Dem In Public Park Ejected By Allen West Thugs
Democratic staffer is pulled off the campaign trail for safety
Allen West and Joe Miller: Thugs of a Feather
The Joe Miller arrest of a reporter by his private militia on the campaign trail is rightfully garnering national headlines. Meanwhile, down in Florida, he-man GOP tea party House candidate Allen West is acting every bit as thuggish, perhaps more so.
Video out today shows Allen West in a public park urging his supporters to eject a Democratic videographer. His supporters, some wearing patches identifying themselves as gang members of a South Florida coalition of motorcycle clubs associated with the Outlaws, surround the tracker at West's urging and violently force him out of the public park.
Here's the report from the local NBC affiliate:
And here's the video from the tracker's camera as he was bullied out of the public park:
Comparing the West video to the Joe Miller video reveals striking similarities in behavior and mindset. Here's the Joe Miller video showing his goon squad dealing with some reporters in a public school hallway as the handcuff incident was unfolding:
First, we have conservative candidates for public office utilizing socialized public spaces and arrogantly treating the public areas as private property.
Next we have thuggish goon squads serving as security details for these candidates. The goons are well practiced in their thuggery - in fact, the tactics are reminiscent of high school bullies, so these jerks have been practicing ever since before they dropped out. They are just walking in the park or innocently moving down the hall and "Oh noes!!" someone touched them! The goons are simply defending themselves against agressive individuals who are attacking them as they walk casually along in a large intimidating group.
The goons have been sicced on victims who are simply and legally doing their jobs. The bullies are unleashed to suppress the free exchange of information and ideas. This un-American suppression of political speech borders on terrorism.
The candidates who control these violent cretins are quick to defend them - "I was never more amazed by how members of the Outlaws guarded me," says Allen West. Joe Miller is still making shit up about "irrational bloggers" to justify the false imprisonment of a reporter. Maybe I can update this story when his story stabilizes.
The Democratic staffer who took the Allen West video above has been removed from the campaign trail for his own safety. For those of you who didn't watch, at the end of the video, the thugs have forced the staffer away from the West event in a public park and back to the staffer's car in the parking lot. One of the assailants is seen and heard using a cel phone to run the tag of the victim and obtain name and address information - very easy to access for those who rule through intimidation and fear, and reminiscent of the rightwing online bullies who seek out and publish personal information - "Gee, that's a nice house you have there. And a nice family. And a nice life. Sure would be a shame if anything happened to it..."
It's not just in Alaska and Florida either. In Texas, Republicans are joking about shooting Democratic candidates. "Man up" has become the new emasculating rallying cry (also embraced by Allen West.) Paladino seeks to dehumanize teh gay even as youth suicides increase. A Georgia lawmaker defends "shoot to kill" as a valid immigration solution. Dog whistles for violence continue under the radar.
We cannot stand down now. It is imperative that we beat these thugs at the polls. When they lose, they will be pissed. If they win, they will be in charge.
Ron Klein is essentially tied with Allen West. Alan Grayson is running neck and neck with Daniel Webster.Joe Garcia can beat David Rivera. It's all gonna come down to GOTV. So...
NOTHING is over until WE decide it is. Let's get going...
Ron Klein
Find your Florida Early Voting Location
Progress Florida Voter Guide
Fair Districts Florida
Alan Grayson
Joe Garcia
Kendrick Meek
Alex Sink
FL-22: VFW PAC Endorses Democrat Klein, Makes Republicans Whine!
Lieutenant Colonel Allen B West (US Army War Criminal, Ret) is not a witch. Allen West is a macho hetero Spartan warrior with a higher security clearance than the President. He's into Nazis and movies about gladiators, likes to dabble in torture, is a favorite of Sarah Palin, and, of course, he's a deadbeat who's running on a platform of fiscal responsibility.
Obviously, Allen West is a candidate with impeccable credentials and an Iraqi War Veteran to boot, so WTF is the VFW PAC doing endorsing his progressive Dem opponent Ron Klein?
VFW Pac claims that their endorsement is based on the fact that Klein strongly supports veterans, but some on the right are livid that the VFW PAC would ignore the tea party torture hero Allen West in favor of a man who actually supports veterans on the issues that are important to them.
