And by Orange, I mean, Vincent Orange.

Same guy who said this:

"We shouldn't force people to have to join a union," Orange said. "This is not in the best interests of the city."

So, it should come as no surprise that this bastion of Worker Hate won a seat yesterday to the Democratic National Committee. Mr. Anti-Union himself, Vincent Orange, is now the National Committeeman representing the District of Columbia for the next 4 fucking years. And this with labor folks at the polls working on behalf of labor candidates.

Nice, huh?

But hey, don't take my word for it, or hell, even Vincent's, take a look at his campaign material



That's Vincent Orange and his poster in Chinatown at H street.

Take a closer look:
It's missing a BUG. Yep, a union-bug.

So the worker hating Vincent Orange will now represent the union city of Washington DC. But this is the kind of stuff you get when you vote for the same old names, which DCist pointed out prior to the election when they called out Anita Bonds and her ilk:

Bonds' group, Obama for Change, in a bit of purposeful irony, is actually the slate offering the least amount of change. She's running with colorful former D.C. Council member Vincent Orange and a handful of other longtime Ward activists (people like Don Dinan, Dave Donaldson and Jan Eichhorn) on their collective "extensive track record of accomplishments." This track record includes how the committee ended up in financial trouble a little under two years ago.

So, as I sit here and type up this post, I'm brought back to something Joe (Joe's UnionReview) and Richard (UnionReview) said to me...Who Fucking uses Non-Union Printshops for Democratic Lit? Who are these fucking people? (Okay, actually, I think it was just Joe).

pst, Joe, the answer is...Vincent Orange and apparently, also Anita Bonds, the chair of the DCDSC. The two go hand in hand. I'm so glad he's not our mayor, and I'm not a Fenty fan!! Orange makes Fenty look like a union activist and friend of workers. I really didn't think I'd write those words next to Fenty's name!

Next up for the DCDSC, officer elections AND election of ex-officio spots. Wonder how Bonds will shape up as a candidate for chair this time out. But even more importantly, I'm wondering how many unionist will be seated on this committee. You know as a counter balance to the Wingnut-d'jour, Vincent Orange.

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First off let me say, I didn’t win yesterday.

Wanted to be clear to all my readers that yeah, I got the message, if I run again, I need to run as Kirsten “UnionGal” Burgard. Seriously, did you have to tell the poll workers you LOVE this blog, but only after you noted you voted for someone else because I didn’t acknowledge the blog is in deed, run by me?

But for those who voted for me and the slate I ran with, thank you. Running for office is always tough, and I want you all to know, I really appreciate your vote, we all do.

It was a tough race and I’ll have more on it tonight from home because I don’t really like to blog politics during the day, after all, this is a labor blog. However, I have to note that I found this political piece on a listserv and thought I should share it, mostly because it mirrors yesterday more than I’d like. Read on, perhaps those of you in DC will see the parallels.

Obama and the Palin Effect

* Words from Deepak
by Deepak Chopra

Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given
her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing.

Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin's pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.

She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and turning negativity into a cause for pride. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of "the other." For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don't want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.)

I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin's message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision.

Look at what she stands for:

* Small town values — a nostaligic return to simpler times disguises a denial of America's global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism.
* Ignorance of world affairs — a repudiation of the need to repair America's image abroad.
*Family values — a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don't need to be needed.
* Rigid stands on guns and abortion — a scornful repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.
* Patriotism — the usual fallback in a failed war.
*Reform — an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn't fit your ideology.

Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from "us" pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of "I'm all right, Jack," and "Why change?
Everything's OK as it is." The irony, of course, is that Gov.

Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness

Obama's call for higher ideals in politics can't be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow — we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest. It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.

Okay, now back to our regular labor and union related postings!!

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I'm running for office and I need your DC vote Tuesday, September 9th!!

I'm running on the Obama4UnityBeatsMcCain slate

Polls are open from 7am until 8pm. Electing our slate means that you will elect the body that will govern the DC Democratic Party for the next 4 years.

