Conservatives are angered by opinionated quotes that Starbucks puts on its

[Jon8503]

Date: Saturday, March 26 @ 08:55:10 EST
Topic: Conservatives And The Right
By Jay Cridlin, St. Petersburg Times

Moments after picking up a venti vanilla latte from a St. Petersburg Starbucks, Sam Maston removed his cup's cardboard sleeve to inspect a message printed beneath.

"America's national debt is now $7.5-trillion, and it's skyrocketing, even as America's population ages," the cup read. "There will never be a better time to start paying off this crippling debt than today."

The quote, from environmentalist Denis Hayes, didn't faze the 29-year-old Maston. "I'm a pretty hardcore Democrat," said Maston, who wore a black rubber wristband bearing the words I DID NOT VOTE 4 BUSH. "I think they should put that stuff on there."

Not everyone agrees.

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.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/print.php?sid=20453

[Payback Time]

1. Yay Starbucks!!!!!!!!!!!! Corps are not ALL bad!!!!

Thank you for posting this :-)

[Midnight Rambler]

3. I don't care how much Starbucks hates Bush...

I don't like paying an arm and a leg for coffee. I'll keep getting my coffee for a little over a dollar from the donut shop next door to my apartment, thank you.

[pnorman]

10. I'm, not sure what all this "arm and a leg" stuff is all about.

A person goes to these "fancy" coffee houses, to liesurely relax and ENJOY good coffee, made to one'e wishes. Anyone who has spent much time in Japan will know what I mean.

My kitchen is a temple to coffee, with 4 different coffee devices (including an espresso machine), 3 grinders (including a hand mill), and 3 premium coffee beans by mail order (espresso beans bought locally). But when I'm out on the street, I pull in to any of several coffee shops in downtown Seattle, and read a magazine or listen to an MP3 device, and drink good coffee. Double shot Americano, with a tasty pastry ... ~$4.00 ...ahhhhhh!

pnorman

On edit: I'd just as soon NOT see "political" messages on something I buy, even if I agree with them. That can easily cut both ways. I'd rather be my own political message, with a "NO IRAQ WAR" button on my jacket

[Midnight Rambler]

18. Well, I'm a college student

So I can't really afford the highest quality coffee. :shrug: Besides, the coffee houses near my place are all pretty affordable anyways

[Clark2008]

15. I agree.

I'll keep making my OWN coffee for just over $2 bucks per container and put it in a sealed mug to take with me to work (when I find a job, that is).

[Hippo_Tron]

21. It at least helps that you can buy from there and not feel bad about it

I go for coffee at local places usually but when I travel it's nice to know that when I get a starbucks, my money isn't going to Republicans.

[Midnight Rambler]

22. Yeah, it's owned by a couple from India

They know me pretty well by know. Every know and then they'll give me a free cinnamon roll.

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. As a common supposed insult is 'latte drinking liberals', I don't

expect that the conservatives have a whole lot to complain about. If they even notice.

[MuseRider]

4. Oh boo f'in hoo.

If we have to put up with their dumb ass Bush** then they can put up with the fact that not everyone is a mindless Bushbot. God these people have everything and still can't stop complaining.

[HughBeaumont]

5. DUMBEST quote of the year:

Yvette Nunez, a 27-year-old Republican from Tampa, said she hadn't noticed the quotes on her weekly caramel machiattos. On "tall" cups, the text is obscured by a cardboard sleeve.

"There are a lot of great conservative quotes, but oh well," she said. "I'm not surprised. I'm used to being under-represented."

Um, HOW, dumbass, are you "under-represented"? Your gaggle of assholes that you worship controls EVERYTHING - the media, the corporations, Congress, religion, the military, the Presidency - and you're upset because someone is talking about getting back to fiscal responsibility (something that BOTH parties should hold sacred) on a fucking COFFEE cup?

GOD I can't take these idiots sometimes. I really can't.

[Feathered Fish]

6. "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 antone out; pursue any goal. Don't take it personally when they say "no" - they may not be smart enough to say 'yes'."

-KEITH OLBERMANN

LOL!!:D
Check out your venti cups folks.

[Clark2008]

17. I love this man - more and more every day.

I'm in the process of hunting for work after a layoff (more like a fuck-off - they didn't want to pay my salary) and, you know, I probably needed to hear this!

:)

:loveya: (floatie hearts from the KOEB)

[TreasonousBastard]

7. Why the hell is this even a story...

except for the PR that Starbucks is trying something interesting and innovative?

So some people are pissed at the quotes-- you can't say ANYTHING in this country that somebody won't get a wedgie over.

Anyone pissed at the quotes seems to have a perfect right to submit their own ideas. Reagan, Nixon, Goldwater, Buckley... all of them have said something reasonable at some time. Even the unreasonable stuff wouldn't keep me out of Starbucks.

