AFL-CIO Leader: Conservatives ‘Dupe’ Voters With ‘Freedom’
- Posted on July 3, 2012 at 7:31pm by
Mytheos Holt
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It is perhaps unsurprising that the 4th of July has long been an occasion for ideological awkwardness on the part of the modern American Left. Having celebrated the idea of an intrusive, quasi-dictatorial state that chastises its commercial sector for refusing to pay its supposed “fair share” of taxes for the privilege of being governed by a far-away government that is purposefully structured not to understand that sector’s concerns, the idea of celebrating a successful rebellion against such a government is no doubt awkward.
God save our Gracious Ki--er, we mean President
While this ideological problem no doubt causes agony to any number of liberal and/or Left-wing commentators, it can also bring its share of amusement, as those commentators will invariably attempt to find some way, however tenuous, to claim that their ideological predispositions secretly align with the noble revolutionaries who overthrew the British monarchy. This annual exercise produces some of the most entertaining creative writing ever conceived.
…Except, that is, when the writer in question skips the idea of tying his ideas back to the Founders entirely, and instead uses the occasion of a holiday celebrating freedom (including freedom of speech) to attack anyone who holds a differing conception of freedom from him. This is what happened this year, as AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, in an article in the Huffington Post, has claimed that conservatives not only don’t believe in freedom, but use the word as a cynical con job to dupe voters out of voting for their own interests. Highlights from Trumka’s op ed follow:
I do believe that freedom isn’t free — but today the corporate and political right wing is trying to cheapen this truly American value. They’ve been cynically using the word “freedom” to rally the American public against its own best interests.[...]
When politicians on the right talk about the “freedom” to replace Social Security with vouchers, what they really mean is freedom from a secure retirement income. The “freedom” to get vouchers for retraining is actually freedom from unemployment compensation’s safety net when your job is shipped overseas.
The “freedom” of cutting local government translates into the freedom from having the help of a cop or a firefighter or EMS tech in your time of greatest need.
Let’s call this right-wing “freedom” catch phrase what it really is: a grossly political strategy to dupe the public, which holds the word “freedom” as something sacred.
This Independence Day, I say let’s go back to a truer use of the word “freedom.” Let‘s start with President Franklin Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear. I would add the freedom to bargain collectively.
Now, for those who actually want to skip going over to the Post‘s site and reading Trumka’s screed, let us assuage your worries on one point – we did not deliberately cut out any references to the Founding Fathers, to the Constitution, to the Bill of Rights, to the Declaration of Independence, or to the Revolutionary War. Trumka does not mention any of these items once. Moreover, he only uses the phrase “Independence Day” twice, once in his opening sentence, and once in the passage quoted above. This is important, because it means that Trumka‘s only historical reference to a shared American tradition of freedom is to hearken back to FDR in the 30’s. He doesn’t take inspiration for his argument from George Washington, nor Thomas Jefferson, nor John or Samuel Adams, nor Thomas Paine, nor even Abraham Lincoln. No, apparently as far as Trumka’s concerned, the struggle for independence starts with FDR.
Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO (Photo: AP)
This should not be at all surprising, coming from a man who works with international socialist organizations to try to foist global taxes on everyone. Apparently Trumka skipped the “no taxation without representation” part of the whole Independence Day narrative.
However, for the sake of argument, we’re prepared to take Trumka up on his idea of pushing for “freedom from fear,” which is why we are calling on Richard Trumka to stop scaring people by talking about a vast right-wing conspiracy that dupes Americans into accepting false definitions of the word “freedom.” We don’t blame Trumka for his misunderstanding – if we spent time with the people he spends time with, we‘d believe every American could be duped into thinking words don’t mean what they actually mean, too. But really, this is the wrong time of year.
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Comments (114)
drphil69
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:35pmYour ‘freedom’ is widely know as slavery in countries like China, N. Korea, Iran, Cuba.
Report Post »Gold Coin & Economic News
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 9:18pmAnd the AFL-CIO at this point in history is doing nothing more than stealing money from business. You can’t expect to constantly get your fat pensions for life and not hurt the company you work for when the economy is down. Here’s some basic economics for you socialists types:
Report Post »http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOKcdOI25ig
AmericanFightingMan1
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 9:31pmIronic, a bolshevik referring to freedom.
Report Post »yougottabekidding
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 9:47pmAnd you have the freedom to freely work in the union as long as you do what your told
Report Post »1947
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 9:58pmYou also have slavery in the UNION
Report Post »teaisstronger
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 10:11pmConservatives and TEA are the real defenders of FREEDOM. Communist Unions work to enslave workers. The Russian word for UNION is SOVIET. That’s why the USSR was so dangerous to FREEDOM and LIBERTY.
