The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    SleepinJeezus's picture

    An Open Letter to my Fellow Citizens of Wisconsin

    By SleepinJeezus on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 5:38am |

    IMG_0320

    This old (1994) NYT article provides excellent background detail of the Koch Brothers, going back to their father's involvement as one of the original members of the John Birch Society. It's a very interesting read, and shows just what Wisconsin's working families are up against in this take-no-prisoners assault against our Liberties and our Rights.

    This "dispute" between the unions and our Governor of Wisconsin didn't just spring up in response to this recession and its impact on our state budget. No, it's been coldly planned for years (decades, apparently), while the Koch Brothers and their wealthy cohorts simply waited for the right time to strategically launch this assault against the working class in America.

    The Koch Brothers believe they have now found the right pretext and the right mercenary politician to successfully commit their assault against working families. Scott Walker has now declared all-out war on the people of Wisconsin on behalf of the Koch Brothers, and they stubbornly insist they will not be denied their victory despite our wishes (as expressed in polling numbers) and our substantial protestations.

    Scott Walker - in an arrogant abuse of the power granted to him by the electorate - says your freedoms and your rights (and even your democratic voice!) are "non-negotiable;" that he will curtail them at will for no other reason than he can in an outrageously abusive exercise of the powers entrusted to him by the voters in Wisconsin.

    But this is Wisconsin, after all. And so over 100,000 people will gather in our Capitol later today to stand in defense of their rights. We will be heard. We will never surrender in this Class War launched against us. We will stand tall together in defense of our Liberties and our livelihoods; in defense of our families and of our proud Wisconsin traditions that honor the rights and the contributions of everyone in this civil society.

    Walker and the Kochs may have the "guns" in this dispute, but we decidedly have the numbers. We may suffer some initial losses given the momentum the other side has gained in their surprisingly full-scale, take-no-prisoners assault against us. But we will not - we cannot - give up the fight.

    We instead rally to our defense. Indeed, 100,000 of us will join together today at our Capitol to raise our collective voice and to organize against this abominable abuse of our Wisconsin democracy. The struggle continues. More than 100 years of Wisconsin's proud history in the Labor Movement shows that we will not ultimately lose this war. The stakes are that high. We can never surrender.

    So what's it going to be, folks?

    On one side in this war are Walker and the Koch Brothers and their obsession with absolute consolidation of their control over our politics and our freedoms and the future of democracy itself in Wisconsin and throughout this nation as a whole.

    On the other side are the millions of working families in Wisconsin and now America (and even the world!) at large, who rise in magnificent solidarity to defend their liberty and their rights.

    Which side are you on?

     

     

    Wisconsin "Budget Repair Bill" Protest Pt 2 from Matt Wisniewski on Vimeo.

    Comments

    Teach it!


    by jollyroger on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 5:47am

    Solidarity!

    In all 50 state capitals and in other major cities.


    by wabby on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 6:49am

    Kind of amazing what's possible when you at last stand tall and fight back.

    Lots of work to be done. Lots of fights ahead, and we won't win 'em all. Lots of organizuing to be done to sustain this effort.

    But, at last! How refreshing it is to be engaged in fighting back instead of simply negotiating the terms for our defeats.

    Keep the faith, flowerchild! Soldarnosz!


    by SleepinJeezus on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 11:25am

    "I'd rather be a free man in my grave than be living as a pauper or a slave!"


    by oleeb on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 12:14pm

    "Thralldom is much worse than death;

    For while a thrall his life may lead,

    It mars him, body and bones;

    And death annoys him but once."

     


    by EmmaZahn on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 12:51pm

    Excellent! Thank you for this, Emma!


    by SleepinJeezus on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 1:16pm

    Glad you liked it.

     


    by EmmaZahn on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 1:57pm

    I can't get enough of that video.    Every day is a new day in Wisconsin.  The quick-draw assembly vote only served up more proof that the hijackers cannot be allowed to take over.  I can only hope the outpouring across the country today sends a message that nobody can ignore.

    Solidarity.


    by Ramona on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 7:14am

    When Tim Geithner announced that there would be no bail-out for state governments, we knew that the Shock Doctrine would be continued, and that those who could least afford it would end up paying in another installment for the massive debt brought to us by Wall Street and the oligarchs, and many red states would continue to break their budgets by enacting policies like Walker that would shift more tax dollars to the wealthy, creating the illusion of need for austerity budgets.

