I quibble over some of his choices at times, but as my readers know, I've been a big fan of the @punkPatriot since I first came across him. If I had the spare change, I'd be putting him up in house somewhere, and pay him to make these videos all day long, so he didn't have to waste his talents on the shop floor of a shoe factory.
I keep hoping someone else will, one of these days, and I will do my part to keep hinting at that any chance I get. He has a talent for telling the tales of our struggles against the plutocratic machine with a down-to-earth charm, simplicity and candor that we just don't see much today. He's an idealist and a educator, but not a philosophic fanboy, nor a zealot. I like and respect him.
After all the moronic and self-serving blather that conservatives have spewed about Ronald Reagan and unions in the past month, look at what turns up. Now just imagine how they will twist themselves into balloon animals trying to spin this little historical artifact. Wait for it.
In the meantime, please retweet the living crap outta this gem, willya? Hit that tweet button below.
Thanks to @wajobu for find and passing this bit of magic on to me.
Partial Transcript
But restoring the American dream requires more than restoring a sound, productive economy, vitally important as that is. It requires a return to spiritual and moral values, values so deeply held by those who came here to build a new life. We need to restore those values in our daily life, in our neighborhoods and in our government’s dealings with the other nations of the world.
These are the values inspiring those brave workers in Poland. The values that have inspired other dissidents under Communist domination. They remind us that where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost. They remind us that freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. You and I must protect and preserve freedom here or it will not be passed on to our children. Today the workers in Poland are showing a new generation not how high is the price of freedom but how much it is worth that price.
Labor Day Speech at Liberty State Park, Jersey City, New Jersey, September 1, 1980 Full Transcript
The labor movement in the United States grew out of the need to protect the common interest of workers. For those in the industrial sector, organized labor unions fought for better wages, reasonable hours and safer working conditions. The labor movement led efforts to stop child labor, give health benefits and provide aid to workers who were injured or retired.
It's been 32 years since the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, and 25 years since the deadly mishap in Chernobyl made the public understand what a "nuclear meltdown" might actually mean. This first video trailer will get you in touch with the inner dread that we all felt back then. While it may be fictional, the scenario it portrays is very real, and has always been a possibility, and this film very much shaped the minds and attitudes of millions who are still deeply suspicious of nuclear energy. (Note: this is a trailer is really not the clip I wanted. I am still trying to find that one and will republish when I find it). The second trailer gives you a taste of the aftermath of Chernobyl. It's followed by a professor's explanation of a meltdown, as well as the issues of storing nuclear waste.(The problem the industry most hates to talk about.)
The nuclear energy industry, and their right wing partners, have always tried to minimize the risks of nuclear power generation to younger people, and they work hard to present any hazard as mere paranoia marketed by a liberal elite, which they portray as hostile to economic growth. But the dangers have always been very real, and strategically marginalized through skilled propaganda. The critics of the industry have been vilified, even mocked, simply for informing the public of the ugly truths which the industry has expended great effort trying to conceal.
It seems that the Japanese disaster may be even closer to this outcome than those moments were. If you have a god, pray to it. If you don't, just hope we dodge this bullet, too, as we have dodged so many over the years. Whether by nuclear calamity, or climate change negligence, corporate and conservative greed, enabled by a complete lack of meaningful oversight and accountability, may well be taking our planet on a steady march down a reckless road to planetary ruin.