Sunflower Blog

Walmart Woos Willie

Willie Nelson has a new album out. If you buy the record at Walmart, you'll be getting a different product than you'd purchase anywhere else. It's only the outside that's different, but I feel like Willie let me down. He sold out to Walmart. Instead of a marajuana leaf, lovely, and centered and green on the middle of the face of the album, is a green palm tree.

You could take this at least two ways: the way Willie Nelson was thinking, and they way I'm thinking.

So Mr. Nelson already lost about everything but his old beat up guitar because of not paying his taxes when they were due. The government comes and takes your stuff for auction to get the taxes you owe. It's happened to others you wouldn't think would fall into that financial pit of despair. Former Governor John Conally, who was in the limo when President Kennedy was shot, had the government come take his possessions for auction when he hadn't paid his taxes. To be that high socially and financially, and make that very steep fall must be most humbling. I can see being willing to do a lot of bending when one has been in that situation. So I guess you can't hold it against Willie.

But who made Walmart the official censor of the United States? Walmart wouldn't even carry Jon Stewart's book, "America," on its shelves suposedly because of the nude Supreme Court Justices picture included. I don't believe they carry George Carlin books or media. The right wing has a special friend in the stocking of Walmart.

So the big question is which will be more valuable when Willie Nelson dies? Will there be more value in the original or the green-washed Walmart version?

If I didn't have to shop at Walmart for the low prices, I'd make a statement by not giving them any more of my money. But that poses another question. How many of us who shop at Walmart don't approve of Walmart's politics? If you vote this with your money, I don't like the logical conclusion that follows. We'll give up freedom of expression for money.

I thought the line was, "I'll give you this money to shut up." Hush money for Willie Nelson. I can die now--I've seen everything.