Is it common for U.S. presidents to use public communication venues to openly shill for companies owned by their supporters? I can’t recall such a case, but perhaps I’ve missed it. Anyhoo, this morning:
Thank you to Linda Bean of L.L.Bean for your great support and courage. People will support you even more now. Buy L.L.Bean. @LBPerfectMaine
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2017
The backstory is that Linda Bean, a board member who owns a company stake but doesn’t participate in its daily operations, is a Trump super-donor — so super that she violated the law to bankroll Trump. As a result of that publicity, L.L. Bean was added to the Grab Your Wallet boycott list of companies that sell Trump merchandise or whose owners fund Trump.
L.L. Bean’s chairman, Shawn Gorman, appealed the company’s placement on the list on Facebook last weekend. From the Portland Press Herald:
Shawn Gorman, executive chairman of the L.L. Bean board and great grandson of company founder Leon Leonwood Bean, posted a statement on Facebook late Sunday night saying he was “deeply troubled” by the portrayal of the company and called the boycott campaign by Grab Your Wallet “misguided.” He said L.L. Bean does not endorse political candidates, take positions on political matters or make political contributions.
“We fully acknowledge and respect that some may disagree with the political views of a single member of our 10-person board of directors,” Gorman wrote. “Like most large families, the more than 50 family member-owners of the business hold views and embrace causes across the political spectrum, just as our employees and customers do. And as every member of the family would agree, no individual alone speaks on behalf of the business or represents the values of the company that (Leon Leonwood Bean) built.”
Well, if Gorman hoped to contain the PR damage, Trump just dropped a huge turd on that communication strategy. I probably buy more shit online from L.L. Bean than any other single store, and I closed my account this morning and told them why.
It’s not that one crackpot Bean family member supports Trump — I understand all too well that we can’t choose our relatives. But the man who will be POTUS in eight days has no goddamned business hawking products made by his supporters. “Unseemly” and “inappropriate” seem too weak a description for that kind of shamelessness.
Also, is it okay to call Trump a fascist now? I’ve had pushback on the use of that term since the classic definition of fascism includes economic control. He’s not even sworn in yet, but Trump is personally meddling in industries, bending companies to his will and setting up his family members and hangers-on to profit massively from his presidential power. Duck, quack, walk, etc.
John Cole
Duluth Trading is my go to.
NeenerNeener
I unsubscribed from their email list this week. I wonder if enough other customers did for it to be noticed.
lollipopguild
Four long years of this. His real name is Chaos.
Waldo
In your FACE, Eddie Bauer!
satby
Shared. It’s all about grabbing every dime he can, enriching other rich people who will presumably “owe” him in some way, and fucking over the rest of us. I seldom buy LLBean stuff, too pricey, but I used to and won’t in the future.
Jeffro
It’s been okay since the day he glided down that mf escalator in Trump Tower.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Ingoring the infamous Hilter endorsment of Fanta, I don’t recall Hilter or Mussoline pushing companies in their country beyond sweet, sweet goverment contracts, so I don’t see how facism applies here. More like “Childishly clueless” applies to Trump – if he really wanted to throw a bone to LL Bean wouldn’t a no bid goverment clothing contract be the way it’s done? Trump can’t even do corruption correctly.
And don’t companies want to be seen as politically netural? .
Ryan
I don’t understand the concern for getting it literally correct when Obama’s been called a Muslin socialist dictator since he was sworn in and when fake news dominated 2016. Also too celebrity deaths.
Fascist is a go Houston.
PGE
In these very troubling times, I really, really need Fafblog to be resurrected. It’s penultimate post:
I miss Giblets.
randy khan
Okay, not an open thread, but I needed to mention this. I was just reading the very long press release on all of the street closures and parking restrictions for the inauguration. (Trying to figure out if I can leave my car parked at work and use it to go home after Saturday’s march – y’all are coming, right?) Almost at the very end is a reminder that open carry is against the law in D.C. I wonder how many yo-yos will get arrested for wandering around with guns out next weekend.
Adrift
Years ago when I was but a child, we went to a now defunct amusement park named Six-Gun Territory in Ocala. I was insistent on riding the rollercoaster as I’d never been on one and thought it would be fun. Since I was too small for an adult ride I kicked up a ruckus to get on the “child” rollercoaster. I insisted that I go alone and so, jumped on. Not even halfway through I realized my mistake and screamed bloody murder until they actually stopped the ride so I could get off. I was shaken and stunned. That’s how I’ve felt for the past two months. Shaken and stunned. I’ve never been on a rollercoaster since and wish this one, barely out of the gate, would stop and let me get off.
misterpuff
You can’t say Scrooge McDrumpf doesn’t take care of his friends. But its gonna hurt outside the bubble, you know in RL.
Stupidity heard this morning: Kookie Cokie on Morning Schmo Normalizing: “Trump is not going to change. And America is OK with that. That’s what his supporters voted for.” Except his popularity ratings are at 30% and dropping.
Oh well, America, your bet didn’t pay off. The betting windows will be open again in 4 years
Stupidity heard at Drumpf newser: “Companies know now if they leave they will have to ship product back in with a border tax. They will not move jobs from America, especially those states I won, Ohio, Michigan etc.”
next breath “Of course it will be fine to move to South Carolina or Georgia’ Either way Rust Belt workers get screwed. Wake up WWC, he wants to take you down.
japa21
@John Cole: Love that store.
The list of don’t buy at is growing. But the list of buy from is also growing.
There was a lot of discussion here about Penzey’s a while back wen the boss sent out emails to his customer lambasting Trump. Well, he followed that up this week with the following:
I received a nice email last week from one of our customers who is heading to the Washington Women’s March on January 21st. She was hoping to purchase some of our Embrace Hope stickers to hand out to her fellow bus passengers. We sent the stickers at no charge, and thought it would be nice to send along some Kind Heart pins as well.
We learned in Wisconsin that protests really are an important piece of limiting what damage is done. The forces of open racism and open sexism have been intentionally set free by the rhetoric of this presidential election, and by the leadership proposed for the incoming administration. We believe that Kindness cannot sit down simply because anger has stood up. Without the spotlight and awareness protest brings, open sexism and racism will not be reined in. We all must work to support those with the strength and skills to successfully protest. They really are the front line in defending the goodness that makes America something special in the eyes of the world.
But as much as protest is key to maintaining the hard-won rights of so many that are very much at risk right now, protest alone will only take things so far. It’s simply not enough to point and say “Can’t you see what they’re doing here?” In the long run you have to offer people a better vision of the future, a vision they want more. This is where I think our Kind Heart pins can help.
If you are one of the many who have made plans to bus it on out to our Capitol for the Women’s March, we would like to send some Kind Heart pins with you. Our supply at the moment is not unlimited, but while they last we would like to send three for each person on your bus—one to keep, and two to pass out as a thanks for kindness found along the road or in the capital. In the short term protest is key, but in the long run our compassion is our greatest strength.
If the idea of sharing Kind Heart pins with your fellow bus passengers appeals to you, please contact us at [email protected]. We could use an address to send them to, a head count of those going along, and what day you are planning to leave. And since we’ve created a bit of an angry buzz in the right wing media world recently, if you could add a couple of sentences about why you believe it’s important to take the time and effort to attend the march, it would help us make sure our pins get to those actually taking part.
And even if our pins run out before we can meet all that are requested, I do want to thank everyone taking the time to travel to our capital and to all the other cities across the country where people are gathering to stand up for the rights of women, and to make it known that the majority of Americans do not want or accept the sexism at the heart of this last election. Your voices are so important right now. Thank you for standing up for the values of America.
Bill
[email protected]
WE have bought from Penzey’s for years, but are increasing our purchases. The fun part is we just bought a couple wedding presents from them that are going to some relatives that supported Trump.
