When companies or people make political stands and expect me to support their stands with my money, I get irritated. I would prefer that they would separate the commercial part of their business with their attempts to influence the political landscape, particularly when I disagree with their viewpoints. Some businesses like Ben and Jerry's are right up front with their political views. That is good. Consumers can make a choice. Buy great ice cream and have a portion of the profits go to Ben and Jerry's favorite organizations. Others, like Target Stores, are sneaky and disguise their support for their extreme political stances with donations to organizations like Planned Parenthood that you rarely hear about.

There was a great flap over the Dixie Chicks who have loudly claimed that their first amendment rights to speak out on political matters. Nothing can be further from the truth. People have a right to speak out and people have a right not to buy. Nothing complex about that.

A boycott opportunity is going to present itself in the next couple of weeks. There is a movie due to come out that stars actors (Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, and Lawrence Fishburne) who stood arm-in-arm with people who walked around with signs shown in the accompanying picture. If you want to send these people a message about their support for our country during war do not go see Mystic River. I won't.