A few weeks back, Mark Schmitt wrote about Left Without Labor, saying that while it was difficult to conceive of a progressive movement without organized labor at its core, that did seem to be what was happening. And in many ways, he says, it’s good that the coalition of professionals, young people, women and minorities can win without the working class. That makes the Republican strategy of splitting off the working-class whites, playing on resentments of lost privilege, less effective. Still, as he points out, while Joe the Plumber was a fake, it’s a problem if our Party is not the party of “the real Joes, Josés, and Josephines of the working middle class”.
I agree with him on that last part. I believe in organized labor. The folks that brought you the weekend, you know. And that brought you, oh, workplace safety standards and overtime pay and so on.
So as easy as it is to get fired up by Barack Obama, when he works a crowd, for Labor Day this year I’m just going to send you over to the Blog of Frequent Name Changes, where a Gentle Reader has gathered some good foot-to-behind stuff.
I think the lesson of Labor Day this year is that you gave to get out and work for it. Right?
Tolerabimus quod tolerare debemus,
-Vardibidian.