Barbara
Hitting people where they hurt in the wallet is basically the only thing that people like Linda Bean and Donald Trump understand. I am sorry for people on the board at the company who don’t feel that way. Almost everything sold by L.L. Bean is made in China. I will make the following exception for L.L. Bean: I will buy products sold by Bean if they are made in the U.S. There are a few things, including floor mats and Adirondack chairs, that they still make in the U.S. Also, some of their dog beds.
Jeffro
I wonder if our Captains of Industry will start “getting it” that Trump’s at 37% approval and unless you have a very narrow-niche, right-leaning product (like say Fox News), you probably don’t want to be associated with this clown and see your sales take a dive.
patrick II
Considering that Trump kept a book of Hitler’s speeches bedside to study and mimics Mussolini’s physical mannerisms when given a speech, I think referring to the Orange Il Duce as a fascist is appropriate.
Davis X. Machina
Gorman’s good people, and LL Bean’s’ an exemplary local corporate citizen.
Linda Bean owns LL Bean shares, and that’s it. I wouldn’t expect Trump to know that. I expect perhaps some of you do. She’s been active in local right-wing politics here for decades.
You want to boycott her, try boycotting her restaurant in the Portland Jetport, and boycott her other products and services, go ahead.
Cermet
There seems no limit to Donny Dump, the golden boy(!?) and selected, not elected, stupidity and ability to decide he can break any custom because. Just when I think he can’t top himself, he does. Scary.
PGE
@japa21: I’ve been putting off refreshing some of my spices. Time to stop putting it off.
Davis X. Machina
@Barbara: Bean boots too — I teach the children of some of their stitchers. Their custom finishing/hemming and monogramming people, too.
Barbara
@misterpuff: Cokie, as usual, shows her silverspoon upbringing by totally missing the point of what animated Trump voters, in multiple ways. Having voted for him I bet a significant percentage of them “got off their chest” whatever it was they were annoyed about. Their one time vote is unlikely to be a collective, unqualified endorsement of anything and everything he does. I think they were deeply misguided but I give at least some of them credit for having knowingly taken a risk with him. If it doesn’t pay off (whatever the hell that means) they won’t be there for him when he falls. It wasn’t that kind of support.
blackcatsrule
I have refused to shop there since about 2012 when this same person referred to Obama as “Hitlerian”. Since their quality had been going downhill for several years before that it wasn’t much to give up.
Barbara
@Jeffro: Like Target already found out when its CEO supported gay baiting referenda.
Calouste
Fascist actually care about the country and most (surely not all) of the people in it. One of the Nazi slogans was “One people, one country, one leader”. Trump just cares about himself. The right comparison is Mobuto or Mugabe or Marcos. He’s a kleptocrat.
Betty Cracker
@John Cole: I bought my hubby some drawers from there in hopes that he would twirl around on a pole like the cartoon dude in the ad, but alas, no. I’ll give their other merch a look!
@japa21: We also gave out some Penzey’s as gifts over the holiday to unsuspecting wingnut family members. I’ve used their stuff for years because it’s high quality, so it was a bonus to learn that they’re against racism, sexism, fascism, etc. as well as excellent spice purveyors.
Capri
I was told that LL Bean was run by anti-choice Christianist wack-jobs years ago. Haven’t shopped there since. Patagonia would be my go to if I needed outdoor clothes.
mai naem mobile
Garbanzo Beans. Lumpy loves Garbanzo Beans. AlsI too, waterproof mattress covers from LL Bean for the bigliest bestest golden showers.
hovercraft
He’s been using his position of power to benefit his businesses since before he was ‘elected’. He practically forced people to use his new DC hotel, which by the way he is not allowed to lease from the Federal government anymore now that he will be president, even with his feint towards separation rom his “empire” by putting Uday and Qusay in charge. We are at the point where we probably need a new word to describe the era we are entering, it will to be purely any one thing, they are combining authoritarianism, fascism, kleptocracy and dog knows what else to form a whole new form of government. The scary thing is they are just getting started, FSM help us once they work out the kinks and get it fully up and running.
MJS
@Davis X. Machina: This is a page right out of the “take the high road” playbook. That road has landed us here. Don’t want your company smeared with Trump dirt? Tell any and all on your board of directors to stay away from him. If they can’t, tell them to resign and sell their shares before they destroy the company. He needs to be made toxic.
Davis X. Machina
@Capri: You were told wrong.
Chris
Why on earth wouldn’t it be?
Oh.
Well, I personally wasn’t waiting that long, but sure.
Napoleon
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
I sense a photoshop opportunity here
Calouste
@Davis X. Machina:
Nope, that’s not just it. She is also on the Board of Directors.
NeenerNeener
@Adrift: The mail order pharmacy I have to use requires that I speak to one of their nurses in a phone call every 6 months. Last night when the nurse started to run down the list of side effects from my medication and asked if I was experiencing any depression, anxiety and/or trouble sleeping I said god yes, but it was all related to the results of the last election and she burst out laughing and said “I hear you!”
Betty Cracker
@Davis X. Machina: Linda Bean is also on the board, according to the news article linked above, so she’s not just some random shareholder. If Gorman comes out and disowns Trump’s endorsement, I’d consider not boycotting them. I don’t think he will, and I understand why; he’s been put in an untenable position by his crackpot auntie. That’s hard luck for him. But I can’t in good conscience buy from a company Trump is ostentatiously endorsing as a reward to a supporter. That’s where I draw a line. YMMV.
clay
@Adrift: Holy crap! I remember Six-Gun! Jeez, I probably went there when I was five years old; haven’t thought about it in years!
Major Major Major Major
@hovercraft: it’s basically Putinism or whatever Erdogan is, no?
japa21
If L.L. Bean really wanted to show itself as a positive, they would get rid of her from the board. The benefit in terms of customer approval would definitely outweigh the resulting Trump outrage and that of some of his supporters. As proof see what has happened to Penzey’s. Their sales have skyrocketed since they came out against Trump (and they were also against Walker, but that only impacted their Wisconsin base).
Emma
@japa21: I discovered Penzey’s (I knew of them but didn’t think “place to do business”) here. So this December when it was time to replace some spices I went to their website and purchased all the replacements plus a whole lot of interesting new flavors. They are now in my “shopping” folder.
Seth Owen
@Calouste: “One people,” of course, was not to be taken literally. Many were not of the one. Much the same applies to the American variety of fascism. “One people” has notable exceptions.
Matt McIrvin
@Jeffro: That Quinnipiac poll showing him at 37% approval and dropping is an outlier. If you look at HuffPo’s aggregate, there’s a lot of spread, but the general story is that his approval/disapproval rapidly improved to something like 44-51 against around the end of November (basically all the Republicans who grudgingly voted for him decided they liked him after all, and nobody else did), and it’s basically been stuck there ever since. About 6-7 points net negative, and there seems to be a lot of house variation–there are a few polls showing him with net positive approval.
(Note, national popular-vote polls in November basically got it right, so “the polls were all wrong anyway” isn’t a germane objection here.)
Davis X. Machina
@MJS: Bean directors have been donors for Michaud, Kerry, King, Obama, and a number of other politicians I’m pretty sure we don’t hate.
FlipYrWhig
@misterpuff:
For whatever reason, this has been _the_ overriding reaction to the Trump press conference by every female pundit I’ve seen since then. I saw Nicole Wallace do it, I saw Katie Tur do it, I saw MSNBC’s other female White House reporter do it, and now you’re saying Cokie Roberts is doing it. They all run to the idea that Trump is a master of stagecraft, and that he’s so great at communicating… how much he hates them and wants his supporters to hate them. And from all appearances they _admire it_ about him! It’s fucking toxic.
