Had started a blog earlier, but for some reason, it went out in lala land and never returned. Oh, well, c'este la vie!
I've been listening to all of the comments from the conservatives radio talk show hosts about the comments Jimmy Hoffa, Jr., VP Biden, et al have made this past weekend about the Tea Party. It is sad that they never will understand that the Tea Party is not a physical entity, it is a philosophy that has been embraced by a large share of Americans. I think we all look back with rose-colored glasses at the time when we were growing up and while we lived with the threat of the atom bomb, the Cold War and bomb shelters, there was a realization that we live in the greatest nation on earth and that belief was shared by everyone - at least most everyone. As the '60's wore on, especially with the Viet Nam war, we saw more and more of the radicals that we now recognize as communists and Marxists. Perhaps I'm a bit naive, but I find it so difficult to understand how anyone who tries to step back and look at all sides can think that communism is so great. Even Eldridge Cleaver, the Black Panther party member who shot and killed someone, I believe it was a cop, during that time frame and escaped to Cuba, then on to Russia, became disillusioned and returned to the United States, even though he knew it meant facing serving a prison term for his actions. He knew that even behind bars he would be much freer that he ever was in Cuba or Russia. That says a lot!
Growing up in Paonia like I did, I've always been very aware of the power of the unions. While it was never openly acknowledged or discussed, there were basically three classes of people, businessmen, farmers and ranchers, and coal miners. The subtle differences were always just under the surface. Knowing the power of the unions, I have also been thinking about how the union leaders have pledged the union members to do Obama's bidding in the coming months and have to wonder just how many union members are going to get into lockstep and do exactly as they are told. I can't help but think about a situation some 29 years in which the union leaders made a decision that cost the lives of two of my classmates.
Even though we were only juniors, Jim Rozeman was our starting quarterback that fall. He had followed in his older brothers' footsteps and was a good athlete, not only on the football field, but in other sports as well.
That fall, however, not very far into the school year, a bunch of miners back in the Appalachians went out on a wildcat strike. Knowing now what I do about mining, especially back in that area, there is a very good chance they had very good reasons for striking, but for some reason, the local union bosses called the miners in the North Fork Valley out on strike, strictly in sympathy.
There had been a home game on Friday night in which Jimmy had quarterbacked, but the game the following week was to be in Fruita and he wanted his mother to be able to go, so he and a fellow classmate, and his best friend, Richard Schroeder, headed out to help load hay bales so there would be enough money for his mom to go to the game.
Of course, the full truth will never been completely known, but on a country intersection, when Jimmy pulled out, he was hit broadside, on his side, by a car traveling at a very high rate of speed. I don't remember the specific car he drove, but it was a '40's model so, of course, was a pretty heavy vehicle. The car that hit him, however, was traveling so fast it rolled Jimmy's car, breaking off a telephone post, and crushing the car to the point that Richard was killed because the steering column-mounted gear shift tore his jugular vein. I don't know how quickly he died, as he was dead before they extricated him, but Jimmy was taken to Grand Junction by ambulance and prepped for surgery. That many years ago, there were no MRI's or CT's where they could know that his aorta had been torn from his heart and he was bleeding to death as that was the only real injury he had received, other than bruises, so when he insisted they take the driver of the other car, who seemed to be in worse shape than he was, they acquiesced. Either that - which was the story we were told - or the doctors didn't believe they could have saved him, altho I think hindsight showed otherwise. Anyhow, I still feel the coal miners' union, and especially the union bosses, have to bear a major share of the responsibility for those two deaths. How many more do there have to be. Unions had a good place when they were first started - the Boss Tweeds and Tammany Hall bosses of their day were ruthless in their treatment of their employees and the graft and corruption were rampant. The unions were able to halt that and the workers were finally able to work at jobs that paid decently, were safe and much more enjoyable. However, the unions were gradually overrun by the Mob and now are a "pay-to-play" situation where the graft and corruption are again omnipresent - this time by the union bosses against the workers and the employers. How long will it take for the pendulum to swing back more towards the center, when people like Hoffa and Trumpka and their lieutenants are leading the pack with Obama's blessings? They are so deep in his hip pocket that to get the power away from them will take some major changes. It's no wonder they support Obama like they do - I just read in Michelle Malkin's column this morning that while he was still a candidate, he called the various leaders and told them he would call off the feds who were investigating the unions for racketeering. Then he stacked the National Labor Relations Board with union cronies, so what can this country expect. He's just as crooked as they are.
Our bagpipe player, unfortunately, will not be able to play for us this Sunday - he has, sadly, developed COPD, which is not a good thing for a bagpipe player! I just hope he is tutoring someone in playing it as it is an awesome instrument. And, we are getting more and more motorcycle riders. It's just too bad that some people don't stop to realize how much 9/11 really did affect all of us. One gentleman who was invited to ride and what the occasion was said he didn't know why he should ride, he wasn't involved in 9/11 at all! Sad, sad, sad when people live in their own little cocoons like that!
Tomorrow nite is Ken Buck in Grand Junction. Hope y'all can make it!
The Patriot Granny
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