AP pushed non-story on Edwards' PS3 flap, glossed over his criticisms of Wal-Mart
SUMMARY: The Associated Press relayed an accusation of hypocrisy by Wal-Mart against Wal-Mart
critic John Edwards after a volunteer member of Edwards' staff contacted a Wal-Mart store in an attempt to acquire
a PlayStation 3 system for Edwards' family. AP ran the story despite Edwards' denial of knowledge of
the volunteer's action, and without any mention of the substantive criticisms Edwards has leveled against Wal-Mart.
A November 16 Associated Press article by business writer Marcus Kabel reported that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. had released a statement criticizing former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) after a volunteer member of Edwards' staff contacted a Wal-Mart store in an attempt to acquire a highly sought-after and hard-to-find Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) video game system for Edwards' family. The AP article noted that Edwards said in a statement that "[w]e instructed no one to contact Wal-Mart on our behalf," but it also relayed Wal-Mart's accusation of hypocrisy against Edwards, writing: "Wal-Mart had noted in a news release Thursday that on the same day Edwards was criticizing the company in a conference call with union-backed activists, the volunteer staff member had asked a Raleigh, N.C., electronics department manager to obtain a PS3 for the ex-senator's family." The AP relayed Wal-Mart's attack on Edwards despite providing no evidence or accusations contradicting Edwards' claim that he was unaware the volunteer contacted Wal-Mart.
Moreover, while the article portrayed the incident as a dispute between Wal-Mart and a strong critic of the company, it did not address substantively any of the criticisms Edwards has leveled against Wal-Mart, instead noting only that Edwards "claims the retailer doesn't treat its employees fairly," and that Edwards had spoken to supporters of the "union-backed WakeUpWalMart.com on a conference call launching the group's holiday season campaign to pressure Wal-Mart for better labor standards." Edwards, who appeared in Pittsburgh in August at a stop on the "Wake Up Wal-Mart" bus tour, has called for the retailer to offer its employees, which number well over 1 million worldwide, higher wages, and has criticized the company for not providing health care coverage to a large percentage of them; as of January, the company provided healthcare coverage to 43 percent of its employees, many of whom draw paychecks from Wal-Mart that leave them below the poverty line.
Media Matters for America has previously noted the media glossing over Wal-Mart's alleged child labor violations and illegal anti-union tactics, and its alleged practices of forcing employees to work without pay and locking overnight employees in its stores.
From Kabel's November 16 Associated Press report:
Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards acknowledged Thursday that amid his criticism of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., a volunteer member of his staff asked the world's largest retailer for help obtaining a hot new Sony Playstation 3 for Edwards' family.
Edwards, a potential 2008 presidential candidate, told The Associated Press that the volunteer "feels terrible" about seeking the game unit at Wal-Mart while his boss claims the retailer doesn't treat its employees fairly.
"My wife, Elizabeth, wanted to get a Playstation3 for my young children. She mentioned it in front of one of my staff people. That staff person mentioned it in front of a volunteer who said he would make an effort to get one. He was making an effort to go get one for himself," Edwards said.
"Elizabeth and I knew nothing about this. He feels terrible about this. He made a mistake and he knows he should not have used my name," Edwards said.
Wal-Mart had noted in a news release Thursday that on the same day Edwards was criticizing the company in a conference call with union-backed activists, the volunteer staff member had asked a Raleigh, N.C., electronics department manager to obtain a PS3 for the ex-senator's family.
Earlier Thursday, Edwards had said in a statement e-mailed by spokeswoman Kim Rubey: "We instructed no one to contact Wal-Mart on our behalf."
From Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., company spokesman David Tovar said the Edwards staff member left a voicemail at the Raleigh store and identified himself as an Edwards staff member.
When the manager returned the call, the staff member again identified himself as working for Edwards, and Wal-Mart said it confirmed it with Edwards' office. The retailer issued a written statement Thursday accusing Edwards of not wanting to wait his turn.
"While the rest of America's working families are waiting patiently in line, Sen. Edwards wants to cut to the front," the Wal-Mart statement said.
This summer, Wal-Mart hired Edelman executive Leslie Dach as its public relations director and put him on the company's executive team. Analysts predicted the retailer would likely become more aggressive toward its critics.