Adrift
@clay: My experience was well over 40 years ago left such a mark I have never forgotten.
schrodingers_cat
I knew that the Bean daughter was cray cray Paulista. Didn’t know she was a supporter of T. I don’t think she has anything to do with the actual running of the company. I have a lot of Bean stuff, especially winter gear including jackets, parkas, shoes. I am not going to stop using Bean. If I were really going to boycott clothing retailers with questionable practices, I will have to borrow my Gandhian great aunt’s charkha and make my own cloth.
hovercraft
@misterpuff:
Cokie would have been on saying that Hillary needed to make conciliatory gestures to bring in the people who voted against her, and also that her approval ratings which I suspect would be hovering around the high forties or at fifty, were the lowest for an incoming president on record. I am not okay with this dumbfuck and his dumbfuckery, and I did not vote for it, which is why I disapprove of him..
Yarrow
@Davis X. Machina: If they don’t like how her actions are affecting the company the L.L. Bean board can ask her to resign. It wouldn’t be the first time a board has ousted one of its members for something the board member has done that has negatively affected the company.
Chris
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
IIRC fascism tends to be wildly inconsistent and contradictory in its economic claims and practices (part of the reason right wingers work to paint it as left wing). What it’s consistent on is 1) siding with the bosses to crush workers’ movements, whether in the economic sphere as in unions or in the political sphere as in left-wing movements of any kind ranging from communist to social-democratic, and 2) a more sort of cartelized economy characterized by a public-private partnership against the common enemies of the State and of the aforementioned bosses.
Exactly who’s an enemy is a category that can get somewhat fluid, as IIRC, some parts of the private sector end up thriving at the expense of others. (That is, going up against Jews, including Jewish businesses, is good for their “Aryan” competitors).
MattF
@PGE: Whatever happened to Fafblog? I have a feeling it was something not good.
And, yeah, I’ve always thought T was a blend of con artist and fascist. Looks like a fascist, sounds like a fascist, acts like a fascist, smells like a fascist…
SatanicPanic
I plan on asking Republicans from no on- how is this good for business? Do you want a deeply unpopular guy like him endorsing you? Or are you afraid of what will happen if he doesn’t like what you’re doing? If I were a CEO right now in any industry besides maybe guns and bumper stickers I’d be seriously stressing what to do now.
clay
@Adrift: I just vaguely remember the Wild West theme, and don’t remember any of the specific rides or attractions. My cousin lived in Ocala, so when I visited him, we would go to Six-Gun, or Silver Springs, or Wild Waters.
Chris
@Calouste:
There’s a lot of that going around: look at Putin. The modern version of fascism seems to be half-traditional-fascism, half-kleptocrat-gangster-oligarchism.
Miss Bianca
@FlipYrWhig: there are times when I just hate women whom I see flocking to coo/gloss over male pig authoritarian behaviors. I keep thinking of Rhett Butler telling Scarlett, “how women clutch at the chains that bind them!”
indycat32
Somebody needs to point out to Cokie that America is not OK with that. America voted for Hillary.
Chris
@Seth Owen:
The exceptions are, in fact, the point. The fascist version of “one people” is about restoring purity to the nation by returning it to its true people after it’s become diluted by outsiders and traitors.
hovercraft
@Betty Cracker:
THIS.
I’m sorry for the good people who work there, but this is a war for the soul of our country. There are limited ways for us to fight back, boycotting people, companies, and places that are associated with him is one way. No LL Bean for me and mine. Gormon is in a tough position, but there are companies out there who have stuck their necks out to condemn him, and they have/are paying the price for it. He has an obligation to his shareholders, and is doing what he thinks is right for them and his company, I will do what’s right for me and mine.
Thoroughly Pizzled
I see fascism as inextricably linked with mobilization for war. Where the country is transformed to the point where only military defeat can put an end to the regime.
All that is to say that the U.S. is not fascist yet, but Trump himself almost definitely is.
ArchTeryx
@Barbara: Reposted from dead thread below.
I’ve got an autoimmune disease, Ulcerative Colitis, combined with an artificial colon (J-pouch) which is maintained with a medicine that costs $2500/month. Not to mention the frequent doctor visits necessary to adjust medicines and check the pouch.
Take all that away, and what follows is blind agony, followed by almost certain sepsis and death. My friends and family are all working furiously to look for alternatives, but $2500 a month is an incredibly steep hurdle to climb, and nobody is going to GoFundMe that forever. Even if they were, doctors visits are not an optional part of the maintenance; without them, my lifespan is prolonged, but not saved.
So I’m looking for a painless way out. My doctors may even help me in that. They care far more then the rest of the country does.
hovercraft
@Major Major Major Major:
He’s trying, but since he’s still a piker in this new role, we will have to wait and see. Who knows by the time it’s all over we may be calling him Putina.
ETA: I’m not feminizing him to denigrate women, I’m calling him Putin’s little bitch, because he is, he just doesn’t know it yet.
randy khan
@Matt McIrvin:
FWIW, I did see another poll at 39%.
And Trump’s favorability is historically low for an incoming President, even at the aggregate levels you cite. Nearly every incoming President is well above the 50% mark.
JPL
How many companies will follow suite and praise the dear leader, because they want tweets too.
ruemara
I’ve called him a fascist since day one. it’s what he is.
liberal
@FlipYrWhig: It’s only toxic because the aforementioned “journalists” are fucking idiots.
FlipYrWhig
@ArchTeryx: Aw, fuck, man, that’s rough…
GregB
L.L. Bean, official supplier of Trump jackboots.
-Brought to you by Carl’s Jr.
Adrift
@ArchTeryx: I empathize with you. I understand where you are coming from as I also suffer from several chronic and expensive conditions which, if left untreated, will surely result in a rapidly diminishing quality of life followed shortly thereafter by death.
To be clear, I am not advocating suicide nor encouraging it. I have, however considered how to face such a dilemma, especially if the ACA is repealed and I am left without healthcare.
If you are serious about researching this, I would suggest going to YouTube and searching for “Nurse Betty’s exit bag”. It seems to be simple to do and completely painless.
Please, no one troll me for this. I’m just trying to help a fellow traveler who finds themself in a deadly serious place.
Miss Bianca
@ArchTeryx: I am so sorry to hear this. I sincerely hope it will not come to what you suggest.
Colorado just passed what is essentially a “Death with Dignity” bill, which I certainly voted for and am glad is in place, but it just makes me sick with rage and grief to think that people might be forced to avail themselves of it because of situations like yours.
We have not begun to see the havoc in human tragedies this Republican regime is about to unleash. Fuck these assholes.
ruemara
@hovercraft: I’ve been calling it a kleptokakistocracy.
Lizzy L
I will continue to shop at L. L. Bean and at Duluth Trading Co., and at Penzey’s, and at Target.
Marc
I understand boycotting companies with official positions endorsing bigotry or who use corporate dollars for right-wing political campaigns. I don’t eat at Chickfila or shop at Walmart. Boycotting companies because there is a board member who has views that we don’t like isn’t going to work, is going to backfire, and will be a tool used against us.
ArchTeryx
@FlipYrWhig: @Miss Bianca: @Adrift: And I’m a white guy with STEM PhD. That means I’m smart enough to a) Know who my mortal enemies are (and it ain’t minorities), and b) See the train coming far down the track. Some blessing. I don’t even have blissful ignorance to fall back on as the train approaches.
ThresherK
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Hitler endorsed Fanta?
Fuck; I’m buying Shasta now.
(Cheap laffs are the only thread I have to normalcy now, and that thread is fraying.)
Calouste
@Marc: What about boycotting companies that get explicitly endorsed by the shitgibbon?
Miss Bianca
Since it’s been a long time since I bought any new clothes at all – and never at Bean’s unless I was visiting their discount stores – I’m not sure what effect, if any, my “boycott” will have on them. Being able to boycott a place like that is a luxury problem from where I’m sitting.
Adrift
@Marc: I take a much more simplistic view. If Twitler endorses it, I will boycott it.
