Confederate Memorial Day Celebration in Alabama
Posted On Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at at 9:45 AM by Dan
I beat up a lot on Georgia. I would pick on Alabama more, but it seems wrong to kick a state when it's down. There no reason for me to get morally righteous about this article since Georgia also celebrates Confederate Memorial Day. The state even puts out little confederate flags on the graves at Oakland Memorial Cemetery. Gotta love the South.
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Southerners celebrate Confederate ancestors
By Sebastian Kitchen More than 120 people gathered around the Confederate Memorial at the state Capitol on Monday to honor their ancestors who fought in the Civil War. One by one, those in attendance said the name of a relative who fought or otherwise supported the South during the conflict. Organizer Connie Mori was no exception. She named her great-grandfather, John White, who fought with Company B, the 14th Light Artillery, Battalion 1, the Army of Tennessee. Mori said her great-grandfather, who was from Georgia, was wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga, later losing a leg because of the injury. Mori was joined by the Alabama divisions of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, who have sponsored the event for generations, and the Sons of Confederate Veterans at the annual Confederate Memorial Day service. The ceremony is at the base of the historic Confederate Memorial on the north side of the Capitol. The Legislature established the state holiday more than a century ago. Mori said the United Daughters of the Confederacy has organized the event since the early 1900s to honor their ancestors. A bagpiper and a drummer followed behind children who helped carry a wreath to the memorial, which was followed by salutes with guns and a cannon that echoed through downtown Montgomery on the state holiday. Some people at the service were dressed in outfits similar to period clothing. Robert Reames of Birmingham, the commander of the Alabama division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said the memorial in Montgomery honors those in Alabama who served and "all who served the cause no matter where they rest." He said they defended their home, their state and their constitutional rights. "This is an opportunity for us to come out and remind people what our ancestors did," Reames said. The commander said the people of Alabama "have every right to be proud of our ancestors." Jeannette Taylor of the United Daughters of the Confederacy read a poem, "I Am Their Flag," which recounted Fort Sumter, Bull Run, Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Gettysburg, Missionary Ridge and other battles and altercations during the war. People stood and removed their hats as Ellen Williams sang "God Save the South," which talked of the invaders and of "freedom or death." In his invocation, Herman Williams said the war was a "heavenly cause." "We know that cause was right," he said. Right does not win all battles, Williams said, but "right never dies." Reames also used the event to criticize the recent actions of Auburn City Councilman Arthur Dowdell. Last week, Dowdell removed small Confederate flags from gravesites of Confederate veterans at the private Pine Hill Cemetery. He called them symbols of racism and hatred that intimidate black people. Reames called on the mayor of Auburn and the district attorney in Lee County to prosecute Dowdell for stealing the flags and defacing the graves. He said the councilman's action was a "terrible dishonor," "out of bounds," a crime and for Dowdell's own political gain. Mori said the Confederate flags should be honored and used for historical purposes, such as memorials. |
Workers Have No Party; Owners Have Two
Posted On Thursday, April 23, 2009 at at 4:47 PM by Dan
Check out this blog post at Facing South, magazine of the Institute for Southern Studies. We should expect conservatives to screw over workers. We should also expect liberals to screw us too.
Democratic lobbyists lead fight against Employee Free Choice Act
First, it's important to note the EFCA isn't dead yet. Labor has vowed it will keep fighting, and as Roll Call reports they were in full force during the recent Congressional recess:
Union organizers held more than 400 grass-roots events, sent more than 27,000 letters to Members of Congress and put in nearly 100,000 calls supporting EFCA. Additionally, the unions spent more than $1 million on two TV ads over the recess, AFL-CIO spokeswoman Amaya Smith said.But after the defections of key Senators like Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln -- and even pro-labor stalwarts like Ohio's Sherrod Brown (D) predicting it will be watered down -- Frank observes that the EFCA as we know it won't pass:
After massive lobbying both by labor and by business, it appears that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which, as it now stands, would allow workers to organize in many cases merely by signing cards instead of holding elections, will not have the 60 votes required to get past a Republican filibuster in the Senate.Even Andy Stern of the Change to Win labor federation is signaling compromise is on the horizon given the math.
But it's important to step back a moment and ask how, after the rush of hope that surrounded the victory of Obama and Congressional Democrats -- backed by millions in labor contributions -- did we get to this point?
Many have pointed to the well-financed corporate opposition to the act -- a war chest which, among other things, has been used to fund dubious research warning that the labor bill would cost "thousands of jobs."
But Frank points to an important and under-reported piece of the story -- lobbying firms with strong ties to Democrats who are helping deep-six labor's agenda. After asking why Democrats seem treat labor like an ATM machine for campaign cash, only to turn their backs on them in Congress, Frank offers these devastating set of facts:
[M]aybe it's just the money. Consider the lineup of lobbyists that retail giant Wal-Mart has assembled to make its case against EFCA. According to lobbying disclosure forms filed with the House and Senate we find that Wal-Mart's lobbyists include Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti (which employs former presidential candidate John Kerry's liaison to Congress during the 2004 campaign), a former legislative director for Rahm Emanuel, and a former assistant to Arkansas Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln.There's much more evidence of the ties between these firms to the Democrats. For example, this month the Podesta Group -- which proudly boasts [pdf] of its special access in the new Democratic administration -- announced the addition of six new principals to their lobbying army. Half have solid Democratic resumes.Wal-Mart has also secured, according lobbying disclosure forms filed with Congress, the services of Tony Podesta, of the Podesta Group, one of the hottest lobby shops in Democratic D.C. Mr. Podesta is joined in pushing Wal-Mart's views on EFCA by a former assistant to Democrat Mark Pryor, the other senator from Arkansas. [FS note: The firm was co-founded with John Podesta, a lead Obama advisor, although he's no longer listed on the group's manifest.]
The real standout on Wal-Mart's labor-issues roster, though, is D+P Creative Strategies, which wears its liberalism as proudly as last week's tax protestors did their three-cornered hats. According to its Web site, D+P "highlights partnership, shared benefits, and a commitment to advancing social justice goals." The disclosure form for its Wal-Mart EFCA activities lists a former assistant to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. The bio of its principal, Ingrid Duran, who is also listed as a Wal-Mart lobbyist, declares that the firm's mission is "to increase the role of corporate, legislative and philanthropic efforts in addressing the concerns of Latinos, women, and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) communities."
The case of the former aide to Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) -- Walter Pryor (no relation) -- now lobbying against the EFCA for Wal-Mart is especially bizarre. As Wal-Mart Watch pointed out last month, Walter Pryor's lobbying filing for Wal-Mart lists him as still being an aid to Sen. Pryor -- which is impossible, because legislative aides aren't allowed to lobby.
Melhman & Co. started out as a mostly GOP shop, but ever since 2006 has been cultivating its Democratic Party connections.
Labor has mobilized people and money in unprecedented amounts to get the Employee Free Choice Act passed. But at the end of the day, the money and connections of the corporate opposition -- including Democratic lobbyists -- may carry the day.
