Indebtedness and Credit Agreements (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified					6 Months Ended			6 Months Ended					6 Months Ended			6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended				6 Months Ended																1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		1 Months Ended						1 Months Ended
	Sep. 01, 2012	Mar. 03, 2012	Sep. 01, 2012 Secured Debt	Mar. 03, 2012 Secured Debt	Sep. 01, 2012 Senior secured credit facility item	Sep. 01, 2012 Senior secured revolving credit facility due August 2015	Mar. 03, 2012 Senior secured revolving credit facility due August 2015	Sep. 01, 2012 Senior secured revolving credit facility due August 2015 Minimum	Sep. 01, 2012 Senior secured revolving credit facility due August 2015 Maximum	Sep. 01, 2012 Senior secured revolving credit facility due August 2015 LIBOR	Sep. 01, 2012 Senior secured revolving credit facility due August 2015 LIBOR Minimum	Sep. 01, 2012 Senior secured revolving credit facility due August 2015 LIBOR Maximum	Sep. 01, 2012 Senior secured revolving credit facility due August 2015 Citibank's base rate	Sep. 01, 2012 Senior secured revolving credit facility due August 2015 Citibank's base rate Minimum	Sep. 01, 2012 Senior secured revolving credit facility due August 2015 Citibank's base rate Maximum	Sep. 01, 2012 Tranche 2 Term Loan June 2014	Mar. 03, 2012 Tranche 2 Term Loan June 2014	Sep. 01, 2012 Tranche 2 Term Loan June 2014 LIBOR	Sep. 01, 2012 Tranche 2 Term Loan June 2014 Citibank's base rate	Sep. 01, 2012 Tranche 5 Term Loan due March 2018	Mar. 03, 2012 Tranche 5 Term Loan due March 2018	Sep. 01, 2012 Tranche 5 Term Loan due March 2018 LIBOR	Sep. 01, 2012 Tranche 5 Term Loan due March 2018 LIBOR Minimum	Sep. 01, 2012 9.75% senior secured notes (senior lien) due June 2016	Mar. 03, 2012 9.75% senior secured notes (senior lien) due June 2016	Sep. 01, 2012 8.00% senior secured notes (senior lien) due August 2020	Mar. 03, 2012 8.00% senior secured notes (senior lien) due August 2020	Sep. 01, 2012 10.375% senior secured notes (second lien) due July 2016	Mar. 03, 2012 10.375% senior secured notes (second lien) due July 2016	Sep. 01, 2012 7.5% senior secured notes (second lien) due March 2017	Mar. 03, 2012 7.5% senior secured notes (second lien) due March 2017	Sep. 01, 2012 10.25% senior secured notes (second lien) due October 2019	Mar. 03, 2012 10.25% senior secured notes (second lien) due October 2019	Sep. 01, 2012 Other secured	Mar. 03, 2012 Other secured	Sep. 01, 2012 Guaranteed Unsecured Debt:	Mar. 03, 2012 Guaranteed Unsecured Debt:	Feb. 29, 2012 8.625% senior notes due March, 2015	Mar. 03, 2012 8.625% senior notes due March, 2015	Sep. 01, 2012 8.625% senior notes due March, 2015	Jun. 30, 2012 9.375% senior notes due December 2015	May 31, 2012 9.375% senior notes due December 2015	Sep. 01, 2012 9.375% senior notes due December 2015	Mar. 03, 2012 9.375% senior notes due December 2015	Sep. 01, 2012 9.5% senior notes due June 2017	Mar. 03, 2012 9.5% senior notes due June 2017	May 31, 2012 9.25% senior notes due March 2020	Feb. 29, 2012 9.25% senior notes due March 2020	Sep. 01, 2012 9.25% senior notes due March 2020	Mar. 03, 2012 9.25% senior notes due March 2020	Sep. 01, 2012 Unsecured Unguaranteed Debt	Mar. 03, 2012 Unsecured Unguaranteed Debt	Sep. 01, 2012 9.25% senior notes due June 2013	Mar. 03, 2012 9.25% senior notes due June 2013	Sep. 01, 2012 6.875% senior debentures due August 2013	Mar. 03, 2012 6.875% senior debentures due August 2013	Sep. 01, 2012 8.5% convertible notes due May 2015	Mar. 03, 2012 8.5% convertible notes due May 2015	Sep. 01, 2012 7.7% notes due February 2027	Mar. 03, 2012 7.7% notes due February 2027	Sep. 01, 2012 6.875% fixed-rate senior notes due December 2028	Mar. 03, 2012 6.875% fixed-rate senior notes due December 2028
Indebtedness and credit agreements
Long-term debt			$ 3,650,986	$ 3,787,084			$ 136,000									$ 1,041,713	$ 1,044,433			$ 331,161	$ 331,879			$ 405,950	$ 405,421	$ 650,000	$ 650,000	$ 448,343	$ 445,578	$ 500,000	$ 500,000	$ 268,533	$ 268,431	$ 5,286	$ 5,342	$ 1,710,916	$ 1,740,653		$ 54,156					$ 402,327	$ 803,821	$ 803,170			$ 907,095	$ 481,000	$ 673,480	$ 673,480	$ 6,015	$ 6,015	$ 180,277	$ 180,277	$ 64,188	$ 64,188	$ 295,000	$ 295,000	$ 128,000	$ 128,000
Lease financing obligations	123,529	126,984
Total debt	6,158,911	6,328,201
Current maturities of long-term debt and lease financing obligations	(228,134)	(79,421)
Long-term debt and lease financing obligations, less current maturities	5,930,777	6,248,780
Face value																				332,525	333,367			410,000	410,000			470,000	470,000			270,000	270,000										405,000	405,000	810,000	810,000			902,000	902,000
Unamortized discount																				1,364	1,488			4,050	4,579			21,657	24,422			1,467	1,569											2,673	6,179	6,830			5,095
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)																								9.75%		8.00%		10.375%		7.50%		10.25%								8.625%			9.375%		9.50%				9.25%				9.25%		6.875%		8.50%		7.70%		6.875%
Credit facility
Revolving credit facility						1,175,000
Number of term loans					2
Reference rate for variable interest rate										LIBOR			Citibank's base rate					LIBOR				LIBOR
Percentage points added to the reference rate											3.25%	3.75%		2.25%	2.75%			1.75%	0.75%			3.25%	1.25%
Percentage of fee payable on daily unused revolver availability								0.50%	0.75%
Minimum number of days the Company may extend the due date																90 days
Minimum remaining borrowing capacity required on line of credit before debt is repaid or refinanced						500,000
Letters of credit outstanding						125,134
Additional borrowing capacity						1,049,866
Number of months senior credit facility has restrictions					3 months
Number of months of maturity allowed to incur an unlimited amount of unsecured debt					3 months
Threshold availability on revolving credit facility to trigger fixed charge coverage requirements					150,000
Minimum fixed charge coverage ratio (as a percent)					1.05
Ownership interest (as a percent)	100.00%
Issuance of debt																																															421,000	481,000
Repurchase of notes																																						404,844	55,644		108,731	296,269
Gain (loss) on debt retirement																																							(16,066)		(17,842)
Maturities
Remainder of fiscal 2013	12,356
2014	200,593
2015	1,028,761
2016	67,555
2017	883,367
Thereafter	$ 3,872,372