Call Off the Buycott? Another Tea Party Media Stunt

Back in April, the St. Louis Tea Party called for a "buycott" of Ford because Ford was apparently the Last Great Patriotic American Car Company. The tea party was excited that Ford did not take funds from the U.S. government as did General Motors and Chrysler, and thus they considered it a True Paragon of Capitalism, smacking away the hand of the Oppressive Big Government who offered to help Ford stand up.

But, alas, this once noble Galtian company has apparently succumbed to the pernicious propaganda of the socialists trying to take over our country, because today it became official that Ford is going to receive $100 million in incentives from the state of Missouri. Apparently their desire to be ruggedly independent did not overcome their desire to get some nice freebies. Will the tea party now call off their "buycott" of Ford?

This reinforces once again that the buycotts put on by John and Gina Loudon and the St. Louis tea party are nothing more than p.r. stunts. The Whole Foods buycott was a joke, as evidenced by the fact that prominent tea party leaders were bragging about shopping at Trader Joes a few months later. You know, Trader Joes, the place that sells stuff that's similar to Whole Foods except cheaper? After their initial Whole Foods buycott and a few more p.r. opportunities, the Loudons forgot all about Whole Foods. And after sending their big press release about Ford, they forgot all about it too.

These campaigns are not designed to actually change anything. Or, if they are, they are being run by people with no ability whatsoever to actually have a significant economic impact. There's only one thing the buycotts are good at: they do a great job of getting publicity for the tea party, and more specifically for the Loudons.