Sometimes, it’s hard to know whom to root against

I know this isn’t an obvious political story, but it’s a fun one with entertaining angles.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which promotes itself as a seller of clean music, deceived customers by stocking compact discs by the rock group Evanescence that contain the f-word, a lawsuit claims.

The hit group’s latest CD and DVD, “Anywhere But Home,” don’t carry parental advisory labels alerting potential buyers to the obscenity. If they did, Wal-Mart wouldn’t carry them, according to the retailer’s policy.

But the lawsuit claims Wal-Mart knew about the explicit lyrics in the song, “Thoughtless,” because it censored the word in a free sample available on its Web site and in its stores.

The complaint, filed Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court, seeks an order requiring Wal-Mart to either censor or remove the music from its Maryland stores. It also seeks damages of up to $74,500 for each of the thousands of people who bought the music at Wal-Marts in Maryland.

Is it me, or does this little controversy open up a variety of opportunities for mockery?

First, you know the culture war has taken some bizarre twists when the pro-censorship crowd goes after pro-censorship Wal-Mart. As Carpetbagger regular Fitz emailed me to say:

“[Wal-Mart] jumped on the pander-to-fundamentalists bandwagon along with the GOP. And, like the GOP, are learning the hard way that fundamentalists do not see the world in color, or even shades of gray.”

Good point. Wal-Mart is supposed to be as red-state as Fox News, but even the anti-union, pro-slave labor behemoth can’t escape the far-right’s wrath when it comes to a CD with a “dirty” word on it.

Second, this might put conservatives’ ire over frivolous lawsuits to an unexpected test. Everyone who bought a popular album is entitled to $75 grand? Because listeners might have heard the f-word? What a bind for the far-right: Conservatives hate lawsuits, love Wal-Mart, and loathe rock albums with profanity. Will the tort-reform crowd ever embrace this as an example of a litigious culture run amok?

It’s quite a conundrum.