Report Post »woodyb
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 11:35pmAND IN THE UNIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Except in the unions the slaves have to PAY the slaveholders for the privilege of being slaves!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 11:50pmFREEDOM is the opposite of SECURITY… and for Each Security, you must trade a Freedom… so, if you want Security in your Job, you must give power to someone, alike a Union, to protect you…. and that given power is your Freedom of Choice. In fact… loss of Ability to Achieve Success on one’s own… becomes a SLAVE SYSTEM!
Report Post »LIBSALWAYSLIE
Posted on July 4, 2012 at 7:19amUnions are on the decline because they suck and have NO value. Period.
Report Post »pitboss711
Posted on July 4, 2012 at 1:47pmJohn Gotti didn’t think freedom was sacred until he lost his. This effing communist pig needs to lose his freedom and we’ll see who thinks freedom is sacred. Abortion should be retroactive for gangster wanna-be’s like Trumpka. His parents must’ve been pure garbage to raise something this vile.
Report Post »Ohello
Posted on July 4, 2012 at 6:26pmI need to be free from the AFL-CIO they collect dues from workers to support the communist agenda of the Demoncratic Party. Americans need to be free of the corrupt union government alliance that saps domestic jobs from being developed by small businesses in favor of government subsidized centralized businesses with unionization.
Report Post »Trumka is as much a communist as BHO.
F_This
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:34pmYou whale face POS. I guess your butt buddy Obama, passing the largest tax increase in the history of the world, without even knowing what was in the bill before passing it, is okay with your dumbazz. F-You.
Report Post »beckwill
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 9:23pmOoooo, a passionate post….I like. High five.
Report Post »Mahtoska
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:33pmFreedom is sacred.
Report Post »DisposableWorker
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:45pmYes it is!
Report Post »Cemoto78
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 10:23pmSpread it around. We really are turning into Europe at an alarming rate and we can clearly see their model doesn’t work but our current elitists just keep putting the pedal to the metal. But heck, we are just too stupid to understand.
Report Post »Anadara
Posted on July 4, 2012 at 12:06amAgreed, freedom is sacred. …and worth taking a hat pin to that, fat, pro-union, gas-bag in November.
Report Post »thibx
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:27pmyou are nothing but a greedy sob. i am tired of my taxes going to the unions. your days are over.
Report Post »South Philly Boy
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:20pmFAT DemonCrat
Report Post »drrgb
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:18pmTrumka dupes union members with slavery.
Report Post »LeftistsAreRegressive
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:14pmUnions are irrelevant. He knows his influence over American labor is over.
Report Post »Gregb
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:11pmThis makes me both angry and sad. Angry at these communists that want to change America and sad for the poor Americans that will believe even part of what they say. America would be better off if social security would have been handled in a different way. Like, no taxes on anything that you invest in IRA’s and your employer would be given a tax break for investing in your retirement IRA. But, it wasn’t and it has grown into a monster of an entitlement tax. Government should have been restricted from being able to put their paws into it…but they weren’t… We need to find a way to get rid of it for our future generations. Either that, or we will always be subject to communist scrutiny like this group is spouting.
Report Post »rafraf55
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:10pmHow about the freedom to NOT have union dues automatically taken from your pay check. How about the damn freedom to NOT have to be in a union if you don’t want to.How about the FREEDOM for non union companies to bid on some of these highway projects. How about the FREEDOM for taxpayers not to be held hostage from public worker and teachers unions. How about the FREEDOM for taxpayers to NOT pay for the professional welfare hobo’s free ride.I would love to know what Trumkas TOTAL yearly compensation is, INCLUDING perks .
Report Post »DisposableWorker
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:54pmAbsolutely!
Report Post »mr.goodvibe
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 11:06pmhttp://www.laboreducator.org/laborsvoice60.htm
$238,975
Not too bad for ferret looking commie POS, Did you ever notice how progs get rich off of stealing money from working folks via dues, tax kickbacks from dem politiciancs etc. then they have the nerve to look down on the same people they have raped as being simple for not having great wealth, truly they are sociopaths.
Report Post »RightPolitically
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:09pmHe’s a commie.
Report Post »SYNJUNSMYTHE
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:07pmOh yea! Everybody sing LOOK FOR THE UNION LABEL>>> http://thepeoplescube.com/peoples-blog/look-for-the-union-label-on-your-next-president-t8376.html
Report Post »seeker9
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:05pmThe super-dupers are Trumka and his ilk. The demomarxists use these distortions on a routine basis. The ends justify the means.
