Say It Ain’t So, Greg…
Governor Greg Abbott on the meaning of Labor Day: Yes, this one is old, but needs reporting. Last week, on Labor Day, Governor Greg Abbott tweeted out this message: “We celebrate Labor Day in Texas where employees have the right to work free from union coercion & free to reap rewards from hard work.”
The gov evidently missed the part that Labor Day is a side benefit from unions, which brought us the 40 hour work week, overtime pay, workplace safety rules, pensions, and a host of other workplace benefits.
Wow! And here he’s celebrating the right to work–which is really a right to get fired at the whim of your boss, no reason necessary, plus no collective bargaining, and a host of other really wretched work place horrors. I’ll take union coercion, and a good wage with overtime, any day.
Right to Die, Right to Execute
Over the last few days, California and Arkansas had something in common, sort of. In California, a bill called the End of Life Option Act was passed by the state senate and is expected to be signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. If it becomes law it will allow patients with less than six months to live–confirmed by two doctors–who have submitted a written request and two oral requests,the right to medically assisted suicide.
In Arkansas, on the other hand, Gov. Asa Hutchinson has set the date for the state’s first executions in more than a decade, with eight of them scheduled soon, the first two on Oct. 21.
They’re sort of the same, right? Right to die with dignity, right to execute. And I’m not even against executions. I just think they should be done with an overdose of heroin, so that people would die with smiles on their faces, rather than the barbaric ways we do it currently.
All Talk, No Action
Several of the Republicans aspiring to become the next presidential candidate spoke out loudly and strongly on 9/11 to voice their opinion that they would “Never Forget”. That was nice. Unfortunately, they’re not putting our money where their mouths are. Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, and Lindsay Graham all voiced their concern for those who died in the World Trade Center and elsewhere on 9/11, but are among those members of congress who are against passing a long-term version of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which would extend health care and compensation for more than 33,000 first responders who are currently ill–many of them terminally–as a result of their work related to the 9/11 tragedy.
Gonif’s, all of them, as we say in New York.
Cowboys v Giants
Not to take anything away from what Jeff Prince plans to write in his fantastic Off-Asides column on Blotch today, but I’m gonna call foul on the pass interference call against Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie against Terrance Williams in the 3rd quarter last night which gave the ‘boys a first down on the two yard line and led to a Cowboys touchdown which blew the Giants apart. There was no interference. None. Zip. After that, the Giants simply sucked.
