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Jesse Jackson Calls 'Right-Wing Media' A Government Weapon
CNSNews.com ^ | December 05, 2001 | Marc Morano

Posted on 12/05/2001 1:13:33 PM PST by Stand Watch Listen

Las Vegas (CNSNews.com) - The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a liberal activist, told a packed audience at the AFL-CIO convention Tuesday that the government is using the "right wing media" in America as a weapon to destroy the leadership of organized labor.

Jackson said leaks of government information to "right-wing media" outlets such as the Washington Times and FOX News are being used as weapons, the same way that FBI wiretaps and IRS audits are being used as weapons.

He also blasted Attorney General John Ashcroft's detention of suspected terrorists, calling Ashcroft the "suspect" who is "threatening democracy" with his anti-terror offensive.

"Ashcroft is using the FBI as one weapon, the IRS as another weapon and leaks to the right-wing media as another weapon," he declared.

Jackson believes the intent of the media leaks is to "destroy the leadership" of organized labor and distract it from the 2002 elections.

"Suppose a labor leader protests a policy... raise(s) a question about war policy, even for debate -- you are a suspect," Jackson said. "Suppose you then give a donation to a peaceful organization. They then trail your money and then they tap your phone and then IRS and then Washington Times and then FOX... (the) time they spend tying up labor leaders will keep you too busy to fight back in year 2002," he stated.

Jackson's sometimes rambling speech at the 24th Biennial Convention in Las Vegas was enthusiastically received by the delegates.

At one point, Jackson seemed to tie opponents of organized labor to domestic terrorists.

"You know anthrax did not come from a cave in Afghanistan. The same people who blew up the building in Oklahoma City, Ruby Ridge, the terror attack in Atlanta, Georgia, -- those same anti-union forces. Anthrax in the government, anthrax to the media and yet there is a price we pay focusing on domestic internal terror (sic)" he stated.

"They are using bin Laden as an excuse to take away basic workers rights," he added.

Jackson believes that those who say the world changed after September 11th are wrong. He noted that the opponents of organized labor have not changed their positions.

"Those who would trade off American jobs for slave labor abroad still choose slave labor over organized labor."

He compared President George W. Bush's economic stimulus plan to the policies that led to the Great Depression.

"Hoover said give the money to the corporations. He put us in a hole. Roosevelt said give the money to the people. He rode us out. We must choose Roosevelt over Hoover," he remarked.

Jackson also expanded the definition of terrorism, saying, "We must fight terrorism wherever it manifests itself. Denying the worker the right to organize is a form of economic terror."

Yes to immigrants' rights

The 1000-member labor delegation voted on Tuesday to urge the federal government to grant amnesty to all illegal aliens. Resolution 5: A Nation of Immigrants, calls on Congress to "enable undocumented workers from all countries to attain permanent legal U.S. citizen status..." The measure passed unanimously.

"The terrorist acts were not committed by immigrants, they were committed by criminals," said John Wilhelm, general president of the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union.

Bill Moore, an official with the Minnesota state AFL-CIO, asked, "Why should we be afraid of foreigners? We're all foreigners except for Indians." "You discriminate against one, you discriminate against everybody," Moore told CNSNews.com .

The delegates also passed a separate resolution urging passage of a federal hate crime law and a ban on racial profiling.

Linda Chavez-Thompson, executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, said, "Hate crimes affect all kinds of workers...We refuse to sanction hate."

Who supports Bush?

AFL-CIO president John Sweeney refused to acknowledge exit poll data showing that 40 percent of rank-and-file union members voted for Bush in last year's presidential election.

Asked if it was fair to use union dues to support Democratic candidates, he told CNSNews.com , "I haven't seen any poll that shows 40 percent voted for President Bush. But I have seen the polls that have shown the vote Al Gore got, and if every voter in this country had their vote counted, Al Gore would be president."

Contempt for right-to-work laws

Many participants exhibited contempt for state right-to-work laws, which allow workers the choice of whether to join a union.

Jack Shea, president of the Pennsylvania-based Allegheny County Labor Council, accused the National Right to Work Committee of being "backed by the manufacturing association that wants to make a union-free nation, which means that all workers will be working for a lot less."

Stefan Gleason of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a nonprofit group that offers legal aid to employees fighting compulsory unionism, fired back, telling CNSNews.com that, "Unlike organized labor, all our support is voluntary. We do not have to have force people to support us -- they (just) do."

Gleason said that as many as 10 million workers nationwide must pay union dues or lose their jobs.

According to Gleason, right-to-work laws make union membership voluntary by stripping the union of the power to fire a worker if that worker refuses to join.

But Charlie Wowkanech, president of the New Jersey state AFL-CIO, called right-to-work laws "a death knell to organized labor."

Wowkanech explained, "Essentially what that means is [they] are going to take you out of business. We can't tolerate that."

Gleason said Wowkanech's comment was revealing.

