It’s the very definition of irony:

Wal-Mart, longtime nemesis of mom-and-pop stores nationwide, is now bankrolling The Alliance for Main Street Fairness, a front group (also funded by Best Buy, Target, Sears, and Home Depot) lobbying for sales taxes on all online retailers, but especially Amazon.com.

(Fun fact to know and tell: Wal-Mart is the biggest bookseller in America.)

Thus, this Wal-Mart funded TV spot in Tennessee, where Amazon planned to build distribution centers, but only if it got sales tax immunity.

The big-box front group also ran full-page ads in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal and New York Times quoting newspaper editorials that decried Amazon’s tax-free status as “patently unfair” and “irresponsible.”

This is a reasonable debate, but Wal-Mart in sheep’s clothing is not exactly fair play – the very thing they’re asking of Amazon.

Come out of the closet, Wal-Mart.

It’s only fair.