I notice he's not asking for the money back. Empty apology, dick bag.

Yeah, it does nothing to make me want to go back there again.

Since Target gave the money to a PAC, which gave it to the candidate, the PAC would have to be convinced to ask for the money back. Which isn't likely.

This whole boondoggle shows that corporations are in untested waters with these kinds of donations, as this blogger points out.

I can't read BP's blogger link which probably touches on this, but I can't stand that public companies are permitted to donate to PACs. I'd much rather they hire lobbyists directly to represent their interests in DC and other levels of government--that's still a source of potential corruption, but there are also plenty of legitimate reasons for a company to interact with policy-makers. But a PAC is purely about peddling influence.

but I can't stand that public companies are permitted to donate to PACs. This! This! This!

It's like the whole Google/Verizon killing net neutrality thing. What's my recourse? Changing cell providers? Dumping my gmail address? Using Bing? Not shopping at Target? Sure, yes, but most people won't. Some can't; some don't know better. But most compare the inconvenience to the likelihood of success and decide not to. Most people won't vote with their wallets because it's ineffective.

Until most people do, that's no solution to the economic and political power imbalance between corporations and people.

I was actually just wondering about this. Someone told me that donating to UNICEF was wasteful because they're not efficient with their funds (and proposed no alternatives). And I've been trying to figure out how you figure stuff like that out...and I was thinking to myself how do corporations deal with this. They have so many things to take into consideration with regard to donations. Apparently the answer is not well.

Actually a useful apology if they can't get the money back would be either a) offering the dude even more money to pull that off his platform or b) donating an equivalent amount to the opposition.

You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit ministry that brings its hard rock gospel into public schools, has been deepening its long-running ties to the Republican Party of Minnesota. Long a cause célèbre for Rep. Michele Bachmann, who has twice lent her name to the group’s fundraising efforts, You Can Run (YCR) had a booth at the GOP convention in April, and the group’s frontman, Bradlee Dean, reports that gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer recently accepted an invitation to visit with him at Dean’s home. But recent controversial statements by Dean — that Muslim countries calling for the execution of gays and lesbians are “more moral than even the American Christians” — have drawn the ire of some both within and outside the party.

“Muslims are calling for the executions of homosexuals in America,” Dean said on YCR’s May 15 radio show on AM 1280 the Patriot. “This just shows you they themselves are upholding the laws that are even in the Bible of the Judeo-Christian God, but they seem to be more moral than even the American Christians do, because these people are livid about enforcing their laws. They know homosexuality is an abomination.”

WTF. Original source.

I realize our decision affected many of you in a way I did not anticipate...

Translation: I didn't know I was going to catch this much shit for it.

Fuck you.