It's my Party, and I'll cry if I want to...Part I
AP, WASHINGTON - Organized labor should help politicians who will advance labor's cause rather than simply supporting Democrats, says a union leader pushing for changes in the AFL-CIO.
As a card-carrying member of a number of unions, I have to say it's long past time for them to quit blindly following the Democrat agenda.
Once upon a time, about 40 years ago, the Democrats were for the working class, minorities, women, etc. That was then.
Nowadays, they've been co-opted by a radical left wing agenda that J.F.K. (Kennedy, not Kerry) would scarcely recognize. Not that I idolize him or anything; I'm just citing an example.
Part of the reason the Democrat dogma has become so left of center is because the Republicans have been gravitating away from the rightmost extreme, so in order to be different from them, the Democrats have had to shift their focus as well.
A strong two Party system helps keep things balanced, but as the Democrats continue to lose ground, things have gotten a bit unbalanced. This is not a good thing either, since as the old axiom goes, power corrupts...and absolute power corrupts, absolutely. We're not at that point, yet, but it's also said that the road to HELL is paved with good intentions.
If the Democrats can't get their act together, perhaps it's time for another opposition Party to step in.
Libertarian, anyone?
posted by camojack | 23:45
30 Comments:
SGT USMC 1ea said:
First
July 09, 2005 1:25 AM
Then:
Sorry Camojack I know how you hate that.
July 09, 2005 1:26 AM
I don't really hate it, I just find it pointless. Doesn't matter.
The third post is what does:
You might be a pig and/or a liberal if: You pay union dues and donate to the DNC not realizing the money goes to the same thing.
I think the real answer to the problem is to bring the Republicans further right to give the left some maneuvering room.
I had no choice in the matter of joining a union, if I wanted to work where I do, in my line of work. I realize some of my union dues go to the DNC, and I'm none too happy about that, but it's not my decision to make.
As for the Republicans moving back to the right, I don't have a problem with that, at least in regard to such things as more States' rights, less big government, taxes, etc. But like the story of Pandora's Box, once it's opened you're stuck with all the bad things that were once contained within...
Kajun News:
I think that the people who lived in my house before I bought it were Libertarians, because sometimes mail still comes here for them from the Libertarian Party...I don't know whether they were with or without the smoke, though.
SGT USMC 1ea:
Like I said, it doesn't matter. Not as though they wasted a lot of bandwidth or anything, for which I'm not paying anyhow. Besides, then my first post wouldn't entirely make sense.
(I do try to be Uncommonly Sensible)
Anyway, I sincerely hope this idea of NOT blindly following a particular political party catches on with the unions.
I agree that it's doubtful we'll go too far back to the right. On the other hand, I wouldn't want to go much farther to the left, either. Socialism is a fine theory, but it would only work perfectly if people were perfect...
Alright, Jack...you had me up until the "socialism is a fine theory" bit. No, it's not. Socialism creates an "entitlement" mentality, gives people a false sense of "security," and causes them to abdicate "personal responsibility." It drives up taxes, healthcare costs, long-term care costs, and it causes people to view government as their "god."
"Income re-distribution" and "leveling the playing field" do nothing but destroy things like ambition, drive, responsibility, etc. I could go on and on...but this isn't the place for me to "write my book."
>:-}
Forgot to mention that the "theory" of socialism is just a way to control the citizenry. The same gov't that "doles it out" is the same gov't that can take it away!!!
I know as much, if not more than anyone here, having been a local chairman and then president of my union. I was looked down on by my peers when they found out my "right" leanings and was chastised for not contributing to the political action fund which ONLY gave support to Dems or "closet Dems", (R.I.N.O.'s)
I certainly don't miss the job one bit.
Incidently, they also pull little (?) tricks on election day by sending out rosters to union officials, complete with party affiliation, and tell you to only go to Dem house's to urge them to go vote and even offer a ride to the polls.
All this at ALL union members expense. Believe me, things like this are only the tip of the iceberg!
