Ron Gettelfinger vs. America: Time to See Obama’s ‘Spine of Steel’

North Star Writers Group ^ | December 23, 2008 | Dan Calabrese

[Invisigoth]

Ron Gettelfinger lives in a very interesting little world. Even within the bubble of automotive Detroit, where grappling with economic reality is not the order of any day, the United Auto Workers president is outside what passes for the mainstream.

In this respect, he is different from predecessors such as Owen Bieber, Douglas Fraser and Walter Reuther only by matters of degree. They, like he, regarded automakers as unlimited vaults of cash controlled by evil, greedy fat cats who could be dealt with only through threats, intimidation, guilt-mongering, public propaganda and more threats – all for the righteous purpose of transferring fat-cat wealth into the hands of the sainted, blue-collar workers who pay compulsory dues to the aforementioned gentlemen.

This has been the view of the American labor movement for generations. Its perpetuation depends on the rock-solid conviction that labor costs cannot possibly rise so high as to imperil a company – and in any event, it would be wrong to blame the sainted workers if they did.

What separates Mr. Gettelfinger from his predecessors is two things: 1) The folly of his belief in this notion is far more obvious than theirs, given the desperate state of the automakers who have allowed him to help put them on the brink of bankruptcy; and 2) Mr. Gettelfinger, unless someone reins him in, is in a position to completely destroy a state and potentially cripple the other 49.

[mewzilla]

Speaking of the UAW....

$27-Million UAW-Owned Country Club Includes Golf Course, Condos, Swimming Pools

Can You Still See the USA in Your Chevrolet? Route 66 is looking ever more like a one-way dead-end street to Bailoutistan. By Mark Steyn

[anniegetyourgun]

Union leaders are evil, greedy fat cats....masquerading as “common folk.”

[EQAndyBuzz]

“Union leaders are evil, greedy fat cats....masquerading as “common folk.””

Actually, they are crooks that the Democrats are emulating. They steal from the people in the name of social justice. It just happens at the corporate level.

Marxism is an ideology of corruption. The corrupt steal from the non-corrupt and tell them it is for the common good. They have a media wing, an educational wing, a corporate wing and a political wing.

In the end it comes down to the same thing. They steal from us then lie to us. And we sit there and go Baaaaah Baaaaaah. Democrats Gooooooooood Republicans Baaaaaaaad.

Solution? Term Limits. We have to take away the ability for them to steal. That should be the new litmus test.

[anniegetyourgun]

I’ll give you this - like lib/dem office holders, the union leadership doesn’t give a rip about their constituents...outside of collecting dues from them.

[NonLinear]

My vote for best paragraph:

Ron Gettelfinger is a clueless, obstinate man who cares nothing about economic rationality or about the consequences of his actions. He cares only about resisting “givebacks” and bludgeoning management – because that is his job and that is his universe. If he gets away with it this time, he will take a bad idea and ensure that it becomes catastrophic.