More Apologies

While we're on the subject of apologies, Wal-mart issued an apology yesterday for what it called a "terrible mistake" in putting out an ad equating Nazi book-burning with local zoning ordinances in Arizona. The ad was part of a campaign to stop a ballot proposal in Flagstaff, AZ, which would prevent Wal-Mart from expanding a local store to include a grocery department. The photograph in the ad was a well-known Nazi-era image, showing scenes from Berlin in 1933 of Nazis throwing books into a large pyre. The text of the ad read: "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?"

After Wal-Mart came under fire from the ADL, members of Congress and others, they apologized for their "use of imagery". They also said, however, that they will "not back away from the substance in the ads".

Yeah, I'm sure most people here equate government censorship with a ballot proposal that citizens can vote on.