Say, didn't a prominent union boss recently urge unionized workers to "take out" certain "son-of-a-bitches" [sic] deemed to be threats to the power and influence of organized labor? Didn't he do so at an official presidential event? And after both the White House and DNC chair declined to condemn his inflammatory rhetoric, didn't he also defiantly refuse to apologize? "Climate of hate!" It seems as though at least one local union in Washington State has already taken Jimmy Hoffa Jr.'s general sentiment to heart:
Hundreds of Longshoremen stormed the Port of Longview early Thursday, overpowered and held security guards, damaged railroad cars, and dumped grain that is the center of a labor dispute, said Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha. Six guards were held hostage for a couple of hours after 500 or more Longshoremen broke down gates about 4:30 a.m. and smashed windows in the guard shack, he said.
No one was hurt, and nobody has been arrested. Most of the protesters returned to their union hall after cutting brake lines and spilling grain from car at the EGT terminal, Duscha said. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union believes it has the right to work at the facility, but the company has hired a contractor that's staffing a workforce of other union laborers.
So they believe they, and they alone, have a "right" to work at this this facility -- unlike EGT's hired "scabs," who actually happen to be other unionized workers. These are the bullying tactics that impel successful businesses (eg, Boeing) to flee union-dominated jurisdictions (eg, Washington) and flock to genuine "right to work" states (eg, South Carolina) to set up operations. We know how the Obama administration's NLRB feels about that process, don't we? But I digress; back to the Longview Longshoreman. When the police arrived to confront the hostage-takers, the standoff was probably defused, right? Wrong:
Police from several agencies in southwest Washington, the Washington State Patrol and Burlington Northern Santa Fe responded to the violence to secure the scene that followed a demonstration Wednesday. "We're not surprised," Duscha said. "A lot of the protesters were telling us this in only the start." One sergeant was threatened with baseball bats and retreated, Duscha said. "One officer with hundreds of Longshoremen? He used the better part of discretion."
Breaking down gates, smashing windows, taking hostages, and menacing police offices with baseball bats. And that's "only the start." What was Vice President Biden saying about "barbarians at the gate," again? The important lesson, though, is that it's those malignant Tea Party conservatives who comprise the true terroristic hostage-taking lynchmob. Another addition to the selective civility file.
UPDATE: Just watch.