    It sounds like that’s exactly what Wisconsin did in its two-part plan to sock it to the working class and at the same time crush the unions, which is arguably the predominant aim, as Walker has so ably demonstrated in his conversation with the faux Koch Brother phone conversation.

    The silver lining is that more and more Americans are beginning to get that this is an all-out class war, and while within the WI Legislature it’s a Dem V. Repub battle, nationally more Indies (and who knows, maybe even R’s?) are starting to gel their convictions that workers must have collective bargaining rights as any sort of pushback against corporate power.  We’re all hoping that this is just a first step in re-empowering people, and showing that there might be one last chance for reclaiming our nation and restoring a sustainable economy, and not just allowing ourselves to be serfs to our feudal lords.

    That we’re living the results of the same neoliberal economics that we exported via the IMF to countries all over the world including Egypt, with similar disastrous consequences for all but the top tier of Lords couldn’t be clearer.  And damned if Egypt didn’t show us what a sustained people’s movement could accomplish!  (Yeah; rough days are ahead, and they have a long way to go, and the soldiers are breaking up demonstrations in Cairo as I type), but that wind wafted to the US, and goddam if those pesky Wisconsinites, and now a lot of other folks, are saying “No More!” to being abused by the elite.

    And while the Beltway Dems are selling us down the river, Wisconsin Dems are being Democrats and working for the people!  How great is that?!?   

    I’ve been slack-jawed reading some of the debates here about these events; to me, it boils down to taking an ethical/moral stand: Do the Fourteen Dems use tactics some find unpalatable to stop a travesty that will do immeasurable long-term harm to millions and millions of us in the long run, or fight back and let this movement build all over the nation?  To me, it’s not even a contest.  This is the only good news for America in a long time, one bright spot as so many of us have become more and more depressed watching Hope and Change turn to Despair.

    Solidarity!  Have a great weekend for all of us, Jeezus.

     

     


    by Anonymous stardust (not verified) on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 8:53am


    by we are stardust on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 8:57am

    Thanks, stardust!

    And if you know your history of the labor movement and Wisconsin's role in it, please allow me to respond to you by saying "Have a great weekend FROM all of us!" 


    by SleepinJeezus on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 10:12am

    Masaccio put up a thread so folks could share their experiences and photos, if anyone is so moved.   ;o)   And now it's nationwide for all of us!

    http://my.firedoglake.com/masaccio/2011/02/25/find-a-wisconsin-solidarity-rally-and-go/


    by Anonymous stardust (not verified) on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 10:28am

    And now the Police Union is in solidarity!

     

    (Wow; the site just verified me!)  The software musta liked this video...   Cool


    by we are stardust on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 10:36am

    I've followed but not had time to participate in the other dagblog discussions to which you refer. It's been a bit of a crystalizing experience to see those who are so discomfitted by a change in tactics and response that they would double-down on the same old "pragmatic" triangulation and surrender and business-as-usual politics that brought us to our present state of affairs.

    And don't just gloss over the last phrase. The Dems have been in DLC-style mode throughout the years of the "Reagan Revolution." Our present state of affairs is that the Labor Movement is now in an existential fight. This is the same Labor Movement that gave birth to, defined, and promoted the "Middle Class" in America. The list of achievements on behalf of workers and their families is staggering (Weekends; child labor laws; retirements; Social Security and Medicare; workplace safety, and on and on goes the list.) None of it came without a struggle, yet they have been accomplished over such a sustained and lengthy period of time that most people take them for granted as irrevocable "facts of life."

    The Koch Brothers don't honor ANY rights or privileges gained by the workers as being irrevocable. In fact, they want to destroy what is commonly called the "Middle Class" so badly that they can taste it. Indeed, they've got Walker into a tight harness here with a warning that they will not be denied in this effort, and he's just the dog to put into this fight. If need be, Wisconsin is to be a scorched earth effort at denying us our rights and liberties as workers. They. Cannot. Prevail. PERIOD!

    Yet, many at dagblog question the "propriety" of 14 Senators doing all they can - at great personal sacrifice, I might add - to effectively filibuster this egregious abuse of power with whatever parliamentary tools are made available. Desperate times require desperate measures, and these 14 will be remembered in history as the heroes who breathed life into these demonstrations that have now quite effectively raised the alarm.

