Fired up

"No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session."  ~Author Unknown

Things have been quiet around these parts as I attempt to wrap my head around what is going on across the country. When it comes to politics we in the business are often so focused on what is going on in our backyards which makes it next to impossible to see what is happening outside of our immediate line of sight. Then came Wisconsin:

The labor movement is used to being spat upon and told that it does more harm than good. That workers would be happier without collective bargaining rights and that those protecting teachers are distasteful. Unions are looked upon either with confusion (why are you still relevant?) or disdain (why do you protect crappy workers?) but no one ever makes the attempt to understand. And frankly, I don't blame them. We all are so focused on our own issues and problems that we cannot seem to find the time to fix something that is happening 'out there'. I just started forcefully pointing as if you could see me and I wish you could hear the severity of what is happening right now in my voice but what is happening in Wisconsin; a Governor willing to take everything away from the people he was supposed to protect can happen anywhere. This isn't just a labor issue and if you think that it is then you have not been paying attention.

There are Governors and members of Congress who think that what happened in November of 2010 was a mandate on their agenda. Screw the minority, screw compromise, I'm here to take charge is what they say. On Morning Joe last week New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said that he was part of a group of Governors elected to change things and they were going to make a change. Well there's a difference between change and telling your constituents to bend over.

Apologies all around for being crass but it's true. And now I'm angry because who the hell do they think we are? People aren't just going to roll over and play dead while you take away their rights and now they know, this new class of Governors, that they have woken a sleeping giant; the Labor Movement. And like hell are they going to back down. Like hell the middle class is going to back down. You wanted a fight and now you have one.

End of that rant.

On Saturday unions, community supporters, business people, and politicians got together at rallies across the country in support of what is happening in Wisconsin. I attended the rally in Albany in the capitol park and to see that sea of people, out there in the cold hours after a snow storm, while people driving up Swan St. beeped in support was a beautiful thing. I've been in need of something to get me en fuego once again and unfortunately but fortunately this is it.

Photos live here

The Union Thing

"The most violent element in society is ignorance." ~Emma Goldman

The Screen Actors Guild or SAG awards is on tonight. Full of stars and pretty dresses and Guilianna Rancic being deliciously awkward. Good times. But you do know that the SAG is a labor union, right? A full fledged, AFL-CIO voting labor union. You know those pesky unions and their need for giving workers protection and making sure employees are safe and compensated fairly? Yeah. One of THOSE unions.

Then there's the NFL Players Association. The same association preparing for a lock-out next season. The same NFLPA that has recently decided to join state AFL-CIO affiliates because of the solidarity and the protection? Again with the whole nasty evil union thing. But it's the NFL and it's ok and allow me to report on the irony of those in Right to Work states (places where it is harder to organize) being their most ardent supporters. The NFL players deserve more, they say. They do so much! That's one way of looking at it but what about car manufacturers, steelworkers and bricklayers? Do they not deserve the same protections as the actors and the NFL players?

People say 'union' with disdain especially when it comes to teachers unions which are looked down upon like no other. God forbid teachers are paid fairly and are given due process. And shhh, don't say 'pension' out loud. Public employees are forced into furloughs and pay freezes meanwhile Eli Manning is the hundred million dollar man. Are we seeing the disgusting irony in all of this? If a teacher could throw quickly while in the pocket would that make it OK? Or what if the teacher was a multi-millionaire who could make billions for a movie studio? How about then?

Why can Aaron Rodgers and Natalie Portman be given a contract and paid for their work but not your kid's sixth grade teacher? I don't get it. Even more bothersome is that by these standards it's the former who is clearly worth more and that makes me sad and angry more than anything.

Of Pomp and Circumstance

"He shall from time to time give to Congress information of the state of the union and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient" - Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution

You guys? I am so excited for tonight. In fact it's a not so well kept secret of mine that the State of the Union makes me a little giddy. It's the pomp and circumstance of it all. The Sergeant at Arms announcing the dignitaries and then that bombastic way he announces the President. The way the crowd - both sides of the aisle - stand up and give applause. The pomp and circumstance and pageantry of it all. In fact before Gabby's shooting I was all ready to write about how that first day of Congress made me feel. The excitement despite what happened before because hey, at least there might be something to look forward to. It's just that for those brief moments at the start of something I'm far less cynical and a little bit of hope seeps in that we're all - or they're all on the same side and want to work together. But yeah. No.

I get all goosebumpy with anticipation but never over what he might say but because of the allure and aura of it all. To sit in that room one day during that one event is on my Life List. And it all seems so silly, this I am aware but it's true and I cannot help but sit back and watch on C-SPAN - never watch on network television unless you need a play by play of what is being read at you and an analysis and it's like having Pam Oliver show up in the middle of a game to chat: ANNOYING.

This year members are using the buddy system. You probably don't care and yet in all of the talk of civility and rhetoric and coming together kumbaya-ness this is significant. It's usually blue team on one side, red on the other. They stand with ovation at different times only to prove that they're totally not buying what he's selling. But this year will be different. I'm enjoying the speculation not on what the President will say (say it with me now "JOBS") but with the whole will they hold hands? Are they gonna be BFF for life?

So I'm trying to go into this, the official start of what is really to come with an open mind that things can and will get better. I've just been so full ofcynicism lately, unbecoming for me and it's a shock when I tell friends that I cannot handle congress anymore because they're just so damn mean.

So tonight. It will be a fun thing to watch but the real question is how much of what is said will really come to fruition. Then again that's the problem with most everything in life.

*Meet Congress' Five Biggest Aisle Hogs

*You've Never Seen a State of the Union Address Like This via the White House Blog

*State of the Union speech won't change most American's opinions