For the past three weeks, Governors Walker from Wisconsin and Kasich from Ohio have been waging a war on the public sector unions, or so people have been led to believe. This is a make-believe war between liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, unions and the taxpayer. As one Tea Party activist put it, “I’ve been torn apart by this thing,” and, indeed, anybody in the Tea Party who has family or friends belonging to a public sector union are faced with the same thing … the lies that union leadership are telling their membership. It feels like the tone of the Civil War with brother fighting against brother. While the Tea Party and the unions may not share a lot of common ground on collective bargaining, the police and firefighters in particular are in severe danger because of what is being done by the union leadership. Please stay with me to the end because I have a huge amount of important information to share.
A Tea Partier who testified at hearings on Ohio SB5 two weeks ago said, “My family, who are firemen, have been told to hate me because I support SB5. I will not stop loving them because of this.” The anti-Republican and anti-Tea Party sentiments that are now becoming common place in these union protests are just the tip of the iceberg. Consider this post on the “Stand Up For Ohio” Facebook page. Here are some of the nasty comments I read about the Tea Party just in response to that picture of 50 Tea Party counter-protestors that showed up that day in comparison with 8,500 union protestors:
- Use of the sexual slur “teabagger”
- “the tea party is nothing more than a lynch mob of unruly kooks”
- “Those tea partiers are nothing but a bunch of freaks!”
- “I HATE tea partiers!!”
- “What a bunch of low down dirty job killing dream crushing P.O.S.”
- “teaparty= old white people on social security and medicare calling union members socialists”
- “Maybe the koch bros could only afford 50 teabaggers lol”
- “I got a problem when they *uck with my families money.”
- “”F” the tea party!!”
- “Tea baggers = Misguided martyrs”
- “fucking brown shirts”
- “50 tea partiers make )NE BIG ASSHOLE!! LMAO”
- “We will eat them as a snack!”
- “Silly, don’t they know tea parties r for little girls.”
- “Teabagging the Kochs must be a rather boring thing for these losers. The people behind these astroturf organizations want nothing less than America turned into a third world oligarchy with H-bombs and endless Imperial bloodletting. If you’re a teabagger, you’re either a wannabe or a lackey.”
As you can see, I had had enough and stepped into the fray to try and talk some sense into those people, particularly focusing on respect for your fellow Americans, regardless of political leanings. One other union supporter was quoted as saying “I’m not sure why the Governor is out to get us.” Is this REALLY what this is supposed to boil down to? Governors Kasich and Walker got elected so they can simply attack the unions? That explanation hasn’t sat right with me since day one and thus I’ve been looking into this issue a lot. What I’ve found is extremely scary, particularly for police and firefighters who shouldn’t stand for solidarity, but stand for justice, discipline, safety, security and the rule of law.
Solidarity is defined as “Coherence, fellowship, a solidity of interests, principles and responsibilities … a communion of interests.” So to stand for solidarity, in this case, is going to mean several organizations coming together for the common purpose of protesting this “attack” on unions. Indeed, last Saturday, there was a rally on the National Mall that got very little media attention … that of the “Restoring the American Dream” rally. This rally was organized by the AFL-CIO, but the permit pulled from the National Park Service was drawn under the name, the “International Socialist Organization”.
Solidarity, in this case, is more particularly meaning a fellowship between the unions and radical leftists, such as Van Jones, and the organizations he represents, who spoke as a representative of the International Socialist Organization at that rally. There are many things that are not so nice about Van Jones, but some of the things more directly relate to the police department, such as him being a “Free Mumiah” supporter. He rallied and protested for the release of cop killer Mumiah Abu-Jamal. He also supported a petition calling for a nationwide resistance against police brutality. That really doesn’t sound that bad until you see that the petition was organized bythe October 22nd Coalition, an anti-cop organization whose mission statement was drawn up by the leaders of the Radical Black Panther Collective for Social Progress. We’ll come back to Van Jones in a minute.
On September 24, 2010 the FBI raided seven Chicago and Minneapolis homes of well-known union Socialists and anti-war activists. According to the search and seizure warrant, the homes of these people were raided for “providing, attempting and conspiring to provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations.” Of course, the people who were arrested and others later subpoenaed for this case were screaming home invasion, urging one another not to talk to the FBI. Let’s look at some of those people who were subpoenaed.
Joe Isobaker works at the University of Illinois and is a union steward for SEIU. He’s also a contributor on www.FightBackNews.org and has been quoted as saying, “All we ever did was work against U.S. Military aid.” He’s also spoken at the International Communist Seminar in Brussels with a speech entitled, “A Report on the Labor Movement”.
