Great piece; thanks for posting it. One of the things that jumps out at me is that WalMart has decision makers in place to, well, make decisions. Compare/contrast with how the gubmint typically reacts: press conferences, blame shifting, finger pointing, demagogery. None of this is really all that difficult: identify the problem; decide how to react to it; execute.
Our posturing, preening, power-hungry politicians excel at all of the above. Where they fail is that they care about no one but themselves.
Carolyn