Off topic but, if you want to see the far-left lunatic fringe in our Country, go to: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050709/OPINION01/507090377/1031
I sent this to Camo, it is from today's Indy Star. The only thing more rediculous than this guy's opinion of why we (America), haven't been attacked since 9/11, is the fact the Star chose to print it!
IMHO, the Dems have lost a huge chunk of the union vote (esp. 2004), possibly a combination of not identifying with Kerry (billionaire playboy), WOT/military pride, web usage increase, etc. I hope it's a trend that continues. They have outlived their purpose and priced themselves and/or the products they produce right out of the marketplace. Socialists indeed.
'da Bunny?
Read it again, kiddo...I said "socialism is a fine theory, but it would only work perfectly if people were perfect."
We're not. So it doesn't. In true Socialism, everyone would be truly equal; it can't work that way in practice.
RAM:
As a former union president, you would indeed have excellent insight into the situation.
Regarding the Indy Star...it's "mainstream" media. Need I say more?
mig:
I will say that some unions are better than others; I'm in SAG and the UAW to name a couple, and they both do rather well by their members. Once upon a time, a long time ago, I was in a union when I worked at a restaurant when I went to college. The few cents an hour extra we got by being in the union went to dues, plus the restaurant then put limits on the items we could have for our "free" lunch. Such a deal... Not!
rusty:
Hmmm, let's see. "An acquaintance, who is a professor of political science...and who's actually a liberal Democrat". I'll take an "educated" guess: He's indoctrinating Democrats? (Or trying to, at any rate) Typical.
Welcome to my blog! Thanks for stopping by, and do so as often as you like. :-)
MargeinMI:
Agreed. The Democrats have lost a substantial portion of the union vote. People are becoming more aware of the reality of the matter, largely due to "da 'Net", and by extension...the "blogosphere". That's US! Pretty cool, huh?
David:
1. Did you mean there are 2 principled alternative Parties?
2. I believe that, thanks to the blogosphere, awareness of many things will continue to increase/improve.
3. Alternate parties do have an impact; it's not always a positive one, but they have one nevertheless. It's one big reason why Clinton got into office. Think Ross Perot and all the votes he got. Most of them would probably have gone to Bush, Sr.
4. Back atcha!
howie:
I agree with you that the Democrats should "stay the course"...because they're destined to fail. As for progressive, they've gotten progressively worse.
I'm still waiting to hear what you think of my proposal to get together and discuss your views, and you really should get a different picture, as the one you are using does nothing positive for your minimal credibility...
camo,
Facial tissues are on sale at a store near you. No coupons required. I fear you'll be crying for awhile.
Hawkeye®:
I'm not crying, mon amí; it's just a line from a song that I shamelessly used for the post, because I thought it was applicable. Don't take me so literally, OK? Hee hee...
Jack, I know that you qualified your "fine theory" statement with the "it would work if people were perfect, but they aren't" part. Which is why I then added the part about it being a way to "control" the citizenry, which makes it not a fine theory because it's just another way to "fool all of the people all of the time." All are created equal by God, but He didn't create us all to BE equal, or to have an equal amount of talents, gifts, possessions, etc. If God had been of a "socialist" mindset, then we'd all be concert pianists, rocket scientists, Olympic gymnasts, and no one would be sick or doing without. That's the reason socialism isn't a good "theory" IMHO, because God Himself has made sure that it cannot work. Perhaps, my dear friend, we can just agree to disagree in this instance?
'da Bunny:
I see no need to "agree to disagree", because we're already in agreement.
Socialism doesn't work in practice, where "the rubber meets the road" as 'twere, which is the only place that really matters.
After all I've been through this afternoon, setting up a blog and all, can I finally mutter what I was trying to say last night?
It's a shame the Fabian socialists--no relation to Annette Funicello and the beach movies--have appropriated the turtle as their symbol. Maybe the Libertarians can use a possum to indicate a critter that's slow and deliberate, but gets there.
Every election, we capture another office or two. Our major setbacks are (a) we tend to think for ourselves, and that means a level of discomfort with any political party, and (b) the "l-i-b" at the beginning throws the ADD crowd into thinking that our name is synonymous with "Liberal."
