Save Starbucks from Conservative Onslaught

THANK STARBUCKS FOR PUTTING PROGRESSIVE, SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE NEWS MESSAGES ON ITS COFFEE CUPS

Conservatives are steamed at Starbucks’ campaign to put news messages on its coffee cups—such as educating the public about the soaring deficit and environmental problems. Starbucks is being pressured to include conservative voices on its cups. Please e-mail Starbucks at the link below and thank them for being a good corporate citizen by airing progressive views. Urge them to stand firm against conservatives’ efforts to distort the truth—and to continue bringing these important messages to their customers.

http://www.starbucks.com/retail/thewayiseeit_comments.asp

This is good news, thanks!:)

As a Starbucks addict, I count myself among that crowd.

"Lying America into a war and killing tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis is good"

"We're very good at stealing elections. We've stolen three in a row"

"We think American citizens should be more "moral", even though we're far from it"

"We knew about 9/11 beforehand, and did absolutely nothing to stop it"

Remember you can bulk purchase and circulate "Deception Dollars". They are packed with informative links to 9/11 and other corporate media suppressed truths.

http://www.deceptiondollar.com/8+/2BillionDDfront.jpg

http://www.deceptiondollar.com/8+/2BillionDDback.jpg

Deception Dollars
http://www.deceptiondollar.com

911 Truth
http://www.911truth.org/

you can do whatever you want with your own business? I guess that only applies to firing gays and liberals that talk out of turn.

I'm probably well to the "left" of many here, but I have serious reservations with a public place like Starbucks, putting ANY explicitly political messages on items one purchases. Not only can that cut both ways, but I still feel uneasy with it on general principles.

pnorman

as well as fair trade. Save the rainforests, provide living wages to coffee growers in foreign countries, etc.

Many food companies in the natural products industry also do this, and it sits well with their clientele. If someone is that offended they can take their business elsewhere, though with a Starbucks on every corner, it might be kinda tough to find that made-to-order
grande lowfat extra-hot latte or whatever someplace else.

Starbucks as a rethuglican-free zone actually is a rather appealing concept, I think.

I may have been too doctrinaire (and stuffy) on that. There are plenty of causes that "conservatives" can support, or at least tolerate. However, as much as I enjoy "being among my own kind" (not that difficult in Seattle), the idea of a place like Starbucks as a "rethuglican-free zone" STILL rubs me the wrong way. An "indie" (anarchist?) coffee-house would be a different matter altogether, although it might operate under the same sort of business license as Starbucks. (Incidentally, Starbucks is my LAST choice of coffee-houses).

I've been functioning in venues where Reptilican Party "values" are the norm, and easily holding my own ... sometimes scoring a few zingers. But I don't EVER want to concede the 'moral edge'.



pnorman

Starbucks is a welcome oasis.

I don't like the way they've crowded out some independent coffee shops, though. On the other hand, in our conservative neck of the woods, chances are the independents were "red" owned companies.

Here's what I sent Starbucks:

Thanks for putting progressive, socially conscious messages on the cups. Thank you for helping raise public awareness of these issues.

Please do not be tricked into believing that what you are saying are "liberal views". These are not partisan issues. These are human issues that affect all of us.

Please do not be pressured into believing that you need to balance hard truths with some political parties "opposing views". That is not balance, it is just pandering.

Thanks for being a force for good in the world!

Let's all stop by Starbucks, drink a cup of your favorite beverage, and fill out comment cards in the stores, too.

Maybe even stand around and comment to other customers about the really interesting facts on those coffee cups--to be sure everyone reads them!

(They are buried under the cardboard ring put around hot beverages, so we want to make sure everyone takes a peek.)

I used to feel guilty about spending so much money on all those wonderful drinks at Starbucks, but I now see it as a cause to support real liberal American values. I never feel an ounce of guilt anymore over paying 3 or 4 bucks for a cup of coffee I could have paid 10 cents for at home!

On edit: liberal with a little l! The environment is an issue everyone should care about, but I must say, I haven't met a Republican yet that really did!

I agree wholeheartedly. In fact my hometown is getting our 1st Starbucks soon and I plan on being a regular.

Seattle....looks like they are getting back to their "roots"...

Let those Conservative nutjobs get all "steamed" about us latte drinking volvo driving tree-hugging Progressives views and Starbucks support of it.... :toast:

On one San Diego intersection, there are FOUR different Starbucks -- and they're all doing fairly well!

As they are about the evolution one that they put out?

I guess this is number 14 in a series (collect them all!)...

"1.6 million years ago a youth died in Africa. His body was swept into a swamp. In 1984 his bones were painstakingly excavated to reveal a species on the brink of becoming human. All people on earth have one thing in common. We share a single African ancestor; the same as this young boy."
- Dr. Louise Leakey

And underneath that is this:

"This is the author's opinion, not necessarily that of Starbucks. To read more or respond, go to www.starbucks.com/wayiseeit."

