Union Violence in the Age of ObamaNot so many moons ago, President Obama urged us all to "make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds." He Who Heals advocated "a more civil and honest public discourse" in the wake of the January 2011 Tucson massacre.
As usual, though, the White House has granted Big Labor bullies a permanent waiver from the lofty edicts it issues to everyone else.
This week, menacing union goons unleashed threats, profanity and punches in Michigan, which is now poised to become a "right-to-work" state. Obama met the initial outbreak of violence with the same response he's given to every other union outbreak of violence under his reign: dead silence.
On the floor of the Michigan legislature on Tuesday, Democratic state Rep. Douglas Geiss thundered: "We're going to pass something that will undo 100 years of labor relations, and there will be blood. There will be repercussions!" Geiss referenced the Battle of the Overpass, a violent 1937 incident between the United Auto Workers and corporate security officers for the Ford Motor Company. Dozens of union activists were beaten.
But Geiss wasn't crying victim. This was clearly a signal to the brass-knuckled Big Labor bosses, whom Obama egged on during his Monday visit to the state. Obama inveighed against right to work with his usual class warfare dog-whistle.
The thugs heard it loud and clear.
As the Michigan House voted inside to approve right-to-work legislation
allowing workers to choose whether or not to join/fund unions as a condition of employment, protesters outside the state Capitol ambushed a tented information booth sponsored by the pro-right-to-work state chapter of Americans for Prosperity. Angry union mobsters were filmed cursing and screaming just before the attack.
One hurled an unidentified object at police officers. Another screamed at a citizen journalist filming the chaos: "Freedom of speech this, you f'n fascist a**hole!" Several peaceful AFP members and supporters were stomped on and punched while trapped under the tent as the labor operatives chanted: "This is what democracy looks like." Young Michigan conservative activist and YouTube entrepreneur Steven Crowder was beaten by at least two union assailants while trying to protect the tent and those inside.
Of course,
this is just more of the same twisted "civil and honest public discourse" of the administration's union protection squad:
--May 2010: The Service Employees International Union buses in 700 workers from 20 states to storm Bank of America deputy general counsel Gregory Baer's neighborhood and terrorize his youngest son while at home alone in Chevy Chase, Md. The tactic is straight from an SEIU intimidation manual on using community groups to "damage an employer's public image and ties with community leaders and organizations."
--September 2010: AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka praises Nancy Pelosi for taking Obamacare and driving "it down the Republicans' throats and out their backsides."
--August 2011: Striking Communications Workers of America declare "open season" on Verizon. Dozens of cases of sabotaged cable lines are reported.
--September 2011: ILWU bosses lead a "Days of Rage" protest at Port of Longview, Wash., taking a half-dozen guards hostage, sabotaging railroad cars, dumping grain, smashing windows, cutting brake lines, threatening a local TV station and blocking trains in violation of a judicial restraining order.
--February 2011: A Communications Workers of America union thug is caught on tape striking a young female FreedomWorks activist in Washington, D.C.
--February 2011: A Providence, R.I., union supporter says to a cameraman: "I'll f**k you in the ass, you faggot."
--February 2011: Democratic Rep. Michael Capuano of Massachusetts revs up Big Labor goons by urging them to "get a little bloody."
--March 2011: Racist SEIU supporters in Denver, Colo., taunt gay black tea party activist and entrepreneur Leland Robinson, who criticized teachers unions at a Capitol rally, by calling him "son," telling him to "get behind that fence where you belong," and jeering, "Do you have any children? That you claim?"
--March 2011: In Madison, Wis., an unhinged crowd of AFSCME, UFCW and SEIU union protesters corner a Wisconsin GOP senator shouting, "F**k you!" and "Shame!"
--August 2011: In Boston, local IBEW 827 storms Verizon Senior Vice President Bill Foshay's neighborhood. Union members scream, "We're here to fight" in front of his private residence on a weekend afternoon.
--September 2011: Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa screams: "President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let's take these son of bitches out..."
--December 2011: Union-endorsed port protests in Oakland, Calif., Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego and Houston cause massive commerce disruptions, lost wages, property destruction and untold injuries. A year later, ports are shut down on the West Coast during the busy holiday season, and another set of union port strikes -- spearheaded by the violence-prone ILWU and ILA -- threaten the East and Gulf coasts at the end of the month.
We should "do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations," Obama lectured just over a year ago from his politeness pulpit.
In the age of Obama, it's Opposite Day 365 days a year.