Edwards, the Democrats' vice-presidential candidate in 2004, spoke Wednesday to supporters of union-backed WakeUpWalMart.com on a conference call launching the group's holiday season campaign to pressure Wal-Mart for better labor standards.
In the call, he repeated a story about his son Jack disapproving of a classmate buying sneakers at Wal-Mart.
"If a 6-year-old can figure it out, America can definitely figure this out," Edwards said.
Previously, Edwards has appeared at WakeUpWalMart rallies.
Edwards said the volunteer was "a young kid" unaware of what he called flawed Wal-Mart policies. He called the Wal-Mart statement an effort to divert attention from its own problems.
As soon as Edwards starts hinting seriously about announcing his candidacy for President, the smearing begins.
A volunteer staffer, presumably supporting Edwards because of his positions, thinks it is a good idea to pressure Wal-Mart for a favor. That is ironic! Especially on the day Edwards spoke out about how bad Wal-Mart is...
As far as GOP smears...how did the GOP get into this? It seems to be a confrontation between Edwards & staff and Wal-Mart.
By the way, I seem to remember glee on one side when VP Quayle read on a card in front of him that "potatoe" is the correct spelling for the tasty spud and incorrectly "corrected" a student who said it is spelled "potato". That non-story got a lot of play.
Imagine, this happens the same day that Charlie Rangel wants to start a draft. Do these Dems have a suicide complex, after all the hard work we did for them?
There's absolutely NO excuse why an Edward's worker would ask Wal-Mart for a favor. It's not just stupid, it's incompetent.
Sure the GOP has a smear machine. And the Dems are weak-kneed, incompetent idiots, ready fodder. It won't get any better. I'm completely disgusted in the Democrats.
Hmm. . . Vice President of the United States can't spell a 3rd grade word. . . vs. . . . Presidential candidate's volunteer is an idiot. . . yeah, that's really analogous . . . One is a heartbeat away from ruling the free world, the other might be sent out to get coffee when all the envelopes are stuffed.
P.S.: Thank for the 15 year old reference to Quayle. It reminds us all that the "put an idiot in office" tactic is right out of the old GOP playbook.
Check your dictionary:
"tomatoe" is an acceptable, though not the dominant, spelling. It is like good-bye versus good-by. Quayle's mistake was telling the student that "tomato" was incorrect.
I do not think either the VP or the volunteer is an idiot based on these items. Both incidents are amusing, but people in both cases took them waaaaay too seriously. Last week, some posters claimed I could not detect irony in another matter, so I could not let this one pass by. None of them has responded to this lightweight matter, so far.
'Potatoe' and 'Tomatoe' are not and have never been acceptable variations of 'Potato' and 'Tomato'. I did check my dictionaries, and American College, American Heritage, Cambridge, Oxford, and Merriam-Webster fail to prove your false assertion. Indeed, Even an 1828 version of Webster fails to show any alternate spellings. The only excuse I could locate online for Quayle’s mistake is anecdotal, suggesting that he became familiar with those misspellings because of the frequency with which they appear on roadside vegetable cart signs in his home state of Indiana. I grew up learning British spelling conventions, only to have to convert when I returned to the U.S. for high school. For years I had ‘u’s excised from words such as ‘armour’ and ‘labour’. I therefore knew right away you were full of 's h i t e' (acceptable – Irish derivation) and talking out your 'a r s e' (again acceptable – English, Irish, Australian).
Slanthead says something about his hair tonight?
convince the country that Wal-Mart is the great evil, but apparently he can't even convince his own staff. Not hypocrisy, but a H___ of a poor sales job!!
"Well, he may be trying to convince the country that Wal-Mart is the great evil, but apparently he can't even convince his own staff. Not hypocrisy, but a H___ of a poor sales job!!"...by oscar the grouch
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An EXCELLENT point that should not be overlooked.
I've no idea whether Edwards is telling the truth here OR backpedaling and blaming an underling because he got caught. All I can say is it wouldn't be the FIRST time one of the rich & powerful pulled a "Do as I say, NOT as I do"
Since we'll [probably] never know for certain, I'll take Edwards word here. BUT if it's ever PROVEN otherwise then it would NOT be a Non-Story. It would appear to be rank hypocrisy on Edwards part.
