Thoughts on politics, unions, and this and that
I see that my longtime friend (strictly platonic) Mister Doolittle has finally taken my advice and started his own blog. He can be found at www.misterdoolittle.wordpress.com.
His philosophical musings are always perceptive and intersting, if you like things like that. WARNING: Sometimes he sounds rather Christian for a philosopher. But he tells me he’s not actually affiliated, just stumbling around in the dark.
Anyway, like Danton’s head, it’s worth a look.
It is reported by Eric Trager on Contentions that Defense Secretary Gates, obviously speaking at the president’s direction, has announced that the US has no military ability to destroy the fast-developing Iranian nuclear program. All we would do would be “send it further underground.” Continue reading ‘US to Israel: “You’re on Your Own”’
OK, here is a priceless news story from the West’s War On Piracy. Continue reading ‘Pirates given stern lecture, then released’
On a late drive home the other night I found myself listening to the “BBC World Report” on an NPR station. (Don’t look at me like that – it was a remote area and that was the only station I could get.)
There was a story about a delegation of British MP’s visiting Gaza to inspect the humanitarian crisis. The MPs were already on record as condemning Israel for the crisis and the war, so their comments were unsurprising. They called on Israel to relieve the suffering it had caused by closing off the Israeli-Gaza border crossings.
George W. Bush is about to become officially only a memory. (Though in all likelihood he will become the kind of obsessing memory that Nixon immediately became for liberals.)
His tale is of course complicated. Many knocks against him are legitimate. So what can you say to his credit?
Simply this. George W. Bush fought hard against the enemies of his country, and never let popularity or politics distract him from doing so.
That accomplishment will be put in perspective by the subsequest performance of his successors. Let us pray that it comes to be seen as a matter of course.
“The Democratic Party is… the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world.
“The Democratic Party traces its origins to the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other influential opponents of the Federalists in 1792.”
–Wikipedia
Dear Wikipedia:
The above-quoted information is incorrect. You have apparently confused the currently-existing Democratic Party with its predecessor, the Democratic Party of Jefferson, Jackson, Wilson, FDR, Truman, Kennedy, and LBJ. That party was driven out of existence by the new Democratic Party founded by George McGovern in 1972.
Unionism in the private sector is not just down; it’s almost out. Membership has been falling steadily for half a century and is now circling the drain, with membership at 7.5% of the workforce. In 1953 it was 36%.
This disastrous decline has been partly masked by the simultaneous growth of unions in the public sector. While private unions sank, public ones climbed from near-zero in the 1950’s to around 36%, where it has held steady since 1980. Decline has also been disguised by the growing political power of the union movement, as its electoral organizing skills have improved even as membership organizing has languished.
Why the decline? Why have private sector workers stopped joining unions?
The unions have a ready answer: it’s too hard to organize because employers cheat. They scare and intimidate and fire workers who try to organize.
I know the election is over and it is time to, as they say, “Move On”. But not quite yet.
Presidential elections can fit many patterns, and this one was no exception. In retrospect it has a certain (and false) sense of inevitability. Unpopular president, bad economy; these things don’t bode well for an incumbent party. Yet nations, like individuals, possess a kind of free will, and formulaic determinism will always fall short.
But one pattern jumps out. This was an election in which the domestic economy was the “top topic” on voters’ minds. When that has happened recently, Democrats usually win. Continue reading ‘Democrats win another domestic election’
I am a lifelong union man: an organizer, negotiator, staffer and leader. I believe in unions and their importance for our society. That’s why I think HR 800, the Orwellian-titled “Employee Free Choice Act” is an abomination. And more than that, it is not good for unions.
Continue reading ‘“Employee Free Choice Act” Bad For Unions’
It appears that the answer to Melanie Phillips’ question (see below, “Is America Really Going To Do This?” is “Yes we are, because Yes we can” (or something).
Electing Obama is like electing Pandora, in the hope (there’s that word again) that when the box is opened good things will fly out. That’s a heck of a hope, given the glimpses we have seen (through the media blackout) of Obama’s background and past associations.
And, once opened, the box will keep on giving. Court appointees will determine our laws for decades to come (you thought congress did that?) The foreign policy results may take years, and fortunes in blood and treasure, to undo – if they can ever be undone.
As I ponder Barack Obama sitting in church listening to his pastor’s hate-filled sermons, I cannot help but think of my mother. I imagine her sitting in the next pew. I know what she would have done. Continue reading ‘One Sermon, One Sunday; Sen. Obama in Church’
Halloween looms and I am scared. Not of the trick-or-treaters, but of the very real monsters lurking in the world.
And of Obama. I am afraid that he isn’t scary enough. To the right people.
It’s all about America’s place in the world. Paradoxically, many consider this Obama’s strong suit. The rock-star reaction to his world tour suggests that the world loves him. And we like that. We want our country and our leaders to be loved. Continue reading ‘I’m Afraid Obama Isn’t Scary Enough’
