Reminiscent of Tom Hagen, his legendary character in “The Godfather,” actor Robert Duvall is making Wal-Mart an offer it can’t refuse.
Duvall was the star attraction at a rainy rally Monday morning at the Wilderness Battlefield in Orange County, Va.. Participants called on the retailing behemoth to relocate its proposed Supercenter, which would stand within the footprint of the key Civil War site.
“First we had Disney, then we had the power lines. Now we have Wal-Mart,” said Duvall, in a nod to the other threats to the area’s Civil War heritage that preservationists have had to beat back over the years.
Duvall was born in Virginia, and currently resides in The Plains, Va., with his wife, Luciana Pedraza. He not only played Robert E. Lee in the film “Gods and Generals,” but as he told the crowd, he’s actually a descendent of Lee. “I think everybody in Virginia lays claim to that,” he joked. Duvall went on to confess, however, that his family tree was a bit more split among blue and gray. Certain other ancestors of his were pro-Union, and he even had a grandfather named Abraham Lincoln Duvall. “I hesitate to say that in this company,” he said.
Duvall is conservative by Hollywood standards. He stumped for John McCain and Sarah Palin last year. But, he made clear, he isn’t for unlimited free markets. “I believe in capitalism, but I believe in capitalism coupled with sensitivity.”
Duvall was joined by Reps. Ted Poe, R-Texas, and Peter Welch, D-Vt., whose states suffered heavy losses during the battle. “We don’t want Wal-Mart putting asphalt over the graves of the young men who died,” Poe said.
Welch asked “whether there needs to be a fifth Wal-Mart within 20 miles to be sighted on this cathedral of suffering.”
In pledging to “graciously [chase] out Wal-Mart,” Duvall and his allies even went a step further. Not only should the multinational corporation move its store down the road, they said, but it should also donate funds toward preserving the area’s national parks.
Don Corleone would be proud.