    Genghis and others would have had these Senators instead simply acquiesce to this assault. Let them take their "democratic" vote and then move on to the next opportunity to wave the white flag of surrender in this Class War.

    "Stand proudly and respectfully for the status quo! The Dem Party is all we've got! It's priority number ONE!" sayeth the REAL Democrats who assure us they remain with us in the "Well, at least we mean well, and aren't as bad as the other guys. Honest!" crowd.

    This insurrection has been inspiring. And we are in Madison in an attempt to sustain this Movement and to keep attention focused on this abusive pursuit of power wherein Walker and the Kochs use our own democratic institutions to bludgeon their political opposition into annihilation. There will soon be 100,000 of my closest friends standing with me shoulder to shoulder to stand in their way, and we will prevail. NONE of it would have been possible without the action taken by the Wisconsin 14. NONE OF IT!

    Seriously, to those who suggest that it was somehow "unseemly" or at cross-purposes for the Wisconsin 14 to stage their walkout, I ask that you consider where we would be today - Saturday, February 26, 2011 - if they had simply submitted to Walker's abuse of his powers. It would have been registered as just another incremental political defeat, and we would be told to accept it and support those who allowed it to happen because otherwise "The other guys win."

    Yeah, it would have been more of the argument that we are better served suffering defeat in support of "our side, the Democrats" rather than suffering outright defeat. Apparently, they are satisfied to find a piece of flotsam to hold onto as a floatation device in Grover Norquist's bathtub as we circle the drain toward our imminent demise.

    It's long past time to fight back. It's time instead to put a stopper in it. And then it's time to do all we can to climb out of it. And, quite frankly, I really ain't got time anymore for those who get in the way as they clutch heartily to their little-rubber-ducky-Democrat-Party with suggestions that we hold on tight and just see where the currents take us. Fuck em!


    by SleepinJeezus on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 11:21am

    Powerful and beautiful!  Thank you.


    by TJ on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 11:42am

    I'm also loving it that Wisconsinites and the Fourteen are giving labor leaders back some spine.  Their silence and de facto approval of KORUS and the other Crap Trade deals in the works has been hard to watch.  There are of course multiple reasons for the decrease in union memberships, and the fact that Obama has not pushed for EFCA is bad.  I'd imagine you've seen the re-runs of Campaign Obama promising he would 'get a new pair of shoes and walk with Labor in protests?  Bah!

    I was utterly dismayed when three days ago, Obama invited Trumka and another labor leader onto the Jobs Commission, the timing was too cute for me to believe it was anything but an attempt to bring what is meant to be an Outsider, Inside.  I wrote about it.  You'll be tickled to know that a commenter who objected to Trumka's salary, and I, by not defending it, got a bit of a smack from Jane Hamsher.  ;o)  Contrary to popular blogospheric (Laughing) opinion, Ms. Hamsher is an avid Democrat.

    I want Labor on the outside leading workers, not sitting on Blue Ribbon panels!

    http://my.firedoglake.com/wendydavis/2011/02/23/obama-appoints-trumpka-t...

    Lefttown just put up a photo of the first day on the commission; guess he took the gig:

    http://oneclick.indiatimes.com/photo/02jJ8qE2yH7Oz?q=Barack+Obama


    by we are stardust on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 11:47am

    They probably needed someone to brew the coffee and get the donuts for those who REALLY matter on Obama's Commission Campaign Fundraiser.


    by SleepinJeezus on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 11:56am

    I have great respect for Trumka and don't see him being seduced by the other side any time soon.  I want him on the outside and in the inside.  I want him sitting at a table with the corporates listening carefully, biding his time, then taking the wind out of their sails just when they think they're on the move. 

    And then I want him to report on what he saw and heard.  He can only do that if he's there.  There's nothing that says he's a turncoat simply because he agreed to be on a commission where the future of our jobs might be discussed.  He has much to offer that group, and I'm glad he's there. 

    Listen to him some time and you'll know he's not about to be serving coffee and donuts to anybody.


    by Ramona on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 12:09pm

    Trumka's degree of integrity is virtually irrelevant here. My issue is not with Trumka. It is with this White House and the others around that table and the degree of respect they afford to working families in America.

