What, me Wal-Mart?

I honestly had no idea about this part of Hillary!'s past until a couple of weeks ago, but it's interesting nonetheless.

With retail giant Wal-Mart under fire to improve its labor and health care policies, one Democrat with deep ties to the company Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has started feeling her share of the political heat.

Clinton served on Wal-Mart's board of directors for six years when her husband was governor of Arkansas. And the Rose Law Firm, where she was a partner, handled many of the Arkansas-based company's legal affairs.

Clinton had kind words for Wal-Mart as recently as 2004, when she told an audience at the convention of the National Retail Federation that her time on the board "was a great experience in every respect."

Given the rather tenuous relationship between Hillary! and ethics in the past (*cough* law firm billing records *cough*), it's not really going to come as much of a shocker which way this story is going to turn out.

But in recent months, as the company has become a target for Democratic activists, she has largely steered clear of any mention of Wal-Mart...

Nope, no surprise there.

Actually, the only surprising thing about this (other than the fact that an AP reporter wrote about something that could be potentially embarrassing for Hillary!) is that much of the story details efforts she made during her time on the board to enact "progressive" reforms within the company--not something you'd think she'd be shy to talk about. Then again...

"There's no evidence she did anything to improve the status of women or make it a very different place in ways Mrs. Clinton's Democratic base would care about," said Liza Featherstone, author of "Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Worker's Rights at Wal-Mart."

I suspect that people like Liza are going to gripe about Wal-Mart no matter what, so Hillary! can't win here. So sad.