Swift Boat Ban at Borders - Mom tells it like it is

[pfloyd95]

I thought I'd share this with everyone. Please excuse me if I post incorrectly I rarely post here.

This is an e-mail my mother sent after having an interesting experience at a Borders book store. I thought I'd share it with everyone.

Subject: Borders Policy

Borders:

Yesterday, by chance I was in your Eatontown, New Jersey Branch store looking for a book on a particular subject. Not able to find what I was looking for I went to the reference desk. Three clerks were there and in discussion over a book. I waited and none of the clerks turned to me but I heard them say "Unfit for Command". Finally, a clerk asked me if I needed help (I was the only customer at the desk) and I told her what I was looking for. She very kindly escorted me to the bookshelves and I asked her what was the problem about "Unfit for Command" and she told me that a Marketing/PR employee of Borders had been on a radio station and had said that Borders was not carrying this book because it was full of lies. I did ask her if this branch carried it and she had said that the last copy of "Unfit for Command" was sold a few hours earlier and there were no more copies in the store. So I commented to the clerk since when does a bookstore chain make a judgement about the accuracy of a book's contents. This same book is also on the top of the New York Times best seller list. I thought it was their business to sell books and not to be censors. Look at all the copies of books you have by Bill Clinton, Michael Moore, and everyone else of the political left. I do not support any of their anti-American propaganda, however, I go to your store to purchase books that I want to read and have the strength and conviction to be able to withstand the onslaught of left-wing, anti-American propaganda written by these so called authors. I consider these books full of lies but I also have the right to purchase or not purchase these books. I thought bookstore chains were big supporters of freedom of speech. Since when has it become the policy of a bookstore to decide when and what its customers may purchase and read. Since when did Borders decide to go into the censorship business? If I as a consumer can tolerate walking thru aisles of Anti-American propaganda, the least you can do is give me the choice to buy the books that I want to read and not what you have decided politically to make available.

Since when has it become a book seller's policy to decide on what the public can and cannot read? Where in your Mission Statement does it say that Borders will not sell best seller books because it decided it has "lies"? Who made the decision that this book is full of lies? Strange - the one book in just about every category aisle throughout the store that you are pushing is the biggest liar of all "My Life" by Bill Clinton. Isn't he the one who lied before the Starr Commission and finally admitted it in his book?

Acknowledgement is requested of your policy regarding the sale of books.

[SearchMaster]

10 second check proves this assertion false. The book is advertised of Borders FRONT PAGE.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/577394/104-0279780-7503158

But I guess a bookstore acting as a sensor would be about the same as a movie theater acting as a sensor....in-appropriate in either case.

[Mr.Atos]

Um... has it occurred to anyone else that what Kerry and his team are doing via the Book Unfit for Command, IS RIGHT OUT OF FAHRENHEIT 451.

.... the irony astounds!

Atos

[narby]

I am not sure this qualifies as censorship. They have the right as a private business to sell what they want to.

Technically, I'm sure you're right.

But I'm still going to use my first amendment right to call them sensors.

[VaBthang4]

You know...making sure whether or not Borders actually has a ban on the book would've been a good idea.

[SilentServiceCPOWife]

This is really off topic but it's another example of bias and I didn't want to start a whole thread for it.

I watch TV Land almost exclusively. For the past few months they've been showing old campaign ads from Presidential races. I've seen ads for Kennedy, Johnson and Carter repeatedly but none for Nixon, Ford or Reagan. At first I thought it was just that I was missing them, but after keeping it on for two days straight, I realized that they just aren't showing any Republican ads.

I sent them an email telling them that their bias had been noticed and that I will purchase all of the shows that I like on DVD rather than watch their politically biased programming any longer.

[Boxsford]

excellent point.

[counterpunch]

 
 
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[Christian4Bush]

bttt

[tobyhill]

I have just spoken to Borders Corporate Headquarters in Michigan and they said they are going to carry the book but it's slow coming out because of the Publishing Companies high volume of on-line sales. The Publisher is now attempting to negotiate a deal that would subcontract, with an American company of course, to increase production and get them to the stores. It was originally underestimated for potential sales.

[kosciuszko]

Hello,

There is no ban at Borders. They are simply out of books, and are selling them as fast as they receive them. I work at the corporate office and can verify that Borders is trying it's best to keep the shelfs full. When the book is in it's displayed at the Front of Store at 30%off.

Anyone who has worked for a Fortune 500 company knows the pressures of making quarterly earnings. Borders would not throw money out the window, especially on a book as big as this, just to make a political point. It would be suicide for the directors and VPs, especially in this difficult selling environment.

While some of the book sellers may be left leaning, I can assure you that the people running the company are not.

[Popman]

Click here to set up a local book store for "search inventory" and you can check inventory levels at several stores to see if the book is in stock

Borders Books

[pnz1]

What about libraries? Do they have copies? I haven't checked ours..

[Zavien Doombringer]

HEY! Where in VA are you?

[CSM]

I am 100% comfortable allowing a privately owned bookstore to decide which books to sell and which ones to not sell. I am also 100% comfortable actively working to deplete their customer base, therefore using the market to change their policies.

[hattend]

Borders is also partnered with Amazon

I got mine from Amazon yesterday and it's still on sale at the website although it's "out of stock - 5 to 7 weeks delay" There are used copies available. Funny how the #1 seller on Amazon has a 1 to 2 month wait to buy...didn't Regnery print enough? Hasn't Amazon ordered replenishment?

[Hildy]

My Borders store said they had it but were sold out. I wonder if they had like two books or something. I can't find it anywhere here in San Diego. Keep it up, bookstores, by October it will be the most sought after book in the Country.

[gilliam]

Borders isn't banning it. Don't know what the clerk was talking about. It is on their national website and you can check the availability of the book at your local store from there:

http://www.bordersstores.com/search/title_detail.jsp?id=54512158&srchTerms=unfit+for+command&mediaType=1&srchType=Keyword

[pabianice]

Two years ago a friend gave me a $ 75 gift certificate for Borders.

Anyone want to buy it for $ 50?

[Rutles4Ever]

Thanks for the info. What does the corp. office have to say about any local store managers who might refuse to carry it?

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

I just got it free by subscibing to Human Events. It is supposed to be a new subscription, but mine had expired so I got it. For $69.95 I got 70 weeks of Human Events, Unfit for Command, and a deck of cards. Pretty great deal I think.