The Hiring Hall Town Hall Meetings

The outbreak of violence by members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in St. Louis and Tampa comes as no surprise, since there is probably no other union that is so thoroughly in Obama’s pocket. And lest you get the idea that the overly-zealous defense of Obama Care is just the work of a couple of independently-minded local shops, I refer you to this elegantly written broadside on the SEIU web site (One can almost visualize its bull-necked author – we shall indulge our whimsy and call him “Jimmy Toadflax” - hunched down over his desk, staring at a lined sheet of notebook paper. Licking the end of a stub of pencil, sloping brow furrowed in concentration, Jimmy searches diligently for the mot juste; a smile suddenly lights up his face - suggestive of an oven light shining on a partly-cooked pot roast - as his muse whispers a particularly fine phrase into his saucer-sized ears: “Astroturfing by conservative opponents of reform is particularly dishonest because it masks the true motivations of the powerful interests--like the desire of industries to maintain the status quo.” “Heh”, he chuckles. “Dat oughta settle dere hash.” Jimmy then proudly hands his essay – written in a deceptively child-like hand – to someone in the office who knows how to use a word processor, and heads down to the neighborhood bar, where he will regale his fellows with a dramatic recitation of certain choice excepts from his tract. His friends – in awe of the erudition Jimmy acquired through the benefit of a high school education – will respond with that carefully calibrated degree of admiration necessary to pry the cost of a free round of drinks from a grateful Jimmy’s otherwise closely-guarded wallet).

Of course, it was really written by one Kate Thomas, but I like my version better.