Posse Incitatus

Union Bombast and Harsh Realities

Better late than never. It was my intent to post on Labor Day, but other matters got in the way.

The Democrat Convention, our continued economic struggles and the upcoming election have reminded me that the labor agenda is always replete with red flags well worthy of comment on any day of the year.

We can thank labor unions for playing a key role in making workplaces safer, improving wages and working conditions, and putting a stop to child labor. At one time, employers could and did exploit workers with long hours, low wages and often dirty and/or dangerous working conditions. Ford Motor Co. and other employers had their own goons who would pummel those who attempted to organize unions. Our nation is better because those days are over.

But just as liberal black race baiters think Bull Connor and his German shepherds, fire hoses and the KKK are on the verge of breaking out all over the place (in other words, it may be 2012, but it's really 1963 in the minds of 99 percent of white people), there are too many union folk whose mindset is so 1936.

Those battles were won long ago, and the pendulum has swung way too far in the other direction. We saw how fed up taxpayers have become with greedy public sector unions in Wisconsin, New Jersey, Indiana and other states. The majority of voters have supported major-league pushbacks by Republican governors against the bull-headed unions. Consequently, fiscal sanity and responsibility are returning to states such as New Jersey and Wisconsin.

In a nutshell, taxpayers are fed up with public unions' endless intransigence despite the fact public sector workers generally are better paid, get better benefits and have greater job security than their private sector counterparts. Parents of school children have had enough of teachers' union interference with accountability and genuine reform as the unions seek to feather their own nests.

In the private sector, unions typically agitate for a leg up in bidding for government contracts, and exert their influence to get the federal government to inappropriately use its power in a flagrantly political way, as with the National Labor Relations Board's recent action against Boeing for seeking to build a manufacturing plant in right-to-work South Carolina.

Unions — and their Democrat supporters — see the world through a distorted lens. In their minds, every single employer out there, from the smallest mom-n-pop restaurant to the largest corporation to government agencies at all levels, would screw the living schmidt out of employees were it not for unions.

We'd all be earning $7.45 an hour — even engineers and architects and doctors and lawyers. Well, that is kind of a stretch, but you see my point. The realities of supply and demand in the job market dictate wages and benefits, and a raw power grab by two self-serving groups (labor and Democrats) won't change that fact. You can try to pay a burger flipper $15 an hour, or a doctor $60,000 per year, but water always runs downhill. Things have a way of evening out, but probably not in the way simple-minded union folk ever imagined.

It is really pretty obvious, this paradox that damns and condemns the union wish for MORE. More job security, higher wages, better benefits, more vacation days, a requirement for union labor on construction projects... But the paradox, which has played out in Europe for decades, is that the more politicians give in to union demands by legislating wages, benefits, vacation days and the like, the less likely it is companies will hire union members full time. Part-time work, temp agencies, and outsourcing jobs are often the result. It is no surprise whatsoever that Greece has a 25 percent unemployment rate.

Four more years of Barack Obama, and an 8.3 percent unemployment will look pretty darned good. Let's hope he and his utterly irrational labor supporters get their butts kicked on Nov. 6.

What happened in normally blue Wisconsin in June when Gov. Scott Walker was kept in office could well happen across our great land, and we'll be on the road to restoring some fiscal sanity and helping unshackle employers from economic and political uncertainties that hold them back. 

 

Barack Obama and O.J. Simpson

There is a strange similarity in African Americans' love affair with Barack Obama and their joyous celebration when O.J. Simpson literally got away with murder 17 years ago.

NO, I am NOT claiming that Obama is a felon who would murder anyone or get involved in anything like O.J. did 5 years ago (he was convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping in 2008 and sentenced to 33 years in prison).

In fact, the Celebrity-in-Chief's similarity with Simpson is the support he gets from African Americans simply because of skin color. But the specifics of why blacks should not be so enamored of these two are quite different.

First, let's consider O.J.

For many years, he was disdained among blacks as being a sell-out to the black community. He married a beautiful blonde white woman and associated with whites far more than blacks.

He lived in the largely white Los Angeles enclave of Brentwood. Many baby-boomers, myself included, well remember O.J. for his popular Hertz rental car commercials in which he raced through an airport, zig-zagging through the throngs and leaping over obstacles en route to his gate to catch a flight. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever dream he would become a convicted felon.

