Major Retailer Urges Workers To Take 'Civics Course' With Anti-Obama Content

[Lakhota]

By Adele M. Stan

AlterNet uncovers an anti-Obama program linked to the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity, spoon-fed to employees of a major home-improvement chain.

If you live in the Midwest and you're working on a home-improvement project, you're as likely to do your shopping at a Menards store as at a Lowe's or Home Depot. With 270 stores and 40,000 employees, Menards is the third-largest home-improvement chain in the U.S., and one of the largest privately held corporations in the country. But Menards stores sell more than just lumber and building supplies; their employees are sold a bill of goods in the form of right-wing ideology.

This January, as the Iowa Caucuses were underway, Menards began encouraging employees to take an at-home online "civics" course that characterizes the economic policies of President Barack Obama as a threat to the success of businesses such as Menards, and by extension, to the employees' own well-being.

FBI Investigation

The course, titled "Civics 101: The National Self Governing Will In-Home Training," incorporates much of the material comprising the Prosperity 101 program that AlterNet, working in partnership with the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute, exposed last year -- a program concocted by Koch-linked political operatives Mark Block and Linda Hansen, late of the now-defunct Herman Cain presidential campaign. In March, Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the FBI is investigating possible financial improprieties involving two non-profit organizations founded by Block that are linked to Prosperity 101, which is a for-profit venture.

Menards employees who sign up for the course are graded on their knowledge via a multiple choice pass-fail test, and those who pass the test are acknowledged in company publications and bulletins. While workers are not required to take the course, those who hope for promotions may feel pressure to do so, since it is clear that management is paying attention to who is or isn't taking the at-home classes, which are conducted on the employees' own time. The civics course is offered as part of a battery of courses, most of which pertain to products sold by the company, or other aspects of working at Menards.

AlterNet has obtained the online textbook for the Menards civics course. The third part of the textbok, subtitled "American Job Security," imparts a message similar to the letter sent by Koch Industries CEO Dave Robertson to retirees and employees of the company's Georgia Pacific subsidiary, as well as the e-mail sent to employees of Rite-Hite, a Milwaukee equipment manufacturer, by company owner Mark White, urging them to vote for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. While the Menards course doesn't offer an explicit candidate endorsement, it describes Obama policies in threatening terms, while policies that echo Romney's proposals are portrayed in a positive and uplifting light.

At Menards, the boss may step just shy of telling you who to vote for, but there's little doubt for whom he thinks you should cast your vote. Hoping for a promotion? You just may want to rethink that Obama/Biden bumper sticker.

Much More: Major Retailer Urges Workers To Take 'Civics Course' With Anti-Obama Content | Alternet

 

[Obamanation]

They should make children ages 6-18 take that civics course. We all deserve to learn the truth!

 

[Lakhota]

They should make children ages 6-18 take that civics course. We all deserve to learn the truth!

You mean like Jesus Camp? Are you a registered retard or just a freelancer.

 

[Obamanation]

They should make children ages 6-18 take that civics course. We all deserve to learn the truth!

You mean like Jesus Camp? Are you a registered retard or just a freelancer.

No, more like the opposite of US higher learning centers that feature anti-American pro socialist content designed to reprogram the youth of this great Country to denounce all that is good about the USA!

 

[Lakhota]

Holy shit, you sound like a skinhead.

 

[editec]

Yeah, that's typical of societies that are controlled by fascists pigs. Sign onto their big lies or forget advancement in the system.

 

[Obamanation]

Holy shit, you sound like a skinhead.

Yeah, loving the fact that I live in and love the greatest country in the world makes me a racist. It must suck to represent all that causes the deteriorization of the USA.

 

[healthmyths]

Creepy: Singing children advocate for Obama's re-election, blame parents

"Imagine an America where strip mines are fun and free; Where gays can be fixed and sick people just die; And oil fills the sea," reads the opening lyrics.

"We haven't killed all the polar bears, but it's not for lack of trying," the song adds, despite a suppressed report indicating that polar bear populations are actually increasing.

"Big Bird is sacked," the children sing - a clear reference to Mitt Romney's comment that he would stop taxpayer subsidies of PBS.

"The Earth is cracked and the atmosphere is frying," they add, despite a report showing that global warming ended 16 years ago.

Creepy: Singing children advocate for Obama's re-election, blame parents - National Elections | Examiner.com

 

[Skull Pilot]

Urges.

So what no one is compelled to take the course are they?

Shit stores "urge" us to do shit all the time so do companies like Apple.

So what exactly is your point?

 

[Obamanation]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0FFEEJUeHk&feature=player_embedded]Indoctrinated Lib-Kids Shreik About How Horrible The World Will Be If We Don't Reelect Obama - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Two Thumbs]

So a company suggest some training, for adults, and that's evil

Teachers teach kids to sing praises about a Pres and there's nothing wrong.



I hope you see what a hypocrite you are.

 

[bripat9643]

Yeah, that's typical of societies that are controlled by fascists pigs. Sign onto their big lies or forget advancement in the system.

That's exactly how our government works, you stupid douche nozzle.

 

[OKTexas]

By Adele M. Stan

AlterNet uncovers an anti-Obama program linked to the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity, spoon-fed to employees of a major home-improvement chain.

If you live in the Midwest and you're working on a home-improvement project, you're as likely to do your shopping at a Menards store as at a Lowe's or Home Depot. With 270 stores and 40,000 employees, Menards is the third-largest home-improvement chain in the U.S., and one of the largest privately held corporations in the country. But Menards stores sell more than just lumber and building supplies; their employees are sold a bill of goods in the form of right-wing ideology.