About the time the Obstructionist/Sore Loser Party self-destructs, we might be able to step up to the plate. With any luck, we'll nudge the GOP back over to its founding principles, which have become obscured in recent years.
Hawkeye's very generously linked to my blog, which I'm still figuring out. There may be some cute UPI visual stuff there when I get hip to posting photos. Right now, there's a single rave about the Brits, and the usual start-up disclaimer. Oh, and a personal photograph. Thanks, Hawkeye!
Is this going to post?
All right! Too cool!
Someone has appropriated my handle for ol' uncle Possum. "General Wombat" was the Robert Conrad character in a forgotten classic film called "Wrong is Right." It starred Sean Connery as a reporter, featured homicide bombers diving onto politicians as comic relief, and ended with an ADM hanging on a flagpole atop the World Trade Center. Chicken-and-egg: does life imittate art?
General_Wombat:
Mutter away, my friend. An articulate individual's muttering trumps a cretin's attempts at discourse any old day.
From my original post, you can probably discern my sentiment that the Libertarian Party is preferable to the Democrats...
truth_is_freedom:
The way I interpreted the statement was that we are all equal in God's eyes, but not equal in all things.
But I'll let the person who originally posted it tell you what they meant, if they're so inclined...
camojack, your response to "truth_is_freedom" re: my post is absolutely what I meant, and I, obviously, couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks!
>:-}
Another argument with the girlfriend, one that interrupts "Quigley Down Under", possibly the greatest sniper movie ever made. In the movie is the immortal line about "God created all men, and Sam Colt made them all equal, more or less."
We are all afforded an opportunity to fail, personally or professionally. Perhaps that, more than anything else, makes us equal. We are given free reign over our lives and decisions, and the thought process is part of God's gift.
The Libertarian party has always been a loose amalgamation of people who think. Thinking is a curse; it makes for more alcoholism, broken marriages, and general unhappiness than any other signle thing I can name. Life is irony; the flip side of the coin is that thinking rationally is the unique gift of The Creator, that sets us aside from what The Bible describes as those who "creep upon the earth and grasp at the sun."
Unfortunately, this makes for disparate political bedfellows. I spend half my time urging people not to read Atlas Shrugged, which explains their sense of vague unease better than anything I can articulate. Then, I turn around and give away copies of that same book, with the caveat that the reader should not be put off by Rand's professions of atheism.
I can't quote a lot of Scripture off the top of my head, but the last part of Ecclesiates, Chapter I, is an exception:
"And I gave my life to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly...
"And I perceived that this, too, is vexation. For in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow."
The author of those words is unclear, but the meaning is certain.
'da Bunny:
I was just using my Uncommon Sensibility, but I'm happy to know that I got it right. No thanks necessary...
General_Wombat:
"Quigley Down Under"? Great flick, and an excellent line therefrom. There were a lot of good one-liners in that movie as I recall...and now you've made me want to watch it again. Fortunately, I've got it, recorded on that outmoded medium: VHS.
(Tom Selleck is a rarity in "Hollyweird" these days, too, with his political leanings)
Regarding the quote from Ecclesiastes; it's sort of the flip side of the old maxim about ignorance being bliss, but I'll take awareness every time, thank you very much.
Here's another one for you:
1 Corinthians 13:11
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
Kajun News:
I remember Reagan was fond of saying that he didn't leave the Democrat Party...they left him.
It somewhat relates to a quote by Winston Churchill:
"Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has not heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains."
David:
I figured that's what you meant, but thanks for verifying it...
truth_is_freedom:
As I said, all are equal in God's eyes. That does not mean we have equal capacities in all things, nor is there a "level playing field" in the world. That's reality, whether you choose to accept it or not.
Ponder this, regarding spiritual gifts:
1 Corinthians 12
1 Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts.
And now I will show you the most excellent way.
Still with me? In other words, we have different abilities, so as to do different work...
howie:
Merci, mais moi travaillons le jeudi nuits...
