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Ben Stein to Wal-Mart: Hands Off Civil War Battlefield

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 7, 2009 3:29 PM CDT

(Newser) – Ben Stein loves Wal-Mart—just don’t put one smack-dab in the middle of a historic Civil War battlefield in Orange, Va. The 1864 Battle of the Wilderness was a turning point in the conflict, Stein writes in the American Spectator, and the “battlefield is incredibly important environmentally and historically and emotionally. It reeks of the blood of men fighting for causes they considered sacred.”

“I am, as noted, about as devout a fan as there is in the national media. But a store is a store and blood is blood,” Stein writes. “Now may be the time to show that Wal-Mart has a heart as well as a calculator. The blood of those men burned to death, shot through and through, some alive but leaving without their limbs, in what is still America's greatest tragedy, cries out for sanctity.”

A Wal-Mart store in Weymouth, Mass.
A Wal-Mart store in Weymouth, Mass.   (AP Photo)
A Wal-Mart Supercenter in Mechanicsburg, Pa.
A Wal-Mart Supercenter in Mechanicsburg, Pa.   (AP Photo)
Reenactors at the Cedar Creek battlefield in Virginia.
Reenactors at the Cedar Creek battlefield in Virginia.   (AP Photo)
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The Wal-Mart would be almost 140,000 square feet, not counting parking. It would be right across the street from the park entrance. It would be visible from much of the battlefield park. - Ben Stein

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 11 comments
metalworldorder
Jul 8, 2009 12:40 PM CDT
I'm glad someone else noted the "liberal fascist" comment. It really doesn't make much sense. And on that note, how much sense is it debating Ben Stein, Wal-Mart and the civil war? Waste time on something more important, like napping.
Nxxxx
Jul 8, 2009 12:08 PM CDT
I just can't do it. I can't think "Ben Stein" (or BS, as he should be known) without thinking 'Walmart....Walmart...Fry....Fry...'
emptycalm
Jul 8, 2009 5:03 AM CDT
Why do you never answer when people question you about your use of "liberal fascist"? Are you afraid the whole internet is going to find out yr actually retarded?
 

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