"WE got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers."

[JG55]

Part 1

[h=3]"We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers."[/h] “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."

Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa, trying perhaps to sound feisty and combative, goes way too far. "Let's take these son of bitches out"? That connotes murder. Whatever happened to the civility Obama talked about last January? Obama took the stage after Hoffa and expressed approval!

I realize "let's take these sons of bitches out" can be interpreted to mean let's vote these terrible people out of office. But "take them out" is not an idiomatic expression that corresponds to "vote them out." Take them out? Maybe that's not the phrase he intended to use, but if it was unintended, it was still a gaffe. A revealing gaffe. Unless you're speaking in a positive way — referring to taking someone out on a date, for example — "take them out" is a violent command. With "sons of bitches" right there, it's unmistakably violent. Now, you can say it's only metaphorical, and all Hoffa really wants is to oust these people from office.

But it was only last January that Obama and many other Democrats were saying that violent metaphors, including a simple target on a map, were dangerous incitements for the unstable irrational folk out there.

UPDATE: On reflection, I'm more concerned about something else Hoffa said.

Copied from Althouse: "We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers."

Part 2

[h=3]Jimmy Hoffa's "Let’s take these sons of bitches out" speech — take 2.[/h] 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.

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

[hornett22]

I'm from Michigan and I'm as anti union as they come. Moving here I have met some union folks and they didn't change my mind AT ALL! They all brag and laugh about how much they get paid for what little they do. Just like up north. All there jobs are moving to non union locales.

Can't understand not being able to think for myself.

Wan't to get really annoyed? Do some research on Boeing and South Carolina!!!!!

[Guest PapaB]

I heard a democratic strategist being asked about Hoffa's comments. His response was "He wasn't talking to the American people, he was talking to the working people."

What a putz.