The Palm Beach Post reports that some veterans are demanding a retraction of the VFW PAC endorsement, but despite the whining, VFW PAC is standing firm behind Democrat Ron Klein because Ron Klein really does support our troops:
The VFW PAC operates separately from the 2.1 million-member VFW. Its endorsements are based on how legislators vote on key issues for veterans and members of the military. House members who agreed with the VFW's position on at least 10 of 13 selected votes received endorsements.
Citing the "angry tone and tenor" of calls and messages to VFW headquarters, leaders of the veterans group called on the PAC this week to rescind all 356 of its House and Senate endorsements.
The PAC today acknowledged that "emotions are running high" in some races, but said it is standing by its endorsements.
"It would not only be unfair, but contrary to VFW-PAC By-Laws to disregard the incumbent's record of support and endorse another candidate," the PAC said in a statement. "The VFW-PAC will not abandon those in Congress that have supported issues of critical importance to our nation's security and veterans."
Tea party heads are exploding.
Support the candidate who really supports the troops. Give to Ron Klein.
Meek Surges, Crist Will Not Rise Again
In the race for Florida Senate it's crunch time, and the latest polls show our candidate Kendrick Meek surging as Dems come home and No Party Charlie Crist slips to an inevitable third place finish.
Crist’s support has now dropped 10-points since May, while Rubio and Meek have each made gains. In essence, Crist is bleeding Democrats to Meek and independents to both Meek and Rubio. It is also noteworthy that Crist’s statewide support has fallen below the 30% threshold, leaving him far short of the minimum required to win a three-way race under the most perfect circumstances (34%).
Meek is behind but trending in the right direction. But here's the thing - Charlie Crist is looking less and less electable every day - his downward trajectory in the polls is not going to turn around. The only way to keep Marco Rubio out of the Senate at this point is to help Kendrick Meek pull off an upset victory.
I've written several pro Meek diaries on this race in the past few months and a common theme in the comments goes something like this:
Yeah, Meek is a good Dem, a strong progressive, a champion of the working class, a Democrat who votes with leadership when the stakes are down, a real Dem and a team player - just the kind of candidate we all want more of in DC. BUT I'm voting for Crist because Meek is unelectable. Meek is running a horrid campaign. Meek will lose the primary. Whatever. And Crist is good enough - at least he's not Rubio!
So here's my challenge to all you naysayers: now that your compromise candidate Crist is turning out to be less electable than a real Democrat, are you ready to fight for and support Kendrick Meek? Because at this point, if we don't rally behind our candidate, we're gonna have Senator Marco Rubio representing Florida.
It's going to be an uphill slog, but the Meek campaign is fighting hard, and they see a path to victory. One thing is certain: there is no longer a path to victory for Charlie Crist.
Meek "has an outside chance to pull off a major comeback, but it is largely predicated on his ability to convince Crist's newfound Democratic friends that the former Republican's campaign is hopeless and it is time for them to come back to their party," said Mason-Dixon pollster Brad Coker. "That will be a tough challenge, but it is now the only apparent way for Rubio to lose."
Charlie Crist cannot win this race. Crist's campaign is hopeless. Meek has a chance and is trending in the right direction, but we need to start fighting for him.
Marco Rubio: From Poor Boy Cuban Hero to Grinder?
Marco Rubio, son of working class immigrants, Republican US Senate candidate and, of course, a hero, is facing questions stemming from spending decisions made during his reign as Speaker of the Florida House.
In 2007 while courageously leading the Florida House of Representatives, Rubio somehow found the time to become a true hero to a bereft group of judges who really really needed a new courthouse. A Taj Mahal courthouse.
Scheduled to be completed in November, it's a $48 million behemoth in which each judge will get a 60-inch LCD flat screen television in chambers (trimmed in mahogany), a private bathroom (featuring granite countertops) and a kitchen (complete with microwave and refrigerator).
How did it get funded? Like many things that gain life in Tallahassee, the courthouse grew out of a last-minute amendment on the last day of a legislative session. The funding for the courthouse was buried in the middle of a 142-page transportation bill, approved the last day of the 2007 session.
The state had never floated a bond issue to build a courthouse, but Sen. Victor Crist of Tampa attached the amendment that allowed the court to float a $33.5 million bond issue.
Several legislators say they were not aware the courthouse amendment was in the transportation bill when they voted on it.
Former Rep. Lorrane Ausley of Tallahassee voted against the bill, but she says she did not know about the amendment that was added to build the courthouse in her hometown.
