Michigan just passed a so-called "right to work" law. Since I am a big fan of the idea that unions, for all of their problems, are still a good counter weight to the power of well connected corporations, I figure it is just another of the many steps being taken backward by our society. But that is beside the point.
Waiting in a lobby I saw a big news story about the thousands of protesters gathering in the Michigan capitol to protest the law, which I thought was a bit odd. After all, it is a pretty good bet that about half the crowd voted for at least one of the Republicans responsible for writing and passing that bill. What did they think was going to happen?
It isn't like the Republicans are shy about their positions on unions, eviscerating the middle class, protecting the rich, or funding the military / industrial system with endless wars and tax breaks for international corporations. It is what they have consistently stood for since Reagan was elected. They are 100% pro-gun. They are 100% anti-immigration. They openly admit to trying to rig elections by suppressing voter turn out. They hate science (except for the science of war) and are not shy about claiming to know more about physics, geology, weather, and woman's reproductive systems than all of the physicists, geologists, climatologists and doctor's on the planet.
I'll admit that with Democrats it is sometimes hard to tell just what one will get when one votes them into office. (See Obama's first term.) But not so with Republicans.
It isn't only the people in Michigan I wonder about. Fully 48% voted for Romney in the last election. Now some 72% think that taxes should be raised on the wealthy. So nearly 25% of the people who voted Republican in the last election now think the tax policy should be changed? Just what the fuck were they thinking in November?
We voted our country to the corporations many, many years ago. Company pensions went away, replaced by 401K plans ripe to be looted by Wall Street. Unions were busted and working wages have been stagnant ever since. We bitch about the EPA and vote Young Earth Creationists onto our school boards, then worry about the water we drink and bemoan the failure of our school systems. We all still love the military but can't figure out why we have no money.
We have the country we have been voting for for most of my adult life. Why protest about something after an election when the elected are doing exactly what they said they would?
No comments:
Post a Comment