Aleta
From the start of her businesses and waterfront buys, Linda Bean has used the imagery/associations of the corporation’s history and reputation, and stories about her grandfather’s family, to promote her own businesses and make them sound Maine-friendly. (Just based on what a few independent lobstermen (increasingly women too) have said publicly, she’s more on the corporate side of fishing control than the independent side. That is, exerting a lot of control just to benefit her growth. Along with Lx *age she hides behind the slogan ‘local control’ which to their ilk means forceful political measures to take resources for themselves.
If the corporation now feels the need to disassociate its name from her name, as they are doing, I believe that’s to the good.
(I have Mainer family members who work for them who support the public pressure.)
ruemara
@ArchTeryx: I don’t like this at all, but I know I’d be looking for the same solution. We’re going to fight for your coverage. Hold on and don’t give up.
Calouste
@Thoroughly Pizzled: Not necessarily. Spain and Portugal were fascist states at one point but neither geared up for war, and both became democracies without a military defeat being the cause of it.
Unknown known
Yeah, he’s a half-hearted pseudo fascist really. Checks a lot of the boxes, but not all of them very fully.
He seems bemused by violence against civilian opponents, but hasn’t got any organised brown shirts beating people up.
He isn’t dedicated to the big lie, so much as deep swirling blizzards of bullshit.
He’s very much all about restoring the purity of a degraded America, although he is more about deporting and harassing, rather than exterminating.
Miss Bianca
@ThresherK: Take comfort in Miss Bianca’s motto: No laff too cheap!
WJS
First of all, of course they are fascists.
Second, it’s not an “administration.” It is a regime. They operate outside of legitimacy and accountability and are unfamiliar with the truth; they are a regime that is imposing laws upon a majority that did not vote for them and are not accountable to ethics laws, norms of behavior, and common decency. The PEOTUS stood in front of America and told Blue State Republicans that they live in states that are screwed. The states who voted for him will reap the benefits. Those who live in states that voted for Hillary are shit out of luck.
The Trump Regime is fascist. Anyone who doesn’t like it can go pound sand.
Steeplejack (phone)
Hey, Shawn Gorman, got a problem with Linda Bean damaging the brand? Instead of whining to millions of customers, why don’t you boot her Trump-lovin’ ass off the board of directors? She’s your problem, not the customers.
? Martin
@Marc: I was fine with LL Bean doing that. I’m not fine with the federal government shilling for one company over another. I have no way to push back against PEOTUS except to boycott the company he is shilling for and to help demonstrate that doing so will fail in the hopes that he will stop doing it. That may not be fair to LL Bean or their shareholders, but LL Bean has demonstrated that they have some measure of power to reach PEOTUS that I lack. They are empowered to solve a problem I cannot, and I am only empowered to buy their stuff or not and hope they get the message.
hovercraft
@ArchTeryx:
Hey you, how are you feeling?
Glad to see that everyone is trying to help you find a solution for tour healthcare costs. NY should be ashamed of itself for not having a backup plan if Obamacare is repealed.
Take care of yourself, best of luck.
Barbara
@hovercraft: Cokie Roberts is Exhibit A for why I no longer listen to NPR. She exemplifies the worst of the worst about Washington — you talk about people like Jared Kushner or GWB being born on third base and thinking they hit a triple. Cokie is someone who has been pushed forward her whole life by fortuitously having been born with access to insiders, but she thinks she is where she is because she has actual insight. She is vacuous and a waste of time and she is taking up space that nearly anyone else would fill to better effect.
chopper
@patrick II:
Il Douche
Scrooge McDouche
Sir Accuse, Orangeman
Betty Cracker
@Marc: How about companies that the incoming racist, sexist, xenophobic demagogue president publicly endorse because a board member supported him? Because that’s where we are. I found Gorman’s disclaimer persuasive until Trump jumped into the mix this morning.
hovercraft
@ruemara:
kleptokakistocracy.
What does the kakis part mean?
Barbara
@Calouste: Practically every democracy in South America followed much the same pattern.
chopper
Douche a l’orange
SatanicPanic
@Marc:
How?
Thoroughly Pizzled
@Calouste: Well, then you have to group a whole lot of dictatorships under the umbrella of fascism, which I don’t really want to do. I think the differences between a bog-standard dictatorship and a perpetual warfare fascist state are big enough to categorize them separately. Basically, if we’re going to have the term “fascism,” it should mean something significant.
But this is quibbling over definitions.
A Ghost To Most
Just sent the following email to L.L. Bean:
GregB
I advocate donating your Bean clothes to the homeless.
MattF
@Calouste: I agree about Portugal. Spain… not so much, IMO. In any case, I think looking at who were Franco and Salazar’s pals in the US reveals what you need to know about them.
FlipYrWhig
@hovercraft: Kakos means bad in Greek (think of “cacophony”), kakistos means worst.
laura
Hell yes he’s a fascist! He’s made no secret of it and ought to be called out as one from every point in the land and abroad.
Also, it’s clear that he will never, ever be without at least one member of the family present at any time, in every meeting, briefing, public and private event ever.
That’s not normal no matter how much Cokie and the rest of the village insists it is.
Fuck the normalization of this monster.
Adrift
@Unknown known:
Until he finds out exterminating is cheaper than deporting. Then it will be tax cuts for everyone!
ArchTeryx
@hovercraft: Nope. Cuomo originally said that he wouldn’t leave all us Medicaid people out to dry, then someone told him that when the ACA is repealed, it would blow a $4 billion hole in the NYS budget to keep us. He walked it all back and refused to say just what would be done with us. It was ¯_(ツ)_/¯ all the way.
I had hope for just a little while, but this mornings Senate vote showed it was all just wishful thinking.
Thoroughly Pizzled
For more on fascism, read Umberto Eco (rest in peace).
Chris
@ruemara:
And I’ve been calling the teabaggers fascist, or protofascist at best, since 2009/2010. Trump didn’t invent this, he was just the first Fuhrer they found.
Miss Bianca
@chopper: I like it!
Aleta
Guessing that Linda owns a lot of inherited stock; company sales and reputation affect her and her holdings. She’s not just a disassociated board member.
Timurid
The Emperor’s new… folders.
ruemara
@hovercraft: kakistocracy is government by incompetents, fools, worst of the worst. kleptokakis would be worst of the worst & thieves to boot.
Gelfling 545
@NeenerNeener: i just emailed them to remove me from their lists and my reasons for that.
Ksmiami
@lollipopguild: that was my point he’s like the joker unleashed. as a capitalist he scares the crap out of me and if everything is in chaos a tax cut is a small comfort- I really do not understand wealthy Republicans at all.
Betty Cracker
@ArchTeryx: Don’t know if you’re on Twitter, but CA’s Senator Harris is looking for stories like yours, which illustrate why the ACA must be saved — @KamalaHarris.
@laura: Are you the Laura who’s looking for good birdwatching spots in S. FL?
Sab
@Davis X. Machina: Isn’t she also on their board of directors?
TriassicSands
Every time mein Fuehrer Trump shills for a company — whether through Twitter or via his disgusting piehole — I’m going to put that company on my NO BUY list. I sent L.L. Bean an email explaining that it was utterly wrong for a president (or p-elect) to use his position to shill for companies associated (in any way) with his cronies. As long as Trump is president, L.L. Bean is verboten.
Within a year, I’ll be buying everything from China and Mexico.
catclub
@Capri:
More effective would be demanding replacement of ten year old bean products. They still guarantee forever.
sherparick
As a long time customer, I will have to tell them as long as she is on the Board I can’t buy from them.
hovercraft
@randy khan:
Shitgibbons approval rating. via GOS
That graph should headline every news cast.
@ Barbara someone should shove it down Cokie Roberts throat.
