NY Times alleges massive corruption and bribery coverup by Wal-Mart

[Ad Orientem]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47128671/ns ... 5M3ItXa-YI

Wow. I've always had Wal-Mart pegged as a pretty sleazy outfit.  But if this is true it is going to be a really major $hyt storm, far more serious than any of their numerous earlier scandals.  If I were a top Wal-Mart exec I would have my lawyer on speed dial.

[Reub]

This sounds like more of the same liberal agenda against one of America's greatest capitalist success stories.

[Ad Orientem]

This sounds like more of the same liberal agenda against one of America's greatest capitalist success stories.

Meyer Lansky probably felt the same way.

[WildAboutHarry]

Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.

This is known as "bad luck."

I'm shocked, shocked to find that corruption is going on in Mexico!

[Tortoise]

I'm shocked, shocked to find that corruption is going on in Mexico!

Yeah, no kidding. Isn't overt, widespread bribery just kind of the general culture in Mexico? Kind of like a cost of doing business in that country.

[MediumTex]

I'm shocked, shocked to find that corruption is going on in Mexico!

Yeah, no kidding. Isn't overt, widespread bribery just kind of the general culture in Mexico? Kind of like a cost of doing business in that country.

And probably 80% of the world outside the U.S., EU, UK and Japan?

[Ad Orientem]

I'm shocked, shocked to find that corruption is going on in Mexico!

Yeah, no kidding. Isn't overt, widespread bribery just kind of the general culture in Mexico? Kind of like a cost of doing business in that country.

And probably 80% of the world outside the U.S., EU, UK and Japan?

Corruption rankings by nations...
http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2011/results/

Mexico is at 100.  The US is at 24. The main problem with Wal Mart is not the bribery, which as many have noted is not terribly surprising in Mexico.  The problem is the coverup at the highest levels of the corporate HQ here in the US.  If this report is true Wal-Mart is nose deep in the brown stinky stuff and some of their execs had better be hiring criminal defense lawyers.

[Storm]

This sounds like more of the same liberal agenda against one of America's greatest capitalist success stories.

Yes, clearly, this story was published in the NY Times.  It must be a vast and powerful liberal media conspiracy to tarnish the immaculate corporate image of our dear lord and savior, Walmart.   

[moda0306]

Storm,

It's not just NY Times, the socialists at Fox News are pushing this as well. 

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2 ... port-says/

[MediumTex]

Yeah, no kidding. Isn't overt, widespread bribery just kind of the general culture in Mexico? Kind of like a cost of doing business in that country.

And probably 80% of the world outside the U.S., EU, UK and Japan?

Corruption rankings by nations...
http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2011/results/

Mexico is at 100.  The US is at 24. The main problem with Wal Mart is not the bribery, which as many have noted is not terribly surprising in Mexico.  The problem is the coverup at the highest levels of the corporate HQ here in the US.  If this report is true Wal-Mart is nose deep in the brown stinky stuff and some of their execs had better be hiring criminal defense lawyers.

The whole concept of the U.S. government criminalizing behavior outside of U.S. borders and/or territories is IMHO pretty dumb.

If bribery is the way to do business in other countries, why would the U.S. government care or think it can somehow regulate that activity outside of its borders?

It seems to me that this sort of thing should be between a company's management, board and shareholders, and if the board hires an executive team who are liars, then the board should be held accountable by the shareholders and, if necessary voted out.  I don't see that any involvement by the state should be necessary.

[Reub]

The NY Times is definitely one of the leading lynch pins in the liberal media assault on capitalism and on our country as we know it. They have many, many others on their side, though. How many days did Abu Ghraib pictures and stories appear on their front page?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1145998/posts:

"New York Times Streak of Page One Stories on Abu Ghraib ends at 32 Days! (UPDATED: 34 of 37 days)"

Check out this website, which I just discovered, for more examples of liberal media bias:

http://www.akdart.com/med6.html

[Ad Orientem]

The NY Times is definitely one of the leading lynch pins in the liberal media assault on capitalism and on our country as we know it. They have many, many others on their side, though. How many days did Abu Ghraib pictures and stories appear on their front page?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1145998/posts:

"New York Times Streak of Page One Stories on Abu Ghraib ends at 32 Days! (UPDATED: 34 of 37 days)"

Check out this website, which I just discovered, for more examples of liberal media bias:

http://www.akdart.com/med6.html

If reporting prominently on one of the more shocking human rights abuses perpetrated by our military is now considered media bias then I guess they are guilty as charged.  And thank God for it.

[Reub]

It was definitely bias.

How many days in a row did you see front page stories of American troops in Afghanistan posing with the corpses of their victims? Did you even hear of this recent story?

Why the difference?

[Ad Orientem]

It was definitely bias.

How many days in a row did you see front page stories of American troops in Afghanistan posing with the corpses of their victims? Did you even hear of this recent story?

Why the difference?

I did.  It was widely reported.  But while unfortunate, it was not quite in the same league as systematic torture and sexual abuse of prisoners.  One is in bad taste.  The latter is a war crime.  A distinction that perhaps the media grasps if not their knee jerk critics on the far right who see left wing conspiracy behind all criticism.

None of which is to say there is no media bias.  It very much exists in the NY Times, the Washington Post, Washington Times and FOX News.  I guess it just depends on one's political prejudices where one see bias and which biases they find objectionable.

[craigr]

Yeah, no kidding. Isn't overt, widespread bribery just kind of the general culture in Mexico? Kind of like a cost of doing business in that country.

And probably 80% of the world outside the U.S., EU, UK and Japan?

Corruption rankings by nations...
http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2011/results/

Mexico is at 100.  The US is at 24. The main problem with Wal Mart is not the bribery, which as many have noted is not terribly surprising in Mexico.  The problem is the coverup at the highest levels of the corporate HQ here in the US.  If this report is true Wal-Mart is nose deep in the brown stinky stuff and some of their execs had better be hiring criminal defense lawyers.

Nah, if anything they will get in trouble for not accounting for it correctly on their SEC disclosures. Just put in a line item for bribery in Mexico.

[MediumTex]

If I was Walmart's attorney I would suggest that they approach the U.S. government and offer to stop bribing Mexican officials to facilitate the building of new Mexican Walmart stores if the U.S. government will stop intentionally placing guns in the hands of known Mexican criminals through "gunwalking" efforts such as the 2009-2011 "Fast and Furious" operation that are later used to murder members of U.S. law enforcement.

At the same meeting I would also suggest that they provide assurances to the U.S. government that any time the CEO of Walmart visits Colombia there will be a strict "no whores" policy for his entourage.

[Lone Wolf]

If I was Walmart's attorney I would suggest that they approach the U.S. government and offer to stop bribing Mexican officials to facilitate the building of new Mexican Walmart stores if the U.S. government will stop intentionally placing guns in the hands of known Mexican criminals through "gunwalking" efforts such as the 2009-2011 "Fast and Furious" operation that are later used to murder members of U.S. law enforcement.

Now that's a great point.  Governments demonstrate a great aptitude for doublethink when assessing the ethics of others.