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Political notes from Free Press staff writers Terri Hallenbeck, Sam Hemingway and Nancy Remsen


11.28.2008

 

They kept shopping

When I first saw this headline, I thought it was made up.

"Wal-Mart worker dies after shoppers knock him down"


But no, you can't make this stuff up.
NEW YORK (AP) — A Wal-Mart worker was killed Friday after an “out of
control” throng of shoppers eager for post-Thanksgiving bargains broke down the
doors at a suburban store and knocked him to the ground, police said.
Nassau police said about 2,000 people were gathered outside the store doors at the mall about 20 miles east of Manhattan. The impatient crowd knocked the man to the ground as he opened the doors, leaving a metal portion of the frame crumpled like an accordion.
Dozens of store employees trying to fight their way out to help the man were also getting trampled by the crowd, Fleming said. Witnesses said that even as the worker lay on the ground, shoppers streamed into the store, stepping over him.
Kimberly Cribbs, who witnessed the stampede, said shoppers were acting like “savages.”
“When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people
were yelling 'I’ve been on line since yesterday morning,’” she said. “They kept
shopping.”

It's just astounding on so many levels. You know, it almost seemed like the nose-diving economy was at least giving people some perspective, some sense that maybe they'd overdone it on "things" and needed to just chill for a bit. Apparently not.

_ Terri Hallenbeck


Comments:
Many in this country can't get past their own immediate wants. The man who was trampled at best was not real to them.

At worst "he got what he had coming to him for being in the way"

We live in a society that tells us that each of us is the center of the universe and our wants are our right.

That type of thinking is what kiied this man and the core of a great number of the problems with our economy and our country.
 
Gee, people - even people you'd think would be in a position to know better - are unable, unwilling or both to step back and see the big picture because they're so concerned with their own lives and taking the easier softer path that they lose all perspective and just phone it in.

Imagine that.
 
Gee, a morality play in One Act from the resident Scrooge! Did he get a visit from the ghost of Christmas's past?

Bless you, Tiny jw!
 
No, but I just got a visit from the ghost of bupkis present, little fella.

Always a pleasure.
 
Yep. Gotta love Americans. Not afraid to sling that plastic at a store that's importing most of the goods they are buying. I figure we deserve what we now have and what's coming. There's a reason Bush's advice to Americans after 911 was to go shopping. He knew the only thing that would satiate our sorry "we're really not Rambo" culture was "me, me, me" consumerism.
 
Amazing. With all of the problems we seem to be having, real or imagined, people just keep coming to our country! Have you ever noticed that the biggest complainers about this country because it isn't socialized enough never move to any of those socialist "paradises"? What this country needs is to restore the work ethics and personal responsibility that we had here in Vermont up until the 80's.
 
bubba..

"Amazing. With all of the problems we seem to be having, real or imagined, people just keep coming to our country!"

So, what you're sayin', bubbakis, is that ya got no case, no clue and no answer, so you're gonna try to change the subject and hope nobody notices.

Nice try.

"Have you ever noticed that the biggest complainers about this country because it isn't socialized enough never move to any of those socialist
"paradises"?"

No.

"What this country needs is to restore the work ethics and personal responsibility that we had here in Vermont up until the 80's."

In other words, bubbakis has got bupkis. Imagine that.

Thanks for clearin' that up, little fella.

Always a pleasure.
 
Anonymous said...

"..There's a reason Bush's advice to Americans after 911 was to go shopping. He knew the only thing that would satiate our sorry "we're really not Rambo" culture was "me, me, me" consumerism."

Yup, just like it says in the bible.
 
Another reasoned contribution to the debate:

ya got no case, no clue and no answer
Nice try
bupkis
little fella
 
We are such a selfish, "all about me" country. How can I get what I want NOW, who cares what it means to anyone else. Who cares that Christmas is about CHRISTmas. Jesus' birthday about peace and love, has turned into a fat man in a red suit commercialism nightmare! A 34 year old man with a cheap labor job just trying to survive is now dead because flat screened tvs were on door buster clearance, so that the lazy fat selfish shoppers can continue to sit on their buns and bitc*. What has happened to people? Christmas has become a machine of 'give me more'. Disgusting. I boycot shopping for the holiday, it is not about the shopping, it is about love, peace and helping others. Put a little Christ into your Christmas.
 
Sorry. Christ has dropped to fourth on the list of holiday must do's or must remembers. The list now is 1) Get polluted on eggnog 2) Chuckle and back slap at song referring to your grandmother being flattened by an artic mammel 3) Ensure the power grid is totally overloaded and that your neighbor cannot sleep and 4)Put Christ back in Christmas
 
Anonymous...

