Here’s my list of the great orators of the 21st century:

It’s a short list, to be sure. I almost put Alan Keyes on the list, but I haven’t heard him lately. I was impressed with him during the 2000 presidential campaign season. You may not like his views, but he’s more impressive to listen to than anyone I’ve heard lately.

If you read speeches from our founding fathers and some great people who followed, you should be impressed with their style and command of the English language.

There have been great speakers from the last century. Bill Clinton admits to crying like a baby when he heard Martin Luther King, jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

This posting was inspired by Tony Woodlief’s posting “The Dividing Line“.

“I’ve been listening to Martin Luther King’s speeches today, and lamenting that the times of great oration have passed for our country. Words are cheaper now, as are most of the men who utter them. Ideas have been displaced by soundbytes. It’s safer to speak that way, I suppose, and the overriding goal of the politician is to win, not to lead.”

There are probably lots of web sites and postings along the line of “Why I hate Wal-Mart”, in fact, I saw one today (but skipped reading it).

Here are some of the reasons my family likes Wal-Mart.

1. Their return policy. Essentially, no questions asked, even without a receipt. They will ask why you’re returning an item, but they don’t make a big fuss about it even if you’ve lost the receipt. This beats K-Mart, which grills you when you don’t have a receipt, and may allow you store credit for the return. We’ve essentially stopped shopping at our K-Mart because of this. Being bought out by Sears doesn’t seem to have improved things much. We still buy a few things there, such as my Thom McAn shoes (wide-width, leather uppers, last a long time), or when we can’t find an item elsewhere. But K-Mart is about my last choice.

2. Their selection. They have lots from which to choose (sometimes too much), but you can usually find something similar to what you’re looking for. Our Target has much smaller selections in their various departments, so I usually don’t have much hope when looking for something at Target unless I’ve gotten it there before. My female household members buy socks there. Even after remodeling, our K-Mart just doesn’t seem to be a place to find great things.

3. Their prices. Wal-Mart usually has good prices on their goods. That’s a help to us. While Target doesn’t have a large selection of things we’re interested in, at least their prices are higher. K-Mart’s prices are usually good (like with my shoes), but other factors dissuade us from visiting often.

4. Their food. The Wal-Marts in our area all have grocery sections. We buy a lot of food there. Their rice milk prices are the best we’ve seen, and the prices on their regular foods are good, too. The produce isn’t the best, perhaps, but it’s ok most of the time. We do shop at Hy-Vee, Fareway, Aldi, and Sam’s, but often start at Wal-Mart because of the convenience, or we’re there for other things, too.

5. Their opponents. One way to oppose the big-city, high-brow liberals (and others) who fuss about Wal-Mart is to shop at Wal-Mart. Sure Wal-Mart is a big company with some big company problems and issues, but they seem to be striving to meet customer needs. Most of the time they meet ours. Many companies could learn some lessons from Wal-Mart.

6. Their store locations. One location in particular is very convenient for us. Another is convenient when we’re in that part of town. And we find many when we travel, simplifying shopping on the road.

Are there downsides to shopping at Wal-Mart. Sure, but they are similar to other stores anyway. Thankfully, our nearby Wal-Mart stores are clean, well-lit, and well-stocked. The aisles are usually wide enough so I don’t feel confined. Wal-Mart does attract a lot of people, so sometimes the store is more crowded than we’d like, but we get the job done anyway. Are some children noisy and misbehave? Sure, just like elsewhere. Do some adults wear offensive t-shirts? Sure, just like elsewhere. But we try to ignore some things while concentrating on getting the shopping done. I don’t usually like to browse, so that’s not a problem. And most of the store personnel try to help find items that you can’t seem to find on your own. And they were very helpful to one of my daughters who is gathering items for needy children in another country.

All in all, Wal-Mart is a top choice for us for regular, household shopping.