Kerry just turned me way on.

[brainshrub]

He didn't cross a picket line! Whoo Hoo!

Kerry just went up 100 points in my book.

Any friend of Unions is a friend of mine.

[Ksec]

1. I second that

If its good for Unions is good for America.

[Bluebear]

2. And the true friend to fire, police and veterans! nt

[Warren DeMontague]

3. He's Hot, Too.

Yowza!

[aquart]

4. Not the first time, I believe.

[gmoney]

5. Pic from July 7 in Dayton

I took a bunch, but I thougth this one turned out best... someone needs to give John Kerry a tieclip though. :)

[RummyTheDummy]

6. You've got a good eye

That's a real nice pic. What got me was how much Edwards looks like Bobby Kennedy in a profile pic like that.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

7. STOLEN!!!

Gonna use it on the site in my .sig. Unless you mind.

Want a credit? DUMSG me with what you want in the credit.

[AlCzervik]

9. would you mind if i borrowed it?

Thats a great picture.

[Ksec]

10. very nice pic

you could sell those

[gmoney]

21. Try this one...

[bigbillhaywood]

8. He'd be stupid to cross a picket line

He is a politician after all-- he can't make such an obvious insult to his base just prior to an election. However his votes on NAFTA, PNTR for China, GATT would suggest he's not always so labor-friendly.

Let's get out the vote for Kerry and dump Bush, who is obviously much more anti-labor than Kerry, but we must be prepared to hold Kerry accountable if and when he wins. Union activists must also work to build the type of political and economic organization to demand better than just the "lesser of two evil". And such a long-term strategy might entail some very tough decisions about short-term losses when it comes to reanalyzing the wisdom of automatically endorsing every Democrat every election, rather than building a viable third-party alternative.

[bossfish]

12. Exactly!

Has the anti-labor sentiment in this nation become so strong that we're impressed the Democratic candidate doesn't cross a picket line?

Big Bill is right, labor has been getting in the backside for too long and a lot of "new Democrats" aren't helping the issue.

[Union Thug]

23. Agreed...

here's to working for stronger unions and an unstoppable labor movement!

"they've got the guns but we've got the numbers..."

[mzmolly]

11. He's the only PRO UNION candidate running, and I think he should SAY IT!

Nader/Bush = not union friendly folks.

[bigbillhaywood]

15. When it comes to Presidential elections, the choice for unionists

is always a choice of who will screw us over less-- the choice is always a Democrat. But look at Kerry's votes on NAFTA, GATT and PNTR for China. Not a great labor-friendly record, but certainly better than most Republicans.

I know many other union activists who are unhappy Kerry is their only choice, but will eagerly vote for him just to get Bush out. Things will certainly be easier for labor under Kerry, but I've said it before and I'll say it again: I want to work for a future where a guy like Kerry is considered the worse of two evils rather than the lesser of two evils. Our political and economic system is a cracked engine block. We need to build a new vehicle for change.

I'm reminded of an old Redd Foxx joke (if you don't like dirty jokes, you can stop reading now):

A lady calls 911--

"Police help, there's a Democrat masturbating on my lawn!"

"Ma'am, how do you know he's a Democrat?"

"Because if he were a Republican, he'd be fucking me!"

[mzmolly]

16. Good point. Edwards is more of the poster boy for unions I spose.

Soooo we could tweak that slogan a bit. ;)

Unions need to be strenghtened once again, as it's beneficial to our entire country.

[bigbillhaywood]

17. Better than Kerry, but still not so hot. Now the guy in your avatar--

that's another story. He was one of the last true friends labor had in the Senate. Just a handful left now-- Kennedy, Feingold, Sarbanes, Mikluski and a few others. Let's never forget though that all these guys get tons of corporate cash flowing into their campaign coffers, so even the best will have divided loyalties. That's what I mean when I say our system is a cracked engine block-- we have to attack corporate power-- that will require a lot more than just voting Democrat (even if it's for an exceptionally good Democrat)

[mzmolly]

18. I understood Edwards to be against NAFTA and the WTO?

That's a pretty stong labor position on the record.

However I totally agree. Democrats have to get back to their roots on this issue.

[bigbillhaywood]

19. Reforming and strengthening the Democratic Party is not the issue

Reforming and strengthing the labor movement is. If we had 35% of the workforce union (like in the 1950s/60s) instead of 9%, even the Republicans would be kissing our asses (just like Pataki does to the NY unions-- because he knows they've got power in NY). Of course, why stop at 35% (that was the mistake labor made in the first place, then sat on its laurels while companies expanded their non-union workforces)?

