Maybe you don't know the name Joe Hill. I admit I wasn't all that familiar with him. Yet he coined a phrase that has stood the test of time. Joe Hill was a labor activist, songwriter, and a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, the Wobblies. Back in 1915 he was arrested, tried, and convicted for the murder of a Utah grocer and his son. Just before he faced a firing squad, he sent a letter to Bill Haywood, a leader of the Wobblies. In it, he said this. "Goodbye Bill. I die like a true blue rebel. Don't waste any time in mourning. Organize".
So it should be as we collectively absorb the victory of that union busting governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker. We can spend days on end analyzing what went wrong, and who to blame. We can lament what might have happened if President Obama had come to the state during the run-up to the election. We can argue that Citizen's United made it possible for Walker to outspend his opponent Tom Barrett by around 8 to 1. Or we can do what we ought to do. Don't spend time pointing the finger of blame. Recriminations sap the will to win.
Always remember that politics is about winning. It's also about getting yourself up, dusting yourself off, and getting ready for the next battle, the next election. After all, we live in a democracy, and there's always a next election. Remember that if 25 House seats change hands in November, Democrats will be back in control. Some of the state legislatures that have enacted ugly, anti-democratic laws that involve voter IDs and suppression, anti union crushing of the right to bargain collectively, and the like also need changing. Oh yeah, and there's a presidential race.
I once belonged to an organization that had nothing to do with politics. It was known in a very competitive activity for the ferocity of its will to compete and win. The group had a song, and in the lryics was the phrase "and never will say die". Are we as progressives ready to never say die? Time will heal the wounds of Wisconsin. Now is not the time to hang our collective heads. There's too much at stake.
"I dreamt I saw Joe Hill last night, alive as ou and me. Says I, but Joe you're ten years dead. I never died saaid he. The copper bosses killed you Joe. They show you Joe said I. Takes more than guns to kill a man, Said Joe, I didn't die. Said Joe, I didn't die.
From San Diego up to Maine in every mine and mill. Where workers strike and organize, tis there you'll find Joe Hill.
I dreamt I saw Joe Hill last night alive as you and me. Says I, but Joe, you're ten years dead. I never died, said he. I never died said he.
06/08/2012 9:56AM
Sly...or not so Sly?
There was a TEACHABLE MOMENT ON THE Mark Riley WWRL MORNING SHOW this morning!
Sly outed himself as a Republican. He voted Republican in a Primary so long ago he can't remember why he has to go to the Republican aisle, hasn't voted for a Democrat in a Primary since...or what exactly? Classic!
Wanted to call the show soooo bad but had to get the kids to school.
Whose "THAT STUPID" , now?
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Maybe you don't know the name Joe Hill. I admit I wasn't all that familiar with him. Yet he coined a phrase that has stood the test of time. Joe Hill was a labor activist, songwriter, and a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, the Wobblies. Back in 1915 he was arrested, tried, and convicted for the murder of a Utah grocer and his son. Just before he faced a firing squad, he sent a letter to Bill Haywood, a leader of the Wobblies. In it, he said this. "Goodbye Bill. I die like a true blue rebel. Don't waste any time in mourning. Organize".