Despite blacks distancing themselves from O.J. for many years prior to his 1995 murder trial for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, they erupted with ecstatic joy when he was aquitted. The outcome worsened race relations in the United States.

That's it for O.J. Now on to The One.

President Obama raised the hopes of African-Americans — and indeed, millions of NON-African Americans — with his 2008 campaign based on "Hope and Change," "Change You Can Believe In" and "Yes We Can." (Never mind if you think these were shallow, empty and inane slogans, as I did and still do. They WORKED.)

Fast forward to September 2012. The black unemployment rate is 14.1 percent, compared to an overall unemployment rate of 8.3 percent. The economy is stuck in the muck, and no one is predicting or expecting a recovery any time soon. Obama has spent much of his time hob-nobbing with rappers, NBA superstars  and Hollywood elites. He's every bit as much of an elitist as Mitt Romney, if not more so. Romney might feel comfortable among country club Republicans, true. But Obama definitely gravitates toward elitists and celebrities who have big bucks and can support his re-election efforts.

But blacks remain steadfast in their support of Barack Obama, despite his utter failure to improve their conditions and hope for the future. My suspicion is this is due in large part to the long history of oppression and discrimination against blacks in the United States. In the minds of millions of African-Americans, having one of their own in the White House can and will redress their long-time grievances.

Conditions "on the ground," as military analysts like to say, are abysmal for too many African-Americans. But pride in their race, longtime loyalty to the Democrat Party, and a steady drumbeat of leftist progaganda drilled into their heads in K-12 schools and academia, can be credited with bolstering African-American support for Obama.

Logic and rational thinking are up against some powerful forces. Let's hope the Republican Party and Romney campaign appreciate this reality.

 

Skunk Bears buy into the hype - and pay for it

Well, the U-M/Alabama game went about the way I expected it to go.  The Crimson Tide not only demolished the Wolverines, it toyed with them, taunting them by using odd-sets and inventive play calling - effectively turning the second half into a live practice scrimmage.

Don't believe me?  Compare the urgency of Alabama's late scores - from half-hearted pass-focused field goal drives to the full-bore rushing attack on the final touchdown.  I've seen mice put up better fights against tomcats (though the result was the same).

The few Skunk Bear fans who read this blog, may counter that MSU would likely fare no better two which I have two responses:

1.  We aren't ranked as a top 10 team,
2.  So what?

The U-M hype machine was something to see last week - breathless day-to-day accounts of who would play, how the program would look, why Denard Robinson is some sort of god, and of course a ton of blather about the storied history of the program.

Actually, Michigan is a top-ten team - in terms of being overrated.  No, that's not trash talk, it's math.

That chart was from last year, but no fear - Michigan's brilliant eye-catching performance will probably move them up in that poll, at least.

Speaking of hype, how do you like these amazing predictions?

U-M by 3?  On what planet?

One thing worth mentioning for those who did not see the game, both of Denard Robinson's injuries were self-inflicted.  The first was when he decided to tackle an Alabama player (who just picked him off) by throwing his passing-side shoulder into him.  Yep, that hurt.

His second injury came when he attempted to stretch it out for a first down and landed funny on the ground.

Some commentators are wondering why Coach Brady Hoke didn't "unleash" Robinson, letting him use his incredible speed (about which Robinson shows the modesty we have come to expect from Wolverine Players).

The answer is simple:  he wanted to use him against Air Force next week.  As it was, Robinson got dinged up.  Giving him more touches would have resulted in him leaving on a stretcher. 

It was fascinating to watch the tone of the coverage shift from "Wow, what a matchup between giants" to "Boy U-M has a long way to go."

Er, yes.  And anyone following the sport could have told you that last year's season was not an accurate indicator of where Michigan stands.  Just to review:  The Skunk Bears played eight home games and their signature road victory came against Northwestern.  In fact, they didn't leave the Big House until mid-October.

Going forward, the question will be:  How badly hurt is this squad?  Robinson is already a bad passer, so will his injury make him worse?  Air Force is traditionally the best of the service academies, so a victory against them is not a foregone conclusion.  It should be interesting to see what the cadets can do.

