The very first time I had ever heard the name Blagojevich was on December 8Th. On the 9th the name was already mud (and the subject of many jokes). The curious thing was that his first mention nationally was:
CHICAGO - On Monday, Gov. Rod Blagojevich showed up at Republic Windows and Doors to proclaim support for 250 workers who refused to leave the factory after the bosses shut it down.[Daily News December 9, 2008]
The very next day, THE VERY NEXT DAY he was up on charges! What made this interesting was that I had been following the auto parts strike for some time before. What made this different then every other strike in recent American history was that the workers didn't merely walk out, they TOOK THE PLANT OVER. That's unheard of on these shores. A strike is no big deal for management, in fact other then the inconvenience, it's a great way of getting rid of unionized labor and replacing them with low cost employees. Maybe even very grateful folk who will not cause too much trouble.
Taking over the plant means something. The company can not function, they cannot hire scabs. Now the police may have to be called in. When was the last time you saw armed forces clearing out red blooded Americans who just want to get paid their fair wages? This my friends is a horse of different color. Now we are talking some major damage control, both for the company and for the state. In today's economic climate, this might be considered revolutionary:
Blagojevich on Monday ordered all state agencies to stop doing business with Bank of America to pressure the bank into using federal bailout money it received to help the laid-off workers.
"We hope that this kind of leverage and pressure will encourage Bank of America to do the right thing for this business," Blagojevich said outside the plant [Yahoo News December 8, 2008]
The man was openly taking on the big auto companies and even the Bank Of America.
So maybe I am paranoid, but the timing of the Governors support of the Auto Workers seems a bit more then suspicious. In this case it didn't take the Empire long to strike back. By the way, has anyone heard these tapes we are constantly hearing about?