"It was safer to vote no on things like that given the lack of transparency on stuff like this,'' Ausley said last week. "I do recall that the judges worked the halls pretty hard. I don't think the Legislature ever intended something like this.''
That bond issue didn’t quite cover all the extras so $16 million was taken from the state's Workers' Compensation Trust Fund.
Now Rubio, ever the bashful type, has refused to take credit for this kind hearted deed. In fact,
Rubio said Wednesday the proposal for the courthouse, which has been criticized as too luxurious in a time of severe budget constraints, originated in the Senate, not the House, which he controlled; and that it wasn't the Legislature's job to scrutinize building plans.
...Asked about the courthouse in an interview with the Tampa Tribune editorial board, Rubio, said, "That specific spending priority emerged from the Senate."
He said funding courts is "a core governmental function," but, "How that money is spent and what it's spent on is not what the Legislature does. The Legislature doesn't approve architectural plans, it doesn't approve purchasing orders."
In other parts of the interview, Rubio emphasized his commitment to cutting government spending and eliminating earmarks.
...The courthouse is being built on the outskirts of Tallahassee for the state 1st District Court of Appeal at a time when state courts are laying off employees and making do with inadequate or dilapidated quarters because of budget cuts.
...State Sen. Charlie Dean, R-Ocala, then chairman of the House council on law enforcement and courts, has been quoted in news reports as saying the project was pushed through at the request of two politically influential judges with connections to two Rubio aides. Dean couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.
And it turns out that Dean may be on to something, for despite his protestations to the contrary, Rubio has been named as a “hero” by the very judges for who were elevated from mere mortals overseeing innocuous courtrooms to Hela Judges in charge of the Taj Fucking Mahal! Bitches!
Since the story first broke about the palatial new courthouse being built in Tallahassee, the former House speaker has said it was a Senate priority, and he couldn't even remember the money being appropriated to build it.
But now the St. Petersburg Times has obtained an e-mail circulated among the judges on the courthouse building committee that identifies the "heroes'' in delivering the money to build it.
Among them, the e-mail identifies a select few who were "especially helpful,'' including Rubio.
"I have never heard of this list'' of heroes, Rubio said this week.
...Dated April 29, 2008, the e-mail exchanged by judges on the building committee and court staffers encouraged them to personally thank those who helped secure the funding.
...Rubio, now a candidate for the U.S. Senate, has repeatedly said the courthouse was a Senate project and the House knew nothing about the architectural plans. He said it was part of the last-minute House and Senate give and take.
Rubio's appropriations chairman, former Rep. Ray Sansom, remembers it differently.
...He said 1st DCA Chief Judge Paul Hawkes frequently visited Sansom's office to remind him the project was a priority of the speaker's. As was Sansom's practice whenever someone said he had the speaker's backing, Sansom said he went to Rubio to make sure.
...In an unrelated case, Sansom has been criminally charged with grand theft in connection with a $6 million appropriation in the 2007 budget for a friend's airplane hangar. He has denied wrongdoing, and his trial is scheduled for January.
Poor Boy - Rubio’s altruistic inner Cuban wants no part of the credit for this selfless accomplishment. Despite his status as Hero, he seeks no recognition- he’d probably prefer to be hiding out on a submarine.
But Rubio may go from hero to the grinder. Rye? Well, a Grand Jury could soon be asking questions about the Taj Mahal courthouse.
A grand jury in Leon County will hear a complaint next week about the controversial new courthouse being built in Tallahassee for the 1st District Court of Appeal.
Leon State Attorney Willie Meggs said Wednesday that he has received a complaint from a citizen who wants a grand jury to review the situation surrounding the courthouse.
Meggs said he will bring the case to the grand jury when it meets Wednesday.
...Two years ago a complaint sent to Meggs about former state Rep. Ray Sansom prompted a grand jury not only to indict Sansom but to issue a scathing report of how the Legislature handled the 2007 budget. The report criticized a system that lets a handful of powerful lawmakers make multimillion-dollar decisions in secret.
The grand jury urged the Legislature to "clean up the process" and make Florida "an example to the nation as a state that works for the people and not the special interest of those who have money to influence the Legislature."
It was in that same 2007 legislative session that the $33.5 million bond issue for the courthouse passed the Legislature as an amendment to a transportation bill.
Nothing like a good meaty scandal to chew on leading up to election day.
