Wal-Mart: The Low Cost of Rightwing Blogwhores

Wal-Mart, fine purveyor of labor law violations, union busting and crap merchandise, doesn't pay any more than it has to for anything. Which is why it pays full value for rightwing bloggers: Nothing.

Brian Pickrell, a blogger, recently posted a note on his Web site attacking state legislation that would force Wal-Mart Stores to spend more on employee health insurance. "All across the country, newspaper editorial boards -- no great friends of business -- are ripping the bills," he wrote.

It was the kind of pro-Wal-Mart comment the giant retailer might write itself. And, in fact, it did.

Several sentences in Mr. Pickrell's Jan. 20 posting -- and others from different days -- are identical to those written by an employee at one of Wal-Mart's public relations firms and distributed by e-mail to bloggers.But some bloggers are also defensive about their contacts with Wal-Mart....

When they learned that The New York Times was looking at how they were using information from the retailer, several bloggers posted items challenging The Times's article before it had appeared. One blog, Iowa Voice, run by Mr. Pickrell, pleads for advertisers to buy space on the blog in anticipation of more traffic because of the article.

The genius behind this scheme brags about how he gets the conservawhores to post his items for free. And the article quotes Instacracker, who brags about how he turned down a visit to Wal-Mart HQ that he would have to pay for himself. Glenn's exclusive to the RNC, and very ethical.