Of Sears and racism (and some politics because everything is political)

"Just Jeepin'" (macintux)
10/16/2018 at 10:35 • Filed to: None

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Quite OT for Oppo, but I found this to be an interesting Twitter thread. It reminded me of how !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

DISCUSSION (46)

Spanfeller is a twat > Just Jeepin'
10/16/2018 at 10:39

Racism doesn’t exist, didn’t you hear America had an African American President?

DipodomysDeserti > Spanfeller is a twat
10/16/2018 at 10:43

I can’t be racist, just ask my black friend.

-America

Just Jeepin' > Spanfeller is a twat
10/16/2018 at 10:45

You lie!

I don’t know whether electing a black man turned the GOP core into rabid dogs, or they always were and this just revealed it.

MonkeePuzzle > Spanfeller is a twat
10/16/2018 at 11:06

and whatever race this new orange one is.

aquila121 > DipodomysDeserti
10/16/2018 at 11:08

We’re not friends with assholes who say that shit--you're racist .

-Black America

someassemblyrequired > Just Jeepin'
10/16/2018 at 11:18

Yeah it’s hard to over state the impact of Sears prior to the 1980s. The mail-order business definitely levelled the playing field for minorities, immigrants (just look at the multiple languages and mention of translators on the page), and rural dwellers.

Sears had storefront distribution (a proto-Amazon locker) back in the day, and a huge shipping infrastructure - especially in Canada. I was mystified when Amazon didn’t buy the catalog business, since it was in effect, ready to go. That was a fairly major blunder, as Amazon is still very much a bit player north of the 49th.

But Sears was also king of the mall as well - pretty much any Class A mall (i.e. not dead) that was built prior to 1990 was built by Sears’ subsidiary Homart, which generally kept the Sears section of the mall when it was completed. Part of the reason Sears was run into the ground by Eddie Lampert was because it owned a ton of prime commercial real estate. And causing the store to fail was a quick way to separate those assets from the ongoing operation.

Sears also built a lot of brand names - Allstate Insurance, Discover Card, Prodigy, Coldwell Banker, and Dean Witter were all part of Sears at one time.

Just Jeepin' > someassemblyrequired
10/16/2018 at 11:22

hard to understate

You mean overstate. Or easy to understate.

(Just in case this is something you regularly err with , I figured I’d point it out, but I apologize if I come across as a jerk. As I joked with ttyymmnn once upon a time, the preferred collective noun for proofreaders is a “nag”.)

BigBlock440 > Just Jeepin'
10/16/2018 at 11:26

I don’t know whether electing a black man turned the GOP core into rabid dogs, or they always we re and this just revealed it.

Because they wouldn’t have opposed any democrat? It was just because he was black, right?

For Sweden > Just Jeepin'
10/16/2018 at 11:28

Greatest beneficiaries of mail-order retail

Systemically excluded groups

Rural populations

Socially a wkward p eople

someassemblyrequired > Just Jeepin'
10/16/2018 at 11:28

Oops fixed, yeah kid is sick and I’m home and tired and trying to get work done. Thanks for the heads up!

For Sweden > Just Jeepin'
10/16/2018 at 11:31

Eh, the craziness started before 2008

Kinja'd!!!

Just Jeepin' > someassemblyrequired
10/16/2018 at 11:35

Ugh. Sick kids are the worst. Good luck.

someassemblyrequired > Just Jeepin'
10/16/2018 at 11:36

I’ll take any luck I can get... :D

Just Jeepin' > BigBlock440
10/16/2018 at 11:38

Congressmen haven’t been in the habit of shouting “You lie” at the president in the modern era . And the last time a political party basically shut down all attempts at compromise with a president happened...I don’t even know.

As much as the Democrats disliked George W. Bush, they still passed a lot of his legislation. And they didn’t call hundreds of symbolic votes to tear down that legislation.

Just Jeepin' > For Sweden
10/16/2018 at 11:40

Politics has always had a strong element of craziness, but there was a modicum of civility inside the halls of government themselves.

Just Jeepin' > BigBlock440
10/16/2018 at 11:44

Also, a lot of people heard an implicit “boy” at the end of that shout. It sure felt like the clock had turned back 50 years in that moment.

