Friday, January 15, 2016

[THERE IS A COMMENT THREAD, ABELER MENTIONED] The overly politicized activist SCOTUS is being asked to screw over unions. Again.

The forces of darkness that allied themselves with the Aplikowski SD35 GOP candidacy via their interlocking of their directorships, management and/or membership are on record; not surprisingly, strongly anti-union with what to me seems a massive dose of sophistry, e.g., here, here, here (published by Strib but sophist authored), see here (again Strib publishes, but a public worker perspective), and this websearch propaganda listing; then compare statements of local DFL SD35 special election candidate Roger Johnson (from MinnPost) which strongly align with pro-union thinking; this link stating in part:

“The strength of the labor movement in American is ingrained in my very being,” Johnson wrote in a letter to the DFL endorsing committee. “My father was there at the formulation of the DFL Party in Minnesota when I was just a pre-school child.”

Education, then and now, shapes Johnson’s political priorities. “My father was always very supportive of schools, that I might become something someday that he only longed to be,” he said. “Schools are very important to me. Just about everything I do is to find opportunities for young people.”

Johnson acknowledges that the number of Republican candidates is indicative of the conservative strength of the district. But he also contends the DFL should have a role to play.

“It’s amazing how many union members live in this district, yet they vote on the conservative side,” he said. “They’re convinced that Democrats are going to take away their gun rights, their snowmobile trails, but when it comes to Roger Johnson, they don’t have a lot to fear.”

Reader input, either way but on point and not deliberately stupid is welcome, via comments.

Some Republican legislators from around the nation, present and former (many also present candidates facing November, 2016), have amicus status before SCOTUS in the case.

Having only begun researching the case, its politics, and case briefing, I am unable presently to put any one particular brief in any context or comment upon its importance, overall, especially one having amicus status and not being a brief of an actual party to the litigation from its beginning.

___________UPDATE__________
Here is another amicus effort to chew on, see its p.41 [Appendix page, captioned "App.2"] for noting the fingerprints of the Minnesota propagandist nest called, Center of the American Experiment; compare this link of the local perps.

_________FURTHER UPDATE___________
Republican union-hatred in its most naked form, stripped of any fig leaf sophistry, is clear from the spokesperson the Republicans chose to counter the President's SOTU address; with USA Today reporting a South Carolina Governor Nikki Hilton statement, in context:

South Carolina loves its manufacturing jobs from BMW, Michelin and Boeing and wants more.

But Gov. Nikki Haley says they're not welcome if they're bringing a unionized workforce.

"It's not something we want to see happen," she said after an appearance at an automotive conference in downtown. "We discourage any companies that have unions from wanting to come to South Carolina because we don't want to taint the water."

In a recent vote at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., the company remained neutral about bringing in the United Auto Workers. VW had said it favors the creation of a German-style "works council," which gives workers a voice on a variety of products and other decisions.

[...]

[italics added] Read the entire item. Folks seem plain crazy in South Carolina.

If you are in a union, and do not want to see Minnesota be a frozen clone of South Carolina, vote your conscience - which means vote your economic best interests, and do not be diverted by divide-and-conquer pseudo issues. Yes, easy to say but hard to do. Yet, that is where leaders show leadership and rank-and-file workers show intelligence.