RICHROD SIGHTING:  As a bonus to the prime-time beat-down, I tuned in to watch RichRod handily barely defeat Toledo in his first game as Arizona's coach.  It was a sloppy, ugly affair.  Each time Arizona made a critical error, RichRod's face contorted, and you knew he was thinking "not again!"  Well, not this time.

Spartans prevail over Boise State, themselves

I was part of the crowd last night in Spartan Stadium and watched in rising panic and disbelief as our offense systematically tried to lose the game.

They threw the ball away, they bobbled it away, and when that failed, they just dropped it and let the Blue Fielders pick it up.  When they finally stopped turning it over, they went on penalty binges, turning 3rd and 2 into 3rd and 22.  It was like a replay of the John L. Buffon years.

We wondered if it was something in the Gatorade.

If it was, La'veon Bell and the defensive squad weren't having any.

It is proverbial that defense wins championships and that maxim was on full display last night.  It was one of the most dominating defensive performances I've ever seen.  Boise State was shut down from the get-go - all of their points came off of turnovers.  The touchdown was a pick-six, while one of their field goals was from a turnover so deep in Spartan territory that short of another turnover, there was little the defense could do to stop it.

Not that they didn't try - the defense also came up with an red zone turnover that killed the Broncos' best scoring drive.

It was Maxwell's first game, and as it progressed he got better and settled down.  I think he will do fine, especially with Bell in the backfield and Dion Sims as a safety valve.  Sims has incredibly soft hands and should be a regular target for short-to-medium yardage passing.  The guy is a huge target and played a critical role in the final minutes of the game.

BOISE STATE PROVES THAT SPEED KILLS:  They are small, but they are fast, and they are well-coached.  After the first quarter, when MSU's dominance seemed total, Boise State hung in there and never gave up.  Given the size mismatch and their inability to stop Bell, they had plenty reasons to despair and come apart.  I think the speed factor was critical - the Broncos could outpace just about everyone on MSU's squad.  None of the sportswriters have commented on it, but MSU did try other running backs in an attempt to find someone fast enough to turn the corner and break a long run.  They couldn't do it.

Even Bell, who found the open field a couple of times and is no slow poke himself, could not outpace these guys. 

As we wanted play after play degenerate into "three yards and a cloud of dust", we wondered why MSU didn't try to go to the outside.  Then MSU tried it - and got stuffed.  The Broncos were just too quick.

I think this is their secret - they swarm to the ball and use numbers to pull down bigger players.

What they could not do was stop the forward momenetum of Bell or compensate for Dion Sims' phenomenal reach.  It took three quarters to figure this out, but once MSU did, the game was a foregone conclusion.

By the 4th quarter, MSU had tenderized the Broncos' defensive line to such an extent that five-yard gains up the middle were the rule, not the exception.

WHAT ABOUT THOSE SCOREBOARDS?  Well, they are certainly big and bright.  The Goodyear Blimp was rendered invisible by the glare.  The highlight was when they showed crowd reactions to a pass interference call and one of the fans flipped the ref the bird - causing the camera to hastily pan away.  Priceless.

They are still working out the kinks in the system and they need to seriously rethink the sideline booms - which block sightlines and add nothing to the video perspective.  Maybe they belonged to ESPN.  Either way, they were a pain.

EXTRA POINT:  After the game, we wandered over to Crunchy's for one of their classic burgers and a beer.  Nothing is finer than a Spartan victory topped off by a Crunchyburger.

FOOTBALL SATURDAY:  I'm in recovery mode from last night, so I'm still getting up to speed on today's drama.  Interesting that Brady Hoke waited until the last minute - when they were loading the bus - to announce his player suspensions.  It does him credit, but he'd have been better served to announce it two weeks ago.  This business of using potential punishment to generate roster uncertainty defeats the purpose.

MARK DANTONIO IS A CLASSY GUY:  No one else has noted this, but with a minute left to play and two time outs, MSU was sitting inside the Boise State 5-yard line.  There was really nothing Boise State could to do stop the Spartans from putting another TD on the scoreboard - with a four-point lead, we could afford to take all four downs to do it. 

And yet Coach Mark Dantonio chose to take a knee - a gesture of true sportsmanship that is rare in today's game.