When they finally get around to it
Churchill may not have said, “The Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.” And given the history of the 21st century so far, “always” is way too generous. But occasionally we come up for air after deep dives into the primitive ooze.
Well, the ooze eagerly awaits Speaker Mike Johnson after Saturday’s House vote to furnish $61 billion in American aid to Ukraine’s fight to free itself from Russian aggression. More Russophile Republicans voted against the measure than caucus members less cosy with the Moscow’s Make Russia Greater Again dictator. But it passed over the MAGA extremists’ objections. So if they are on-brand, they’ll be coming for Johnson’s seat. Later, if not sooner.
The last time Congress approved aid to Ukraine was December 2022, and Democrats held both houses of Congress. President Joe Biden requested more last August, Opposition from close allies of former president “Is it Trump Tower Moscow yet,” currently in exile in Florida and on trial in Manhattan, stalled aid until Ukraine has all but run out of artillery shells to fire back at invaders.
Ha! I see now Max Boot referenced the same quotation I used in the first paragraph about finally doing the right thing. He writes:
While House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wasted months struggling to stand up to his party’s pro-Putin wing, the battlefield situation in Ukraine took an ominous turn for the worse. Russian forces have been advancing since the failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive last year. In February, the invaders captured Avdiivka, a strategic city in eastern Ukraine, securing their biggest victory since the fall of Bakhmut in May 2023. In all, since the start of the year, Russian forces have taken 139 square miles, an area the size of Detroit, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank.
Fears have been growing that a Russian offensive, reportedly planned for June, could break through Ukraine’s depleted front lines. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, told PBS NewsHour this week that his forces were being outgunned 10 to 1 in artillery shells, making it impossible to “hold our ground.” CIA Director William J. Burns warned on Thursday that Ukraine could “lose” the war by the end of the year without U.S. aid. The alarms raised by U.S. intelligence agencies — combined with Iran’s attack on Israel — finally spurred Johnson to act on the long-stalled foreign-aid bill.
Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado jeered Democrats on social media, “You love Ukraine so much, get your ass over there and leave America’s governing to those who love THIS country!” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia declared, “Mike Johnson’s House of Representatives, so proud to work for Ukraine. Not the American people!!! It’s despicable!”
No one could accuse these fine, lovers of autocracy of acting French.
On the topic of finally doing the right thing, the United Auto Workers’ successful Friday vote to organize Volkswagon in Chattanooga, Tenn. is a landmark. It’s been long time since I worked in a cotton warehouse between high school and college, but one colleague’s joking on the loading dock about unionizing cost him a visit to the office for a reprimand. Neofeudalists would rather you owe your soul to the company store.
Have all other possibilities have been exhausted? These auto workers think so.
The Washington Post states that Volkswagon is the first southern factory to unionize since the 1940s. (That’s factory, mind you. There are other unions here. ) The UAW may have won the vote, but whether they’ve won the war remains to be seen. Nevertheless:
The vote marksthe biggest organizing victory in years for theUAW and for the broader labor movement, which has long faced difficulty in Southern states. The UAW had twice previously failed to unionize the VW plant, in 2014 and 2019. VW Chattanooga will join a handful of other unionized auto factories in the South, where local laws and customs have made it hard for unions to make inroads.
The organizing effort caps off a strong year for the U.S. labor movement, which has won record wage increases in several industries through strikes and tough bargaining. The Teamsters scored big wins for UPS employees, while Hollywood actors and writers, and Kaiser nurses secured better wages and working conditions by staging walkouts. The UAW has had a particularly strong year under its new president Shawn Fain, winning large raises and other perks through an acrimonious strike against Detroit automakers in the fall.
Up next? Mercedes:
The UAW says a majority of workers at Mercedes-Benz manufacturing facilities in Vance and Woodstock, Ala., have already signed union authorization cards supporting membership in the UAW, which workers will put to a vote in mid-May. That election, combined with the results of the Volkswagen vote, could have far-reaching consequences for the labor movement in the region, said Stephen Silvia, a professor at American University who has studied the UAW’s efforts in Southern states.
“If the UAW can prevail, it means that the Volkswagen victory isn’t an anomaly and we’re really seeing a turnaround in attitudes in workers in the South,” Silvia said.
It’s been hard keeping up spirits in a time of MAGA extremism and creeping fascism. The rule of law seems to be slipping away when it’s not being disparately applied. But sometimes all you need is one victory here and there to keep going. Because Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted. Have you heard?
My friends N.C. state Sen. Graig Meyer and admaker Frank Eaton make an issue of unequal justice with an ad you must see.
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