What union organization looks like
I wasn't able to check out the One Nation rally, but I did come across a few of its protesters yesterday while I was out and about. There was a woman carrying a sign about how the Tea Party movement is "Bush Tea" or something. But the most interesting vignette, to me, was what happened when I arrived at my Metro stop. As I was coming up the escalator, two men were leading a group of people down an escalator. One had a large red flag. The other had a Communist T-shirt on.
Even if I didn't have friends who had lost family members to the Communists, it would still enrage me. But, then again, the One Nation rally was co-sponsored by the Communist Party, USA. So I guess I should not have been surprised.
Anyway, the group all wore purple shirts with the name of their union. They carried pre-printed signs about how they weren't marching for hate but, rather, hope. And, as I mentioned, they were being led by two men who told them where to go and what to do. They had been dropped off at the Metro stop by two buses.
And it made me wonder. Is the reason why so many in the media and on the left think that the Tea Party movement is some grand conspiracy is because that's how protests on the left are run? Friends who attended the rally reported that there was a certain color-coding to it -- with people from the same bus wearing identical t-shirts. Certainly there were individuals who attended on their own, too.
Now, it turns out that even with all of the organization of organized labor, the protest was a bit of a bust. I think that part of the blame has to lie with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, whose Oct. 30 rally is drawing all the enthusiasm among lefties (who call themselves moderates, yes).
For those looking for the all-important trash update, it appears this march had the normal litterbug problem.
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Jun '10
Re: What union organization looks like
The Left's professional protesters need better union representation. No money for working on a weekend, and seniority didn't count for anything. What a rotten contract....
Sep '10
Re: What union organization looks like
For those looking for the all-important trash update, it appears this march had the normal litterbug problem. ·
The video of trash littering the WW2 memorial is heart breaking. I just don't understand how citizens of this country can be so disrespectful to the vets.
Jun '10
Re: What union organization looks like
Mark Belling Fan
The video of trash littering the WW2 memorial is heart breaking. I just don't understand how citizens of this country can be so disrespectful to the vets. · Oct 3 at 2:52pm
They think the vets died for the wrong cause.
May '10
Re: What union organization looks like
A thought occurred to me while watching that video of mostly mass-printed signs littering the memorial:
Protestors who take the time and effort to make their own signs are more likely to hold onto those signs for the rest of the day.
(There's probably a macro-economic analogy of the public-vs-private sectors in there somewhere.)
Sep '10
Re: What union organization looks like
Mark Belling Fan
For those looking for the all-important trash update, it appears this march had the normal litterbug problem. ·
The video of trash littering the WW2 memorial is heart breaking. I just don't understand how citizens of this country can be so disrespectful to the vets. · Oct 3 at 2:52pm
From a socialists point of view, they are creating jobs for government trash collectors (you wouldn't want non-union citizens picking up their own trash, would you?)
May '10
Re: What union organization looks like
I know the trash thing is a favorite conservative meme, but I think there really is something fundamental behind it. It really comes down to the notion of personal responsibility versus a sense that it is the government's job to take care of the mess. It's not just a metaphor -- it's a life philosophy.
Oh and you'll enjoy these two juxtaposed photos:
http://twitpic.com/2ud8ll
Edited on Oct 3, 2010 at 5:17pmMay '10
Re: What union organization looks like
Mollie, it has been one of my beliefs for a long time that when the Left accuses the Right of something nefarious, it is probably something that *they* are actually doing, and are looking to deflect attention. I suppose the same could be said in this case, not as purposeful maskirovka, but (as you state) a delusion that the Right *must* be doing it that way since that is the way "we" do it...
Fortunately, our authentic results beat their astro-turfed lameness handsdown!
May '10
Re: What union organization looks like
Extending Trace: the irony is that it's supposed to be the lefties who are "green" but it's the conservatives who actually ARE "green" enough to haul their own trash.
Responding to Mollie: I'm increasingly persuaded that much of the political dissent in this country is due to psychological "projection." We assume that Lefties will respond to reasoned arguments by changing their philosophy because we appreciate reasoned thinking. They won't.
Lefties assume that Tea Party-ers are cynical shills of political organizations and union-esque manipulators because they are. We aren't.
To paraphrase: Right is right and left is left and never the twain shall meet.
Jun '10
Re: What union organization looks like
I attended a wedding over the weekend where pictures were taken near the mall... We were worried about over-crowding because we had heard there was a rally. But, we only saw angry looking people with UAW shirts on, sulking around with signs that said, "prosperity is my birthright..." I didn't hear of any speeches but I did see the mess that was left behind. I wasn't sure what to make of it and concluded that D.C. is a strange place indeed - the center of Western democracy they say.
Perhaps the speeches and ra-ra-ing were interrupted by the mandatory 15 minute smoke break. Or, perhaps protesters had reached their maximum allowable minutes of protesting or steps taken toward a protest and had to desist. Hard to say.
Edited on Oct 4, 2010 at 6:02amJun '10
Re: What union organization looks like
Hah! the two rallies side by side...
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2010/10/animated-gif-compare-and-contrast-crowd.html