(Thanks, but I work on Thursday nights)
Fridays or Saturdays would be best, Princeton is over 50 miles from where I live, in the King of Prussia/Gulph Mills area.
(My house is in between those places)
Sorry about the link I provided earlier. I have since found out this guy was being sarcastic, in his best "Scott Ott" impersonation!
One other comment about unions. Unions were a great thing BEFORE the "me" generation that we now live in.
For "unions" to work, they have to have the support of ALL to stand together, and it is just not there anymore, (See United Nations)
My old union has found out that the international simply put, is all bark and no bite. It just doesn't have teeth anymore.
Once upon a time, people were ashamed to be called "scabs" for crossing picket lines, but then MOST people used to be ashamed of a LOT of things like taking help from the government when they really don't need it, all the way to killing babies!
OK, rant over. ;-)
RAM:
No big deal about the link; it was readily misinterpreted as serious.
As to the topic of unions, they seem to mostly concentrate on saving the jobs of druggies and drunks, but there are also more legitimate reasons to have them...although as you say (and I paraphrase), they ain't what they used to be.
truth_is_freedom,
I'll throw in my 2 cents...
God loves each of us as a unique individual, and as a child. Though our own children might be very different from one another, we love each of them equally, at least most of us do (of course there's no accounting for the psychotic child murderers).
truth_is_freedom:
Some get to scrub floors, while others eat caviar and drink champagne, yes...this is reality; get used to it. What's important is where you wind up, not how you got there.
If it helps you any, here's another quote:
Mark 10:25 (NIV)
"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
As for child murderers and gays, He hates the sin not the sinner, and we're supposed to do likewise...
Should I start a theological blog for you?
truth_is_freedom:
Regarding sarcasm, I simply said that yours didn't impress me; be as sarcastic as you please, just not offensive. And FYI, I really wasn't being sarcastic about starting a theological blog, it's an idea I've been contemplating.
(OK, asking if I should start one for you may've been a wee tad sarcastic...so sue me)
Agnostic? Implies room for doubt. Good, there's hope for you yet.
As for God creating gay people, I don't believe it. They aren't born that way, they choose the "alternative" lifestyle. Many due to being abused as children, for which they can hardly be condemned.
Oh, and religion has not played a major role in many conflicts and horrors in this world; rather, it has been used as an excuse for those things. Sad, but true, "truth"...
truth_is_freedom:
Back up your own assertions; that "gay gene" theory is just that...a theory, one with which I don't agree. More like wishful thinking by people with an agenda.
OK, an example of religion being used as an excuse for conflict:
Northern Ireland. It ain't about Catholic vs. Protestant, it's about British sympathizers vs. their antagonists...
truth_is_freedom:
I'll say it again; back up your own assertions regarding the mythical "gay gene", otherwise it's also just an opinion.
Regarding religion being used as an excuse for conflict, I gave you an example (as requested), with which you apparently agree. FYI, the Crusades were actually a defensive action for the most part; the Inquisition, on the other hand, was yet another case where religion was used as an excuse to persecute people.
Are you sure you're not interested in a theological blog? Because I certainly don't see this non sequitur as having anything to do with labor unions blindly following the Democrat Party...which was the point of the original post.
truth_is_freedom said:
I was responding to something posted by 'da bunny...I take it I can't "play by the same rules" as everyone else."
Understood. You can play by the same rules; quit trying to act the part of the martyr. I was just trying to get the discussion back on track...after responding to your points, I might add.
But that's what I'd expect from you, Camo.
Adversarial condescension does nothing to enhance intelligent discourse. Why all the (misdirected) anger?
And since you say, "... otherwise it's also just an opinion" I take it that you agree that you have nothing but your own opinion to go on.
I agree to nothing of the sort, but (for the third time, now) back up your own assertions. Unless and until you do, I feel no need to counter your opinion with anything besides my own.
I don't need any "FYI", thanks. I'm well versed in this stuff. I was reared on it.
Then don't be deliberately disingenuous, asking for examples of which you are already aware...
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