The Wal-Mart brouhaha could be solved so easily IF it weren't for GREED. IF the Walton family, upper management and the shareholders took a SMALLER cut of a very large pie then money would be available for the other employees AND prices could remain low.
Let's call this the way the REAL trickle down economy works ;-)
Were it not for the cashiers, shelf stockers, loading dock crew etc. the PROFITS now enjoyed by those at the TOP wouldn't be possible. Profits should be SHARED from top to bottom.
It's simply a case of being FAIR.
More MSM attacks on Edwards and his family. This is typical , they must be scared of whats coming up.
By the way the violence for these games is terrible. What is wrong with our society ?
in the GOP smear machine.For all the righty stuff blamed on aides and staffers, this Edwards bit is something that sounds, logically, like something that happened with a young staffer.
I guess that Murtha Abscam tape didn't fill up the week. You know, the 25 year old tape of Murtha NOT accepting a bribe?
That was the most hilarious bit of backfiring propaganda I heard this week. The cheerleaders for an administration that has stolen hundreds of billions of our money and openly channeled it to their henchmen (not to mention billions unaccounted for) is deeply offended by a Democrat refusing a bribe.
And to you rightys who haven't been around the block a few times yet, here's why the Murtha bit is funny; He says to the bribe-er "maybe" sometime in the fututre.
Politics, like sex and most other business, is about negotiation.And in politics, sex, and business (pay attention now);
No means no
Yes means maybe
and maybe means no
maybe means maybe
With an eye on the presidential election Edwards assembles a crack staff. I wonder how many other liberal democrats are working for him that are dumber than a 6-year old...oh my aching side.
Edward's kids are too young to be that much into gaming and Edwards himself isn't going to be interested in them, so what is really going on?
I think one of two things.
1) The person calling was NOT from Edwards but rather a GOP Dirty Tricks member.
2) A staffer trying to get one for himself.
Either one makes more sense.
This story is just a non story, it is another tactic by the GOP to smear potential 08 candidates and also take away discussion on the racist Trent Lott. I would expect more of this to come in the upcoming year.
The dumber than a 6-year old staffer admitted doing it...and feeling terrible. Edwards admitted his dumber than a 6-year old staffer did it for his wife. Walmart blew the whistle on the dumber than a 6-year old staffer.
Even Edward's 6-year old son knows this has nothing to do with the GOP.
Sorry folks, this makes Edwards out to be a rank hypocrite, or an incompetent boss with a nutty staff. He's toast.
What Edwards should have said is NOTHING-- just deny the story. If he wasn't involved, why did he admit involvement? It raises questions.
It's just like when Kerry mis-told that joke in Pasadena. The joke was fine on its own, but Kerry had to be stupid and then elaborate on it, giving the GOP an easy target: an admission of incompetence, as well as a nervous denial.
When will these Dems learn to play HARDBALL-- or just SHUTUP and not draw further attention to their screwups?
"Sorry folks, this makes Edwards out to be a rank hypocrite, or an incompetent boss with a nutty staff. He's toast. "
Toast? Why would this make him toast? That's silly. The worst that should happen is the staffer loses his job. Anything beyond that is ridiculous.
From the AP article:
From Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., company spokesman David Tovar said the Edwards staff member left a voicemail at the Raleigh store and identified himself as an Edwards staff member. When the manager returned the call, the staff member again identified himself as working for Edwards, and Wal-Mart said it confirmed it with Edwards' office. The retailer issued a written statement Thursday accusing Edwards of not wanting to wait his turn. "While the rest of America's working families are waiting patiently in line, Sen. Edwards wants to cut to the front," the Wal-Mart statement said.
My Question: Apparently Walmart has a strict policy of not allowing anyone, even famous people cut in line of other customers. Why would Walmart even try to contact Edwards' office to confirm the volunteer's credentials as an Edwards staffer if it wasn't either planning to let a famous politician cut in line, violating their own policies OR fishing for an opportunity to fabricate a smear?
Which is the reason why Edwards should have denied any knowledge of the incident and leave it at that. That way it all seems fishy.
Instead, he has to elaborate on the story, drawing himself into the circle. And he makes himself toast by doing so.