WiscoProud > someassemblyrequired
10/16/2018 at 11:57

I’ve been reading up on Eddie Lampert lately and am amazed at how badly the company was mismanaged. Not to mention outright corrupt double-dealing with his hedge fund and REIT. The 10k even says:

“Affiliates of our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, whose interests may be different than your interests, exert substantial influence over our Company.”

That’s an understatement from what i understand.

Cash Rewards > someassemblyrequired
10/16/2018 at 12:03

There’sa historic Sears house still standing in my town. As in, a house ordered through a Sears catalog and delivered. You think Amazon has everything? They don't have shit on Sears of old.

Tristan > Just Jeepin'
10/16/2018 at 12:25

Completely true.

It wasn’t that he systemically knee-capped the military through budget cuts and personnel draw-downs, or that he ignored the VA scandal, or that he pulled the military out of Iraq leaving an inviting vacuum for ISIS to grow and flourish, or that he ignored that threat afterwards, or that he added $7 trillion to the national debt, or that he abandoned the US’s allies while shipping pallets of cash to Iran, or the pathetic economic rebound followed by stagnation that occurred after he took office, or that whole “if you like your doctor” line, or his actions/policy on Syria and Libya.

Nope. None of that. It was the year-’round tan.

Just Jeepin' > Tristan
10/16/2018 at 12:32

The GOP stopped working with him the day he was elected. He made plenty of mistakes, but what was their excuse in the beginning?

someassemblyrequired > WiscoProud
10/16/2018 at 13:14

Yeah - a classic asset strip. He’ll likely get away with it too, thanks to that line in the 10K.

someassemblyrequired > Cash Rewards
10/16/2018 at 13:15

Yeah they are everywhere in the PNW - Sears (and Ward’s as well) were the Amazons of the proto-Internet (aka USPS).

WiscoProud > someassemblyrequired
10/16/2018 at 13:19

I’m almost amazed that no one has pushed back on him. I would have thought he’d have a fiduciary duty to do the best for the Company, which he obviously isn’t.

someassemblyrequired > WiscoProud
10/16/2018 at 13:26

Worst part is, now taxpayers are on the hook for their pension plan, which is underfunded by $1.5B . In a perfect world, Eddie Lampert would be in Con College by now, but the US is where you can do anything you want with the right lawyers and a big enough bank account .

DipodomysDeserti > Tristan
10/16/2018 at 13:43

Well, Trump also didn’t want troops in Iraq, named the same guy to head Veteran’s Affairs as Obama did in 2015, is projected to increase our national debt by another $ 5.6 trillion, and is still involved in Syria and Libya.

So, saying you don’t like Obama because of these things, then giving Trump a pass makes those of us who didn’t like either of these guys think the “year round tan” might have something to do with your opinion.

DipodomysDeserti > For Sweden
10/16/2018 at 13:47

Pretty sure that picture is from a protest in Iraq, not the US.

Gotta say, as much as whatever the fuck the Basque Party is (socialist? communists? panarabs?) bother me, I think I’d take them over ISIS. Honestly, we probably should have just let those commie Kurds take over everything. They seem to have their shit together.

I’d rather buy oil from a communist than a religious extremist. At least markets and labor actually exist.

For Sweden > DipodomysDeserti
10/16/2018 at 13:48

Punching Baathists is good

Tristan > DipodomysDeserti
10/16/2018 at 14:38

Read my post again and tell me where I mentioned Trump. None of this is about him. Obama was an objectively terrible president. The fact that people aren’t allowed to criticize Obama’s presidency without being labelled as racist is one of the reasons we got Trump and a divided nation.

Spanfeller is a twat > Just Jeepin'
10/16/2018 at 15:22

I wouldn’t call conservatives rabid dogs, but I understand the sentiment.

Spanfeller is a twat > Tristan
10/16/2018 at 15:28

I think Obama was a flawed president, like any president is flawed. I think he was the most ethical president since Carter.

I understand your concerns about him, and its completely reasonable for conservatives to point it out.

O pposition is fair: when it’s about politics. We tend to forget how big the birther issue was. It wasn’t a fringe thing at all and it was directly tied to his race.

I think Obama’s biggest scandal was that in 2008 almost 50% of Americans owned their homes, now its down to like 20-30%.