"Another reasoned contribution to the debate:

ya got no case, no clue and no answer
Nice try
bupkis
little fella"

So, alas, what you're sayin', little fella, is that, having nothing of your own to add to this or any other "debate", your ignorant anonymous ass can only opt to put on airs, recount my stuff out of context and remind the world why you need to post your delusional dreck anonymously.

Gee, thanks for clearin' that up, little fella.

Always a pleasure.
 
What debate? We're all against trampling people, right? JW, do you even remember the subject of the post? Do you even care what the subject of the post is? Or do you just like to get into it with people? And can you answer this without name-calling? Do you have the intellectual ability?

BTW, I'm not a nitwit. I'm a Middlebury College graduate. I'm not a little fella. I'm 6'7" and 240 lbs. And it's not always a pleasure.
 
You read what he writes? Come on. Grow up.
 
Now that Thanksgiving is over, can we talk about the war on Christmas? I love talking about that.

You elite media types talk about how Christians trample each other at Christmas. But we are shopping for Jesus. And if you don't like it, you are going to hell.
 
Anonymous...

"What debate? We're all against trampling people, right? JW, do you even remember the subject of the post?"

Well, little fella, I know that no matter what the post or the subject, your ignorant anonymous ass will have no answer for it, nothing pertinent to say about it and you'll clumsily and cluelessly try to change the subject in the hope that nobody will notice, so, I'll ask you once again, little nameless-nitwit fella, what debate?

Is it your clueless-cretin contention that I'm pro-trampling?

If so, knock yourself out, little fella.

"..BTW, I'm not a nitwit. I'm a Middlebury College graduate.

Ah, so you're a Middlebury Man, eh? That explains a great deal.

Clearly, they made posting anonymously a condition of your degree so as not to further embarrass that august institute of higher learning.

"..I'm not a little fella. I'm 6'7" and 240 lbs. And it's not always a pleasure."

BTW, I'm not only in the Baseball Hall of Fame, they named the damned town after me, that still leaves you three inches shorter than me, you're a really bad liar and I'm not buyin' this latest load of rubbish from you any more than I'm buyin' the rest of your psychotic slop, little fella.

You're not just little, little fella. You're shrinkin' by the second.

Ya best stick to postin' my name and number and offerin' google map directions to my place.

Oddly enough, for a Middlebury Man, that seems to be the only thing ya can do without screwin' up.

Always a pleasure, stretch.
 
Anonymous...

"You read what he writes? Come on. Grow up."

Well played, stretch. Spoken like a true Middlebury Man.

To himself.

Always a pleasure.
 
Anonymous said...

"little fella
ignorant anonymous ass
delusional dreck
little fella"

Clearly, stretch, you were a Stenography Major at Middlebury.

Not one of their better known academic specialties. One doesn't associate steno with a traditional liberal arts institution.

Middlebury really needs to toot their own horn more about their exceptional steno department.

Get somebody to dictate ya some talking points and get on that right away, big fella.

Always a pleasure.
 
1-800-BPD-GIVE
 
Gee, a degree from Middlebury and that's the best your ignorant anonymous ass can come up with, stretch?

Clearly, they've gotta tighten up their admission standards.

Always a pleasure.
 
"Gee, a degree from Middlebury and that's the best your ignorant anonymous ass can come up with, stretch?"

Have I come up with anything? Haven't I only posted questions? What have I posted since: "What debate? We're all against trampling people, right? JW, do you even remember the subject of the post? Do you even care what the subject of the post is? Or do you just like to get into it with people? And can you answer this without name-calling? Do you have the intellectual ability?"?

Anonymous? Haven't I given you lots of hints? Why does it matter who I am if we just stick to logical arguments? How about if we make it so that you'll always know it's me because I just ask questions? Did you know that at Midd they teach us to ask lots of questions?
 
jw disses Middlebury because he couldn't get in.
 
He can't even get into Hardwick - never mind Middlebury.
 
Block Coop please
 
Yeah, Terri, you must make the world safe for nameless nitwits with nothin' to say and even less to back it up.
 
"Yeah, Terri, you must make the world safe for nameless nitwits with nothin' to say and even less to back it up."

If that's the way you feel ban yourself.
 
Sure, that'll bring that poor Walmart guy back to life, stretch.

Gee, at least 15 nameless-nitwit posts and not a one mentioning the Palm Desert Toys R Us Shootout in Palm Desert, California that left two guys dead on Black Friday.

So much for the "more guns - less crime" school of "thought" and ignorant anonymous trash everywhere.

Always a pleasure.
 
"Sure, that'll bring that poor Walmart guy back to life, stretch."

Who said it would JW?

You may be too close to see it but the problem with both of the killings were self centered people. Not boots or guns.

You know the sort; the kind that think they are allowed to ignore the rules of society for their ends. Anyone trampled or shot in the process of them getting what they want is just a "nameless nitwit" not a person.

Any of this sinking in JW?
 
Anonymous...

"Sure, that'll bring that poor Walmart guy back to life, stretch."

"Who said it would JW?"

Well, little factually-challenged fella, given the fact that you've said little else on this or any other thread you've chosen to foul, that would be your ignorant anonymous ass, little fella.

"You may be too close to see it but the problem with both of the killings were self centered people. Not boots or guns."

Nah, I've got a good vantage point right where I am, little fella.

Feel free to show me just where in the police reports of either incident that the cause of death is listed as "selfish people", little fella.

Take your time. You're not goin' anywhere.

Selfish people don't put bullet holes in each other without guns, little fella, or didn't ya get that far at Middlebury?

Middlebury Man, my ass. Christ, you couldn't make the Middlebury custodial staff, schmuck.

Always a pleasure.
 
"Middlebury Man, my ass. Christ, you couldn't make the Middlebury custodial staff, schmuck."

To whom are you responding? Isn't it I who is the Middlebury man? Are there others here from that wonderful institution? Haven't I only just asked questions? Did I ever say anything about some shooting? Is it not possible that you have more than one person on this site attempting to engage your impressive intellect? And if we avoided the name calling and just focussed on the logic, wouldn't we prevent these little mistakes?
 
""Sure, that'll bring that poor Walmart guy back to life, stretch."

"Who said it would JW?"

Well, little factually-challenged fella, given the fact that you've said little else on this or any other thread you've chosen to foul, that would be your ignorant anonymous ass, little fella."

OK JW show me where I or anyone else said you banning yourself would bring the Walmart employee back to life.

Given that you can't even figure out who you're talking to I expect you'll just continue to spew abuse.
 
Anonymous...

"Middlebury Man, my ass. Christ, you couldn't make the Middlebury custodial staff, schmuck."

To whom are you responding? Isn't it I who is the Middlebury man?

Well, if you're the anonymous nitwit who was telling me you were a 6'7'', 240-pound, Middlebury Graduate the other night, little fella, yeah. You'd be the nameless nitwit in question.

Gee, ya gonna tell me that you're "just a hunka, hunka burnin' love now, too, tiny?

"Are there others here from that wonderful institution?"

That statement would imply that you've established that there's one here already, little fella.

Taking a logical approach and working the problem backwards, I know that I've never claimed to be a Middlebury Graduate.

That leaves only the nameless-nitwit likes of you making such a claim and you've yet to establish that fact.

Just when did ya pull that rabbit outta your hat?

If it's such a wonderful institution in your estimation, stretch, why are you impugning it by claimin' a nameless nitwit like yourself is a graduate of the joint?

"Haven't I only just asked questions?"

Well, little fella, given the fact that you've got even fewer answers than established, anonymous Middlebury Grad credentials, ya don't exactly have much for alternatives.

That was quite a skillful job of painting yourself into a corner, little fella. Well played.

"Did I ever say anything about some shooting?"

No, I did. If you could read beyond a Fifth-Grade Level, you'd undoubtedly see that.

Again, well played.

You'd certainly have to demonstrate a helluva lot more in the way of reading comprehension than that to get your sorry butt just to get accepted to Middlebury let alone make it through with a Degree.

You're really not helpin' your cause here any, tiny dancer.

"Is it not possible that you have more than one person on this site attempting to engage your impressive intellect?.."

Hey, if ya don't want other people gettin' the ones with your name on it and vice versa, than put somethin' more than "anonymous occupant" on your mail box, bozo.

As for the "impressive intellect" on my part you allege, even a fella of average stature looks tall when surrounded by dimwitted dwarfs, little fella.

"..And if we avoided the name calling and just focussed on the logic, wouldn't we prevent these little mistakes?"

Ah, so you'd prefer that we just "focussed" on the logic, eh, tiny dancer?

Christ, you couldn't make it through Middlebury High with verbal skills like that, schmuck, let alone make it into and successfully through Middlebury College with a degree, dildobaggins.

Your lyin' skills are as lame as your logic, verbal and math skills, tiny dancer.

Adult Basic Education. Look into it, Middlebury Man.

Don't go changin'.

Always a pleasure.
 
JW, would I know the following if I weren't a Middlebury man?