Report Post »craftkal
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:04pmIs it a dupe when Wasserman Schultz friend Garcia looks Middle Eastern and not Spanish.Is it a dupe when in artical boy loves Jihad (Hamas) looks white.naa could;nt be . Dang my eyes profile,
Report Post »hippyhater
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:04pmthe cold was never ended. the communist just rebranded and relocated to the U.S. Comrade Trumpka is nothing more than it’s latest manifestation. B.I.T.H.
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:04pmDear Lord…when the shooting starts please let Richard Trumka pass in front of my sights….amen.
Report Post »Tree_Butcher
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 10:41pmYou would dirty a bullet on that? Ok. I was thinking we can keep it alive as a bad example…
Report Post »Rajabear1
Posted on July 4, 2012 at 12:57pmAmen
Report Post »Tax Revolt
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:03pmI guess trumka has just proven that he is an enemy of These United States of America. You know AFL-CIO or whatever they are have failed the common worker. The dues they have collected were used improperly. Had they not sent money on political campaigns, political donations, lining their pockets, they would be able to provide more for the working man. They could have been able to support the working man during these tough times. Maybe it is time for trumka to end up like hoffa.
Report Post »marcus_arealius
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:02pmHe’s been on my list for a while now. That’s not a good list to be on.
Report Post »Thatsitivehadenough
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 7:59pmAll any American needs to know about Richard Trumka is that he’s a die hard Marxist/communist. Any American who doesn’t understand what that means, has been educated in the public school system and then, if they went on, in so called Liberal (read: Progressive/Marxist/Collectivist) Colleges where the indoctrination continues.
Millions of Americans have been dumbed down too much to even have the slightest understanding of the enormous threat the unions, the leftists, the communists, and the tax-exempt foundations actually are to every human being on the planet.
World collectivism in the future will equal a totalitarian world government which will not only control every human alive, but every human yet to be.
Fight these monsters with every breath in your body and with your soul.
Report Post »BlesstheJews
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 7:56pmRichard Trumpka in the Hebrew means “Fat faced Liberal who kisses Obama’s azz”
Report Post »Rajabear1
Posted on July 4, 2012 at 12:59pmThank you for the Hebrew lesson for today. It is appreciated.
Report Post »FYI-It means the same thing in English.
patspeak
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 7:54pmDown at the polls come November. 2012. America will not tolerate idiots any longer. Remember. idiots will not go to the election booth this go-round. Idiots have retreated to Mom and dad’s basement for this dance. 2010 was the begining, Nit-Whits need not apply in 2012. Why? …Because real Americans know what “freedom” is all about.
Report Post »amerbur
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 7:49pmTrumka, you communist traitor. Your free lunch is getting smaller. Those of us that work to pay your wages are fed up. Best make your way to mother Russia.
Report Post »Baracalypse
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 7:49pmPinko commie Trumka should go on Ms Obama’s diet.
Report Post »angeleyes63
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 7:46pmAnyone who listens to this commie thug is either required to by the goons in the union is an idiot or brain dead.
Report Post »TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 7:42pmThis large mass of foolishness is one who will never be free. He is trapped in an ideology that rarely releases it’s prisoners. But the funny thing is, the prisoner prefers this captivity and wants to bring in as many others as he can. This is very much like what Satan does; and people like Trumka follow their leader in lock-step. Evil will be defeated when all is said and done. In the meantime,
let’s take the Senate, keep the House, and regain the White House!
Report Post »scudster
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 7:58pm@TRONINTHEMORNING
Report Post »Right on, it’s good to see Americans are beginning to realize what this fat barrel of monkey spunk represents. Doesn’t look to me like he’s ever missed the opportunity to shovel food into that enormous pie hole.
DEFCON4
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:01pmTron , my younger brother is in an union,oil refinery, who is brainwashed by his union leaders. They all voted for Obama. Tried to explain, that Barry, Hates oil. He will never listen, even after the refinery shut Down!
Report Post »soybomb315
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 7:41pmPeople who just want to be left alone have been duped by both parties
Report Post »Banter
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 7:59pmRoger that! There is no two-party system in this country. Only less freedom, or more less freedom.
Report Post »Thatsitivehadenough
Posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:03pmNo. It’s the tax-exempt foundations and the collectivists who are the dangerous ones. We can vote out people in the parties. It’s the stealth sabotage that has done and is still doing all the damage. Tax-exempt foundations. They need to be stopped, education reclaimed, history restored.
STOP THE INDOCTRINATION & BRAINWASHING.
Report Post »