof of that, Ray.
I posted a Wall Street Journal article on the door of my office that basically called Capitalism humankind's greatest achievement.
The next morning, I came in to find a little picture of Marx, Stalin, Castro, Che, and others taped above it. It was a silly little cartoon of them partying - Marx had a lampshade on his head, Stalin had a beer, etc. (I guess it was a "Communist Party"?)
I'm still not sure if it was supposed to be a statement for or against the article I posted. My guess is that the anonymous taper intended it to be against, but wow did they ever make a bad pick for their cartoon rebuttal!
I say it was bad because they handed me an opportunity to lampoon them even more. I decided to have fun with the situation and "claim" the picture that was put up, rather than rip it down, so I fired up my printer and made a caption for it that is now taped over the bottom of the picture. It reads:
"Collectivists: Partying on your dime and killing you if you disagree since 1867."
No one has added anything else to my office door since then. Heh!
Gerard Connelly is typical of a group of Moscow business owners. They are pro-growth when the issue involves Moscow, but then they will change sides and become allied with anti-growthers when Pullman or Whitman County tries to grow. I don't care one way or the other about how Mr. Connelly feels about Wal-Mart. However, when he jumps the border and starts personal attacks on Pullman officials and interjects himself into a decision that does not in any way involve him, I take great exception. His Daily News editorial attacks last year on Mark Workman, Fritz Hughes and Glenn Johnson were unconscionable.
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