Missing the Whitman story

[Hepburn]

...snip...

Actually, a political story that much of the media — which has yawned and rolled their eyes through most of this campaign — can enthusiastically misunderstand might be closer to the mark. There's nothing particularly remarkable about the fact that the billionaire former EBay chief executive and her neurosurgeon husband employed an undocumented immigrant. At some point, most Californians knowingly or unknowingly employ a worker without papers or do business with someone who does. Merely going out to dinner, having your car washed or hiring a contractor to work on your house makes that so.

What really ought to concern people most are Diaz Santillan's allegations that during the nine years she worked for Whitman and her husband, they repeatedly forced her to put in more than her agreed-upon hours without compensation and refused to pay her mileage even though she had to use her own car to perform household errands. Whitman denies all this, but she does agree that she fired Diaz Santillan within days of the June 2009 conversation in which the housekeeper asked for help in legalizing her status. That may not be labor code-style mistreatment, but it's an odd way to treat somebody who'd worked in your home and taken care of your children for nearly a decade and who Whitman herself describes as "a member of our extended family." Lots of tough love, one surmises, in that house.

...snip...

The facts of Whitman's relationship with Diaz Santillan remain to be sorted out, but we already know for certain that undocumented workers are treated like garbage — exploited as if they weren't human beings. They're forced into the shadows; darkness makes them vulnerable to every form of mistreatment.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-1002-rutten-20101002,0,640374.column

Excellent commentary on just how totally wrong ~~ all the way around ~~ the Whitman situation is and has been. It is symbolic, as the article goes on to discuss, on how undocumented workers are treated in general. Exploited and used...and then disposed of if or when it become inconvenient for the employer.

How very, very sad....

[TexasObserver]

1. recommend

[Hepburn]

2. Thanks, DUers, for the recs...

...the plight of the undocumented workers and others in SoCal has always been close to my heart. They truly are exploited by those who try and talk tough about them. Like Whitman, use them when convenient, lie that you used them, and then blame them for being used.

I disliked Whitman to start with ~~ but this bullshit has made me truly LOATHE her. She simply is evil and is a liar.

JMHO

[Hepburn]

3. “Shouldn’t Character Matter?” — Meg’s Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week Continues

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/74441

At the link, a video of the latest Jerry Brown ad.

[eleny]

4. So true

Employers take advantage of undocumented workers because those workers have no legal recourse. This gives a lot of insight into Whitman's character. Treating someone like that, someone who works in your own home, is creepy.