Freshman dorm? Battell.
Sophomore dorm? Milliken
Junior dorm? Milliken
Senior dorm? Forrest We got our mail downstairs in Forrest then
Favorite prof? Eric Davis and Michael Kraus (From Czec. Told awesome jokes.)
Least favorite prof? Murray Dry. Anyone who went there and had him knows he was an arrogant ass.
Favorite dining hall? Proctor
Favorite hangout? Crest Room (day)
Alibi and Rosebud (early evening-- gee I'm dating myself), Zeppelin Room (late night--really dating myself)
Favorite Winter Carnival Act? Robert Klein. Couldn't STAND the Ramones.
Cover of the alumni magazine this month? a graphic about "the war within"
Best college president ever? McCardle, although I don't like what he did to the frats. My president, Robison, was a cold fish. McCardle had been a great prof. Had him for two history classes in Monroe 414.
Least favorite hole at Ralph? 15. Totally unfair.

Am I boring you, JW?

Can't tell you a thing about Middlebury HS. I went to Otter Valley.

Now, can we get back to logic?
 
Hey Terri:

How are the kids in IT coming with the troll proof fence?
 
"Nice try."

What am I trying? Haven't I just asked questions? Could it be that I just want to pick your fertile brain a little?

"Ah, so you'd prefer that we just "focussed" on the logic, eh, tiny dancer?

"Christ, you couldn't make it through Middlebury High with verbal skills like that, schmuck, let alone make it into and successfully through Middlebury College with a degree, dildobaggins."

Who's saying he's Christ? Am I not just a Midd man? Is "focussed" not one possible spelling of the word? Not saying that a Midd man can't make a mistake (and especially a typo now and then), but isn't it, in general, a little risky getting into it over words with a graduate of such a fine liberal arts institution? And really a little boring? BTW,where did you go to school, JW?
 
"If you were a Middlebury Man, you'd either know that focus is spelled with one "s" or that you were such a brutal speller that you'd better figure out how to use spellcheck and fast given your desperate need to employ it on a regular basis."

Is "a Middlebury Man" (sic)a proper noun? And did they not teach you at your school that there are preferred spellings and alternate spellings and that either are acceptable?

"Hey, you're the one who brought up the whole Middlebury Man malarkey, little fella."

Aren't you the one who used the "nitwit" name? Do I not have a right, nay even a duty as a self-respecting human being, to defend myself and present my bona fides when called such? Do you know how to pronounce "bona fides"? (The preferred pronunciation?) Guess we'll never know, will we?

"Then again, stretch, if you can establish that Middlebury College awarded a BA..."

So am I to assume that you're not aware that Midd calls their degrees "A.B.s"?

If I may ask again, JW, where did you go to school? Are you ashamed to say? (Would most agree that normally there'd be no shame in it regardless, except for all the bluster?) And is it worse on this site to be thoughtful and nameless or blustery and school-less?

Anyway, back to the post, we are all against trampling, right?

And has anyone noticed the thoughtful discussion on Townsend's blog on his post about Shumlin?
 
What relevance does where one went to school have? More arrogance without substance.
 
I dunno. I think he makes a pretty good point. JW IS blustery. The dude called him out with the nitwit comment. It seems like he wants to discuss logic, but JW wants to name call. I'd say JW started the whole lack of substance thing.
 
B.A. vs A.B.--This is relevant to what? Supercilious nit-picking.
 
"Supercilious nit-picking."

Compared to spelling arguments? Could it be that JW still is not convinced I'm a Middlebury graduate? You and I may know it's not important, but didn't JW use it to attack my integrity? To call me a liar? Doesn't he seem to really value the Middlebury degree, given that he's making such a big deal of the veracity of it? (Wonder if he knows "Doogie" has a Midd degree also?)

It may all be a dumb thread, but who really started it in that direction? Who is it that is really bringing down the quality of this blog? And haven't I been the one who has tried to restore the thread back to that intellectually stimulating original topic, which, I believe, was trampling?
 
"Doesn't he seem to really value the Middlebury degree, given that he's making such a big deal of the veracity of it?"

Oh dear, I seem to have split an infinitive here, haven't I? JW, will you forgive me?
 
"Supercilious nit-picking."

"Compared to spelling arguments? Could it be that JW still is not convinced I'm a Middlebury graduate?"

Well, if it's any consolation, tiny dancer, you have managed to convince me that you're a nameless-nitwit without a case or a clue who can't spell and may or may not have graduated from Otter Valley HS.

"You and I may know it's not important, but didn't JW use it to attack my integrity?"

No, amongst other things, I used it to attack your credibility, little fella.