Hatem Abudayyah is the Executive director of the Arab American Action network, founded by Rashid Khalidi who is a professor at Columbia and has justified suicide bombings as legitimate resistance. While it seems reasonable to assume he was a spokesperson for the Palestinian Liberation Organization, he has continued to deny it. He advocates sanctions against Israel and has received almost $500,000 in grants from City of Chicago. Seven days after the FBI raid, Abudayyah visted the White House representing the Arab American Action Network.
Maureen Murphy is the managing editor of Electronic Intifada, an anti-Israeli site and also a contributor to www.FightBackNews.org
Tom Burke heads up the Freedom Road Socialist Organization which praisedFARC, the organization responsible for the kidnapping of 60 people in 2005, hijacking a domestic commercial flight in 2002 and the murder of three U.S. missionaries in Columbia in 1999. Tom described them as, “the leading force in the struggle for national liberation and socialism in Columbia.” He’s also a former union steward in SEIU.
Jess Sundin is an anti-war activist who visited FARC in 2000 and concluded that “the FARC are honest people with serious convictions, fighting for progressive social change.”
These people, among others were crying foul, claiming it was a witch hunt (as you can plainly still see from Ms. Sundin’s Facebook page) by the FBI. Some of them formed an organization called the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. This committee directs people to the websitehttp://www.stopfbi.net and are standing in solidarity with 261 organizations from around the world. That’s all well and great until you see some organizations like Bring the Ruckus on the list who wants to “Forge a path between the leftist vanguard party favored by traditional Marxist parties and the loose network model of organizations favored by many anarchists and activists today.” For a complete list of the organzations standing in solidarity with the Comittee to Stop FBI Repression see here, your organization just might be listed.
A lot of this anti-police sentiment reminds me of another organization called Code Pink. I’ve talked about this before, but I believe it needs to be mentioned again because the four Congressional members involved should be brought up on charges of treason.
On October 12, Scott Swett at the American Thinker reported that Senator Barabara Boxer (D-CA) along with Representatives Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Dennis! Kucinich (D-OH) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) secured diplomatic courtesy letters that allowed anti-American Code Pink activists to travel to Fallujah, Iraq. The radicals traveled to Fallujah in late 2004 to donate $600,000 worth of humanitarian aid to the people who had just killed 51 Americans and wounded 560 more earlier that month. Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah was the heaviest US urban combat since the Vietnam War. After the report was published at American Thinker the article was deleted at Islam Online. But, thanks to the internet archive, a copy of the article is still available.
We have Congressional members aiding and abetting Islamic terrorists through Code Pink. We’ve got union members and anti-war activists aiding and abetting Islamic terrorists through radical leftist organizations. And now, all of sudden, we have union leadership standing with radical leftist, Socialist and anti-war organizations shouting, “Solidarity!” What are the leaders of the police unions saying?
Jim Pasco, the Executive Directive of the National Fraternal Order of Police interviewed with Glenn Beck a few days ago. He said, “The fact that Van Jones is speaking out on the collective bargaining issue does not mean that they support or agree with another entire thing in his repertoire. They are prepared to take whatever measures necessary within the law to ensure that the rights of their members are not abrogated. They would be protesting with Glenn Beck if he was at the forefront.”
Unfortunately, even if you can’t stand Beck’s message, I can’t even come close to imagining Beck having the same bad record that Van Jones does, particularly in light of the most recent issue emanating from Jones:
In a New York High School curriculum book called Speak Truth to Power, Van Jones is quoted as saying, “A guy is beaten, he’s kicked, he’s stomped, he’s pepper-sprayed, gagged (because the police don’t want him bleeding on them), and then left in a cell. Well, that’s the sort of stuff you’d expect in Guatemala. But it happened just fifteen or twenty minutes from here.” Boy that sounds nasty, but of course, there was no police side to the story given to refute any of those claims. God forbid the police, maybe, had trouble with the criminal resisting arrest. In another section called “Who do you think is protecting you?” the point is made that you need to understand human rights, people who are defending those rights, such as Van Jones, and understanding the issue of police brutality. Then the students are asked to research websites providing information on incarcerated men, women and youth. Here are two of those sites.
Policecrimes.com – “There is a special place in hell for the following law enforcement agencies and I hope that every agent and officer from these agencies involved in the WACO incident dies a slow and painful death. These agencies are some of the most dangerous groups of people in America and are a threat to all Americans. If these people can murder innocent women and children, just imagine what they’re capable of doing to your family. Any law enforcement agency that refuses to follow the U.S. Constitution should be hung by their neck until dead.”
Mostlywater.org is encouraging students and citizens to stand with them on March 15, 2011, called, “Fuck Police Brutality Day”. A portion of the site reads, “The excuse of a few bad apples is a myth. The tree is rotten. The institution of policing itself is the problem. Police systematically use and abuse the power at their disposal to criminalize, and otherwise brutalize, queer and trans peoples, communities living in poverty, activists, indigenous and radicalized communities, those without status, people living with disabilities, drug users and those living with mental health issues. 2010 was the year of the riot. 2011 is set to be the year of insurrection. Stay tuned for more details as March 15th approaches, and join us in the streets.” In response to this, it might be a good idea to call your local police department and let them know who you are and that you stand with them, whatever may occur on March 15th.