    "Listen to him sometime..." you suggest. I listened to Obama, which is the relevant point here. Very inspiring during the campaign. And now? Bile rises in my throat every time he takes the stage and commences issuing platitudes and triangulations rather than actually standing firm in defense of the working class. It's a pathetic performance of compromised leadership offered by a simpering fool. And you can draw a direct line from Obama to the rise of Scott Walker for Obama's failure to effectively lead (as opposed to giving away the Treasury to campaign contributors) in a time of national crisis. And all the Trumka appointments to "insider status" cannot buy him forgiveness for allowing that to happen.

    So, go ahead. Give Trumka a seat on a rudderless ship. After all, Obama can probably use the assistance of a few galley slaves as he continues to row around in circles.


    by SleepinJeezus on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 12:28pm

    "If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing....Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest.
    Napoleon Bonaparte

    It is obvious, the Democratic Leadership doesn’t FEAR the electorate and are only motivated by self-interest.

    A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights. 
    Napoleon Bonaparte

    That man probably wouldn’t care about your rights either. 

    Let history record, Obama was quite the promise maker.


    by Resistance on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 1:01pm

    Excellent! Thank, Resistance.

    Obama's long on "hope." But I was never short on hope. It's the follow-through that I expect of a leader. This guy's been an incredible disappointment in that regard.


    by SleepinJeezus on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 1:21pm

    No, Sleepin', Trumka's integrity is not irrelevant, because it's what's now being called into question.  Suddenly he's a turncoat because he's agreeing to serve on a committee that you all have decided is meaningless. 

    I've had enough of bad-mouthing of union leaders. Everything you've said in this post up to now has been eloquent and spot-on, and I appreciate it, believe me.  I'm not asking that we hold our union leaders up on a pedestal, but at least give them a chance.  The spotlight is finally on them, thanks to the events in Wisconsin, and they need to make the most of it. 

    Trumka on a presidential panel isn't going to ruin him--or us.  But it may possibly give him--and us--exposure to the other side.  

    Maybe what Wendy said didn't bother you, but it bothered me.  I should have commented on her comment, but the "coffee and donuts" reference was what finally got me.  Trumka's working his ass off trying to keep the unions together and make them stronger, and the only thanks he gets is a jab in the ribs and his name misspelled:

    So: will Trumka accept?  Am I too cynical here?  Yeah; that ship has probably sailed…I’ll work on it.  But it’s a little funny that it wasn’t until Trumpka got pretty jazzed by the events in Wisconsin and seemed to be feelin’ some real Union-y Oats and finding his voice again.   I heard that he was pretty tickled that all of a sudden college kids have started thinkin’ Unions are cool!


    by Ramona on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 2:47pm

    Please understand, there is nothing I wrote that denigrates Trumpka. My regard for Obama and the rest? Well, 'nuff said.

    by SleepinJeezus on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 3:06pm

    I hope he's better than George Meany and many of the other labor leaders who I felt capitulated.  

    Especialy those leaders, who when NIXON was in office told us "Love it or leave it"  

    I'd like to see more leaders like Eugene Debs. Fighting for workers rights

     During Clinton’s presidential campaign, labor unions wanted NAFTA to include a side deal ....... Kantor, then U.S. trade representative, had strong ties to organized labor and believed that he could get unions to come along with the agreement, ...........when it became clear that Mexico would not stand for this kind of an agreement, some critics from the labor movement would not settle for any viable alternatives. In response, part of the labor movement wanted to declare their open opposition to the agreement, and to push for NAFTA’s rejection in Congress

    Ultimately, the ambivalence of labor groups led those within the Administration who supported NAFTA to believe that strengthening NAFTA’s labor side agreement too much would cost more votes among Republicans than it would garner among Democrats, and would make it harder for the United States to elicit support from Mexico

    Labor was sold out by a Democratic President,  to appease the Republicans? 

    Like knowing hostages, the AFL-CIO and its unions march in tandem to endorse the Democratic presidential nominees early in the primary season. They have given up their capacity for negotiation, so frightened are they of the Republicans. Meanwhile, the rank-and-file workers suffer their dwindling status in silence.

