Questions due about Labor Union involvement in Mideast regime changes
Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 1:57PM As media increased attention to what they called grassroots uprisings in the Mideast, labor union organizers in the U.S. were touting their own role in regime change─$28 million taxpayer dollars went to one union group.
Image: NASAHOW MUCH IMPACT HAVE LABOR UNIONS had on the Mideast, and more importantly, how has their activity affected ongoing unrest?
Most U.S. media haven’t covered Big Labor’s role in President Barack Obama’s foreign policy.
The biggest question should address why $28 million of U.S. taxpayer money went to the Solidarity Center chaired by big Obama ally Richard Trumka.
Sec. of State Hillary Clinton has been an organizing enthusiast too, with her 21st Century Statecraft initiative funded by taxpayer dollars, mega corporations like Google and media companies like CBS and MSNBC.
Regardless of one’s ideology, we must admit that whether you use hired labor guns or real guns, once you meddle in someone else’s country, you better be ready to stand your ground. Numerous governments have come unglued; whether Obama’s gamble will pay off won’t be evident for quite some time. Things aren’t looking so good right now.
On the one hand you may feel it’s a good idea to attempt parity for workers in foreign countries. After all, a man or woman deserves a living wage, right?
On the other hand, governments aren’t always happy to have such organizing going on—recall that Russia just kicked USAID out of the country. One “human rights activist” bemoaned the good work USAID did in Russia with U.S. taxpayer dollars—“supporting projects in the areas of HIV and TB prevention, integration of people with disabilities, assistance to orphans and other socially vulnerable groups.”
The author who published that column at CNN didn’t acknowledge that organizing labor unions may be part of the mix in Russia just as they are in the Mideast. Was USAID in on labor organizing in Russia? The White House Press Corps apparently isn’t informed enough to even ask that question.
In the Mideast, groups the labor union organizers might have to bed in order to succeed include groups traditionally considered anti-U.S. or Islamist. Perhaps that’s what Obama’s State Dept. meant by the term “legitimate Islamism.”
On Monday, media reported the Iranian religious despot Mahmoud Ahmadinejad might meet with leaders in Occupy Wall Street. OWS got union support as well.
In January, 2011, the gold standard blogger who covers labor from a watchdog angle, Labor Union Report, said this:
Heck, with two governments being toppled within a month’s time, at this rate, we might just see a union-made new world order, complete with a freshly-minted green economy by the time 2012 rolls around!
Are Obama and his Democrats using labor unions as a pillar in their foreign policy? It appears they are, but some serious questions should be asked about why the U.S. is funding healthcare for Russians and sticking our noses into domestic politics in numerous countries as well.
By October, 2011, one labor leader had visited the White House more than 50 times.
As for that $28 million taxpayer dollars, you’d think U.S. media might find time to ask their favorite president about that.
As for the New World Order the last few administrations as well as the current one embraced, we should remind ourselves what happened the last time a charismatic politician sought a New World Order. Media and the political class gave cover to that politician for years as well, including those in the United States.
(Commentary by Kay B. Day/Sept. 27, 2012)