Jeff Bezo’s Blue-State Report Card

So I was sitting here enjoying that quiet time after the Missus leaves to do her thing as the good reverend (she gets there early, so even though I’ll be there today for the Christmas morning hoo-hah, there’s this luscious hour of absolute quiet that is Mine, All Mine; she assigned some chores for this interlude, but I just ignored them). Cuddled in the chair-and-a-half, toasty in my corporate bathrobe, I nonethless felt a chill as I found out that some writers out there in the literatiblogosphere are delisting from Amazon. Who would do that? Writers who aren’t keen on affiliating with a company that (indirectly, through PACs and individual contributions) gave a lot of dough to Republicans.

The concept of a lot of dough is relative–to exhume a politico’s crack that never gets stale for me, a billion here, a billion there, soon you’re talking about real money–but at total contributions for 2004 of $132,500, that’s still quite a bit of oil for the campaign engines.

I looked at the list from Opensecrets.org; over 60% of Amazon’s political contributions for 2004 did go to Republicans. I’m sure there’s a rationale and a pattern, but it’s nothing evident at first glance: the contributions are all over the map, both literally and figuratively, from California (for the House race, 2 Republicans, 2 Democrats) to South Dakota (for Senator Tom Daschle) and on to Massachusetts, where we see that Markey, Edward J (D-MA) got $3,000. And let us not forget $500 to a House candidate in Tennessee; hope Marsha Blackburn didn’t spend it all in one place.

Jeff Bezos himself gave $5k to the PAC, as did “Miguela” Bezos, who is not his wife (her name is MacKenzie) but perhaps is his father, Miguel (note that Bezos pere is an emigre from Cuba, but the only Florida contribution on the list is $2,000 for Democrat and House candidate Jim Davis).

So what means this? One hand giveth, and the other taketh away? I am a big Amazon user: I use Amazon to buy household goods, electronics, books for school, books for staff, books for personal use. All this time I’ve been greasing the wheels of red-state politicians. Yes, I’ve also been greasing the wheels of blue-state politicians. But I would expect a bookseller, of all companies, to support the party that (these being strange times) is currently the one defending the constitution, calling for better management of the military, and opposing the deficit-budget mentality that is going to lead us to generations of poverty if we don’t stop Washington’s spendthrifts from pissing away our future.

Oh, Amazon. A lump of coal for you. And for me, perhaps it is time to shop more responsibly, and look before I click.

It’s time to saddle up the reindeer and head to church. Happy holidays, one and all.