While it might seem that good information can be yielded by visiting those sites, I believe that what is building here is more anti-police sentiment with more compassion for the criminals. This, to me, is proved by a TV show being aired on MSNBC during the night called “Lockup”. This show is a reality documentary of criminals in prison, their everyday lives in lockup and some of the issues they have to deal with. Why is this program important? Just like “Sixteen and Pregnant” on MTV, you’re either disgusted with the drama and stupidity of the “reality” being shown, as I am, or you begin to sympathize with those being shown. You begin to “see their side”. While it is important to look objectively at things from all sides, I have a serious problem with sympathizing with criminals. They are in prison because they committed a crime. I shouldn’t have to sympathize with someone who broke the law and neither should the police who are now standing in solidarity with Van Jones and the organizations he and the others represent.
After talking about the police in America in Speak Truth to Power, Van Jones says, “Who knows, had American citizens taken the reports issued by “communist” and “socialist” newspapers in Europe during the 1930’s seriously, the rise of the Nazis in Germany and the Fascists in Italy might not have been so smooth.” Is Van Jones comparing Nazis and Fascists to the American police? I mean seriously, is he saying that the situation we’re facing with people speaking out against police brutality is much like the “so-called” “communist” and “socialist” newspapers that warned about the Nazi’s and by proxy, the American police forces are just like the Nazi’s?
This curriculum book was put together and funded by the Robert F Kennedy Center and NYSUT, a teacher’s union that’s part of the AFL-CIO.
Unfortunately, the union leadership and radical leftist organizations are not the only ones who are spouting this kind of anti-police and anti-law sentiment. I was shocked to hear the following at a pro-union rally in Cleveland this past Sunday:
02-27-11 ~ Cuy Co Dem Party Chair Stuart Garson quotes Saul Alinsky
That’s Stuart Garson, the Chairman of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party in Ohio. He recently took over the position after the FBI had raided Cuyahoga County and conducted a County-wide corruption investigation. When he says, “Never waste a good crisis,” he’s quoting Saul Alinsky from “Rules for Radicals”. By the way, if you didn’t know, Alinsky tipped his hat to someone he apparently thought deserved adoration in the beginning of the book, saying:
Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgement to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins – or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom – Lucifer.
Who doesn’t want to support teachers, firefighters and police? Certainly not Jack Painter, the Cincinnati Tea Party activist, who made a very bad joke two weeks ago. Certainly not any Tea Party member I know and certainly not the members of the unions they belong to. And yet, the union leadership has been telling their membership that these Governors are attacking the middle class, attacking the workers and attempting to balance the budget on the backs of the middle class. They tell them these things to stir up emotions and bury the logic.
I spent a couple hours trying to prove my points on that Facebook page. I had to refute so many false statements and prove myself, it was ridiculous. While it appears on the surface this is simply about spreading misinformation, it cuts far deeper than that. The very radical leftist organizations that have for years supported terrorists, fought against the police and the rule of law and have created their own acts of terror through organizations like the Weather Underground and Code Pink … the very people who hate the police and everything they stand for: honor, commitment, peace and resolution, are now trying to stand side by side with those people, asking for solidarity. This is much like the wolf wearing sheep’s clothing to get into the house.
And while being a radical is not necessarily a bad thing (especially since the majority of those honored members of the American Revolution were Conservative Radicals) it crosses the ultimate line when you are willing to make violence, force and terror a part of your revolution. While Alinsky doesn’t directly advocate violence in “Rules for Radicals” he makes continual war references talking about battle tactics and techniques. Beyond that, I’m positive that Alinsky would condemn peaceful, non-violent resistance such as that of Ghandi or MLK as a waste of time.
Unfortunately, the union leadership is in on the game. The Democratic Party is in on the game. The radical leftists are poised to pounce and destroy and the American people, the poor, tired, windswept American people caught in the middle of this entire thing are about lose everything. Union members, it’s time for you to stand up and take back your union leadership from Socialists, Communists and radical leftists who are hell-bent upon destroying our society. Democratic Party members, it’s time for you to stand up and replace your leadership within the party with common sense and basic democratic principles. It’s time for you to replace these people with common sense people who actually have your best interests at heart and are not afraid to say, “We will NOT shed blood to achieve our demands. We will stand with our brothers and sisters for peace.” Instead of union thugery being known, let it be unknown as we sit down, hash out our problems in a reasonable and civilized manner and hopefully, there will be peace. But you will not find it standing in solidarity with these people. God bless our police, firefighters and teachers.
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