Starbucks has been printing witty and pithy aphorisms on its paper cups, many of them from "liberal" thinkers (it's alarming that Chuck D is considered a "liberal;" if I were him, I'd demand to be considered "radical" — "liberal" sounds so soppy and weak-kneed).
So right-wing Starbucks customers have gathered to protest this, demanding that Starbucks give equal representation to "conservative" thought. And to judge from the comments on the Starbucks site, it's clear that environmentalists don't count as conservatives.
I think they should get lots of good conservative quotes, like John Gilmore's "If you're watching everyone, you're watching no one," and Lincoln's "If destruction be our lot, we ourselves must be its author and its finisher," and Jefferson's "He who receives an idea from me receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me."
The problem, critics say, is the company's list of overwhelmingly liberal contributors, including Al Franken, Melissa Etheridge, Quincy Jones, Chuck D. Of the 31 contributors listed on Starbucks' Web site, only one, National Review editor Jonah Goldberg, offers a conservative viewpoint.
Considering Starbucks sells millions of cups of coffee each day – some specialty drinks at $4 and up – it's no surprise some customers have complained to Starbucks' Web site, labeling the campaign "offensive" and the company a proponent of "the destruction of family values and virtues."
"I want to enjoy your product without having Earth Day Network propaganda thrust at me," wrote Malachi Salcido of East Wenatchee, Wash.