Hobby Lobby lets Employees go Without Pay and Defies Orders to Stay Closed

In a move that was surely designed to display Hobby Lobby CEO David Green's obvious belief that God appreciates pure evil, a mentality in direct contradiction to all accepted views on Christian theology, the arts and craft superstore has both fired people without benefits due to the Covid-19 pandemic and reopened stores in defiance of it.

Green and his non-essential business have been a study in contradictions since anyone can remember, but this pandemic has really thrown a blacklight on just what a lowlife he is and how his company reflects that. Initially, Hobby Lobby chose to stand firm on not closing no matter what. Why did they do that? Simple. Green's "prayer warrior" wife had a vision from God that arrived in a convenient, three-word catch-phrase that sounded suspiciously like a sales seminar. This inspired Green to send off a memo telling everybody who worked for him that they weren't closing.

Then reality set in and he changed his tune...temporarily. The resultant backlash to Hobby Lobby's decision to resist CDC and WHO guidelines left Green unfazed. In Oklahoma, for example, the company simply redefined "essential" by claiming their corporate office fell under the "cyber security and infrastructure agency" category, which at least one employee annonymously said they do not. 

As far as the stores were concerned, emails such as the one pictured below tell a rather bleak story:

\The language used here is almost fascinating: "This layoff is permanent," stands out in particular. The final sentence is also telling, as it essentially closes the door to the possibility of bringing the person back while wishing them all the best. Thankfully, the entire thing is peppered with standard issue "this hurts me more than it does you" rhetoric to make the (former) employee feel that wondrous combination of dejection and despair.

Yet the story doesn't end there. Being the true-to-life Bentley Little novel that it is, Hobby Lobby, in its serpent-like way, slithered out of the light of reason and compassion to reopen stores in at least two states. Talking points have been given to the managers for when law officers arrive questioning just what the hell they think they're doing and one store was actually boarded up by police in Wisconsin after reopening two on March 30th.

And still the passive-aggressive defiance continues. In Indiana, police forced a store to close after it reopened. The information employees say they're receiving from on high is contradictory, first agreeing that Hobby Lobby is not essential and later saying they are essential as a pretext for reopening. They're also cutting hours, meaning the necessary sanitizing is not getting done. 

One employee put it best when they said:

"There is absolutely nothing in Hobby Lobby worth spreading this illness. I'm honestly appalled at this company and the way it doesn't care for its employees and only about making their money."

Lowlives such as David Green are what American society tells us to admire. Why we should admire someone who couldn't care less about human beings who might  die horribly is as baffling as his claims that a kind and loving god would want people to keep being exposed to a deadly virus in order to sell arts and crafts. 

This is what happens when vulture capitalism and religious fantacism encounter tragedy.

Dispatches from the Coronovirus Days #8

I was going to hold off for a while with these posts because I felt they were coming too often, like a lousy lover, but as is the current trend and in the words of Jeffrey Lebowski, "new shit has come to light, man." So, this edition comes to you courtesy of selfish, heedless assholes who just might kill us all.

America's Wang is Dangling: In a new development that should come as no surprise to anybody, the State of Florida has 1,412 confirmed cases of Coronavirus. That brings the death toll to 18. Now why do you suppose their cases skyrocketed? Could it be because their Governor kept one thumb in his mouth and the other in his ass when he should have followed WHO and CDC recommendations to shut down his fucking beaches? Instead, he thought he would wait a little while longer so idiots could party close to one another. God only knows how many of those people have left the state to go home and infect more of us. Meanwhile, Florida is dealing with a signifcant uptick, which is probably why

They Paved Paradise & Put up a Hospital: Suddenly, off in the distance, a new crop springs forth from the ground in Florida. It isn't edible or even decorative, it's a 250-capacity hospital. More specifically, it's a field hospital like the kind used during wartime. It isn't known if it will be for Covid-19 infected patients or an overfow facility for those who don't have the virus. And while the necessity is clear, the message being sent is muddled. Next time there's a pandemic or some other crisis, morons know their heedless partying will be rewarded with extra facilities. Happy birthday, humanity!

All the World's a Failed CEO's Playground: Donald Trump said -- who am I kidding? -- Donald Trump Tweeted that he basically wants the country back up and running by Easter, which is April 12th. Consulting his own "very big brain," the reality TV star turned president seems to think we can beat back a virus that has no antibodies or vaccine to combat it because 'Murica's colors don't run and there's money to made. He has demonsrated both a stunningly clueless grasp of the situation and a disgusting level of misguided self-preservation during the entire pandemic. Now he wants to ignore experts to whom his massive ego will not allow him to defer all in the name of keeping the economy going so he can try and win reelection in November. It is also possible his childlike state of mind preventrs him from truly comprehending the scope and magnitude of this. IN other words, Trump is literally the worst president in the history of the United States to be dealing with this crisis. It isn't "melodramatic" to say this idiot is going to get a lot of Americans killed.

"Pandemic" is just another word for "Party": The well-to-do town of Westport, Connecticut now has the highest amount of positive for Covid-19 people in the state. The reason seems to be partially due to a 40th birthday party that involved lots of people who then took the virus with them to other places. This was on March 5th, when we knew the virus was coming. So, while at least one official feels it's unfair for the media to have seized upon this story, it's difficult to ignore yet another collection of self-absorbed affluent assholes living as if they have no responsibility to their fellow humans. Because of this no doubt lovely soiree, a contagion has spread even faster. That doesn't mean they deserve some of the online abuse they've received but they definitely deserve harsh critcism for being no different than the simpletons at the beaches in Florida.

Are you there, God? It's me, Common Decency: One wonders if, when horror novelist Bentley Little wrote "The Store," he was inspired by Hobby Lobby. The arts and crafts chain, a non-essential business if ever there was one, is fighting tooth and claw to remain open in spite of the "stay and shelter" mandates occuring all over the United States. First there were the CEO's bullshit claims that his "prayer warrior" wife received a catchphrase from God that let them know they should stay open, which I wrote about previously. Now another leaked memo details the absolute evil that is Hobby Lobby's policy towards its employees. I will be writing a separate piece on that in the next day or so.

This is why we Call them Anti-vaxxers: Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear is pissed off, and rightly so. Recently, some vapid "Dr. Mom" type floated a question online wondering if anybody was planning "Coronavirus parties," where so-called mothers gather their children in the hopes that they all become horribly sick and build an immunity to the targeted disease. The woman was quickly criticized for even contemplating such an ass-stupid idea with a virus that humans have no immunity against, prompting her to use the same tired, logic-deficient "a mommy knows best" assertion that has brought back the old, cured diseases thanks to the anti-vax movement. How quickly idiotic concept turns into life-threatening execution. That's why the Governor of Kentucky is so upset. It isn't clear if this was an adult party or not but when it comes to Covid-19, that hardly makes a difference.


Governor Whitmer put her foot down on March 23rd and issued a mandate that all non-essential businesses close by midnight and everybody stay the hell home. Meanwhile, the grocery store across the street from my house was filled with people not maintaining a six foot distance. It was nice, however, to see fewer cars on the main road nearby. Considering Michigan's largest hospital system is nearly maxed out on beds and equipment, staying home is our only semblance of a defense against this thing. I can't believe I'm even writing this. It's like living in a medical thriller by Robin Cook or Michael Crichton, neither of whom I particularly care for. In fact, I really dislike those types of novels.

I always wanted to know what life was like in a science fictional universe, just not the kind that involved unbeatable diseases and clueless imbeciles running the show.

I wish I could tell you how my spirits are; I'm too numb. I think I'll end the Dispatch here. 


Read the previous Dispatch here.

Hobby Lobby Remaining Open Because "God"

 God-fearin' and exploitin' Hobby Lobby CEO David Green's "prayer warrior" wife Barbara prayed so hard about this Covid-19 epidemic bugaboo that she was rewarded with a vision in the form of three easily memorized and repeated words: "Guide, Guard and Groom." And since God apparently talks like a sales seminar, that phrase is somehow meant to comfort the thousands of Hobby Lobby employees who are being made to continue working at the arts and crafts superstore.
As you can see from the memo to the left, Hobby Lobby has no intention of modifying its hours, let alone closing during a global pendemic; not when there are sales and money to be made.
You don't have to take this blog's word for it, however. The email pictured below gives pretty clear indication of the extent to which the Hobby Lobby corporation will go to profit off of tragedy.

At this point, if you still don't want to accept the evidence as presented by awesome Twitter user "Towanda the Avenger," maybe this actual notice from the Hobby Lobby website will convince you. Pay especial attention to the sentence where they say any employees who exhibit signs of Covid-19 will be sent home to self-isolate but nothing about immediately closing down right after. Clearly the CDC guidelines are not a concern for Green because his wife's conveniently catchy God-provided vision will save the day.

None of this should come as a surprise to anyone who has followed the Hobby Lobby saga over the years. Providing meager sick pay and violating the Family Medical Leave Act at least once, Green's fundamentalist hypocrisy has been on full display for years. Many would consider this a new low, however. A non-essential business remaining open based on dubious claims of Godly protection that is clearly exploiting a global pandemic for sales reasons isn't just affecting individuals or even the company's employees. Keeping their stores open when the World Health Organization, The CDC and your local veterinarian all agree you should not is irresponsible and the very hallmark of profit over people.