VW actually wants to unionize its American factory; Republicans freak out.

[regexcellent]

reply != edit

[Ben Kenobi]

Parrots have emotions other than 'aggrieved'.

[Uncle Sparky]

'Mercans are stooped.

[kentonio]

Gosh, Americans acting against their own best interests? Whodathunkit..

[PLATO]

Unsurprisingly, 5 minutes of googling showed how much of a gross misrepresentation that is.

Then google is wrong. I actually live in the area. In fact, I drove down to Chattanooga on Saturday and actually discussed what is going on with some of the actual employees over lunch. Exactly what I said is true...anything you are googling that is contrary to that would be interesting to see so that it will reveal sites with an agenda.

[PLATO]

It's Plato. He truly is always wrong.

Wow...Oerdin the habitual liar saying I am always wrong! Thank you sir! VERY high praise coming from you.

[PLATO]

Gosh, Americans acting against their own best interests? Whodathunkit..

Unions are not always in the best interest of workers. Take a look at the Nissan plant in Smyrna...the one that has three times rejected the union because the union contract would offer Less benefits than they currently receive.

Unions do serve a very useful purpose in places, but they are not the worker's panacea.

[Hauldren Collider]

The feds will demand social security on the federal level, the rtw states will refuse, saying the employers are free to hire, fire and set any pay or other benefits they want, bam, a civil war.

Social security isn't an unfunded mandate, and the supreme court already ruled that the feds can't force the states to pay for too much in the Obamacare case. The states are already allowed to refuse to help pony up for a federal program, they just don't get some federal money.

[Hauldren Collider]

Also states rights ain't a dog whistle. Sure, it's a useful policy position for those that wish to bring back Jim Crow, but that's a vanishingly small number of people, and the remainder simply think the feds are too powerful.

Dog whistle is generally what MrFun-esque liberals say when they want to turn an opponent's argument into a strawman. "I don't wanna talk about complicated, multifaceted issues like how powerful should the federal government be--so I'm just gonna say you're secretly a KKK member who wants to mass murder poor people".

[Felch]

It doesn't have to be about racism to be dog-whistle politics. "Pro Choice" is dog whistle politics as well.

Euphemism != Dog whistle

[kentonio]

Also states rights ain't a dog whistle. Sure, it's a useful policy position for those that wish to bring back Jim Crow, but that's a vanishingly small number of people, and the remainder simply think the feds are too powerful.

Dog whistle is generally what MrFun-esque liberals say when they want to turn an opponent's argument into a strawman. "I don't wanna talk about complicated, multifaceted issues like how powerful should the federal government be--so I'm just gonna say you're secretly a KKK member who wants to mass murder poor people".

You're right that it's an easy thing to throw out to stiffle an argument, but you're a fool if you really think that racism isn't still a huge issue for many, many people.

[Hauldren Collider]

I didn't say it wasn't an issue, I said people aren't clamoring to bring back Jim Crow.

[kentonio]

I didn't say it wasn't an issue, I said people aren't clamoring to bring back Jim Crow.

Yet there is still a massive tendency for white communities to cluster together.

[Patroklos]

Which has nothing to do with racism, and especially Jim Crow. Black people cluster together too, is that because of their racism.

When you figure out where rich black people live you will learn the true reasons for what you observe.

[kentonio]

Which has nothing to do with racism, and especially Jim Crow.

It has a huge amount to do with racism. If you don't think white flight is a real phenomena fueled by racism, then you haven't been looking very hard.

Black people cluster together too, is that because of their racism.

In a way yes it is. There is plenty of black on white racism too, largely as a result of the effects of slavery and the oppression that followed. If you treat a race as slaves and deny them basic human rights, then you can hardly be surprised when they start treating your race with fear and hate. All of which will then take many generations to cool.

It's only been 50 years since civil rights, and far less time since any real semblance of equality has come about. It would be an absolute miracle if the US wasn't still suffering from a climate of strained race relations. It would end quicker however if people stopped trying to claim it wasn't even a real problem.