"What a stunning statement. What a lack of confidence they display. If they do not have the power to force membership, they would be dead," he stated.

Gleason accused organized labor of using compulsory workers' dues to support Democratic candidates. "Eighty percent of the American people oppose
forced unionization," he said.

"The fact that they do not represent rank-and-file workers, that is what is so threatening to them. An organization built on coercion should not be surprised the people aren't with you," he commented.

See Related Story:
'Conservative Conspiracy' Hurting US Workers, Says AFL-CIO President


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Please go away Je$$e....
1 posted on 12/05/2001 1:13:33 PM PST by Stand Watch Listen
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To: Stand Watch Listen
Right wing media??!! What channels does he get that I don't? I guess he watches O'Reilly after all...
2 posted on 12/05/2001 1:15:59 PM PST by TADSLOS
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To: Stand Watch Listen
Ask Je$$e if he has paid his child support. If he needs money, should I send him some (I still have Gore and Clinton money left).
3 posted on 12/05/2001 1:16:02 PM PST by PetroniDE
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To: Stand Watch Listen
What a peni$ head Jackson is. Well, at least he didn't bring race in.
4 posted on 12/05/2001 1:16:35 PM PST by isthisnickcool
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To: TADSLOS
Notice he is in Las Vegas? Spending the kids money on the crap table Je$$e? (Keep your replies clean, people).
5 posted on 12/05/2001 1:16:56 PM PST by PetroniDE
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To: Stand Watch Listen
Jackson also accused Ashcroft and Fox News of a secret plot to steal his sperm and use it to impregnate various young women. "Forget 'Boyz in the Hood'" he told reporters. "This be a case of the 'Boyz from Brazil'"
6 posted on 12/05/2001 1:18:28 PM PST by Callahan
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To: Stand Watch Listen
Hey Jesse! The diapers are piling up! Shut yo mouf an' geh tuh wukh!
7 posted on 12/05/2001 1:18:42 PM PST by Paul Atreides
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To: Stand Watch Listen
I'll bet ya his biggest problem is O'Reilly.
8 posted on 12/05/2001 1:20:42 PM PST by Bogie
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To: Callahan
You mean, 94 of them running around blackmailing Americans? NO NO NO NO NO.
9 posted on 12/05/2001 1:20:43 PM PST by PetroniDE
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To: All
Thank God if there is such a thing as a Right-Wing Media!

Forgive me for interrupting your very important thoughts and profound wisdom, but we are in the midst of the most exciting fundraiser ever on FreeRepublic. I would hate for any of you to miss it!

Come visit us at Freepathon Holidays are Here Again: Let's Really Light Our Tree This Year - Thread 6

and be a part of something that is larger than all of us.

Alone, we are a voice crying in the wilderness. Together we are a force for positive action!

Don't be left out!

Be one who can someday say..................... "I was there when..................."

Thank you to everyone who has already come by and become a part!

10 posted on 12/05/2001 1:21:00 PM PST by 2ndMostConservativeBrdMember
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To: Paul Atreides
He's always long on emotion and short on fact!
11 posted on 12/05/2001 1:23:03 PM PST by smithson
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To: Stand Watch Listen
And Jessie JackAZZ was bubba's terrorist organization
12 posted on 12/05/2001 1:24:16 PM PST by DrJasper
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To: Stand Watch Listen
Hey Jesse, isn't there a confederate flag somewhere that needs your attention?
13 posted on 12/05/2001 1:25:07 PM PST by Hans Moleman
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To: Callahan
About this title: "Boyz From The Bushes"

Hey Je$$e: " Sta Ot Uf Da Bushs "

14 posted on 12/05/2001 1:25:47 PM PST by PetroniDE
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To: Stand Watch Listen
My headline, "Idiot says something unintelligible and leftist media laps it up like a dog"
15 posted on 12/05/2001 1:25:55 PM PST by Republic of Texas
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To: DrJasper
Howling "Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy" is all this clown has left.
16 posted on 12/05/2001 1:26:44 PM PST by Callahan
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To: All
JJ is again spouting off non-facts and outright lies; but don't worry about ole Jess; he's irrelevant; even Sharpton draws more attention than Mr. Adultery.....
17 posted on 12/05/2001 1:27:21 PM PST by Malcolm
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To: PetroniDE
How doest the Vast Right Wing Media Conspiracy find time to hassle the Clintons, plant Jesse's love seed in unsuspecting interns AND frame OJ at the same time? They must be busy.
18 posted on 12/05/2001 1:29:56 PM PST by Callahan
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To: Callahan
The left-wing media is finding out how vast the right-wing is.
19 posted on 12/05/2001 1:35:12 PM PST by smithson
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To: Stand Watch Listen
Like that old saying about cops, there's just never a suicide bomber around when you need one.
20 posted on 12/05/2001 1:37:31 PM PST by E=MC<sup>2</sup>
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