they paved paradise and put up a parking lot

Wal-Mart is once again proving themselves to be an evil corporation...not that it's really a surprise. Currently the city of Flagstaff, Arizona is trying to pass a ban on big box grocery stores, and Wal-Mart felt it was necessary to step in with their billion dollar opinion.

For those of you who have never been to Flagstaff, you really should go. It's a beautiful city with an excellent climate. It is the home to Northern Arizona University. It also is a city that should preserve the natural beauty that surrounds it...which is what the informed, educated citizenry is attempting to accomplish.

Wal-Mart, on the other hand, decided to compare this ballot proposal to fascist censorship, and actually used an image of a Nazi book burning in an anti-ballot proposal print ad. (Follow the link to see the actual image.)

From Wonkette.com:

To protest a Flagstaff, Arizona ballot proposal that would restrict giant grocery stores, Wal-Mart ran a newspaper ad featuring a famous Nazi book-burning photo and the following text: "Should we let government tell us what we can read? Of course not....So why should we allow local government to limit where we shop?" Perhaps thinking the photo was from its own in-house files, from when it banned America (The Book), Wal-Mart says it didn't even realize the ad depicted Nazis. When people complained, the retailer apologized "for the use of the imagery." But the general idea of equating government censorship by force with a ballot item people can vote on? That Wal-Mart stands behind completely. "We will not back away from substance of the ads," exclaimed a Wal-Mart consultant, perhaps before advising his client to not be so shy about trumpeting its efforts to skimp on employee healthcare.