I am SO disgusted in these conventional party-guy Democrats right now. It's no wonder they're no match for the smear machine. They just don't THINK when faced with this evil.
I say a smear. Eye for an Eye.
"While the rest of America's working families are waiting patiently in line, Sen. Edwards wants to cut to the front," the Wal-Mart statement said.
An Edwards staffer tried to cut in line to get a PS3? This is as bad as if some poor little rich kid was to use his daddy's name and influence to cut to the front of the line for a coveted slot in a champagne unit of the Air National Guard so he wouldn't have to fight in a war he vocally supported, and then not show up even for that.
There are 2 Americas:
One America for us normal working folks who have to stand in line for days/hours in order to get a PS 3. And the other America for people, like John Edwards, who can get a PS3 without waiting in line (albeit through no fault of his own).
Just glad to see him show which side he really is on.
Edwards didn't get a PS3 early from Wal-Mart. Which makes your whining, self-pitying post full of crap.
One America where a father can keep his son out of an unpopular war, which both father and son support.
And another America, where unless you're connected, you go to fight the war that the other father and son support. Even though you and your father are against it.
The staffer admitted to using Edwards' name to try to jump in line. The idea that a junior staffer would throw his boss's name around like that without clearance from above is nearly as unlikely as the idea that Hastert's staff didn't inform him of what was going on with Foley. And Dems accused Hastert of throwing his staff under the bus.
I like Edwards, but you have to admit there's a possibility that he was being a giant hypocrite here.
Listen:
A staffer, of their own free will, decided to use the Edwards' name to curry favor from a Wal-Mart for the ostensible reason of procuring a PS3 for Edwards' son, a brazen move John Edwards was totally unaware of.
Meanwhile, Edwards is about to unleash a barrage of criticism at Wal-Mart for its inhumane and diabolical employment practices.
So which does the Media cover?
Why the PS3 angle, silly goose.
Who cares if Wal-Mart exploits the working poor? I want to hear manufactured dirt on John Edwards. Unsubstantiated, unproven dross about a man with aspirations towards the Presidency.
Those news hounds are unstoppable.
Like remember the time the media harried George Bush for not knowing the difference between Sunnis and Shiites even as US troops were amassing for the invasion of Iraq. No? Perhaps you don't remember because the MEDIA IGNORED THE STORY. Why? Because a sitting President about to start a war in country he didn't know a thing about (except that it had oil and Saddam) apparently isn't newsworthy.
So what is newsworthy?
Imaginary post-election infighting among the Democrats? Yes.
One of the scandals those battling Dems are going to confront next year, the missing 8.8 BILLION dollars from the Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority? No.
Again, what is newsworthy?
An ex-jock’s confessional interview on how he killed (I mean, in theory would have killed) his white ex-wife and her waiter boyfriend? Yes.
A genocide campaign in the heart of Africa? No.
What I want to know is what happened to the news. It was there when I was a kid. Yes, it bored me to tears, but it told me Nixon was erasing tapes. It told me OPEC was responsible for manufacturing gas shortages. It told me Jimmy Hoffa was still unaccounted for. It told me Mayor Daily had died.
News.
And now?
It tells me about Paris Hilton’s latest internet sex tape. It tells me about the PS3 crazy and the ensuing next generation console war. It tells me about Nancy Pelosi’s fall from grace despite never having serves ONE SECOND as Speaker of the House.
News? No. Noise? YES!
The news is dead, supplanted by noise. If you didn’t get the gist of my post, reread the first word. That is where you failed. You didn’t listen. And how can you, with that cacophony of nonsense dinning all around.
We, as a nation, have opted for functional deafness. Dumb and blind are sure to follow.
"A staffer, of their own free will, decided to use the Edwards' name to curry favor from a Wal-Mart for the ostensible reason of procuring a PS3 for Edwards' son, a brazen move John Edwards was totally unaware of."
Maybe he was unaware of it, maybe not. Nobody on the left believed that Hastert was telling the truth about his staff, and there's no imperative to take Edwards at his word either, merely for the sake of partisanship.
This story may not be above-the-fold newsorthy, but that doens't mean it's not newsworthy. I'd like to know what the staffer has to say about it, and how Walmart explains taking the call in the first place, if their policy is truly to not give preferential treatment.