It begins innocently enough with an e-mail marked “Look Who Donated to Bush,” which I skim, then notice close to the bottom: “Hungry? … Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Smokey Bones, Bahama Breeze), $121K, 89% Republican,” and my mental DANGER! alert goes off.
Oh no, Mr. Bill! There’s the restaurant that a group I belong to has chosen for our annual December holiday party in just a few days.
Naturally, I freak.
Uh oh, I reply to the activist who sent me the original e-mail: “Gurus and Griots” has booked its Xmas dinner at Olive Garden for 15 people.
Soon she responds: “Let ’em know they are eating with the Devil! Time to change and tell the Olive Garden why! Go to Chinatown instead.”
What will “Tom and Carla” think? They’re the founding couple behind this group’s holiday get-together. Not only are they way progressive – King and Queen of Local PC – he worked all summer and fall doing voter registration for George Soros, while she’s so ideologically acute she refuses to get AOL because she deplores its politics, whatever they are.
Naturally, I expect “Tom and Carla” to be vehemently opposed to keeping the Olive Garden for our party.
I call “Tom and Carla,” but “Tom’s” at the library. Surprisingly, normally outspoken Carla’s not for canceling the restaurant at this late date, announcing she’s a pragmatist. “It’s a gathering of friends,” she says, “rather than a political occasion. You’d have to book in October to get another place.”
When I call the event’s other organizer, “Margaret-Mary,” she’s totally fried after being on the phone all afternoon with the help desk for a computer disaster which has thrown her behind in an important work project. Not surprisingly, “Margaret-Mary’s” in no mood to hear one more bad thing.
“Absolutely not!” says M-M tersely, but firmly. “No cancellation.”
Later that evening, “Tom” returns my call. Strangely enough, he’s surprisingly blase about the Bush-donor list. Turns out his third-party sympathies are soooooo strong, the notion a particular business funded the Repug-Nicans is almost as meaningless to him as the Dumb-o-Craps’ terminal lameness, since he views both major parties as the reprehensible corporatocracy – part of the nefarious military-industrial-pharma complex – and therefore dismissible.
I was afraid of that. Once again, convenience and comfort trumps change. My uneasy suggestion – this year if we decide to keep our reservation for our party as planned, we write the Olive Garden a strongly worded group letter suggesting they reconsider their Republican fiscal support lest we permanently reconsider our patronage of their venue – is considered a viable compromise by the others.
But, ultimately, it’s unsatisfactory to me. And so, the question of ‘”What should we do” becomes reframed as “What should I do?”
Admittedly, sometimes it’s tough to stick to principle or go against community dictates – the Group Mind, as it were. And yet, for me, the thought of even indirectly funneling any of my money to support Bush bigotry makes me nauseous.
Do the wrong thing?
Oh, and here’s the original tizzy-inducing e-mail, edited for space, highlighting GOP donations:
Planning your holiday gift giving this year? Feel free to share this with your friends, neighbors and fellow shoppers … Be aware which corporations helped re-elect Bush. Vote with your pocketbook this holiday season. With the holidays upon us, some of us might wish to be mindful of who we patronize relative to their 2000 Election Cycle political donations, as reported by theCenter for Responsive Politics:
Shopping?
Wal-Mart, $467K, 97% to Republicans;
K-Mart, $524K, 86% to Republicans;
Home Depot, $298K, 89% to Republicans;
Target, $226K, 70% to Republicans;
Circuit City Stores, $261K, 95% to Republicans;
3M Co., $281K, 87% to Republicans;
Hallmark Cards, $319K, 92% to Republicans;
Amway, $391K, 100% Republican;
Kohler Co. (plumbing fixtures), $283K, 100% Republicans;
B.F. Goodrich (tires), $215K, 97% to Republicans;
Procter & Gamble Co., $243K, 79% to Republicans.
Spirits?
Coors, $174K, 92% to Republicans; (also Budweiser )
Brown-Forman Corp. (Southern Comfort, Jack Daniels, Bushmills, Korbel wines – as well as Lennox China, Dansk, Gorham Silver), $644, 80% to Republicans.
Hungry?
Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. (chicken), $366K, 100% Republican;
Outback Steakhouse, $641K, 95% Republican;
Tricon Global Restaurants (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell), $133K, 87% Republican;
Brinker International (Maggiano’s, Brinker Cafe, Chili’s, On the Border, Macaroni Grill, Crazymel’s, Corner Baker, EatZis), $242K, 83% Republican;
Waffle House, $279K, 100% Republican;
McDonald’s Corp., $197K, 86% Republican;
Marriott International, $323K, 81% to Republicans;
Holiday Inns, $38K, 71% to Republicans.
Read my lips: Can you spell B-O-Y-C-O-T-T?