@Major Major Major Major: I feel that this should have come from you,. You are slacking, not only did you not make this graph, but I have not seen any graphs from you telling me if I need to adjust my attitude. I miss them, now please get to work. ;-)
TriassicSands
@Betty Cracker:
I’ve already informed L.L. Bean that they are on my NO BUY list. I expect that list to grow, as the fascist Trump continues to use his position to inappropriately shill for people and companies. I don’t care who the individual involved is, if a company is associated (in any way) they go on the list. Maybe we can get companies publicly asking Trump to be quiet. (Not likely, I know.)
Marc
@Betty Cracker: I don’t want to give Trump that level of power over me. If he endorses some company that doesn’t want his endorsement, why do I boycott that company? Again, if LL Bean says that they welcome the intervention, they’re fair game. If they donate to him or support him, ditto. He’s enough of an unguided missile that this sort of, um, “help” is likely to recur depending on the contents of his breakfast. I would prefer to have them re-iterate their desire not to have anything to do with politics; I’m sympathetic because this has happened to them before, with the same person involved, and they’ve had to deal with her over and over and over again.
Adrift
@catclub:
I wonder if this applies to secondhand Bean goods picked up from yard sales. If so I would love to send 250 pairs of duck shoes back for new ones and give them to the needy.
rumpole
@Davis X. Machina: Forgive me, but tough shit. Unless she comes out and says that his endorsement was inappropriate or something similar, or they kick her off the board, too bad. Trump international has lots of nice people working at the bar, waiting table,s and cleaning rooms but I ain’t staying there either. That’s my choice.
ArchTeryx
@Betty Cracker: That might have given me hope at one point, but now, why bother? They have the votes. It’s going down and me with it. Maybe our stories will get told by historians, except history, as we well know, is always written by the winners. So it’s down the memory hole we all go.
rikyrah
I will not be shopping with L.L.Bean anymore….sigh…
JanieM
@schrodingers_cat: “Bean daughter” — picking a nit, she’s LL’s granddaughter.
Besides the restaurant at the Jetport, she also has one right in Freeport, and a lobster roll place as well. I don’t know what else…but those two are named after her so it’s easy enough to stay away from them for anyone who wants to.
satby
@ArchTeryx: I was thinking of you two threads ago. I’m sorry that you have to live with this dread in addition to the very serious health problems you gave.
No one in a country as rich as this one should have to live this way.
Marc
@SatanicPanic: It’ll backfire because the right-wing media will try and turn her into a martyr, exhibit #9,457 in their propaganda campaign about intolerant leftists. And, when (not if) some left-wing personality says something that they can twist around, there will be a parallel boycott campaign. Yes, I know that they do this sort of stuff anyhow; countering it is more effective (and our boycotts more useful) if we can explicitly tie ends to means. If we start doing boycotts on indirect things then they are simply harder to defend and less effective.
A Ghost To Most
@Marc:
This is not the first time, and she is still on the board? No fucks to give
sherparick
For a complete list see; Amazon to me is hard one since a lot of progressive blogs get supported by clicks through to Amazon.
gvg
Trump is a salesman not by nature a politician. He can’t HELP shilling for something all the time I think. He doesn’t seem to know its inappropriate in a lot of situations. It’s mostly been his own stuff, but something has to be promoted. the decades of this behavior mean it’s etched deeply in his brain and I don’t think he could give it up if he wanted to. It’s like a smokers habit. When smoking in public was legal in Florida, I had friends who would ask if I minded and when I learned the courage to say well yes I do, they would find themselves smoking in my face about 10 minutes later and be rather surprised when I spoke up or just left. they had a really strong habit with their hands to get out cigarettes and light up.
I am not excusing him, but I really think it’s part of his personality and even if he had good intentions, he’d never be able to stop that. I also think he doesn’t have good intentions.
rikyrah
As the Media Clutches Its Pearls About BuzzFeed…
by Martin Longman
January 12, 2017 11:50 AM
Obviously, different rules apply to retired intelligence officers who are working on a private contract basis than apply to active officers of our clandestine services. And, of course, there’s a difference between blowing the cover of an American intelligence officer and that of a British intelligence officer. But the concerns are the same when it comes to the possible harm that will come to that officer or his or her sources.
By revealing the identity of Christopher Steele, the Wall Street Journal has sent him scurrying for a bolt hole. He’s left his cat with a neighbor, sent his family somewhere, and gone to ground. The Telegraph reports that he’s terrified that the Russians will come after him.
But that’s not the only problem. Armed with his identity, it should be a fairly simple matter for the Russians to deconstruct his investigation, figure out who was talking to him, and bring the hammer down on the individuals who were providing him with information.
Marcy Wheeler recently went through his dossier and identified (in rough terms) who these sources were. They included a “senior Russian Foreign Ministry figure with knowledge of intelligence the Kremlin was feeding Trump,” a “former top level Russian intelligence officer still active inside the Kremlin,” an “official close to (former) Presidential Admin Head Sergei Ivanov,” and a “Kremlin source close to Dmitri Medvedev.”
Those individuals must now hope that they can’t be retroactively connected to Steele or his investigators.
schrodingers_cat
BTW don’t throw out your Bean stuff, return it. They have a life time guarantee, money back if you have the original receipt.
ETA: That will hurt them where it matters the most, their bottom line.
Betty Cracker
@Marc: If L.L. Bean kicks Linda Bean off the board and reiterates their political neutrality, I’ll buy from them again. Otherwise, I’ll have to assume they’d see my purchases as a sign that I’m heeding the fascist buffoon’s call to “Buy Bean.” It’s a tough position they’re in, but it’s fixable. We’ll see if they fix it.
Tazj
Speaking of Trump and fascism, guess who’s getting a meeting at Trump Tower today?Why it’s Marine Le Pen according to CNBC and other news outlets.
ARoomWithAMoose
@PGE:
“Christopher M” mostly retired fafblog, he moved over to the twitters (google can find the feed for you). He also has a tumblr feed for cartooning.
schrodingers_cat
@ArchTeryx: I am sorry about what you are going through and hoping against hope that ACA is not repealed.
tpherald
I’m sure exec mgmt @ LL Bean is THRILLED to be put in the middle of this political battle.
I can think of at least 68M ppl who won’t be shopping @ LL Bean anytime soon …
mai naem mobile
I saw a pic of Linda Bean on Twitter. It looked lIke a recent pic from maybe a FOX News show. Anyhoo,really bad botox and/or plastic surgery . She’s got the squinty eyes. There was also what looked like an older picture of her so you could do a before and after comparison. And,no,I wasn’t looking for it, it was just there.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@MattF:
He’s active on Twitter, although almost all he does is retweet.
Betty Cracker
@schrodingers_cat: I don’t plan on throwing my Bean stuff away or donating it. I’m just not buying anything else from them until they remove that woman from the board and reiterate their political neutrality.
@Marc: Well, wingnuts spite-ate Chik-fil-a sandwiches in response to the boycott of that joint due to its owner’s support of homophobic causes, and you said yourself you support the Chik-fil-a boycott. Not sure why possible wingnut backlash is a valid reason to not boycott Bean but does not apply to Chik-fil-a.
Steve in the ATL
@Betty Cracker: don’t forget Hobby Lobby!
Major Major Major Major
@hovercraft: some people said mean things, so I decided to spend more time writing.
Miss Bianca
@rikyrah: So, are we calling for a boycott of the WSJ? This outing of a source is, to my mind, a far more egregious sin than any that L.L. Bean may have committed.
Paging Adam on the Batphone…
hovercraft
@FlipYrWhig: Thanks.
@ArchTeryx:
Cuomo is beyond useless. Still if it really happens, hopefuly he and the state legislature will be shamed into doing something about the people left out in the cold.
SatanicPanic
@Marc: She becomes a martyr, and then… what? Right wingers suddenly start buying LL Bean? She gets on TV more? I’m not following what the big deal is
Steve in the ATL
@Miss Bianca: I’ve been boycotting the WSJ ever since Rupert Murdoch bought it. Even cancelled my subscription to Barron’s.