The DC Democratic State Committee is the official governing body of the DC Democratic Party chartered by the Democratic National Committee. The primary objective of the DC Democratic Party, as all state parties, is to elect Democrats locally and nationally and to advocate for issues within the Democratic Party platform.

The Obama Unity slate is fielding 48 candidates for the DC Democratic State Committee city-wide. Each voter may vote for 24 positions on the DC Democratic State Committee - 20 at-large positions and the 4 representing your own Ward).

There are other Obama slates, but the one that includes the word "Unity" in its name is the true-blue one, endorsed by DC for Obama and DC for Democracy. The widely respected members of this slate will bring years of experience, leadership and commitment to rejuvenating the Democratic Party of this great city.

I urge you to vote for the following candidates from our slate who are running citywide:

National Committeeman - Arrington Dixon, his Alternate - Douglass Sloan;

National Committeewoman - Miriam Sapiro, her Alternate - Regan Ford;

And the following 6 men and 6 women At-Large candidates: Kemry Hughes, Jeffrey Richardson, Alan Bray, Jeffrey Norman, John Nowicki, Kenneth Ellerbe, Kim Morton, Gaby Fraser, Linda Nguyen, Tamela Gordon, Kirsten Burgard and Robin Kelley.

If you live in Ward 3, please vote for our four Ward 3 candidates: Frank Wu, Kahlill Palmer, Jocelyn Nieva and Shana Mosher.

If you live in Ward 4, please vote for our four Ward 4 candidates: Dwayne Revis, Tony Towns, Faith Wheeler and Ella Gilbert.

Our slate is steeped in the tradition of Democratic grassroots politics and committed to bringing leadership to the DC Democratic Party that is energetic, transparent and engaged in the lives of Democrats of the District of Columbia. We envision a DC Democratic Party that has a clear mission, and works to educate, empower, and mobilize District residents to become more engaged within their communities and to participate in the democratic process locally and nationally.

Our slate is the most diverse slate of candidates for the DC Democratic State Committee since the advent of home rule. If elected, we will automatically increase the representation of Young Democrats, LGBT, Organized Labor, Asian Pacific Islanders, and Latinos on the DC Democratic State Committee.

So, please, GET OUT AND VOTE.

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Last night at the DC Democratic State Committee, members of the committee adopted an add-on measure to the DC platform. Added last night was an entire plank provided by Fred Allen. In addition, the body adopted language noting that it fully supports the right for workers to organize. To which they further noted their support for
passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. (okay, I'm cheering myself here, it was my measure!!)

There was significant debate on the measure and a number of "no" votes, however, it still passed!!! Whew!!

The most disturbing thing for me last night were the number of abstention votes from members of the body who seemed not to know about the Act or what it does for workers, despite my explanations. The Right Wing talking points for some reason resonated with some of the members, and these are pro-union democrats.

This weekend, Uniongal Blog will be hosting an Obama platform meeting on Labor: Finding Our Seat At the Table. Part of this discussion will focus on our talking points about the Employee Free Choice Act and how best to use them.

If you will be in DC and have not already done so, I urge you to sign up for the event. Use the "Listening" widget on the upper right hand corner of this blog.

I'm excited not only about an Obama victory this November, but also the ability of my brothers and sisters in labor to work toward representation for all workers. It really is as simple as as one of my favorite quote from Harry Bridges "The most important word in the language of the working class is `solidarity.'"

In Solidarity.

Kirsten Burgard

PS, I kind of lost it a little last night with a member of the committee who is anti-worker. I'd like to say that won't ever happen again, but let's face it, when it's something as important as organizing and having a voice in your workplace, I doubt I'll be able to hold back. So, yeah, I yelled, but at least I did ask him to step outside and beat the shit out of my fellow Democratic committee member. Oh and if I'd had that opportunity, I'd have been able to knock him down a few pegs. Clearly, that's not what I should be thinking about, but, there yuo have it. Even I can lose my cool. So, I'll be practicing my talking points this weekend. It's much better than beating them into someone else!!!

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