    ...organized labor...rushes to support the party without demanding a turn away from corporatism toward workers’ needs. This is the logic of the lesser of two evils. It tethers labor to a relentless slide deeper into the corporate power pits year after year.    http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader

    Is Trumpka "going to go along to get along"  The White house wanting to keep a grip on the tether?  SIT ...LIE DOWN

    I hope not


    by Resistance on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 3:23pm

    The name is TRUMKA.  Flail away and call him what you like.  He's doing a hell of a lot more for the working class than any one of you.  Ingrates. 


    by Ramona on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 3:58pm

    Lets stop the name calling, and the (P) for pettiness..... sssss.Laughing

    I HOPE he's more than just a mouth piece for the administration.

    HOPE where have I heard that line of BS before?  

    Eugene Debs a good labor model ,pointed out .http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eugene_V._Debs

    Ten thousand times has the labor movement stumbled and fallen and bruised itself, and risen again; been seized by the throat and choked and clubbed into insensibility; enjoined by courts, assaulted by thugs, charged by the militia, shot down by regulars, traduced by the press, frowned upon by public opinion, deceived by politicians, threatened by priests, repudiated by renegades, preyed upon by grafters, infested by spies, deserted by cowards, betrayed by traitors, bled by leeches, and sold out by leaders, but notwithstanding all this, and all these, it is today the most vital and potential power this planet has ever known, and its historic mission of emancipating the workers of the world from the thraldom of the ages is as certain of ultimate realization as is the setting of the sun.

    I hope he's not like Debs pointed out

    I suppose Debs in your mind; would have geen an ingrate too? 

    Delivering up the sacrificial lamb onto the alter of Capitalism? 


    by Resistance on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 4:14pm

    Do your homework, Resistance, and read about all of the labor leaders of the past.  They've made great sacrifices and have been scorned, beaten and blinded for their troubles.  They did it for you and me.  At least give them the courtesy of some attention to the truth. 

    Mother Jones, Samuel Gompers, Cesar Chavez, the Reuther brothers. . .you can start here.  And while you're there click on the video clip on the right.  The one where Richard TRUMKA is talking to Lawrence O'Donnell.  Then come back and tell me what a sell-out you think he is.

     


    by Ramona on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 4:46pm

    Quit putting words in my mouth, I have stated I HOPE HE PROVES TO BE GOOD LABOR LEADER, because we truly need one.

    You can fawn over him if you like, I'll wait and see.

    Actions speak louder than words.

    How does he feel about repealing NAFTA  or CAFTA or the WTO agreements, How does he feeel about the Mexican Truckers?

    What are his views on illegal immigration. 

     


    by Resistance on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 7:20pm

    Who don't you do some research and find out for yourself?  I'm sure he's talked about all of the above.  (He's been around for a while now.  I don't know what you're waiting for.)


    by Ramona on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 7:20pm

    You're the one expounding his virtues.

    Didn't you mean "Why"  instead of "Who"


    by Resistance on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 7:36pm

    Yeah, I did mean "why" instead of "who".  Doesn't change the fact that you're not willing to do your own research.


    by Ramona on Sun, 02/27/2011 - 7:12am

    "Res", by the Precious Blood of the Sweet Baby Jesus, ease the fuck up!


    by jollyroger on Sun, 02/27/2011 - 4:40pm

    Nader is often bitter, don't know that he's right on this one.  Certainly there have been scuffles and union breakaways, and spats among Hoffa, Stern and Trumpka.  But I'd argue that the more members they get, the more clout they'll have.  EFCA at a bare minimum would help, and since R Govs want to move things backward for collective bargaining, that might be one of the unintended consequences of their stupid and anti-American rights thievery.

    Labor was always one of the strongest countervailing forces to corporate power; that's why I'd rather see Labor on the outside.  And no, I can't see this panel fixing much. Here's Georgewashington with the list of economists who say nuttin's gonna get better until the banks are cleaned up, and fraudsters are in jail, as after the S&L disaster.  And the Financial Inquiry Commission was given a rotten $8 to come up with the report on what happened!  Think some folks don't want answers?

    http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/12/letting-fraud-continue-will-not-restart.html

    by Anonymous stardust (not verified) on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 6:45pm

    Charge these banksters with fraud, Maybe we can recover under the RICO ACT

    Thanks for the good link


    by Resistance on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 10:27pm

    Whaaat?  My entire point was that now that Trumka is feeling stronger, and even college kids think it's cool to be a union member since Wisconsin's happened, Obama is trying to co-op him.  Now if you don't think that he was an after-thought addition to the roster, fine.  I do.  It's not as though they couldn't have invited him in the original round of commission formation!