R.Porrofatto
Poor, poor Linda Bean thinks she’s being bullied. (Fox, naturally.)
hovercraft
@Major Major Major Major:
Here at Balloon Juice, people said mean things, I am shocked. I for one am sad ;-(
I guess I’ll just have to content myself with your writing, I bet people never say mean things about that.
NotoriousJRT
I once worked for Linda, and she actually married a relative of mine. She is an interesting specimen, and I do not admire her. I have no idea if other family members share her whack a doo political views; she keeps a high profile relative to the others (she likes to put her name everywhere – from businesses trading on her Bean name (the lobster rolls suck) to loans of art by the Wyeths. She craves notoriety.
I guess I need to know more before I boycott LLBean. Linda is, IMO, a bonified right wing kook, but,I guess I am too partial to a home-state institution to punish it ( and all its employees) because LL’s granddaughter loves Trump (believe me, it fits a pattern). I respect the choices of those who feel avoiding purchases from LL Bean is the thing to do, and maybe family members will sit on Linda for the nightmare in PR. I think it will feed her ego whatever happens.
mai naem mobile
@rikyrah: I am sure this has nothing to do with WSJs owner Rupert Murdoch being the ex of Vlads current gf Wendy Dengs who BTW got Jared(or should i call him Rapsutin) and Electra together.
BTW, I can’t see the Jared in Jared Kushner without hearing the jingle of this higher end jewelry store named Jared in my head. I don’t know if they’re a national company or just local.
Also too, I listened to the presser yesterday nit watch it. I saw commenta about how Trump didn’t have his wedding band on. I wonder if Melanoma has had enough already ?
zhena gogolia
@Betty Cracker:
That’s my feeling. If Trump endorses it, I’m leaving, and I’m telling them why. And I buy a LOT from L.L.Bean.
Tazj
@ArchTeryx: I’m sorry, this is terrible. I assumed as well that people in NY would be protected somehow(I live in NYS also). I hope this whole Repeal thing is dragged out long enough that you and your family can come up with a new plan or Democrats can take back the Congress and the ACA can remain.
Tazj
@hovercraft: Yes, please.
Major Major Major Major
@hovercraft: actually they don’t. And it was more that they kept saying them over and over.
@Steve in the ATL: I cannot further boycott what I already do not read.
Spanky
@Adrift:
Wait until someone comes up with the idea to make the illegals build the wall. Put ’em in camps!
El trabajo te hace libre
schrodingers_cat
@JanieM: I meant female descendant, was not sure about her exact location in the Bean family tree. Much as I like their stuff I had not spent time studying their family history. Thanks for the correction.
geg6
@NeenerNeener:
I did, too. Also sent a letter and posted on their FB page.
резидент американской области Российской Федерации
@Davis X. Machina:
Except right now, whoever is maintaining their Twitter is knob gobbling the wingers who are shouting praises.
hovercraft
@satby:
Why not, he obviously didn’t do enough to pull himself up by the bootstraps. What’s that he is highly educated in a STEM field, oh well if he is obviously an elitist. Pre-existing condition you say, well it’s not the governments place to tell companies how to do their jobs, let the market sort it out.
I hate these people with the force of a thousand suns. They are killing people, literally and figuratively. Stress kills, on it’s own, and by causing depression and despair. This is why we must continue fight them, I’m proud that Schumer got everyone to vote in lock step this time. Let’s keep both the encouragement and the pressure up on them to stick together.
Mnemosyne
@ArchTeryx:
Prepare for the worst, but don’t give up too soon. And make sure you tell everyone you can — including local media — what your plan is. A well-spoken white person on the teevee talking about how the Republicans plan to kill him is a very valuable commodity.
NotoriousJRT
@Barbara: I am pretty sure the bean boots are made in @indycat32: Someone needs to point out to Cokie that she is WAY past her “best by” date.
Calouste
@A Ghost To Most: Yeah, if the company L.L.Bean doesn’t like dealing with this kind of fallout, they can kick her of the board. Presumably they would need to buy her out first, but hey, that’s doing what’s best for the other stockholders, right?
Steve in the ATL
@mai naem mobile: FYI Jared is actually a low end store
Calouste
@Miss Bianca: The number of candidates for “former MI6 agent currently running a security consultancy with good contacts in Russia” is probably in the single digits. I’m not surprised that the guy has been identified, and I doubt that it made much difference that the WSJ published it. It’s not like the Russians wouldn’t have found him anyway if they wanted to.
Mike in NC
When I lived and worked in NoVA, would visit the giant L. L. Bean store at Tysons Corner maybe 2-3 times a month. Will never give them a dime now.
schrodingers_cat
I have $10 coupon from Bean and I am in need of a parka, so I am going to buy a parka. My old parka, also from Bean is of voting age. I want to give them my business for making products that don’t fall apart after wearing a couple of seasons. So I will buy that from them and then write them a nice letter, telling them that it is my last purchase and they are going to lose a customer of more than 20 years for their association with a bigot.
GregB
Trumpists last week: We hate anyone who isn’t a politician giving us their opinion! Fuck you Meryl!
This week: We love some purveyor of overpriced yuppie-wear giving us her political opinion! Yay Mrs.Bean-bag!
Miss Bianca
@Calouste: It’s the principle of the thing I’m objecting to. If this had been someone who had made these allegations against Hillary Clinton, for example, can you believe that the WSJ would have seen it as their journalistic duty to out that person? Or if someone else had done so, wouldn’t they have been the first to run sanctimonious editorials about the need to protect anonymous sources?
@GregB: HA!
dww44
I just finished reading Martin Cruz Smith’s 2016 novel, “The Girl from Venice” which is set in Italy in 1945 while the Germans and Mussolini are still very much around.. From pages 240-241 there is this:
A few days later Mussolini and his mistress, unable to escape, were captured by Italian partisans and lined up against a wall and shot.
Miss Bianca
@Mnemosyne: @ArchTeryx: Yeah. If you can go out fighting, both middle fingers extended towards the Repubs, it might not prolong your life, but it may make what remains more satisfying.
A Ghost To Most
@schrodingers_cat:
Yep. I buy my work clothes (and many other things) from them, because they sell quality that lasts, and stand behind it.
35 years as a faithful customer; are they willing to give that up to keep a troublesome board member? I will give them a chance to respond to me; if not, they will lose our business, which sucks.
lurker dean
@ArchTeryx: i’m so sorry. i know it’s easy to lose hope but as of now, it looks like there are not enough votes for repeal. and as posted earlier today, other holdout states are looking to expand medicaid, which will not be lost on the people voting. so despite the shitstorm that we are all facing, there is a glimmer of hope. hang in there.
Betty Cracker
@A Ghost To Most: Yep, I’ve been a customer for nearly that long too and will miss them. I hope they tell Crazy Auntie Liberty that it’s best for the family biz if she leaves to spend more time with her lobster rolls, now that Der Gropenführer has sullied their good name with his tiny Twitter thumbs.
A Ghost To Most
@Betty Cracker:
Very Nice!
delk
I got an email from LL Bean this morning. 25% off orders over $100. Was going to buy a new comforter, but I think I’ll wait.
Huge fan of Duluth! Their flagship store, outside of Madison is great. The vast majority of floor staff and check-out people are retired/senior citizens. Very nice move by their management.
dww44
Not only will I unsubscribe from LL Bean daily emails and any future purchases, I’ve been applying the same metric to other businesses. In late September a locally owned coffee shop decided to publicize it’s political leanings by creating a very visible display in support of Trump and other Republican icons, once of whom was Ben Carson. The owner chose Carson because this is a majority-minority county in a red state and likely wanted to let it be known that he wasn’t racist. The nearby Democratic campaign office had been giving him a lot of business. That stopped.