Politifact Bends Backwards to Bash Union Mailer
The AFL-CIO is sending mailers to union members in Florida touting Kendrick Meek and pointing out that Marco Rubio is not exactly worker friendly.
The mailer makes three assertions:
- Rubio opposes extending unemployment benefits
Rubio is anti-union rights
Rubio is pro-outsourcing
These assertions are pretty easy to back up with real life examples of Marco Rubio's actions and rhetoric. For instance, to this day Rubio confirms that he would have voted against the emergency extension of unemployment benefits. He says that his opposition is based on the fact that the extension, like every single other emergency benefits extension ever, was not paid for with cuts somewhere else.
Rubio confirms that he would have voted against the extension of benefits, but Politifact twists and turns and declares that Rubio might have supported a different bill and thus that makes the AFL-CIO mailer only "half true."
So, by Politifact's logic, if a politician votes against a bill but claims he would have voted for a different bill, then it's not fair to criticize the politician for voting against the actual bill.
Good to know.
Fair Districts: Balart Bros. Show Redistricting Matters
In 1992, a Freshman Republican was elected to represent the Miami area in the US House. The GOP majority in the Florida legislature district had just designed his district as a safe Republican South Florida "Hispanic access seat." His name: Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
In 2002, a Freshman Republican was elected to represent the Miami area in the US House. As the chair of the redistricting panel in the GOP led State House in 2001, he had personally designed his own safe Republican South Florida "Hispanic access seat." His name: Mario Diaz-Balart.
The Balart brothers might have been elected anyway, but the districts that were drawn for / by them virtually guaranteed them easy wins.
Historically, the rules for drawing new districts have been very loose - districts needed to have the same population and be contiguous, and factors such as race and party could be used to create safe seats.
Traditionally, the party in power colludes with the minority party, throwing them a few safe districts and segregating their voters in the process. This leads to a bunch of safe incumbents who can not be held accountable.
Republicans had the legislative power in 1991 and 2001 and, largely due to their mad redistricting skills, they are virtually guaranteed to retain a legislative majority for the 2011 redistricting process.
The current Republican drawn map is full of districts like FL-11, US Rep. Kathy Castor's Tampa area district which includes part of the city of Tampa, carves out a slim piece of shoreline in Hillsborough County, pops down to Sarasota, and then jumps across the entire Tampa Bay to include a chunk of South St. Petersburg.
Out of 420 elections for legislative seats in Florida in the last 6 years, a grand total of three incumbents have been defeated. Three.
This November, Florida voters will have a chance to enact meaningful changes to a redistricting process that has historically been a gerrymandering free for all.
Amendments 5 and 6 are citizen initiatives that will enshrine fair redistricting rules into the state constitution, forcing an end to the practice of lawmakers custom designing their own voter pools.
Aside from Amendment 5 covering Legislative districts and Amendment 6 covering Congressional districts, the ballot summaries and language are identical. Here's Amendment 5:
STANDARDS FOR LEGISLATURE TO FOLLOW IN LEGISLATIVE REDISTRICTING
BALLOT SUMMARY: Legislative districts or districting plans may not be drawn to favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party. Districts shall not be drawn to deny racial or language minorities the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice. Districts must be contiguous. Unless otherwise required, districts must be compact, as equal in population as feasible, and where feasible must make use of existing city, county and geographical boundaries.
Full text:
In establishing Legislative district boundaries:
(1) No apportionment plan or district shall be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent; and districts shall not be drawn with the intent or result of denying or abridging the equal opportunity of racial or language minorities to participate in the political process or to diminish their ability to elect representatives of their choice; and districts shall consist of contiguous territory.
(2) Unless compliance with the standards in this subsection conflicts with the standards in subsection (1) or with federal law, districts shall be as nearly equal in population as is practicable; districts shall be compact; and districts shall, where feasible, utilize existing political and geographical boundaries.
(3) The order in which the standards within sub-sections (1) and (2) of this section are set forth shall not be read to establish any priority of one standard over the other within that subsection.
Simple. Easy to understand. Fair.
The GOP, of course, hates everything about these amendments, but they have failed in multiple attempts to derail the process, including a recent court smack down of their clumsy attempt to confuse voters with dueling amendments, and it looks like Amendments 5 and 6 will be on the ballot in November.
Fair Districts Florida needs help right now with volunteers and money. They have been fighting this fight for years and are very close to victory. A win could make a real difference. A sixty percent super majority is required for passage.