    Go with outrage, but you're reading me wrong, and Jeezus, too.  We are criticizing the White House and Obama; no one even breathed 'turncoat'.  But for my money, if they wanted to get serious about creating jobs, they wouldn't be asking the folks who haven't been creating jobs, they'd be speaking honestly with economists who know what the bottlenecks are, and who would advise prosecuting bank fraud, speaking with the Fed whose MANDATE it is to keep unemployment low, provide more UE to 99-ers, et.al., whack the hell out of the defense budget to pay for a big jobs bill...things like that.  Oh--and fix the mortgage crisis, not with preemptive deals instead of fraud prosecutions as they have begun doing.

    Misspelling Trumka's name is a diss, Ramoana?  Google it with the P; it's how it's pronounced, and the misspelling is ubiquitous.  I had to go to the Wiki to try to get it right, it was spelled with the P so often.  Your lips say the P when you say his name.

     


    by Anonymous stardust (not verified) on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 5:24pm

    I'll let your words speak for themselves.  Also, the picture.  By the way, my name is spelled Ramona.


    by Ramona on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 6:53pm

    Far better than your misinterpreting them, IMO,  And my name is stardust, though thanks for outing me.


    by Anonymous stardust (not verified) on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 7:30pm

    I outed you?  You provided your own FDL link with your own name on it, and laid claim to it.  Seems to me you outed yourself.


    by Ramona on Sun, 02/27/2011 - 7:14am

    Well, it appears that I did, Ramona.  ;o)


    by Anonymous stardust (not verified) on Sun, 02/27/2011 - 9:33am

    Just so you know, stardust.  I wouldn't have used it if I thought you weren't okay with it.


    by Ramona on Sun, 02/27/2011 - 9:42am

    *Girls, girls, please!  If we burn each other....(ya feel me?  No quarreling within the ranks)

     

    *And don't you DARE give me any shit for the formulation...go to any co-ed nursing home, the ones still alive refer to their boyfriend or girlfriend...that's how it is.

     


    by jollyroger on Sun, 02/27/2011 - 4:29pm

    Jolly, you sure you want to go with that whole girl thing again? Wink


    by Ramona on Sun, 02/27/2011 - 5:05pm

    I am a slow learner (anyone who's been married 5x...)


    by jollyroger on Sun, 02/27/2011 - 5:13pm

    Maybe you're just too picky?

    by Ramona on Sun, 02/27/2011 - 5:15pm

    "p(r)icky"

     

    There you go with that spelling thing again...


    by jollyroger on Sun, 02/27/2011 - 5:25pm

    Fick uff, Pirate!  ;~)


    by Anonymous stardust (not verified) on Sun, 02/27/2011 - 5:33pm

    call me "Rast(a) stud"  (not verified)

    The extra "a" is a typo...


    by jollyroger on Sun, 02/27/2011 - 5:48pm

    IMAUMBN2  Kiss

    Let me guess, you were a contender in the National spelling Bee competition?

    Or you are one of those college educated liberals ,who look down upon us common folk, who are illietereat. purposely mispelled, because I could really care less. 

     

     


    by Resistance on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 8:10pm

    Stick with the issues, Resistance.  The issue isn't about how Trumka's name is spelled--that was an aside.  The issue for me is blind attacks on union leaders from the side who most benefits from their efforts.

    And yes, I'm a lberal but far from college-educated.  Not that that's a bad thing.


    by Ramona on Sun, 02/27/2011 - 7:17am

    I agree Ramona, it would have been better to have csat the spelling aside and not riased it as you did. 

    Jolly makes my point below……I too have always thought Trumka was an agreeable choice as spokesperson.

    Show me your good works Trumka, not your good words……Then I too might find comfort, knowing my grandchildren may have a chance. 

    I have become more cynical after the election of Obama. 

    Everyday till I die and not too much longer to go,  I will have to suffer because of what Obama  allowed……..It's very little consolation that others are less fortunate.

    Our leaders sold us out.......My future financial freedom is destroyed, and the continuation of Corporate Control is not encouraging.....Cuts in Medicare and  attacks on our Social Security because of self- serving, shortsighted leadership and Corporations making record profits.  