The other thing unions have to start doing is break out of the Cold War mentality of being a junior partner in American imperialism and start exercising real international solidarity. Where was the AFL-CIO when US troops raided the Iraqi trade union federation's HQ? Missing In Action-- that's where. Meanwhile, the rest of the world's unions were condemning it. In fact, why didn't the AFL-CIO condemn the war to begin with? Simple, the IAM and a few other unions thought it might bring more jobs in the defense industry, so they made sure the self-appointed moral conscience of labor shut the fuck up. European unions shut down the ports throughout the continent for 24 hours to protest the prosecution of the Charleston Five here in the US just a few years ago. When is the last time our self-absorbed labor "movement" took part in such global solidarity actions? And Hoffa and the Teamsters bitch about Mexican truckers allowed in by NAFTA. Here's a bright idea-- organize them!

We gotta lot of tough work ahead of us. Dumping Bush is the easy part.

[mzmolly]

20. Very interesting, I hadn't considered it in that way.

Thanks for the enlightenment. :hi:

[bigbillhaywood]

25. And thanks for...

Not alerting me to the mods this time! Just kidding. Take care, mzmolly. Always appreciate meeting another good unionist. You'd be surprised at how many people at DU just don't get it.

[mzmolly]

28. Did I alert on your arse at one time? Sheesh, I forgot. I make many

enemies here, but the next day we've patched things up on another issue.

Don't recall what we tangled about, but all's forgiven here. Hope the same is true on your end. ;)

[bigbillhaywood]

30. Hey, don't worry about it. I'm surprised I'm still here as many people

as I've pissed off at DU. I'll let you in on a little secret-- I'm kinda an asshole. So there's a good chance I deserved the alert. I think it was over some sick joke I made that you interpreted as maybe being sexist. Can't remember exactly, but my twisted humor gets me in trouble a lot.

[mzmolly]

31. Hey, I'm an asshole too wadda ya know!

Welcome to the club.

If it's any consolation, I've been alerted on several times, but I'm learning how to play the game a bit better these days.

I also love twisted humor, just keep the sexist shit out of it man! :P

See ya round these parts. :hi:

[Union Thug]

24. Agreed again...

The only real hope we have in the face of outsourcing to the lowest bidder is to start organizing on a global level...

[bigbillhaywood]

26. Great sig line WillW.

I see in your profile you're from Seattle. To paraphrase a line from Taxi Driver: "Yeah, well they're way ahead out there."

[mzmolly]

29. Ok, I love DeNiro, and Scorsese, and Taxidriver totally rocks!

Just my .02

[bigbillhaywood]

33. Best picture ever!

The scene was where doughboy is sitting in the diner and says: "You know, I heard that out in California when two f*gs split up, one's gotta pay the other alimony". To which The Wizard replies: "Well yeah, they're way ahead out there".

That's what I think of when I think of how progressive unions are in the Pacific Northwest as opposed to here in the Northeast. When the Teamsters have a rally out here, they bring out the rig and blast "Born in the USA" by Springsteen (good song, don't get me wrong, but often misinterpreted). My friend in Seattle told me that during the WTO, the Teamster rig was blasting Rage Against The Machine! Also, the IWW's largest branch is in Portland. That's why I think of the Taxi Driver scene when I think of unions out there.

[kwolf68]

32. Yes Edwards did

He voted against NAFTA, WTO and even the confirmation of fascist Gale Norton to Bush's cabinet.

He sealed it for me with that vote. I like this guy.

[bigbillhaywood]

34. One of the reasons UNITE endorsed him. n/t

[Norquist Nemesis]

22. ROFL!!!

That's a good one!

[Manix]

13. ..much better pic than Dumb and Dumber in the White House.

[livinginphotographs]

14. Definitely.

When I read about that, it made me feel a lot better about voting for him.

"I don't cross picket lines. I never have."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/28/kerry.picketline.ap/index.html

And then various mayors want to bitch about how disappointed they are because Kerry won't "give a message about whether he's going to support the mayors of this country in delivering for their citizens."

Um, how about delivering a fair contract for the police officers, who are out there risking their lives every day so that these mayors can boast about reducing crime? What a bunch of pricks.

I support Kerry 100% on this one. Fuck those guys...

[Forkboy]

27. It was the best thing he's done yet imo

:thumbsup: