Snatching Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory

Talk about the Law of Unintended Consequences coming around to bite someone in the ass, there's this little example from Portland, Oregon.

Trader Joe's, a grocery market chain wishing to create a presence in a Northeast Portland neighborhood, had plans to build and open a new store in the area in an effort to both help beautify a struggling part of the city and to create much needed jobs.

But then one of Portland' “community organizer” groups caught wind of Trader Joe's plans and everything changed, and not for the better.

The company selected two acres along Martin Luther King Blvd. that had been vacant for decades. It seemed like the perfect place to create jobs, improve customer options and beautify the neighborhood. City officials, the business community, and residents all seemed thrilled with the plan. Then some community organizers caught wind of it.

After a few months of racially tinged accusations and angry demands, Trader Joe’s decided it wasn’t worth the hassle. “We run neighborhood stores and our approach is simple,” a corporate statement said. “If a neighborhood does not want a Trader Joe's, we understand, and we won't open the store in question.”

Hours after Trader Joe’s pulled out, PAALF leaders arrived at a previously scheduled press conference trying to process what just happened. The group re-issued demands that the now-cancelled development include affordable housing, mandated jobs based on race, and a small-business slush fund. Instead, the only demand being met is two fallow acres and a lot of anger from the people who actually live nearby.

What makes this even more ironic is that the “community organizers” weren't even from that community. They swooped in, made the project unpalatable to Trader Joe's which then went Galt, and left it up to the community they were there to 'save' to pick up the pieces. That's how these a**holes work.

The community would have seen new jobs and news sources of goods come into their neighborhood, but then some loudmouth jerks come in at the last minute to throw a monkey wrench into the works, and then the jerks wonder why the members of the community they 'saved' are pissed off at them.

Talk about being friggin' clueless!