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March 10, 2011
Epigraph: "Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist." -- Pastor Martin Niemöller
Last night the end started.
The only question: end of what?
For decades, the rich abused
the middle class, trying to take
us back to times of serfs,
peasants, and slaves. Union blood
bought us forty-hour work
weeks, two days off, pensions, health care
benefits. The middle
class expanded to include more
than merchants, small business
owners. The rich rebelled, taking
their jobs and paychecks to
China, India. The
U.S. prospers, but all
the money goes into only
a few pockets. They trashed
our economy, destroyed the
value of our homes, the
only asset most of us own,
and stole the taxes that
should have repaired roads, taught children,
protected our safety,
delivered quality health care
to us all. They monger
fear, set religious believers
against each other. Last
night they dropped all pretense of a
budget crisis, broke the
law, came for the trade unionists.
Last night the end started.
The only question: end of what?
Will the American
people finally wake up to
the outrageous, horrid,
parasitic travesties the
GOP perpetuated
on us all? Will they stop
allowing the GOP to
ignore/remove/destroy
our Constitutional rights? Or
did we hear the death knoll
of the Democratic party,
last night? Cash from corporate
America and the 400
who own more than millions
inundates the GOP with
ample funds to buy votes
in Congress for more tax breaks and
opportunities to
abuse what's left of the middle
class. Only the unions
have enough money to
fight back. Only the unions stand
between us and return
to a world run by dictators
and robber barons. The
ultra right-wing resorted to
lies and fabrications
against organizations that
register and recruit
minority, poor, and liberal
voters. Only unions
can compete against them. So the
big-money backers of
the Republican governor
have manufactured a
crises to take out the unions
in Wisconsin, using
public policy to destroy
their only rival. Should
their union busting succeed in
Wisconsin, Ohio,
Indiana, Pennsylvania,
they will come for the rest.
All the big political cash
to decide who wins and
loses elections will support
right-wing candidates. Bake
sales versus billionaires, what the
future of elections
will look like if we don't speak up.
Last night the end started.
The only question: end of what?
Bio:
F.I. Goldhaber's second poetry collection, Pairs of Poems, a collection of poems about nature, love, history, and politics, was ranked number three in the Preditors & Editors readers poll. She has written professionally for more than a quarter century and has had short stories, novelettes, poems, news stories, feature articles, essays, editorial columns, and reviews published in magazines, e-zines, newspapers, calendars, and anthologies. http://www.goldhaber.net/poetry.htm
(author retains copyright)
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