Our present system permits politicians to choose their voters instead of voters having a fair chance to choose their representatives. Legislators use sophisticated computers, voter registration data and past election returns to predict how particular voters will vote in the future. Then they choose which voters are most likely to vote for them and their party and place just enough of those voters in "safe" districts -- ones they are sure they can win. Those in charge also pack large numbers of unfavorable voters in into a few districts so the unfriendly voters will have a chance to win in fewer districts.
Each district is rigged to accomplish a particular result. Districts are set up to be either Democratic or Republican and opposing party candidates do not have a chance. Only 7% of Florida’s legislative elections are really competitive. Voters do not have a real choice in selecting their representatives because the elections are rigged before they even start.
Another result is that there are rarely serious challenges to incumbents. In the last 6 years, there have been 420 elections for State Senator and State Representative. Only three incumbents have been defeated! After all, their districts are specially designed for them! With virtually certain seats, legislators have no incentive to be responsive to their constituents and they see no reason to compromise for the public good.
...The new rules or standards proposed by FairDistrictsFlorida.org will prohibit drawing districts to favor an incumbent or a party. The standards will require that districts be compact and community based. Communities -- like Seminole County -- will not be divided among multiple representatives. And Florida will have strongest constitutional language in the country to ensure that redistricting is not used to reduce the representation of racial and language minority voters.
Politicians like Mario Diaz-Balart will no longer be able to pick their own pool of voters. They will have to compete fairly and attract support from a wide cross-section of their communities.
Districts like Kathy Castor's FL-11 will be redrawn to include entire communities based on existing political and natural boundaries instead of being cobbled together from bits and pieces of 3 different cities and counties.
The races for Senate and Governor are sucking all the air out of the room right now, but Amendments 5 and 6 could be far more important for the long term health of representative democracy in Florida.
Join with organized labor, the ACLU, the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, Democracia Ahora, the vast majority of Democratic politicians in the state, over 600,000 Florida voters who signed petitions to get these measures on the ballot, and some moderate and former Republicans to support Fair Districts Florida.
This really is a BFD.
ACTION: Support FairDistrictsFlorida.
Florida Voters: Vote YES on Amendments 5 and 6.
Editing the Constitution: Amendments 5, 6 are a BFD
This November, Florida voters will have a chance to enact meaningful changes to a redistricting process that has historically been a gerrymandering free for all.
Amendments 5 and 6 are citizen initiatives that will enshrine fair redistricting rules into the state constitution, forcing an end to the practice of lawmakers custom designing their own voter pools.
Aside from Amendment 5 covering Legislative districts and Amendment 6 covering Congressional districts, the ballot summaries and language are identical. Here's Amendment 5:
STANDARDS FOR LEGISLATURE TO FOLLOW IN LEGISLATIVE REDISTRICTING
BALLOT SUMMARY: Legislative districts or districting plans may not be drawn to favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party. Districts shall not be drawn to deny racial or language minorities the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice. Districts must be contiguous. Unless otherwise required, districts must be compact, as equal in population as feasible, and where feasible must make use of existing city, county and geographical boundaries.
Full text:
In establishing Legislative district boundaries:
(1) No apportionment plan or district shall be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent; and districts shall not be drawn with the intent or result of denying or abridging the equal opportunity of racial or language minorities to participate in the political process or to diminish their ability to elect representatives of their choice; and districts shall consist of contiguous territory.
(2) Unless compliance with the standards in this subsection conflicts with the standards in subsection (1) or with federal law, districts shall be as nearly equal in population as is practicable; districts shall be compact; and districts shall, where feasible, utilize existing political and geographical boundaries.
(3) The order in which the standards within sub-sections (1) and (2) of this section are set forth shall not be read to establish any priority of one standard over the other within that subsection.
Simple. Easy to understand. Fair.
The GOP, of course, hates everything about these amendments, but they have failed in multiple attempts to derail the process, including a recent court smack down of their clumsy attempt to confuse voters with dueling amendments, and it looks like Amendments 5 and 6 will be on the ballot in November.
Fair Districts Florida needs help right now with volunteers and money. They have been fighting this fight for years and are very close to victory. A win could make a real difference. A sixty percent super majority is required for passage.
