It's Labor Day today...a special day in which the last few people with jobs celebrate what unions have done for the American work ethic by taking the day off.
In his weekly remarks, Barack Obama called Labor Day a chance to reaffirm our commitment to "hard work and responsibility." Specifically, the president is reaffirming his commitment to hard work by extending the amount of time people can receive money for being unemployed, and reaffirming his commitment to responsibility by giving taxpayer dollars to people who bought homes they couldn't afford.
Or perhaps his reaffirmation of hard work is shown by his personal willingness to go as much as 6 consecutive days without a vacation, and his commitment to responsibility is shown by his continuing claims that Bush is to blame for everything bad that has ever happened...or ever will.
The currently-employed president then continued his Labor Day message saying that "we rise or fall together as a nation - one people - all of us vested in one another." Which would be a nice, unifying statement if he didn't then divide our nation by blaming the current economy on "the greedy and reckless," "Wallstreet firms," and state that he's going to end the "tax loopholes" which struggling businesses rely on.
So perhaps the best way we can enjoy this day is to concentrate on the other meaning of "labor": a period of intense pain and screaming, out of which something wonderful and new is born.
In November.
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17 comments:
He is a mean spirited, lying pretender. Just how long will we put with this? When will people rise up and act?
First, being a student of history, the unions did help stabilize US industry in its treatment of labor. But, being a pragmatist, I can't help but point out the fact that Unions, created to protect the workers against big business, are now big business themselves. To quote Walt Kelly's Pogo on their behalf: "We have met the enemy, and he is us."
Being employed in an industry DOMINATED by its union, it is clear that the time for unions is long, long past. Now all they are good for is ensuring that the manufacturing environment in the US is uncompetitive against the global market, and rendering US products unaffordable in their own market.
On a personal note, having sacrificed my youth to educating myself in preparation for a white collar "career", I am offended that the line worker can sign up and make more at entry level than I can. It galls me that the salaried workers invariably give up benefits (that attracted them to the job in the first place) because the union requires ever-increasing benefits for their members against a limited pool of revenue.
Many in most unions are, unfortunately, uneducated and, frankly, ignorant. They are prone to conspiracy theories. The number one "conspiracy" these idiots promulgate amongst themselves, whether through ignorance or calculated greed, is that "the company" is holding out on them. That there really is no reason for the union to give anything up. "The Man" is fat and rich, and is lying to them. Case in point: the CAW recently gave Ford Motor Company concessions based on the financial numbers at the time. The UAW, however, held their vote after that slight upturn we had last year (right around 0bama's "Let's Make Used Cars Unaffordable" event last summer...), so, CLEARLY there was no issue. CLEARLY Ford management was lying when they said concessions were required. And the UAW voted against those concession. What followed were months in which the plants were shut down or were run on reduced shifts due to a lack of demand for any product. Had Ford not later been buoyed by the anti-0bama sentiment that is hampering sales at Chrysler and GM, it could have been the death knell for the only non-government/union owned automaker. (Note that last -it may have been the UAW's "plan" in any case!)
To my perspective, the time for unions is long, long past in the US. The socialists created The National Labor Relations Board, which should suffice, wouldn't you think? If not, why does the NLRB exist?
As for 0bama, he's been having "labor Days" all throughout his presidency - but don't you dare point that out to any of his sycophants! No, no! There is nothing wrong with him taking all of this time off - though they'd get fired for similar behavior. 0bama is working hard (at destroying our country)!
Yay, team! Now go sun yourself on the beach...
Am I angry? Yes. Am I anti-union. Yes - they are the number-one tools of socialists everywhere. Am I anti-0bama? Well, duh!
Anonymous, I think Stilton has told us before that he books no talk of ill harm to the President. Last thing we need is for Obama to become some kind of "hero"/martyr for the liberal cause. Part of America's political education has to be learning the consequences of electing the wrong person, and that it takes 4 years to correct such actions. Here is what Smitty over at The Other McCain posted today on that topic:
A Prayer For The Presidential Health
Those on the right should answer firmly, in a positive way, any sort of negative talk concerning the Presidential health:
Almighty God, we pray that President Barack Obama should pass old, dignified, and full of years, calm in the knowledge of the abject falsehood of his policies.
We pray he grasp that foreign policy need be neither feckless nor ignorant of history.
We pray he grasp that domestic policy must be founded upon sane, mature economic principles, not mistaking the cart for the horse.
We pray he grasp that traditional American politics model human nature in an exceptional, optimal way; that FDR’s notion of “freedom from want” is the political equivalent of crack cocaine; and that a leader is someone with followers, while his current course is an increasingly lonely one.
In summary, we pray for a Road to Damascus moment for this President, so that the nadir of American history be reached before We The People usher into his office someone or something more effective, even a lowly pushbroom.
Amen.
alan- Yes, I just nuked that earlier post. It wasn't too far over the line, but even suggesting that it will be a good thing when the president's Secret Service protection runs out takes us places where we don't want to go.