Louise B.
Depending on their corporate structure, it’s possible that crazy auntie is entitled to a board seat. I might be satisfied with a press release along the following lines: “We thank Mr. Trump for his support, but we don’t think it’s appropriate for the President elect to promote individual companies, and we request that he stop.”
rikyrah
@Betty Cracker:
Amen. it reflects on her lack of character.
MJS
@Davis X. Machina: Hey, as far as I’m concerned, you can stay at Trump hotels, reasoning that the underpaid people who work there didn’t do anything wrong. That’s up to you. But when someone on the board of directors of a company, who shares a name with the founder of the company, is a high profile Trump supporter, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure not one cent of mine ends up in a Trump campaign till.
Chris
@lurker dean:
I really, really, really, really, really hope this is true.
Kay
I can tell the somber weight of the Presidency is magically transforming this 70 year old man into a completely different person.
What a fucking crazy pipe dream that was, huh?
In no other job interview do people say “he has no redeeming characteristics NOW but just wait until we hire him!”
It’s actually much, much worse than that because they are literally stuck with him for 4 years. You need the equivalent of Hercules with a crowbar to dislodge a President prior to 4 so this is much more of a commitment than a bad hire.
gbear
I kind of drifted away from LLBean clothing when they moved their focus from durable clothing to LLBean branded clothing – seemed like it was more important for people to buy their name and the lifestyle they were marketing rather than the actual stuff they make. They also don’t make clothes for 3XL’ers like me.
I will say I’ve liked their flannel sheets. I’ve been using them year-round for over 25 years. Even those aren’t as good as they once were. If anyone can recommend an alternative, I’d appreciate it.
I just took myself off their email list.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@hovercraft:
Clump has made ZERO effort to “reach across the aisle”. He still doesn’t have any Latino people or Dems in his administration. And yet somehow HRC needs to reach out, Democratic voters need to respect and support him and his people.
F that noise.
Bobby D
LL Bean;[email protected]ArchTeryx: Move to a civilized country. I wish I was kidding, but seriously, with a doctorate in a STEM field, you should be well positioned for emigration. I’m in that field, though with only a MS, and my biggest lament is the idiotic Brits let their Trumpkin types push Brexit through, now I expect the UK to be a financial disaster (was planning to try to relocate to my ancestral homeland in the English lakes district). Not interested in Canada after having lived in Alaska for years.
I basically want an English or Spanish speaking country, with a warm and sunny climate and varied landscape/biospheres. Spain? Ecuador? Australia? Digging into research now, after the last month of feeling physically ill at work and not being able to concentrate or peform; I think it’s time to go. Just not willing to work in DoD with a Russian stooge as my CIC.
hovercraft
These are some of the headlines over at TMP
Ben Carson Cannot Promise That Trump Family Won’t Profit From HUD
GOP Rep. Wants CNN Reporter Fired For Being ‘Disrespectful’ To Trump
Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX) called for CNN reporter Jim Acosta to be “fired &…
Spox: Federal Ethics Chief ‘Silly’ To Criticize Trump’s Conflict-of-Interest Plan
WASFS
Major Major Major Major
@Kay: it’s like the conservative charicature of how unions work. We’ll hire this lazy undeserving slob, pay him six figures and a pension for doing nothing and make it impossible to fire him.
hovercraft
@West of the Rockies (been a while):
When republicans win, that is the regular order, they are the grown up party, so they get to govern as they wish, and everyone needs to just STFU. Democrats in charge means we have to grovel and apologize for winning, and make sure that we don’t rub our win in their faces by you know governing as we promised to. This usually has the desired effect of pissing off our base, who then stay home and allow the GOP to take back power.
Mnemosyne
@Kay:
I saw an article (can’t find it now) that said that one of the ongoing problems with unconscious/subconscious sexism in the workplace is that women are hired based on what they’ve already done and men are hired based on what the employer hopes they can do. Basically, employers are much more willing to take a chance on a man than a woman.
Exhibit A right here.
Davis X. Machina
@MJS: I’ll get back to you when my students’ parents start getting laid off…
Davis X. Machina
@Louise B.: She is. Blood relatives of the original Leon Leonwood — sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters — are automatic members.
ruckus
Betty, you weren’t asking for my approval but I’ll give it anyway. Fascist is the best term we have for the shithead-elect so it should be in the description at the very least.
Russ
@NeenerNeener: I did just now canceled email on sales they have, deleted website from favorites and sent email to let them know why.
Davis X. Machina
@NotoriousJRT: Bean’s famous boots are made in Brunswick, ME.
manyakitty
@Steve in the ATL: And Papa John’s!
Haydnseek
@Lizzy L: I’ll alert the media.
Hellbastard
Take a page from the gun nuts when they boycott a business. Send a copy of your receipts over the years and let them know why you are bailing on them.
Miss Bianca
@Mnemosyne: ouch
manyakitty
@mai naem mobile: I think of Jared from Subway, the child molester.
mai naem mobile
@Steve in the ATL: obviously never been to a Jared. Their store happens to be in a high endish part of Scottsdale so I figured it was a high end store. My jewelry shopping(rare) is done at East Indian stores in Artesia (Little India) in LA. They’re usually cheaper with heavier weight gold to boot.
J R in WV
@hovercraft:
Kaka is a juvenile term for excrement, usually that of infants or babies. So this is a blend of thievery and kaka.
So it seems to me, anyhow. Who can read the mind of those who coin a phrase?
Betty Cracker
@Louise B.: Good point.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
(Probably a dead thread, but…) Jesus you’re ridiculous.
Applejinx
Fuck him so hard core. I just borrowed money because my clothes were literally falling apart and I hadn’t bought any in years. I set out to get clothes that, if I care for them, will last and stay good for fucking ever, and would also fit well and look good. I got original Levis (not department store or outlet-store) and I got Bean, and it’s one of the few things left I have to be happy about.
Because they’re awesome clothes made properly and they treat customers like _I_ choose to treat customers in my little, too-nice-to-get-rich, business. Only one shirt, a lightweight lineny thing, was made in China. The chamois and flannel, which are heavier and more durable anyway, are made in El Salvador: I just went upstairs to look. And famously if the one from China rips they’ll just replace it, full stop. They as a corporate entity do not act like Trump, they act like I would act but somehow they’ve been getting away with it.
I will not let Trump piggyback-ride on things I like and render them defiled. I didn’t sign up for that when I did the ‘Sam Vimes’ theory of buying clothes, and if he had anything really to do with them, all their promises would have been lies, and I refuse to let him weld himself to Bean and be considered part of their brand when he doesn’t at all deserve to be.
We don’t know if they even have the freedom to excise Linda Bean and banish her from the company for her apparently stupid-ass political views. And know what? I look to Trump for cries to banish/exile/kill the political enemies and not allow them to hold stupid-ass views. I look to Trump when I’m expecting thinking like ‘they are heretic, not with me, punish and destroy them because we can’t have evil in this country/company’.
And most of all, I look to Trump to latch like a remora onto all good and worthwhile things explicitly so he can take credit for them and tie himself to them. If your thinking is that you have to destroy things… and we’re talking BUSINESSES… which do not flip out and curse everything Trump when HE HIMSELF goes and lashes himself to their mast with a goddamned TWEET, you are collaborating with him and playing right into his fucking hands.
This is too big an ask. I cannot give Trump the power of controlling my behavior and opinions based on what he CLAIMS to like.
And he doesn’t fucking really like LL Bean, are you high? They don’t steal from their customers, and they deliver value instead of empty promises: as much as they can in a spectacularly declining world. Of course he doesn’t like them, he only likes their money and that they are popular. Let him start acting like THEM if I’m supposed to be impressed about some would-be kinship.
What real thing are you ignoring when you respond to Trump’s latest Twitter troll? FFS.