Our present system permits politicians to choose their voters instead of voters having a fair chance to choose their representatives. Legislators use sophisticated computers, voter registration data and past election returns to predict how particular voters will vote in the future. Then they choose which voters are most likely to vote for them and their party and place just enough of those voters in "safe" districts -- ones they are sure they can win. Those in charge also pack large numbers of unfavorable voters in into a few districts so the unfriendly voters will have a chance to win in fewer districts.
Each district is rigged to accomplish a particular result. Districts are set up to be either Democratic or Republican and opposing party candidates do not have a chance. Only 7% of Florida’s legislative elections are really competitive. Voters do not have a real choice in selecting their representatives because the elections are rigged before they even start.
Another result is that there are rarely serious challenges to incumbents. In the last 6 years, there have been 420 elections for State Senator and State Representative. Only three incumbents have been defeated! After all, their districts are specially designed for them! With virtually certain seats, legislators have no incentive to be responsive to their constituents and they see no reason to compromise for the public good.
The races for Senate and Governor are sucking all the air out of the room right now, but Amendments 5 and 6 could be far more important for the long term health of representative democracy in Florida.
Join with organized labor, the ACLU, the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, Democracia Ahora, the vast majority of Democratic politicians in the state, over 600,000 Florida voters who signed petitions to get these measures on the ballot, some moderate Republicans, and Charlie Crist to support Fair Districts Florida.
This really is a BFD.
ACTION: Support FairDistrictsFlorida.
Florida Voters: Vote YES on Amendments 5 and 6.
Labor Day Links
Links mentioned during my guest host stint on the Labor Day Sonic Detour on WMNF.
A Successful Company
Mott's parent company, Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS), paid CEO Larry Young $6.5 million in 2009. The company is profitable and successful with its stock rocketing 35% since their most recent earnings announcement in February of 2010. In fact, their stock price is outperforming the industry as a whole by 443% since that earnings release (as of April 2010).
A Bad Apple
Meanwhile, members of RWDSU-UFCW Local 220 in Williamson, NY, have been trying to negotiate a contract with Mott’s, a subsidiary of Dr. Pepper Snapple Group. The company has slashed wages by as much as $1.50 an hour for each and every employee, and is trying to take away the workers’ pension plan. There is no economic necessity for what the company is seeking to do. They are a profitable, growing company.
But instead of being a responsible corporate citizen, Dr. Pepper Snapple and Mott’s are looking to take advantage of the economic misery of upstate New York. They are looking to take money out of the pockets of workers not because they need to but because they feel that they can get away with it and that workers will have no choice but to accept their offer.
Learn more about the AFL-CIO and how we are fighting for the rights of all workers.
I garbled this piece by Paul Rosenberg
My grandparents were immigrants. My paternal grandfather escaped from a Tzarist prison camp. According to family legend, he was the only one who escaped who got out of Russia alive. He settled first in Philadelphia, where my father was born, and then moved to Los Angeles. He joined the ILGW, and became a shop steward. He bought a car, and a house. He became part of the middle class. His son--my father--went to a state university--UCLA--and eventually became a college professor of English, one of seven or eight languages my grandfather spoke.
This is not an unusual story. It happened tens of millions of times. It is how the American middle class was made. It wasn't capitalism that did it. Capitalism was doing just fine with a relatively tiny middle class of managers, professionals and small business owners. Well, except for that whole Great Depression thing. And repeated "panics" throughout the 1800s, as they called them back then.No, it wasn't capitalism that made the modern American middle class.
It was unions.
Money wasn't all they brought. There was dignity. Pride. Security. Respect. Solidarity. All those intangibles were extremely important. And guess what? Money spoke to all of them, as well.
We all know that unions aren't as strong as they used to be. But how many of us realize that they are still creating America's middle class? The difference between a union and a non-union job doing exactly the same sort of work averages more than 25%. And for Latinos it's double that: 50%.
Read the rest at the link.
And if you missed the show, listen to the archive here. Or leave a comment and I'll send you an mp3 of the show.
Unions 101 – Happy Labor Day
The Unions 101 series will take to the airwaves in celebration of Labor Day today - 2 hours of music of, by, and in solidarity with the working class.
After our West Central Florida Central Labor Council's picninc for 5,000 union members and their families, tune in to WMNF 88.5 FM from 4-6 pm in the Tampa area or catch the live stream at wmnf.org. You can even listen to the archived show for 2 weeks or so if you miss it live.
