Way back in 1980, Ronald Reagan used his leadership of the Screen Actors Guild to pump himself as a ‘Union President.’ Once of his first official acts was to destroy the striking PATCO union [which had been one of the few unions to actually support him.]
y’all remember when AOC was the lefty being punched at? Now she’s the one always punching left. I used to want her for pres too sheesh.
Most mature adults learn from their experiences, and change their behavior based on what they learned. What we’re seeing is a young politician with raw talent learn how to wield her power. If that rubs you the wrong way so be it, but she is one of the most effective political communicators we have, and she’s only getting better. Politics isn’t just about what you say and to whom, it’s about how you say things and how you leverage your influence to build coalitions that can get things done. She’s learning all the right lessons, and I’m loving it.
I’m happy you feel represented by her! It aint so happy here in my corner, i had hoped when she broke out and was buttin heads with the establishment Ds she n the squad world be a strong coalition to pull a bit closer to where i wish it was. Anyway have a good one :)
Punching left at the guy who attended the RNC?
At the guy who tried to represent his union, that was 60% in favor of Trump so rather than endorse him declined to endorse any candidate?
Yes we are in fact talking about the same person. AOC is stupid to call him out as his reasoning is sound and his non-dorsement helps the D party more than a trump one.
Do you really think he should endorse Harris when his members are only 35% in favor of his doing so? I have a hunch his members would take issue with that
But if your argument is that he went to the RNC as an appeal to teamsters who support Trump (aka not lefties), and that he is also choosing not to endorse either candidate on behalf of those teamsters, then that isn’t an appeal to further-left-than-democrats politics, it’s an appeal to centrism.
My point then being
Now she’s the one always punching left
Doesn’t really make sense in this context
If you understand ‘left’ to simply mean ‘democrat’, then sure? But I think in this context ‘left’ means ‘working class solidarity’.
Teamsters shopping around with both parties makes sense when you understand their affiliation to be less about party allegiances and more about securing the best conditions for their union. Especially considering Teamsters refused to endorse either party even while their members seem to lean Republican.
I don’t simply understand ‘left’ to mean ‘democrat’, I’m aware that there are people left of democrats.
Being “Left” encompasses more than just solidarity with the working class, but even specifically in this context, being the first acting teamster president to speak at the conference of a party that is historically anti-worker is…at best, naive. It could be seen as a way to pressure the GOP to care about unions, but they don’t care about unions, and speaking at their conference as a union president just gives a stronger surface-level impression to voters that they might.
Sure, it could be to pressure the GOP to care about unions, or it could be to pressure democrats to commit to more protections.
and speaking at their conference as a union president just gives a stronger surface-level impression to voters that they might.
A really good way to prove that democrats are more union friendly than republicans would be to commit to more union protections. That’s a simple narrative to fix, if they were interested.
Being “Left” encompasses more than just solidarity with the working class
Not to a fucking union, there isn’t. Literally their only job is collective bargaining, and threatening to withhold support to gain concessions is famously their most useful tool.
Sure, it could be to pressure the GOP to care about unions, or it could be to pressure democrats to commit to more protections.
If that’s the goal, simply withholding endorsement for the democratic nominee would achieve that goal. Speaking at the RNC, without any serious commitment to unions made by the GOP, goes far beyond that goal, and is again, naive.
A really good way to prove that democrats are more union friendly than republicans would be to commit to more union protections. That’s a simple narrative to fix, if they were interested.
A really really good way to prove democrats are more union friendly would be to have a president in office with an exceptional pro-union record, and to have earned the endorsement of at least 6 other major unions.
Not to a fucking union, there isn’t.
Yes, but the statement you’re replying to was a general statement on leftism. That’s why I follow that up with “Even in this context …”
Literally their only job is collective bargaining, and threatening to withhold support to gain concessions is famouslytheir most useful tool.
That made me chuckle, you have a fair point. But again, withholding support is one thing, and speaking at the RNC with republicans who don’t play ball with workers’ rights is another.
I mean, what’s the play exactly? “Give us even more union protections or I’m gonna help the other guys who definitely don’t give a damn?” What protections specifically? The kinds of protections given to workers by the PRO Act? The thing Republicans try to shoot down over and over again?
I suppose you have a point. Maybe punching left is not accurate.
Thing is tho he didn’t go to the RNC l as an appeal to teamsters, he asked both RNC and DNC to be a speaker and only the RNC called back. DNC ghosted his ass.
When at the RNC, he spoke about the importance of both parties to respect workers rights. He and other execs went to both camps (and biden before he stepped down) as they always do to try and extract promises in return for an endorsement.
They didn’t get any promises from either camp though. He could have gone with his “constituents” polling numbers and endorsed Trump but he did not.
He was the first acting teamster president to ever speak at the RNC, that’s a huge deal regardless of whether he was also expecting to speak at the DNC. Especially given how anti-union the republican party generally is.
Either it was an appeal to conservative teamsters, or he himself is quietly moderate or conservative.
You don’t understand - I’m told that not endorsing Harris is, in fact, an endorsement of Trump
Criticizing the democrats for something the Republicans also do is only something a Russian shill would do
I’m getting a little scared at how quickly they’re radicalizing. Lookit the DVs and ignorance of extremely recent history itt like for real it doesn’t seem like there’s brakes on this train. Hold me?
Nah, this is more their normal speed.
When their candidate was looking worryingly weak they were less militant about denying criticism because they couldn’t afford to discard leftist support (and they were feeling extremely insecure about their chances). Now that their polling is strong they’re returning to their usual ‘fuck them leftist losers’ attitude.
She’s always been a sheepdog.
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