These campaigns are of a piece with the pressure campaigns against advertisers of conservative talk radio giant Rush Limbaugh. (Not coincidentally, many of the same groups are involved in both.) The Hush Rush mob has succeeded in finagling anti-free speech declarations from the likes of Arby’s restaurant chain and Walgreens drugstores — two companies that have never been sponsors of Limbaugh’s show, but which announced last week that they won’t advertise in his time slot on local station ad buys. Note: These are bit cancellations of an ad buy; there’s no loss of money. It’s pure, progressive gesture politics, astro-turfed by Soros-funded groups, to create the fake appearance of an anti-Rush advertising stampede — and ultimately, to chill conservative dissent.

McDonald’s, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Intuit, Kraft, Arby’s and Walgreens have shown their true colors: appeasement yellow. It’s time for conservatives to stand their ground and stop showing these corporate cowards their money.