I can honestly say that it never crossed my mind that you had any integrity to attack.

"To call me a liar? Doesn't he seem to really value the Middlebury degree, given that he's making such a big deal of the veracity of it? (Wonder if he knows "Doogie" has a Midd degree also?)"

Doogie has a name. If his Middlebury Degree was a fake, it would have come up by now.

Maybe not in the Freeps, but somebody would have revealed it.

"It may all be a dumb thread, but who really started it in that direction?"

That would be your sorry butt, tiny dancer. Again, you brought up this Middlebury, 6'7", psychotic slop. Feel free to check.

I just play it as it lies.

"Who is it that is really bringing down the quality of this blog?"

That would be you again, tiny dancer. You're on a roll, kiddo.
Let it ride!

"And haven't I been the one who has tried to restore the thread back to that intellectually stimulating original topic, which, I believe, was trampling?

No. Busted. Too bad ya let it ride on that one, little fella, but we have some lovely parting gifts for ya.

Always a pleasure.
 
Anonymous...

""Doesn't he seem to really value the Middlebury degree, given that he's making such a big deal of the veracity of it?""

"Oh dear, I seem to have split an infinitive here, haven't I? JW, will you forgive me?"

Sure, in this season of giving, what the hell.

After all, split infinitives are the least of your ignorant anonymous ass's transgressions, little fella.

Always a pleasure.
 
Do you know what a split infinitive is JW? Can you explain why it ranks lower among literary offenses than the use of an alternative spelling?

How can you make judgments of my lack of integrity when all I've done is ask questions?

What profit is there in my lying to you about a Middlebury degree? Thousands of people have them, don't they? Reckon you might run into one some day? Is it that hard to believe? I sure knew a lot about Midd for a poser, didn't I? You think I went to all that trouble to look up all that Midd info just to impress you?

Where did you go to school, JW? Or is that something of which you have, as you say, "bupkis"? And who uses that word? Besides, maybe, cranky 70 year-olds?
 
JW is a 55 year old transplant from NJ. He "waited until he was 18" to move here. In other words assuming he graduated from high school he moved up here fresh out of school.

As far as I can tell he has never held a job in the time he has been in Vermont. Undoubtedly he will rage about that statement and become abusive but he will not be offering any verifiable employment history. Undoubtedly a copy is hanging in his pet unicorn's stall. Perhaps it is in the tack room next to the stall.

Ah well, a myth is as good as a mile with JW.

As I recall he claims he and his wife went to CCV. You get a degree from CCV if you show up. If you're willing to work at it you can get a fine education there. On the other hand you can come out of it with a slip of paper and still be a mental child telling people "you're dumb, you're scum and you got bupkis"
 
The same CCV that was founded by that "gop-slime" Peter Smith? And he has a wife? Does she know what he's up to on this site? Think he talks to her the way he conducts discourse here? Mrs. JW? Can you find some chores for Mr. JW to do? And can you reassure him so he doesn't keep having size obsessions?

I'm bored. And I'm outta here.
 
JW graduated from Woodside. Here's today's proof:

tiny dancer
you're a nameless-nitwit without a case or a clue
little fella.
your sorry butt
tiny dancer
psychotic slop
tiny dancer
little fella
your ignorant anonymous ass
little fella
 
When are you children going to realize that adults move on from the school they attended.

There is no divine right for graduating from Middlebury or any other school.

If W is an example of the education gotten from older independent schools, then there's certainly not anything to be proud about there.

Get over yourselves and join the adult world.
 
I agree that colleges are alma-don't-matters, but this Coop guy called him a nitwit. So he defended against the personal attack by both giving his creds and using logic. He might have seemed a little snooty, but it was nothing compared to Coop. And I don't think he ever called Coop a name.
 
Anonymous....

I agree that colleges are alma-don't-matters, but this Coop guy called him a nitwit. So he defended against the personal attack by both giving his creds and using logic. He might have seemed a little snooty, but it was nothing compared to Coop. And I don't think he ever called Coop a name."

Said the left nameless-nitwit butt cheek to the right.

Nice try.

Always a pleasure.
 
Great answer, Coopy! Wow, and in all of four minutes!
 
Anonymous...

"Great answer, Coopy! Wow, and in all of four minutes!"

So, what you're sayin', iggy slop, is that one year down the road, you're still gonna need another six-month extension for your ignorant anonymous ass to come up with your first, little fella.

Good thing your ignorant-trash IOUs make good kindlin', clueless.

Always a pleasure.
 
"Good thing your ignorant-trash IOUs make good kindlin', clueless."

Normally I can follow your colorful insults. But you lost me there.
 
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