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September 04, 2021 12:36 AM UTC

Labor Day Weekend Open Thread

  • 60 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

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60 thoughts on “Labor Day Weekend Open Thread”

  1. September 4, 1800 – The French garrison in Valletta surrenders to British troops who had been called at the invitation of the Maltese. The islands of Malta and Gozo become the Malta Protectorate.

  2. And good news for the Labor Day …

    Gallup finds Approval of Labor Unions at Highest Point Since 1965

    Sixty-eight percent of Americans approve of labor unions. Though statistically similar to last year's 65%, the current reading is the highest Gallup has measured since 71% in 1965.

    Pew Research Center announces the study Majorities of Americans say unions have a positive effect on U.S. and that decline in union membership is bad

    As of July, 55% of U.S. adults say labor unions have a positive effect on the way things are going in the country, unchanged from August 2019, the last time the Center asked this question. While the overall figure has remained the same, Democrats have become more likely – and Republicans less likely – to say unions have a positive effect….

    Six-in-ten U.S. adults say the large reduction in the percentage of workers represented by unions over the past several decades has been very or somewhat bad for working people, while a similar share (56%) say it has been very or somewhat bad for the country, according to an April 2021 Pew Research Center survey.

     

  3. The new staff redistricting plan looks like a reasonably good scenario for Dems. BoBo has to run in a less Republican 03 – no other plan probably does that – and the new 08 is winnable, especially for a Hispanic Dem. 

    2. One of the things people said they wanted when they voted for the Amendments creating these Commissions was more competitive districts. This plan has only one competitive district (8) and effectively throws 3, possibly 4, incumbent Congressmembers out of office.

      District 2 as shown on this map includes current Congressmembers Boebert, Neguse, and Buck. It is also a safe Dem district as drawn so only Neguse keeps his seat there.

      District 6 as shown has a strong GOP lean now. Strong enough to not be called competitive. I doubt Crow would be able to hold it.

      District 7 also has a R lean (just outside of traditional competitive range), but not as severe as 6. Perlmutter might be able to hold it, but if the GOP runs a reasonable candidate against him (oh look, I made a funny), it will be a battle.

    3. This one won't stand: The commission is determined to cram in a 4th unquestionably Republican district. Absurd that the state continues to march leftward and pretty much no matter what happens, Republicans will get another seat.

  4. The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard is truly a Labor Day parable.

    There is a deep truth that the Jewish concept of Jubilee recognizes, namely that the more one accumulates the more the desire for more increases. This eventually becomes the kind covetous greed that destroys community and makes the many into the slaves of a few. In ancient Israel, individuals don’t really “own” the land, the land belongs to God and it is God’s to distribute. This is the basis of the “debt code” where land could be redistributed every Jubilee year, that is, the year when all debts were cancelled and the land redistributed.

    It’s also crucial to realize that those who work the land have a deep connection with it; to say that it is owned only by individuals, or even corporations and that the workers should have no say in how much they are paid, their overtime, their health and safety conditions, is an affront to God.

    Jesus is telling this parable to get those who work the land to recognize how different this “landowner’s” viewpoint is from what is traditional Jewish belief, that God gives the land and human beings work in community to create abundance for all that all may live.

    How would we organize our companies today if we truly believed that everyone had a stake in the economic well-being of the company, and that God’s justice is at stake in how we work and how we get paid?

    Tough words from the Prophet. Would he recognize our American system of 'it's mine', 'I built that', 'you're expendable' as one consistent with his teachings? Would he be fighting to defund health care? To propose draconian cuts in the supplemental nutritional assistance program? To keep the migrant worker who picks your vegetables and cuts your meat in the shadows of the richest society ever known to mankind? Questions every one of us as Americans should be contemplating today as we celebrate the worker – both those who were fortunate enough to be born 'American', and the millions who live in the shadows – yet contribute to a significant portion of our growing national wealth.

    On the day after Thanksgiving in 1960, CBS News aired the documentary Harvest of Shame. Sixty-one years later it would be hard to argue that we've made great advances regarding the way we treat the migrants in the sweat shops of the soil. Today we incarcerate more young black men than the aggregate number of slaves at the time of the Civil War.

    Let's let this day be a day of reflection of the lapses of our past responsibilities – and an opportunity to embrace the kind of future where every human being is treated with the dignity we are called to give them.

    Happy Labor Day, 2021

     

    1. Preach, brother!

      My friend that works with Colorado migrants recounts their stories of deep injustice – working for one employer for decades, only to be laid off with no worker's comp after a workplace injury ( labor law says that undocumented people can still get workmen's compensation).

      A young mother who dislocated a shoulder doing heavy lifting at JBS, also just fired when she tried to get compensated for the injury. Union reps, who tend to be traditional white working class folks, are not always sympathetic to migrants and their issues.

      In my own case, Jeffco Public Schools just negotiated a new contract with teachers – but left substitute teachers out of the package, leaving us making $12.50 an hour, often less than our high school students are making flipping burgers.  Then they cry and whine about why no substitutes can be found. Last spring, JPS raised the wage for substitutes to $150 a day to try to alleviate the sub shortage – then lowered it again this fall, to their everlasting shame.

      Substitutes have no union, although we can join the NEA for reduced dues. Since the NEA refuses to bargain for us, our loyalty is unreciprocated. A few states include substitutes in the teacher's union – Colorado isn't one of them, and the last time subs tried, in 2006, they were rebuffed by the DCTA.

      That's the extent of my labor rant/ whine today.

    2. There are some, including a hospital administrator, disputing this story.

      "Oklahoma Dr. Jason McElyea Spreads Rumor that People Taking Ivermectin are Flooding Local Hospitals — Turns Out to Be Complete Lie But Fake News Ran with It Anyway"  That is the headline on gateway pundit

      the coverage there is a bit of a RWNJ take, but the underlying story seems right.

      2. Yup. Dr. melyea really did say that the ER was overrun with ivermectin ODs, but that wasn’t in fact true. However, plenty of people are calling their local poison control centers with dewormer  overdoses, and the FDA said:

         

      3. This entire GOPer/Ivermectin thing has me utterly stumped and looking for some kind of reasonable explanation . . .

        . . . best I can come up with is that this horse dewormer must be administered in suppository form ?????  

        (But, I haven’t seen any reporting as such.)

        . . . otherwise, I just dunno’ . . .

        (Maybe it’s just another one of those seemingly inexplicable , “you’re not in the intended audience” things, we’re seeing so much more of these days?)

         

        1. Distancing, hand washing, masks, vaccines – scary and worthless. Harmful, even.

          Horse dewormer, fish tank cleaner, and free market opioids – bring it on.

          When my transmission breaks, I listen to my mechanic.
          When the dishwasher, washing machine or dryer break down, I listen to appliance guy.
          Computer: IT.
          Cell phone, toaster, microwave, tea kettle – replace.

          But when it comes to my health and well being – I turn to Hannity or Gorka or any right wing talker (cuz Rush is dead).

          If only my doctor had a tv show, then I could listen to her.

    1. No, it isn’t.

      In the entire course of human history, no nation has been dumb enough to set aside a day to honor bowling leagues. This is just another dumbass commercial promotion.
      Oh, the inanity!

          1. WTH?  Have they outsourced their communications department to Fluffy?

            (and why do I laugh to myself when I see Madison’s signature and think back to Ms. Moran’s 3rd grade class cursive sessions? That doesn’t look like the signature of a hardened patriot about to take up arms against his fellow man)

              1. “Elliot Fladen to the explanations, paging Elliot Fladen to the explanations post . . .”

                . . . Hang on there MB, we’ve got a qualified expert on their way here to explain (again?? . . . sheesh! . . . and on a holiday weekend, too? [smh]) to you how Rep. Cawthorn – Patriot couldn’t possibly have really meant what he obviously meant there . . .?

              2. I tried to figure out if Madison Cawthorn’s childish signature could have something to do with his disability…but concluded that, no, it just shows an immature mind in arrested development.

                Here’s the signature of another paraplegic politician, for comparison: 

            2. I don't know the details of Cawthorn's injury — but hanging around people who wind up in wheelchairs has made me aware of a WIDE range of approaches of those folks to their signatures.

              Just sayin' — there are better reasons to denigrate Madison Cawthorn.

              1. I’m not one to go after people with disabilities by any stretch of the imagination (He doesn’t consider himself disabled – see his quote below). These comments stem from the fact this guy has been a fraud from day one and invited every ounce of criticism flung at him. I’d go as far to say, like BoBo and EmptyG, he’s a danger to our democracy. The injury doesn’t seem to have affected his ability to shoot a gun, nor wave his penis compensator around willy nilly for his rabid base. 

                He has the reasoning skills and impulse controls of a child. That is the disability that should disqualify any person from this particular office.

                Here’s more.

                “I have zero idea how I am ableist whatever the hell that means. I am not disabled, I am just a person who lives in a wheelchair. (my emphasis) “Chill the f*@$ out with all your labels. It’s so annoying. Everyone has some ‘ism’ or ‘ist’ after their name. It’s insane and tiring to everyone.”

                ~Congressman Madison Cawthorn

              2. I analyze handwriting, J i D….a hobby and a habit I picked up from my mother.

                Most politician's signatures show the big, loopy initial letters, demonstrating the ego required to run for office. That applies to all party affiliations, btw.

                Cawthorn's signature shows immaturity, vindictiveness, low self-esteem, and laziness. I'd have to see more of his handwriting to form a complete picture, but that's my initial take.

                 

    4. Hopefully, the Committee will get text and voice messages as well as time and recipients of phone calls. It’s gonna look suspicious if,  say, Boebert or Gaetz had multiple contacts on Jan 6 with insurrectionist(s), but unless the Committee gets actual text or voicemail messages, the liars will still lie and claim that they were innocent phone calls. 
      Nobody except their 25% will believe that, but that’s status quo. 

    4. "If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you."  But that is only in CRIMINAL trials. 

      Spencer is part of a federal civil trial:  "Sines v. Kessler – the landmark federal lawsuit backed by Integrity First for America against the neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and hate groups responsible for the Unite the Right violence in Charlottesville."  "May 19, 2021:  The Court denied a late motion for summary judgement by defendant Richard Spencer. He will face trial alongside his co-defendants."  The most recent amended complaint is https://files.integrityfirstforamerica.org/14228/1568836381-557-2019-09-18-second-amended-complaint.pdf — Richard Spencer's description as a defendant is Paragraph 21 on page 9.

       

  13. We’re witnessing the birth pangs of a new, unknown era.  The end of Reaganism, which shaped our response to 9/11. One ideology that’s guided us for 40 years and another that’s guided us for 20 years, both of which are effectively over.

    This is true of all eras: there’s always a remnant and a leftover. But the consequences of the actions of 9/11 and our response have changed how we view ourselves, our place in the world, etc. Imagine a president arguing for military intervention in another nation today.

    The end of an era can be good or bad. It feels like we’re transitioning into something worse at the moment; we could be witnessing the US disintegrate into open violence. So the new era could be the final one for the US as we know it – or our better angels may appear. As an optimist I want to believe things will turn around, that as a county we’ll have our Whitefish moment. Doesn’t seem likely in the scope of history and what’s going on, but we’re close enough to moving through the Overton Window that it is a possibility. 

    This is a good watch, from an historian, thirty minutes (with an ad from minutes 2:00 through 4:30 that seems to last ten). Get through that and you’ll hear things from a historical perspective that may (or may not) make you uncomfortable. 

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