    Ramona ….You didn’t tell me where Trumka stood on the issue, that’s okay, but where are you on the issue of the Exporting of jobs and do you believe the importation of foreign goods undermines, the ability of the middle class American worker to gain financial freedom? 

    I would surely like to know, which political party recognizes what I believe was how the middle class was destroyed how it became enslaved.

    I am afraid the Democratic Party doesn’t care anymore. Why should it care about a middle class? What choice do you have; are you going to vote for a Republican? 

    Obama in the SOTU seemed more interested in Amnesty for foreign workers......

    Telling us how we can compete in a slave wage world, because we have ideas?

    They say he's college educated, but that doesnt mean he's got common sense. 


    by Resistance on Sun, 02/27/2011 - 8:35pm

    Resistance, there is such despair in what you just wrote. . .I can't give you the answers you're seeking.  I don't know of anyone who can.  I'm so sorry that things have gone so wrong for you.  There is nothing I can say that will make you feel any better, I know, but there are many of us who are on your side and know what you're feeling.

    I could tell you I'm against the outsourcing of jobs and the importation of foreign goods, but what would that do?  I am against both of those things.  I'm against the corporate take-over of our country. I want our government to do the right thing and follow through on the rebuilding and repairing of our great country.

     I fear for our children and our grandchildren, and I want to do something about it.  I feel as powerless as you do, and the truth is, I AM as powerless as you are.  But I won't give up this fight.  There are too many people feeling the same despair you're feeling.  I hate that it's so, and I stay awake many nights trying to sort it out.  I have absolutely no power but that's not going to stop me from speaking out and feeling in my heart that we're better than this.

    Because we are.


    by Ramona on Sun, 02/27/2011 - 9:21pm

    Just discovered something very ironic on this Trumka topic. While at the same time we are seeing liberal activists on the net suggest Trumka might be something along the lines of an Uncle Tom token, a toady or a sell-out, turns out several versions of this video have gone viral with right wingers, where its implied Trumka has almost been running the White House for quite some time:

    Shocking Level of Influence: Trumka Talks to White House EVERY DAY and Visits a Couple Times A Week

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4NrT2oTQqE


    As always when this happens, that makes me suspect that the truth lies inbetween somewhere. 


    by artappraiser on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 3:22pm

    I agree, AA.  I suspect Trumka is speaking about a specific issue over a specific amount of time when he says he talks to the White House "every day".  I seriously doubt he's been talking to someone in the West Wing every single day for the past two-plus years.  And yet this video shows him saying just that--and now it's fact.


    by Ramona on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 4:06pm

    Shocking Level of Influence

     

     Best news I've had this year...I trusted John L Lewis, and I trust miners.  I trust Trumka.(Actually, quiet as it is kept, I didn't trust his predecessor, but we move on...):


    by jollyroger on Sun, 02/27/2011 - 4:35pm

    I wish I could be there with ya Sleepin standing shoulder to shoulder!  Tens of millions will be with the 100,000 in spirit!

    Personally, I'd love to see the protesters there literally take over the legislative chambers, sit in and occupy them and refuse to leave until Walker and his fellow fasciti agree to withdraw the union busting clauses from that budget bill.  It's the only way I can see for the people's side to prevail.  It may provoke a grotesque response from Herr Walker but by forcing his hand to either move against the people or stand down he and his right wing supporters will be exposed for what they are and those who still have not awakened and realized it will see the truth of what they're all about.  Many do not remember that this is how our grandparents met the power of the bosses and the government in the thirties. It could even spark disobedience across the country which is what is needed right now.  The people at the top only have power as a result of the obeidence of those of us below.  When we no longer obey, as the people of Tunisia, Egypt and other Arab nations have learned, the power of the oligarchs evaporates over night.  If the people of those countries can throw off their oppressors there is no reason we cannot do the same.  Indeed, here in the land of the free and home of the brave it seems to me an obligation.

    Godspeed to you and all our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin!


    by oleeb on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 12:20pm

    They're keeping people out of the legislative chambers. Also out of legislative offices and hearing rooms, because the sleeping protesters make the Republicans "uncomfortable," according to Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald.

     


    by madisonwi (not verified) on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 9:06pm

    Live Video, 100,000+ in Madison!

    http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/02/26/video-100000-plus-in-madison-for-rally-for-workers-rights/


    by Anonymous stardust (not verified) on Sat, 02/26/2011 - 7:26pm