The End of Unionization As We Know It

Following up on the defeated, weeping union hack’s diatribe in Madison, Wisc., last week, that the victorious re-election of Gov. Scott Walker was the “end of Democracy as we know it,” former White House environmental advisor, Van Jones, addressed a Netroots Nation meeting.  Netroots Nation is a political convention for American Progressive political activists, originally organized by readers and writers of Daily Kos, a liberal political blog. It was previously called YearlyKos. The 7th Annual Netroots Nation conference was held in Providence, R.I. from June 7-10.

Van Jones said, “What happened in Wisconsin was awful.  Our grandparents got killed for going on strike.  Our forces created a miracle.  The labor forces, the African-American and Latin community exceeded every expectation.  The local forces did the maximum.  But they fought alone.  Where were the national Democrats?   And where were a lot of us?   We spent more time mourning the loss than energizing [for the next victory].  When we do the minimum and the other side does the maximum, we lose.  We lost the fight to 13 billionaires, none of whom live in Wisconsin.  The Civil Rights and Environmental movement never showed up in large numbers.  We munched the popcorn, but we didn’t jump onto the screen.

“We know we’re supposed to be fired up, ready to go, but we’re mad and we have reason to be.  We like this president, but we’re not in love with him like we used to be.  What are we going to do?  We don’t know how to get fired up again.  Then we look at the Tea Party, for those of us who no longer regard Obama as the Almighty but as the Alternative.  I’m going to teach Obama lesson.  I’m not going to vote.  They’re all the same.  It’s not you; it’s your friends.  If the Tea Party is allowed to score a trifecta, their ideas are already corrupting the Supreme Court.  They already have the Congress.  If they get the rest of it and the White House, if the Tea Party governs America.  If this time next year, you find that you’re living in America governed by the Tea Party, they might use power differently.  They will use power to decimate us.  We should be terrified of them.  [When they were in power they said,] ‘Perhaps we should make adjustments to labor law and they decapitated our unions.’

“They don’t like the EPA; its over reach.  And they’re going to eliminate it.  You think they’re joking.  But EPA saved more lives than the DOD.  If they have a Trifecta, they’ll use it to decimate us.  There’ll be no holds barred.  Now we have the power.  Now we’re going to be bipartisan.  ‘Is there something we can compromise on?’ (mockingly).  If they win, all the crazy stuff they say, they’ll do.  They will reward the worst behavior.  It will be absolutely the ultimate betrayal of the American people [by the Republicans].”

You heard it from the proverbial horse’s mouth, what the Progressives think of compromise and bipartisanship.  You can hear him say it in the video, for yourself.  Compromise, bipartisanship is for the other guy, the other party, not the Progressives.  Compromise and bipartisanship is for losers.  Compromise and bipartisanship are for the seneschals, not the leaders in power.  He very clearly stated that the Progressives want power.  He urges his audience to believe that that’s what Conservatives, the Tea Parties want power.  That we will “decimate” them in order to gain power.

There’s never been a single issue on which the Progressives have compromised and there never will be.  That’s why the partisan words on such a trap.  To use them in any of their forms is to put the compromise noose around your group’s neck.  It’s not that there’s anything wrong to listening to the other point of view – how else will one learn about one’s enemies?  It’s that they’ll use it to dominate the conversation and keep you from expressing your point of view.

Freedomworks needs to keep in mind that we’re a few years ahead of them in this fight.  They’re planning a Tea Party conference at the end of June, which is fine.  They’re a good organization.  They were of invaluable help in keeping Scott Walker in office.  But in their magnanimity, they’ve invited all sides to their table (it’s their table) in a spirit of non-partisanship.  Our experience with the partisan word is that it’s an invitation to microphone-grabbing censorship of the Conservative voice.

We made no apologies about our Conservative stance, which was an ideological, not a political stance, per se.  Of course, it’s political ideology.  Some Democrats may show up to Freedomworks’ party with doubts about their party’s ideology and may, after listening, decide to swing over to the Conservative side.  However, it will be very foolish of the Freedomworks organizers 0if they don’t prepare for subversives, whose favorite word is “bipartisan.”  They will hold FW to it and insist on spewing their propaganda, intimidating participants at whatever networking events may be planned.

There are ways of identifying them.  They’re rather obvious, actually.  There’s no way of stopping them, given our Constitutional freedom of speech.  However, as this is ostensibly a Conservative – or is it Libertarian – event, the hosts set the agenda, not the moles.   If it’s a Conservative event, I would advise the Tea Partiers to wear their partisan shields and listen carefully for the first sounds of subversion and walk away from the Conversation, or better yet, be prepared to stand your ground.  That is, if the Non-Partisan Police, aren’t patrolling, looking for Conservatives who are abridging a Progressive’s freedom of speech with partisan “backtalk”.

If it’s really a Libertarian event, then Freedomworks has been misleading in its advertisements.  Nevertheless, Conservatives should go and network with these global Tea Partiers.  It’s amazing that the Tea Party movement has turned into a global phenomenon.  It’s heartening to know that there are still people in other parts of the world who prize freedom.

Even more heartening is the fact that a clearly trumped Progressive – namely, Van Jones – has to use our tactics to “energize” his allegedly depleted base in order to convince them to vote for Obama in November.  It may be a ploy for our benefit to deceive us into thinking Romney has more of a chance than reality would indicate, and so, not putting all our energy into his election.

Van Jones is right – we do intend to “decimate” the public unions.  We absolutely intend to do some “crazy stuff” – like end democracy as they know it, and restore our country to the federated republic, using democratic means, to its original state.  We will take the reins of power – and limit it, per the U.S. Constitution.  We will be the government of the elected, not the appointed, the land of the free, not the freeloaders, as the Founding Fathers intended.