In fairness to Anonymous, yesterday's cartoon speculated on the possibility of removing the president's Secret Service protection (and replacing them with Arizona-style warning signs)...but only to show that the idea was a ridiculous one.
Just wanted to say how much I enjoy your 'toons, but I do have one small complaint. Whenever I post your stuff to my facebook wall, the blurb that shows up in the link is something culled from the comments, rather than your own editorial under the strip. As much as I'd like to pull viewers to your site, it's harder to do when the commentary is blather from someone like me, and not your explanation of your inspiration for the strip.
frogmouth- I just tried it myself and I see what you mean. But there's a semi-clumsy workaround if you care to use it (which, by the way, I really appreciate!).
It seems like Facebook will only allow the "blurb" to be a sentence or two. So select a representative line or two from the commentary, highlight it, then copy it.
Now hit the "Facebook" button, and it will show a thumbnail of the cartoon, and some randomly selected piece of text. Click on the text, and it will become editable...at which point you can hit "paste" and replace it with the sentences you just copied.
Why the Facebook button doesn't just grab the first few sentences of commentary is a complete mystery to me!
I wish him no harm but I do wish him no power.
Emmentaler- I enjoyed your thoughts about unions, and agree wholeheartedly. When working my way through college (eons ago), I was briefly employed in a Ford plant and was a temporary member of the UAW.
Every man on the slow-moving assembly line was fully capable of doing two jobs in the allotted time, his own and that of the man standing next to him.
Which is why one man would come in the morning, punch BOTH timecards, then do BOTH jobs till lunchtime...at which point he'd leave for the day and be replaced by his co-worker (who had the morning off), who then did both jobs until punching out both cards at 5. A full day's pay (and very generous pay) for a half day's work. And I'm not talking about two guys...I'm talking about everyone on the line.
At this same plant, a couple of guys even decided to take it a step farther: they stopped coming in at all and just had their timecards punched. Unfortunately, the pieces they were supposed to be putting in were ignored entirely... which is why a half-dozen or so people were killed when their cars went out of control, forcing Ford to do a massive recall. The company lost many millions of dollars and immeasurable consumer confidence.
The men responsible lost their jobs...briefly. The union got them restored with full back pay.
And I've had no use or respect for unions ever since.
Yeah, I'd like to see Barack Hussein live to a ripe old age, with many decades to say to himself, "Gee, I guess Americans really DON'T want socialism."
It's just amazing how people what to say what they feel but some refuse to allow them to speak. I guess this is just like ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN. Censored to the max. I am sure glad there are other sites that allow free thinker to say what they want.
Anonymous (one above):
Censored to the max?? Stilton, and life in general, has ground rules on what will be tolerated and what won't. Most everyone complies without feeling being censored or restricted. You don't even have the huevos (that's slang for "balls" if you don't speak spanish) to publish with your name or a nom de plume (that means pen name in case you don't speak french).
If you feel so put upon go to the other sites where the "free thinkers" are. You know, just because something popped into your head doesn't mean you have to say it and; we don't have to hear it to validate your existence. Grow up!
I'm sure Stilton doesn't need me or any other Hope n' Change followers to stand up for him, but sometimes anonymous comments just piss me off! Quit hiding and come out for some sunshine.
Anonymous (immediately above)- We wouldn't exactly say this site is "censored to the max." To the best of our recollection, you're the only person whose comments we've had to delete, and we've left intact the ones you've written that weren't outright felonies.
Keep in mind that you're a guest here, and should behave like one. Have you ever shown us the courtesy of reading the message marked IMPORTANT above the comments section, which says "comments which contain offensive language or suggestions will be deleted"?
We don't think we're in the least like ABC, CBS, NBC, or CNN...and the fact that you'd say that suggests you don't really read the cartoons and commentary but only treat the comments section as your personal bulletin board.
But if we're doomed to lose your cogent commentary, then so be it. And please know that we're also glad that you have other sites to visit that allow "free thinker (sic) to say what they want," with neither censorship nor spell check.
Bobo- We posted at the same time, so I hadn't read your comments when my remarks (above) went up. But thanks for your well-worded and much appreciated support.
I love the site, appreciate your insights. but PLEASE start drawing some of your own. How about a single panel once a month? If you are afraid it will lessen this site you could post those elsewhere and just give us fans a link. Please? boone
This President reminds me of the restaurants where I worked starting at 14. A lot of people at the lower level jobs thoughy the "boss" didi nothing but sit around all day. Sometimes these people actually BECOME the boss via a "battlefield promotion" and proceed to do exactly that. Nothing.
Moronpolitics- I may experiment with doing some original drawings for the strip at some point. The main reason that I don't do it currently is because it would take a lot of time...and I'm already devoting more hours a day on research, cartooning, and commentary than makes sense - because I don't make a dime from the site, and also need to squeeze "earning a living" into my day (grin).
Additionally, the "cut and paste" approach allows me to turn cartoons around very quickly when I'm reacting to breaking news stories.
But now that you've planted the seed in my head, I'll consider sneaking in some of my own art in the future!
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