Just Jeepin' > Spanfeller is a twat
10/16/2018 at 15:34

Not all of them. Just the ones that lost their minds over having a black guy in charge.

Besides, at this point as Steve Jobs said, it’s no longer about left/right, but about creation/destruction. The GOP has decided that “winning” is worth whatever price they have to pay.

Spanfeller is a twat > Just Jeepin'
10/16/2018 at 15:44

Well all have our biases, we can try to show them, mention why we have them, and then try to explain our point of view.

I’d argue that everything that Obama did wrong doesn’t pale in comparison to one of Reagan’s scandals: Iran Contra. But that’s just my opinion.

Just Jeepin' > Spanfeller is a twat
10/16/2018 at 15:47

I’ve always liked the (rather sad) thought experiment: imagine how the GOP would have reacted if Obama had been nominated with multiple ex-wives and children from multiple women, plus all the affairs Trump has had.

Spanfeller is a twat > Just Jeepin'
10/16/2018 at 16:33

Well I mean, liberals let a few things slide too, Clinton has a sex-offender for a husband for instance.

Just Jeepin' > Spanfeller is a twat
10/16/2018 at 16:35

Yep. That’s how the GOP voters sleep at night.

Spanfeller is a twat > Just Jeepin'
10/16/2018 at 17:01

Like, I do believe there’s a superior party (the democratic one), what I’m not very certain about is whether there’s a superior ideology in politics. So when people do moral equivalences I understand it.

But, i f I were American I would’ve voted for Clinton through every step of the process simply because I think she’s less bad than the alternatives, if that makes any sense?

Just Jeepin' > Spanfeller is a twat
10/16/2018 at 17:05

It does.

I’m very sympathetic to some core conservative ideas, even ran for office once as a Libertarian. But I cannot swallow the massive hypocrisy that has engulfed the GOP. Their only core unwavering belief any more is power.

DipodomysDeserti > For Sweden
10/16/2018 at 17:35

Just realized my phone autocorrected Baath to Basque. Whoops. Thank god ETA disbanded.

DipodomysDeserti > Tristan
10/16/2018 at 17:46

So you think Trump is also objectively terrible? Sounds like we aren’t so divided after all.

Tristan > DipodomysDeserti
10/16/2018 at 20:46

I waver. He does something I agree with, then he shows his ass. I think he's an objectively terrible human being, but he's a product of the culture that opposes him.

DipodomysDeserti > Tristan
10/16/2018 at 21:48

Thankfully I have enough clarity to view both sides of the aisle as being completely delusional.

Berang > Tristan
10/16/2018 at 23:12

Literally the only reason we got trump is because people are dumb as fuck. Case closed.

Tristan > Berang
10/17/2018 at 12:23

Literally the only reason we got trump is because people are dumb as fuck were disenfranchised after 8 years of ineffective leadership, corrupt politicians, societal division and spineless, useless republicans . Then, the Democrats propped up the most unlikable human being in the universe and the only human being that could possibly loose to Trump. Many voted for him out of spite to politicians, and others held their noses and voted for him because there was half a chance he would govern like a conservative and appoint originalist justices to the supreme court and it was a better roll of the dice than letting Hillary Clinton decide the direction of the country. Case closed.

Berang > Tristan
10/17/2018 at 21:37

Voting for trump was the adult-baby temper tantrum a bunch of idiots who see themselves as victims needed, to feel badass, with no regard for the practical effects of their assholery. Case closed.

Tristan > Berang
10/17/2018 at 23:04

Berang > Tristan
10/18/2018 at 02:38

I’m just saying the same thing you did, only more efficiently.

“...were disenfranchised after 8 years of ineffective leadership, corrupt politicians, societal division and spineless, useless republicans.”

wah wah wah, I’m soooo persecuted. Politicians are paying attention to people and things that don’t revolve entirely around my wants and whims!!! wah wah wah!

“Many voted for him out of spite to politicians....”

look at me, I’m so badass, voting for the biggest, stupidest asshole politics has ever fielded to American politics! That’ll show them!

Give me an F’n break.
Govern like a conservative? God - if only. He hasn’t acted like a conservative for any five minutes of his presidency.