Support America's Unions and Working America.
Support Community Radio WMNF.
Happy Labor Day!
Dog And Pony Show Trial Bites Bondi
(Sorry for the shaggy dog story, but in this case I really couldn't just let sleeping dogs lie.)
As the dog days of summer wind down, Florida's Republican AG candidate Pam Bondi, recently rewarded with a Sarah Palin endorsement treat for learning right wing talking points, must be dog tired of the renewed interest in her dogged efforts to steal a family pet from Hurricane Katrina victims.
Every Dog Has Its Day
After the storm, top dog Hillsborough County Prosecutor Pam Bondi went to the Pinellas County Humane Society to see a man about a dog. Master Tank, a rescued Saint Bernard, had papers linking him to his Louisiana owners, but Pam Bondi, like any well trained right wing Christian, knows that her inerrant goodness trumps silly concepts like "the law."
She took the dog home, gave him a proper biblical name, and started teaching the old dog some new tricks.
It took a dog's age of hounding, but the real owners Steven and Dorreen Couture eventually tracked their pet to Bondi, recognized their lost canine, and politely said "Gimme Back My Dog."
Bondi's response: "Grrrrrr..."
Fighting Like Cats and Dogs
Bondi lawyered up with hot dog defense attorney Barry Cohen. The financially strapped hurricane victims from whom Bondi was trying to steal were forced to beg for scraps and, lucky dogs, ended up with an excellent pro bone-o attorney - Murray Silverstein.
Did Bondi Lie Like A Dog?
Silverstein worked like a dog - pointing to evidence and tugging out the facts - and soon had Pam Bondi chasing her own tail. Bondi tried to mislead the court by asserting that the Coutures were barking up the wrong tree - Bondi claimed that "her" dog was not the dog that the Coutures knew and loved and recognized.
Bondi's testimony was chewed up by Silverstein, who presented witnesses and documents to rebut, and Bondi was accused of dogging the facts by Dorreen Couture.
Bondi pointed to a September 2005 intake report from a makeshift shelter that indicated that a toenail on the dog's right paw had been removed. Bondi said the dog in her custody has all of its nails.
The Coutures contended that the nail had simply been clipped. A Largo veterinarian testified on the Coutures' behalf Monday on the difference between clipping and removing a dog's toenail.
The Coutures' attorney, Murray Silverstein, also submitted a statement from Dorreen Couture's brother, David Johnson. Johnson detailed a Sept. 6, 2006, Louisiana visit from Pam Bondi and an investigator. Johnson took the dogs to a shelter in 2005.
"Ms. Bondi identified herself, and said to me, 'I've been trying to find you for a year,' " Johnson said in the sworn affidavit. " 'I want to thank you for saving my dog's life.' Ms. Bondi then showed me six or more photographs of Master Tank."
Dorreen Couture said that visit confirms that Bondi knows that it's the same dog.
"It was just unbelievable that she would lie in court, being a state attorney," Dorreen Couture said. "But the judge saw through it and he ruled in our favor. Where are her values. I'm furious."
Dog Gone
Soon after being brought to heel by Silverstein, Bondi started sniffing around for a settlement. She agreed to return the dog she was trying to steal to its rightful owners. Because she loved the dog so much, she also insisted she be allowed to provide food and medicine for the dog's well being.
That Dog Wont Hunt
According to the Coutures, Bondi is a deadbeat mom - she stopped sending supplies soon after giving up custody.
"She was going to take care of him for the rest of his life and supply him with food and medicine," Dorreen Couture said recently from her rebuilt home in New Orleans. "She did for the first few months. After that, she was supposed to have her first visitation that September and she canceled."
Contact dwindled after that, Couture said. And the Coutures didn't reach out to Bondi, either.
"Why should I?" Couture said. "She stole my dog."
In The Doghouse
Bondi would obviously prefer to keep the case of the stolen dog on a short leash but Democrat Dan Gelber may well decide that it is a tough dog to keep on the porch - it's gonna be a dog eat dog campaign, and while it's true that if you lie down with dogs you may wake with fleas, Gelber should release the hounds and point out Bondi's dog faced lies.
ACTION - Support Dan Gelber
Shameless Self Promotion - Tune in to WMNF 88.5 FM in the Tampa area or streaming at wmnf.org at 4:00PM Labor Day as I spin 2 hours of commercial free music of by and in solidarity with the working class.