TlalocW

He's a nazi repug, and Starbucks is putting his quotes on their paper cups.

Fuck them.

so they planned this from the beginning.

I will stick with local coffee shops. No wonder those black block guys are always targetting starbucks.

"Everywhere, unthinking mobs of “independent thinkers” wield tired clichés like cudgels, pummeling those who dare question “enlightened” dogma. If “violence never solved anything,” cops wouldn’t have guns and slaves may never have been freed. If it’s better that 10 guilty men go free to spare one innocent, why not free 100 or 1,000,000? Clichés begin arguments, they don’t settle them."

I guess he was just the second person interviewed on their webpage, not the second cup done, for what that is worth.

According to this article:


...The problem, critics say, is the company's list of overwhelmingly liberal contributors, including Al Franken, Melissa Etheridge, Quincy Jones, Chuck D. Of the 31 contributors listed on Starbucks' Web site, only one, National Review editor Jonah Goldberg, offers a conservative viewpoint.

http://sptimes.com/2005/03/25/Business/Coffee_with_stea...

:kick:

I would love to see some of the actual quotes so that I may comment accurately on the nature of 'The way I see it'.

I have looked online - but not found any yet.

Any suggestions?

Denis Hayes Every so often, an author comes along with a thought so powerful, we feel compelled to continue the discussion. Below you will find the first quote to appear on Starbucks cups as part of “The Way I See It,” accompanied by a Q&A session with the man behind the message, environmental advocate, Denis Hayes.


The Way I See It #1
"Zeroes are important. A million seconds ago was last week. A billion seconds ago, Richard Nixon resigned the presidency. A trillion seconds ago was 30,000 BC, and early humans were using stone tools. America’s national debt is now $7.5 trillion, and it’s skyrocketing, even as America’s population ages. There will never be a better time to start paying off this crippling debt than today."

I did run across that one though... it was the only one so far.

I'm still looking.

Coffee with steam
Some conservatives are angered by opinionated quotes that Starbucks puts on its cups.
By JAY CRIDLIN, Times Staff Writer
Published March 25, 2005

...The Seattle coffee chain has raised some eyebrows over its "The Way I See It" campaign, which prints quotes from thinkers, authors, athletes and entertainers on the side of your morning machiatto. The goal, according to the company, is to foster philosophical debate in its 9,000-plus coffeehouses.

...The problem, critics say, is the company's list of overwhelmingly liberal contributors, including Al Franken, Melissa Etheridge, Quincy Jones, Chuck D. Of the 31 contributors listed on Starbucks' Web site, only one, National Review editor Jonah Goldberg, offers a conservative viewpoint.

http://sptimes.com/2005/03/25/Business/Coffee_with_steam.shtml

:kick:

and kick!

of course, they only have 3 quotes so far.

http://www.starbucks.com/retail/thewayiseeit_featuredauthors.asp

...who evidently have such weak convictions that they need quotes on a coffee cup to reinforce the the distorted world views that they hear from Limbaugh and Fox News. If I saw a right-wing quote on a cup, I'd read it, probably think something like, "That's pretty stupid," and then I'd enjoy throwing it in the trash.

"I want to enjoy your product without having Earth Day Network propaganda thrust at me," wrote Malachi Salcido of East Wenatchee, Wash.

--

I wonder why Malachi Salcido hates Earth Day.

Malachi Salcido is a really unique name. I plugged it into Google and found 13 links. All from Wenatchee, Washington.

He is the owner of Salcido Connection Inc - an HVAC service contractor. They deal with heating, ventilation and air conditioning service and repair.

Most air conditioners use CFCs for its refrigerant and CFCs are the leading cause of ozone depletion. The U.S. regulates how the HVAC can handle CFCs. Environmentalists (such as Earth Day Network members) would like to strengthen these regulations while HVAC businesses (such as Salcido Connection Inc) tend to be interested in weakening these regulations.

Mr. Salcido can potentially make more money if there is a reduction of regulations for ozone depleting CFCs. Maybe that is why Malachis Salcido hates the "Earth Day Network propaganda".

Posted by: I did my homework | March 26, 2005 01:24 PM

http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/_/2005/03/some_conservati.html

The way I See It #17


The world bursts at the seams with people ready to tell you you’re not good enough. On occasion, some may be correct. But do not do their work for them. Seek any job; ask anyone out; pursue any goal. Don’t take it personally when they say “no” – they may not be smart enough to say “yes.”


~ Keith Olbermann


Broadcast journalist and host of MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann

once upon a time, the news was simply "unbiased"; now if it isn't distorted with GOP spin it's "progressive".

I refuse to buy products from mass produced places like Starbucks. I'd rather stick with the local guys!!!