September 6, 2011

Jimmy Hoffa's "Let’s take these sons of bitches out" speech — take 2.

I've already blogged about this speech, but I woke up this morning thinking there's something else about the speech that's worse than the murderous metaphor. Let's look at the text. I'll add some boldface to focus your attention on what I want to talk about now:
We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers. And you see it everywhere, it is the Tea Party. And you know, there is only one way to beat and win that war. The one thing about working people is we like a good fight. And you know what? They’ve got a war, they got a war with us and there’s only going to be one winner. It’s going to be the workers of Michigan, and America. We’re going to win that war... President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march… Everybody here’s got a vote... Let’s take these sons of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong.
Hoffa is a labor leader, pushing the agenda of labor unions.  The interests of the actually people who work may converge or diverge with the interests of labor unions. Don't let him conflate the 2 entities. He may say "we," but that doesn't mean he embodies everyone who works (or wants to work) in America.
He can't even get to supersede the individuality of the members of the Teamsters Union (the union he heads). Yes, he's empowered to bargain for them, but that eradicate their individual minds and personal political preferences. Yes, they take the deal he gets for them, but that doesn't mean that they all want what he brings them or that they want only that. Some of them, obviously, support different politicians. Some may hate being in a union. Some may like the union but prefer different policies.

Right now, unions are fighting to preserve unions, and that might be best for workers. But the individuals who work — or want to work — may very well think their interests lie elsewhere. I'd like to think that the vast majority of people who work resist the assertion that there is a "war on workers." It's quite clear that every serious politician in America cares about what happens to individual citizens. They're not aligned in an army against the citizens! They have different ideas about how to improve things. Hoffa announces that there are 2 sides aligned in a fight against each other, and he would like anyone who has or wants a jobs to perceive himself or herself as a "worker" and thus a foot soldier in his army, with no independent mind.

That's quite repulsive.

And by the way, the constant use of this word "workers" reinforces the notion of the collective. You can see that for Hoffa, "workers" mean "soldiers" — and obviously, soldiers take orders. They don't think for themselves.

208 comments:

«Oldest   ‹Older   201 – 208 of 208
Anonymous said...

Send your Teabags to....

Teamsters General President, James P. Hoffa
25 Louisiana Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001

Write a special message to the union thugs on the teabag. LOL

Anonymous said...

i say we take him out
glad that is not longer inflammatory or threatenting!
please, please blog about what VP Biden said yesterday

I'm Full of Soup said...

Mary:

Aren't you guilty of generalizing when you criticize white collar workers who fly on airplanes and stay in hotels?

Also, those white collar workers have negotiated their compensation just like a union worker so why do you feel they are overpaid?

Derve Swanson said...

"Also, those white collar workers have negotiated their compensation just like a union worker so why do you feel they are overpaid?"

Speaking generally, when the companies tank, and the country with them, if you're still cashing the big bonus checks on the way out, having "negotiated" that golden parachute despite what your performance warrants, to me, that's the textbook definition of "overpaid".

You can define your own terms your own way of course, and value such "work product" more highly than do I. Just telling you how my measurements are made...

JAL said...

@ Mary 9:55

An idiot troll.

An uninformed, and worse -- unteachable -- person, who is willing to impugn the work ethic and character of a man she has no idea about and never met.

The mark of a lefty is they have no shame and no self awareness.

PapaTodd said...

And if we meld the Labor-Day Hoffa speech with the January Obama Tucson speech, we get a little something like this:

But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized, of which I hold absolutely no responsibility for, and at a time when we are eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of the Tea Party, who happen to think wrongly, it’s important for us to pause for a moment and remember, this is our army. We are ready to march. Let’s take these son of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong.

J said...

Hoffa's speech just sold a lot more guns and ammo.

Mike said...

"It's quite clear that every serious politician in America cares about what happens to individual citizens. They're not aligned in an army against the citizens! "

Ann it's time to take off the rose colored glasses. Do you think Obama gives a damn about what happens to any individual citizen other than himself? Does Nancy Pelosi care? Does Harry Reid worry about anything other than his pomegranate trees?

I think the answer to each of those questions is "no". They are interested in getting re-elected, and that's about it.

«Oldest ‹Older   201 – 208 of 208   Newer› Newest»