Sandia Blanca
@Bobby D: Try Panama!
zhena gogolia
I spent about 20 minutes trying to get through to customer service — no dice. Then I did their “call me” feature, which claimed they would call me back in less than a minute. It’s been an hour now. I don’t think their Customer Service line is being inundated with calls from Trump fans.
zhena gogolia
@Applejinx:
All they have to do is publicly repudiate him and remove the person from their board. Then I’ll buy six pairs of hiking boots.
The Simp in the Suit
@Yarrow: Exactly. Just owning shares doesn’t mean a person is automatically a board member, even owning a significant portion of shares. I sure don’t know the corporate rules at LL Bean, but the rest of the board, and possibly a plurality of shareholders, could take action to isolate and oust her.
The Simp in the Suit
@Chris: Even within Hitler’s or Mussolini’s inner circles I think a case can be made for a spectrum. Many were hyper-nationalists. Others were flat-out thieves and thugs. Maybe most of them were varying combinations.
None of them should’ve ever been allowed the keys to the kingdoms (or the to the Football).
The Simp in the Suit
@japa21: I just went to the Penzey website to buy some more Super Hero capes (actually towels, but don’t tell the kids!) and a gift set. I have an acquaintance who worked there for years who says that they are the real deal, that their stances are not marketing exercises (though their activities do help sales!).
Betty Cracker
@zhena gogolia: Thank you — it’s pretty fucking simple. And to the point Louise B. made above, if the board is structured in such a way that they can’t remove her, a statement reiterating their political neutrality and noting that they didn’t voluntarily enter into a crony capitalist relationship with the PEEOTUS would be sufficient.
@Applejinx: Trump likes money, fame and adulation. Linda Bean is a trifecta for him — she bankrolled his SuperPAC, she’s from a famous old American family, and she kisses his ass. Trump isn’t self-aware enough to know he’s toxic. He’s not latching onto L.L. Bean to destroy all that’s right and good in the world or dishonor your personal wardrobe. Get the fuck over yourself already. Jesus.
A Ghost To Most
@Applejinx:
I believe we have to fight the fascists with every tool at our disposal (and we don’t have many).
Losing my purveyor of quality goods will suck, but I’ve learned to live without Walmart and Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby, and every business that displays that stupid fucking fish sign.
Rand Brittain
It was pointed out to me on Twitter that Trump praised Bean but linked Linda Bean’s actual business. The person I was talking to told me that this is an indicator that Trump actually wants to hurt L. L. Bean for repudiating his donor by getting people who hate him to boycott them while his actual followers follow the link to her business.
Does that seem likely?
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
I used to have a lot of clothing from LL Bean in the 1980s and into the 90s. My wife still gets some clothing from them (though probably not anymore because she hates Cheeto Benito) and they fit her fin, and she’s slim. I’m slim too, but all their men’s clothing fits like it was cut for someone carrying around an extra 30-50lbs of belly weight. By their sizing chart I’m on the small side of a medium but even the LL Bean small “slightly fitted” fit looks like a rain poncho on me. Since they’ve refused to fix that problem for years I buy my clothing elsewhere.
lurker dean
@Chris: me too, for millions of peoples’ sakes. but it’s not certain so we need to keep up the pressure. and hopefully the insurers and hospitals that will be hurt by repeal will also put pressure, they have a lot to lose as well.
J R in WV
@schrodingers_cat:
You do know that they will repair to as new or replace your current parka, no charge to you but shipping, right?
I have friends next door who have Bean’s boots they bought 35 years ago, as good as new. Resoled 3 times, new uppers twice, just like new! They used to live up a creek where the road ran in the creek, so they parked out and walked in and out in the winter… they really needed waterproof boots!
A farmer up the hollow used to say he had his Grandfather’s Ax, good as new. Replaced the handle every 3 years, replaced the ax head every 15 years. Good as new, they don’t make them like that any more!
But you don’t need to buy a new parka from Beans, just ask then to replace the old one. You don’t even need the receipt for repair, they’ll know it’s theirs…
J R in WV
@The Simp in the Suit:
L L Beans is a privately held family controlled business. Apparently descendents of Leon Leonwood Bean are all eligible for seats on the Board of Directors. I have literally been buying and wearing LL Bean clothes since I was in High School a very long time ago (Grad. 1968) many years before ti was cool and stylish to wear flannel shirts.
I have learned this since I wrote a customer resignation letter to Beans. I did leave myself a couple of escape holes in my letter. So I can resume a relationship with them if I a) really really need something I can’t get anywhere else or b) they make it plain they don’t support Trump as a family-operated business or c) Trump dies or is otherwise replaced in government or d) the world changes enough it doesn’t make a difference who Trump is.
What a cluster-fuq. The pu$$y-grabbing monster is the “leader” of the free world in only 8 more days.
Buttermilk Sky
Trumputin attacked Vanity Fair and they doubled their subscribers. He doesn’t know when to keep his tiny fingers off the Twitter machine, fortunately.
‘
Applejinx
I just resent the idea that he gets to scuttle working non-shit American businesses with a tweet. You’re being played if you rise to this.
All the more if Linda is in there because it is NOT publically held, Wall Street governed race-to-the-bottom corporate garbage. This is the catch when you have something like a family business that’s not bound to chop all its margins to death to please the next quarter. You can get stuck with a ‘family member’ who’s a big stupid problem.
‘privately held family controlled business’ is a GOOD thing. Linda’s wingnut tendencies, that’s the bad thing. If you kill LL Bean, Linda will still be doing what she does and will still have money, but there will be no publically held corporate entity stepping in to do what Bean did.
Lizzy L
@gbear: Check out The Company Store. I have a set of their flannel sheets and a set of L.L. Bean sheets, and I can’t tell much difference. They’re both warm and comfortable.
FWIW, I agree with Applejinx.
Chris
@The Simp in the Suit:
That’s true. And to be fair, it happens everywhere. In every regime, movement, or political party, you have a spectrum from true believers who really buy the ideology all the way, and selfish cynics who just see it as a way to make a buck. (With many being both).
I’d say though that the overall trend today involves more brazen kleptocracy than you had in the 1930s fascist regimes, though. I’d also argue that movement conservatism is an interesting take on this dichotomy because in this case, selfish cynicism is the ideology.
notoriousJRT
“Bean recalled how, as a single mother of three who had yet to receive her slice of the family fortune, she benefited from a federal surplus food program — cheese, butter, peanut butter, that sort of thing.
“Welfare was something I tried to avoid,” she said at the time. “But obviously I had to feed my kids.”
Obviously. And what a difference a $7 million inheritance makes.”
Oh if her Foxnfriends coulda known her then. That turn on the Fox morning show is just what someone like her thrives upon. Help to feed the kids for me but not for thee.
david Margolies
I disagree. (She is actually a board member as well as a shareholder but leave that aside.) I consider it inappropriate, indeed immoral for a president to endorse a specific product or company because it creates an obligation that can only be paid back corruptly. L. L. Bean should say they do not seek not do they accept endorsements from politicians, and until they do I will not buy their products. This is Trump’s fault rather than theirs but how else will this stop?
laura
@Betty Cracker: yes I am. I’ll be in ft Lauderdale this Saturday through wednesday.
SW
Speaking of our orange over-lord, has anyone seen his wife Izvestia since the election?
Svensker
@ArchTeryx:
Oh, God, so sorry. Hoping for the best for you. Those fucking fuckers.
Tehanu
@ArchTeryx:
So sorry, what an awful situation to be in. As Miss Bianca says, I’m choking “with rage and grief ” — and as she also says, fuck these assholes. My hope is that there is justice somewhere in the universe, or in a life to come; I know that doesn’t help you right now, but it’s what I have to cling to, and I also hope you have something that does help you, more than I can with just words.
Marcus
@Betty Cracker:
Any thoughts on Andy Richter’s point on this?