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Amazon and eBay: No More Confederate Flags, but Nazis and Mao Are Fine
National Review ^ | 06/25/2015 | David French

Posted on 06/25/2015 7:56:59 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Due to some combination of activist journalism and corporate conscience, major retailers such as Amazon, eBay, Target, and Wal-Mart are removing Confederate flags and other types of Confederate memorabilia from their shelves. Let’s pause for a moment and applaud the Left for its dramatic about-face on the question of corporate morality. Just one year after denying that corporations can have a conscience when that conscience dictates opposing abortion, the reversal is now complete. Corporations — as instruments of the people who run them — do indeed exercise First Amendment rights and do indeed express a moral point of view in the products they offer.

So, now that Amazon and eBay — two retailers I frequent online — have adopted the view that they own the moral message of their products, I decided to do a few simple searches for their views on some of the 20th Century’s deadliest regimes — regimes responsible for race- and class-based genocides that claimed the lives of up to 100 million innocent men, women, and children. It turns out that these retailers are happy for you to remember, enjoy, and sometimes proudly display emblems of deadly hate.

First, on eBay, you can find this fetching hammer and sickle necklace, “handmade” from “English Pewter,” and thoughtfully gift-boxed for that special communist in your life:

Of course, nothing complements a hammer and sickle necklace quite like a nicely fitting, bright red Soviet T-shirt:

The ensemble still feels incomplete, however. What about the children? Shouldn’t a self-respecting communist family be able to use their baby as a billboard? Thankfully, Amazon has it covered, with this lovely hammer and sickle onesie:

And if clothes can’t adequately express your sympathies, you can fly this Soviet flag high and with pride, for the whole neighborhood to see:

All this Soviet gear smacks of white communist privilege? What about Chairman Mao? Well, thanks again to Amazon, you can enjoy saving your pennies with this Chairman Mao piggy bank. Better hurry, though. Only one left in stock:

What about the Nazis, you ask? No need to fret — Amazon and eBay are nothing if not inclusive in their glorification of dictatorships. They have all your national-socialist needs covered, too:

And no Nazi depiction would be complete without glorifying the SS and objectifying women:

Finally, for your middle schooler’s art project, eBay presents this handsome Nazi-flag diorama accessory:

I’ve barely scratched the surface of totalitarian products at the two sites. Corporate morality is indeed an interesting thing. I’m sure that good, progressive companies like Amazon have a perfectly reasonable explanation for their “genocidal tyrants’ collection” of consumer goods — just like Apple had a perfectly reasonable explanation for condemning Indiana for passing a religious-liberty law while opening stores in nations where LGBT acts can be punished by death. Or did it? It’s so hard to keep up with the Twitter-driven outrage machine.

But while we figure it out, at least corporate America remembers (some) history. Happy shopping!

— David French is an attorney and a staff writer at National Review.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: amazon; confederateflag; ebay

1 posted on 06/25/2015 7:56:59 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Maybe I can Re-Paint my stock of General Lees and call them General Tso and sell them....

2 posted on 06/25/2015 7:59:40 AM PDT by GraceG (Protect the Border from Illegal Aliens, Don't Protect Illegal Alien Boarders...)
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To: SeekAndFind

And Che flags. Don’t forget those ubiquitous Che flags.


3 posted on 06/25/2015 8:00:07 AM PDT by fwdude (The last time the GOP ran an "extremist," Reagan won 44 states.)
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To: SeekAndFind
Ebay is inconsistent regarding Nazi imagery. They allow stamps, coins, and books bearing swastikas to be sold, but I recently had an auction for a WWII German soldier's pay book pulled because the tiny swastika on it was "offensive".

Go figure.

4 posted on 06/25/2015 8:00:58 AM PDT by Johnny Navarone
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To: SeekAndFind
Looks like the insane blacks have won again. With far left liberals run companies like Amazon, eBay, Target, and Wal-Mart, etc, we do have real sick industry. Looks like black power is taking over.
5 posted on 06/25/2015 8:02:32 AM PDT by Logical me
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To: Logical me
Blacks are only 15% of the US population, and not all of them are crazed racists. I would wager that a substantial percentage of descendants of former slaves also have ancestors who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War, since very few people have 100% black ancestors.

I have a feeling Amazon is going to feel this in the pocketbook big time.

6 posted on 06/25/2015 8:07:18 AM PDT by grania
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To: GraceG

7 posted on 06/25/2015 8:12:23 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: grania

Blacks are not driving this, guilty whites are. Tons of videos on youtube with black members of the sons of the confederacy defending the flag.


8 posted on 06/25/2015 8:12:23 AM PDT by DonaldC (A nation cannot stand in the absence of religious principle.)
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To: SeekAndFind

So she shot down a B-17 with that MG42?


9 posted on 06/25/2015 8:14:02 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Apple has now removed civil war games from I-Tunes but you can still play Hitler and kill innocent people


10 posted on 06/25/2015 8:32:26 AM PDT by GeronL
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To: Logical me

The GOP joined in this time and supported the stupid leftists attack on America


11 posted on 06/25/2015 8:33:25 AM PDT by GeronL
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To: SeekAndFind

Where should one send due outrage to Amazon?


12 posted on 06/25/2015 8:51:23 AM PDT by ctdonath2 (The world map will be quite different come 20 January 2017.)
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