Friends, I recommend to you two great articles today. The first is about the statements by Democratic candidate for New York Attorney General Zephyr Teachout (the name alone should warn voters to stay away) to the effect that she believes ICE should not only be abolished -- in addition, its officers should be prosecuted for unspecified crimes. Teachout says ICE has become "a tool of fear and illegality". Now, let's ponder this for a moment. What this leftist is saying is that enforcing the law can itself be a crime. In addition, causing those guilty of a crime to fear they will be arrested is, presumably, criminal behavior. In effect, she objects to our current immigration laws so much that she seeks to invalidate them by prosecuting those who execute them. Again, the contrast with President Trump's criticism of the FBI could not be more stark. Trump has attacked rogue FBI agents who abused their authority -- not the institution itself. He has not called for the abolition of the FBI. He has not suggested that FBI agents performing their normal duties are guilty of criminal acts. He has not called the FBI a "terrorist organization," as Cynthia Nixon has (she is challenging Andrew Cuomo for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in New York this year). It all goes to show you -- radicalism is blossoming on the Left, and they are inching ever closer to declaring it illegal for President Trump, and perhaps Republicans and conservatives in general, to speak, or even to draw breath. To the Left, "the law" means whatever they want it to mean. That's a scary thought, and it's the number one reason why it was so critical that we avoided a Clinton presidency in 2016. If the Left had won that election, people who believe that it's illegal to enforce the law would have been...running the country! Incredible.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/08/02/new-york-attorney-general-candidate-wants-to-prosecute-ice.html
The second article is about the union movement's divisions over whether or not to support Trump, or, more realistically, over whether or not to treat Trump like a leper. Not surprisingly, there are many leftist union officials who see Trump as the devil incarnate. On the other hand, there are those who understand that some of Trump's actions, like his tariffs against China, help many American workers. As a union member myself (though perhaps not for much longer), it saddens me that unions have become so captive to the radical agenda of the Left. All too often, unions involve themselves in political issues and races that have nothing to do with advancing the interests of their members. Hopefully, the Janus decision will help change this, but in the meantime the debate in leftist circles, and union circles, seems to be largely one of: is Trump merely bad, or is he monstrous? Should we just campaign against him, as in days of yore, or should we ratchet up our "resistance" and seek to imprison, dismiss from employment, or pillory anyone who says a kind word about him? It tells you something about the Left that, these days, simply failing to excoriate Trump vehemently enough BY ITSELF can make you persona non grata. And yet these are the times we live in.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/08/02/trumka-blasted-by-teachers-union-boss-for-keeping-door-open-on-trump-2020-endorsement.html
Dr. Waddy: I think many leftists are reflexive iconoclasts who automatically agree with the two absurdities you pointed out in your title; however they would not notice the connection you posited. The ones who mean business though - they mean just what you said.
ReplyDeleteThis swing to the left on the part of the Dems is a window to their real intentions swinging open; I think they've always believed what they are blatting now and, when they have the power,like Cuomo, are acting on. If you are a gunner owner, in law enforcement, are a crime victim, if you care about how your taxes are used, if you are rural: you are to him a second class citizen. We must take the warning which this certainly is that this how it will be whenever leftists think they have unassailable power. More later.
Jack, I think you're right that over the years leftists have often soft-pedaled their doctrinaire views to get elected and make progress incrementally. No doubt they considered voting for Clinton to be an act of compromise along these lines. Frustration does make them veer towards the extremes, though -- which is precisely why we need to WIN IN 2018! If we can do that, I honestly believe the whole edifice of leftism may begin to come apart at the seams.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy: Ditto, ditto. We hit them with the haymaker in 2016.If we follow through with a finisher in 2018 (my,my, they still think they are a sure thing)they may go completely off the deep end in 2020, nominate such as Bernie and consign them selves to the ash heap of history where they belong.
ReplyDeleteOn the unions: my father was an early 1950's industrial union activist in Buffalo until the mob butted in. But some of the industrial unions had already been preempted by another kind of murderous thug - old time commies - I saw the effect they had on him. He told me "FDR gave us the go ahead to take on the bosses and the owners". WWII interrupted most of it ( American Stalinists still tried to shut down the San Francisco docks in the middle of the war) but that conviction carried over I think. Trouble was, FDR was in some ways a prototypical limousine liberal and he had no comprehension of the viciousness of committed Communists. His 1940 running mate, Henry Wallace, may well have been one and FDR thought Stalin was an ok guy. Those industrial unions had legitimate concerns; I worked in the Republic Steel plant in the '60's and '70's with veterans of those formative days when working conditions were really bad. But then the real cynical bad asses moved in from all directions. I witnessed first hand that irrevocably anti management attitude and present day industrial labor leaders don't seem to be able to get shut of it. Too bad, because post 1972 Dems court them but disdain them. As for the public employee unions, they are thoroughly dominatd by the radical left; I saw it. They are at present unreachable. But maybe, just maybe, the reservations expressed by Richard Trumka are the harbinger of a sea change in the true "labor"unions to the realization that this President and the party he is reforming, are their friends.
Maybe, Jack, but I think more likely is that the Trumkas of the world will be bullied into silence and/or compliance with leftist demands, at least for now. After 2018, or 2020, who knows... And I certainly agree that the unions had legitimate concerns and a legitimate purpose once upon a time. They still do, to some extent. The rise of public sector unions, and the decline and fall of the rest of them, is telling, unfortunately. The union leadership decided to go "all in" with big government, and now they've got to live with that decision. Incidentally, I asked my union what Janus meant in terms of my obligation to pay dues, etc. I also asked whether they intend to change their approach to political advocacy. No response. That's today's union movement in a nutshell.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy: Oh yeah, I went through that with my "democratic" union when I objected to one of our activists displaying a poster picture of good old "Che" on the cover of our newsletter. I did get a reply but it was patronizing and dismissive. Lest I appear ungrateful for my benefits,I'll note that I was a secretary and, for several months a steward and so did more unpaid work for the union than do 98% of members. You're getting the typical disdainful New York treatment: ignore him and maybe he'll go away. I fully acknowledge that I owe a great many benefits to the union and I think I showed my gratitude but when public employee union activists (excepting police, fire, parole, probation and correction officers and teachers in violent schools) turn up their trench coat collars and do a Lenin imitation amid the snowflakes or raise their fist in revolutionary dudgeon over the possibility of a 3% raise being questioned, it is meet to remind them that people like Hoffa, Reuther and the greatest of them all, John L. Lewis, did not possess or represent anyone possessing the protections afforded government workers by statute today. Like all leftists they have expectations formed from whole cloth in leftist salons.
ReplyDeleteJack, you're right -- we public sector workers have it pretty good. America, though, is full of privileged people whining about how "oppressed" they are. It's one of our least charming pastimes! Oh, what the Third Worlders must make of us...
ReplyDelete