This January, as the Iowa Caucuses were underway, Menards began encouraging employees to take an at-home online "civics" course that characterizes the economic policies of President Barack Obama as a threat to the success of businesses such as Menards, and by extension, to the employees' own well-being.

FBI Investigation

The course, titled "Civics 101: The National Self Governing Will In-Home Training," incorporates much of the material comprising the Prosperity 101 program that AlterNet, working in partnership with the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute, exposed last year -- a program concocted by Koch-linked political operatives Mark Block and Linda Hansen, late of the now-defunct Herman Cain presidential campaign. In March, Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the FBI is investigating possible financial improprieties involving two non-profit organizations founded by Block that are linked to Prosperity 101, which is a for-profit venture.

Menards employees who sign up for the course are graded on their knowledge via a multiple choice pass-fail test, and those who pass the test are acknowledged in company publications and bulletins. While workers are not required to take the course, those who hope for promotions may feel pressure to do so, since it is clear that management is paying attention to who is or isn't taking the at-home classes, which are conducted on the employees' own time. The civics course is offered as part of a battery of courses, most of which pertain to products sold by the company, or other aspects of working at Menards.

AlterNet has obtained the online textbook for the Menards civics course. The third part of the textbok, subtitled "American Job Security," imparts a message similar to the letter sent by Koch Industries CEO Dave Robertson to retirees and employees of the company's Georgia Pacific subsidiary, as well as the e-mail sent to employees of Rite-Hite, a Milwaukee equipment manufacturer, by company owner Mark White, urging them to vote for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. While the Menards course doesn't offer an explicit candidate endorsement, it describes Obama policies in threatening terms, while policies that echo Romney's proposals are portrayed in a positive and uplifting light.

At Menards, the boss may step just shy of telling you who to vote for, but there's little doubt for whom he thinks you should cast your vote. Hoping for a promotion? You just may want to rethink that Obama/Biden bumper sticker.

Much More: Major Retailer Urges Workers To Take 'Civics Course' With Anti-Obama Content | Alternet

Are you a communist?

Why do you hate free speach?

You freaking commiecrats tell everyone that Romney is going to send their jobs to China.

But when an employeer tell its employees the policies of a particular politican may cost them their jobs, it's some how evil.

You lack of intellectual honesty is freaking amazing.

Grow up man!

 

[candycorn]

I suggest the right wing go fuck itself. I'm not saying they should do it, I just suggested it.

 

[Mr. H.]

We'll be fucking someone allright, come next Tuesday.

 

[Skull Pilot]

We'll be fucking someone allright, come next Tuesday.

Don't you mean someone will be fucking us?

 

[LeftofLeft]

By Adele M. Stan

AlterNet uncovers an anti-Obama program linked to the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity, spoon-fed to employees of a major home-improvement chain.

If you live in the Midwest and you're working on a home-improvement project, you're as likely to do your shopping at a Menards store as at a Lowe's or Home Depot. With 270 stores and 40,000 employees, Menards is the third-largest home-improvement chain in the U.S., and one of the largest privately held corporations in the country. But Menards stores sell more than just lumber and building supplies; their employees are sold a bill of goods in the form of right-wing ideology.

This January, as the Iowa Caucuses were underway, Menards began encouraging employees to take an at-home online "civics" course that characterizes the economic policies of President Barack Obama as a threat to the success of businesses such as Menards, and by extension, to the employees' own well-being.

FBI Investigation

The course, titled "Civics 101: The National Self Governing Will In-Home Training," incorporates much of the material comprising the Prosperity 101 program that AlterNet, working in partnership with the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute, exposed last year -- a program concocted by Koch-linked political operatives Mark Block and Linda Hansen, late of the now-defunct Herman Cain presidential campaign. In March, Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the FBI is investigating possible financial improprieties involving two non-profit organizations founded by Block that are linked to Prosperity 101, which is a for-profit venture.

Menards employees who sign up for the course are graded on their knowledge via a multiple choice pass-fail test, and those who pass the test are acknowledged in company publications and bulletins. While workers are not required to take the course, those who hope for promotions may feel pressure to do so, since it is clear that management is paying attention to who is or isn't taking the at-home classes, which are conducted on the employees' own time. The civics course is offered as part of a battery of courses, most of which pertain to products sold by the company, or other aspects of working at Menards.

AlterNet has obtained the online textbook for the Menards civics course. The third part of the textbok, subtitled "American Job Security," imparts a message similar to the letter sent by Koch Industries CEO Dave Robertson to retirees and employees of the company's Georgia Pacific subsidiary, as well as the e-mail sent to employees of Rite-Hite, a Milwaukee equipment manufacturer, by company owner Mark White, urging them to vote for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. While the Menards course doesn't offer an explicit candidate endorsement, it describes Obama policies in threatening terms, while policies that echo Romney's proposals are portrayed in a positive and uplifting light.

At Menards, the boss may step just shy of telling you who to vote for, but there's little doubt for whom he thinks you should cast your vote. Hoping for a promotion? You just may want to rethink that Obama/Biden bumper sticker.

Much More: Major Retailer Urges Workers To Take 'Civics Course' With Anti-Obama Content | Alternet

Wait til the Koch Brothers take a page from the Unions and figure out how to garnish wages that can be used to fund their political candidates? Will that be more appropriate?

 

[Lakhota]

 

[tjvh]

I suggest the right wing go fuck itself. I'm not saying they should do it, I just suggested it.

Just like the typical liberal loons... They always claim to know what is best for everyone else, but nobody should question people like candycorn when she goes and fucks herself, after all... The right wing doesn't belong in her vagina... Newsflash... Cleaning fish is more appetizing.