(The taste of the coffee and the prices do, though.)

[fob]

26. Ever ordered a drink at an In-n-Out Burger? The owner of that chain has

things like John 3:16 printed on the bottom of his cups.

[loro mi dicevano]

8. Quotes are good and all, but I don't "do" Starbucks.

http://www.starbucksunion.org/node/43

I only buy coffee there when I'm in New York and there's no Caribou - I just can't do it.

[AntiCoup2K4]

9. Not really a Starbucks fan, but this cracks me up anyway, because....

It proves that Busheep don't want to read anything that might require them to THINK for themselves, they would rather be led by their fascist masters.

[ginnyinWI]

11. Haha--don't go there if you don't like it, repubs.

More room for the rest of us. :)

edit: by the way, they have a 100% rating as a buy-Blue business. (naturally)

[dorktv]

12. Well In-N-Out has bible verses on their burger wrappers...

so I guess it evens out?

[paineinthearse]

13. Our strategy needs to provoke the cons every day.

Make their veins bulge and their heads burst!

Good for Starbucks. Although I don't drink their high-priced coffee, I may splurge tomorrow.

[jdots]

14. What will Dr. Evil think ?

The worst thing about starbucks is having to wait behind 14 ass holes getting thier de-caf soy milk ta-ta-too-too exlax el grande yuppy frothy moacha woo-woo frappe 4 $ bullshit when I need caffine now ! and some fat & sugar.

[MollyStark]

25. Are you my father?

Sorry if I got the sex wrong, but my father would have said the same thing. LOL

[Pool Hall Ace]

28. Thank you, thank you for this laugh !!

jdots description of a Starbucks offering: de-caf soy milk ta-ta-too-too exlax el grande yuppy frothy moacha woo-woo frappe
:toast:

[TrustingDog]

16. Starbucks can kiss my ass.

TOM MERTES

ON NO LOGO by Naomi Klein

Starbucks offers a prime example of this process. Its outlets purport to offer more than just coffee—they supply a mood or feeling, a commonality of customers, a ‘spiritual/designer object’. The soulful ambience ill-conceals the predatory reality. Starbucks is notorious for its saturation policy, seeking out competitors in the urban space and building in close proximity to them. Even as its competitors are driven from the field, crushed by its economies of scale, Starbucks will continue to build until its accountants determine that saturation has been reached and superfluous stores are closed. Like Wal-Mart, it hires part-timers who are kept on call, working drastically abbreviated shifts several times a day. It was practices like these that triggered direct action against the chain in Seattle.

http://www.newleftreview.net/NLR23813.shtml

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

19. Starbucks politics aside

I think it's interesting the conservatives claim to be on the short end of this stick. What they fail to realize is if the quotes were reversed how appallingly stupid they would sound.
For example:
"America's national debt is now 7.5 trillion and skyrocketing, but tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of the population is good for the country"
See what I mean? :)

[kenny blankenship]

20. Some Quotations I'd love to see!

It is up to Iraq to show exactly where it is hiding its banned weapons, lay those weapons out for the world to see and destroy them as directed. Nothing like this has happened.

The United Nations concluded in 1999 that Saddam Hussein had biological weapons materials sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of anthrax; enough doses to kill several million people. He hasn't accounted for that material. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed it.

The United Nations concluded that Saddam Hussein had materials sufficient to produce more than 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin; enough to subject millions of people to death by respiratory failure. He hasn't accounted for that material. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed it.

Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent. In such quantities, these chemical agents could also kill untold thousands. He's not accounted for these materials. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

U.S. intelligence indicates that Saddam Hussein had upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents. Inspectors recently turned up 16 of them, despite Iraq's recent declaration denying their existence. Saddam Hussein has not accounted for the remaining 29,984 of these prohibited munitions. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

From three Iraqi defectors we know that Iraq, in the late 1990s, had several mobile biological weapons labs. These are designed to produce germ warfare agents and can be moved from place to a place to evade inspectors. Saddam Hussein has not disclosed these facilities. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in the 1990s that Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons development program, had a design for a nuclear weapon and was working on five different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb.

The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.

Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production

--George W. Bush, 2003 State of the Union Address

If Starbucks would print cups with this excerpt as a useful reminder to its patrons of how George W. Bush is a pathological liar and mass murderer, I would consider drinking their overroasted flavorless coffees again. No, I would not--that's going too far.

[stray cat]

23. Fiscal responsiblity and debt management is now an extreme liberal value

It sounds more like a statement of common sense. It doesn't say much for conservatives.

[otohara]

24. "I'm not surprised. I'm used to being under-represented."

said the stupid woman who must not realize that the majority of our current government is run by maniacs who "represent her"

[XemaSab]

27. Had a Phil Levine quote the other day

Props to Starbucks for even having HEARD of Phil Levine.