The Goat Pen

Just weeks after halting sales of all firearms to customers under the age of 21 and banning AR-type rifles in its Field and Stream stores, retail giant Dick’s Sporting Goods announced a “deeper-than-expected” sales drop as their stock sank the most in four months, according to Fortune.

“There’s going to be some pushback and we expected that,” said CEO Edward Stack, in an earnings call with Wall Street analysts, CNN reports. “There are going to be the people who don’t shop us anymore for anything.”

Nearly one year ago, Americans across the country initiated a boycott over Target’s transgender bathroom policy. Now, the company reveals the boycott really hurt the company’s bottom line.

On April 19 of 2016, Target publicized their bathroom policy in a blog post. The store stated their policy was that customers were welcome to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with, despite concerns over child safety.

“Inclusivity is a core belief at Target,” the company wrote. “Everyone deserves to feel like they belong. And you’ll always be accepted, respected and welcomed at Target.”

But according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, Target CEO Brian Cornell says he never approved the post, only found out about it after it was published and said the ensuing backlash was “self-inflicted.”

More from Yahoo News:

The boycott cost the company millions in lost sales and added expenses. Shopper traffic and same-store sales started sliding for the first time in years after the blog post, and the company was forced to spend $20 million installing single-occupancy bathrooms in all its stores to give critics of the policy more privacy.

Sales fell nearly 6% in the three quarters after the post compared with the same period last year, and same-store sales have dropped every quarter since the post.

eCat wrote:I still can't get over how people are marching in Washington begging congress to take constitutional rights away from them

bluetick wrote:John Edwards lost everything based on a whole lot less.

bluetick wrote:

eCat wrote:I still can't get over how people are marching in Washington begging congress to take constitutional rights away from them

You gotta give them something this time. 100 gun bills introduced to Congress since Sandy Hook and nary a one passed. Either relieve a little pressure this time or the whole thing might blow

bluetick wrote:John Edwards lost everything based on a whole lot less.

Either relieve a little pressure this time or the whole thing might blow

its a shame all those people recognizing Dick's for their stand against gun sales (especially at their hunting oriented stores called Field and Stream) are still shopping elsewhere.

You'd think Target would be a good case study on creating a policy on a divided America

sardis wrote:

bluetick wrote:John Edwards lost everything based on a whole lot less.

Before that story hit he was already out of the Senate and had lost the 2004 election with John Kerry.

Unless you are dumb enough to think he had any chance in the 2008 Presidential primary, he pretty much had already lost everything politically up to that point.

eCat wrote:screwing around on your wife dying of cancer - yea, I'd say that loses the women vote.

bluetick wrote:

sardis wrote:

bluetick wrote:John Edwards lost everything based on a whole lot less.

Before that story hit he was already out of the Senate and had lost the 2004 election with John Kerry.

Unless you are dumb enough to think he had any chance in the 2008 Presidential primary, he pretty much had already lost everything politically up to that point.

So, what is Edwards up to these days? According to The Washington Post's Michael Leahy back in 2012, months prior to Edwards' acquittal, his life was pretty normal, if plagued by a lot of stress — amid spending time with his children, and residing at the estate that he'd left behind when Elizabeth filed for divorce in 2010, he also suffered a heart scare that momentarily delayed his legal proceedings.

Nowadays, however, he's back at the job that once earned him millions, and helped set the stage for his leap into elected politics. According to USA Today back in April 2014, Edwards is practicing law again, having opened up a law firm called Edwards Kirby, named after himself and his partner, David Kirby. His daughter Cate is also an attorney with the firm. They specialize in personal injury cases, which was always part of the right-wing knock on Edwards as a politician — fairly or not, personal injury lawyers are often labelled as "ambulance-chasers."

Basically, if you're a sucker for a good political redemption story, you'll likely be disappointed in this instance. Simply put, there's been absolutely no public indication Edwards will ever mount another run for office, and it's not hard to see why. Simply put, the combination of factors that led up to his fall from grace — a relatively usual political sex affair, amplified by the sleazy betrayal of his dying wife, and the tabloid headlines it generated — has basically closed the book on John Edwards, politician.


No Access Hollywood tape, no 16 women claiming unwanted sexual advances (think Al Franken), and no payoffs to porn stars and Playboy models. No three marriages, with wife number two claiming rape. Yet Edwards is persona non grata politically, not even a quick cameo on msNBC. Whereas Donnie is already campaigning for his re-election.

DooKSucks wrote:

eCat wrote:screwing around on your wife dying of cancer - yea, I'd say that loses the women vote.

Except that if you knew anything about Elizabeth Edwards, you would know that she was a cunt.