"I Shall Be Released" -The Theme of President Obama's Second Term

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Assume a political miracle occurs on November 6, rivaling that of President Truman's 1948 upset victory over Governor Tom Dewey. President Obama wins reelection. 

His narcissism and megalomania will become insufferable as he proves he is the smartest person in America. Hubris pride will rule America.

Thus, he enters his second term vindicated in his policies. His second term will be nothing like his first. He entered office on January 20, 2009 offering Hope.

The President will enter office on January 20, 2013, delivering Change.

He is free to complete his transformation of America. He will pursue his dream of fairness and world peace through American weakness, unfettered by any need to seek reelection, appease the Jewish vote, or worry about Congress. His inner marxism will emerge.

He said it best on March 26, 2012 to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev “This is my last election …. After my election I have more flexibility.”

The first test comes after election day when Congress sits in a rump session. The President two years ago agreed to a 2 year extension of the “reviled,” in his mind, Bush Tax Cuts. If they lapse, the top two marginal tax rates will rise from 33% to 36% and 35% to 39.6%. The current maximum tax rates on capital gains and dividends is 15%. The long-term capital gains tax rate will rise to 20% while the maximum dividend tax rate will be 39.6%.

The President will have no incentive to extend the cuts although a bipartisan Congress could override his veto.

ObamaCare will not be repealed so its tax increases will go into effect. A  3.8% Medicare surtax will be imposed on large income earners with an additional .9% increase to the Medicare tax rate. The maximum tax rate on capital gains will rise to 23.8% and the top dividend rate to 43.4%.

Economic history tells us the result will be an economic disaster for the country. Large tax increases help turn a deep recession into the Great Depression. Capital investment, the fuel of private economic growth, will shrink. Job growth will tank while unemployment reaches a post-Great Depression high. The public sector cannot survive without a viable private sector; hence, it will also shrink. The Political Science major will display for the world to see his ignorance of economics and history.

The only way to fulfill his goal of fairness is to make everyone equal, and dependent on the government rather than the free market. He will succeed through his economic disaster. Americans will lose.

With or without Democratic control of one or both houses of Congress, he will govern through executive orders, administrative agencies, and interim appointments. For example, the Obama EPA will kill coal and harass fracking. Alternative energy will continue to be uneconomical.

His vision of Congress is that it will execute his vision. If not, he will bypass Congress, such as he has done through his modified Dream Act. We will be watching an Imperial Presidency.

He will also wield the veto pen to prevent Congress from overturning his initiatives. He will elude any Senate blocking of appointments through interim appointments, even of Supreme Court nominees. The Obama Supreme Court, perhaps packed with interim appointments, will ratify almost all of his actions, rendering an independent judicial review a nullity.

He will demagogue any opposition from Congress or commentators.

His foreign policy will continue with the appeasement of our enemies while throwing Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu under the bus. Egypt will be to President Obama what Iran is to President Carter. He may continue his first term lexicon of never using the phrase "Islamic Terrorist."

The President will spend even less time listening to security briefings, because he is so brilliant, and little time fundraising or campaigning, but make up for it by golfing, vacationing, and flying up to New York to watch plays.

His defense policy is simple. He will carry out the long-term leftist post-Vietnam goal of neutering the military. America will no longer be the one military force in the world. Outsource that to China.

Never forget that in his two short years in the United States Senate he earned the most liberal voting Senator, surpassing even the Massachusetts twins, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.

Never forget that for 20 years he imbibed the Liberation Theology of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

He does not believe in American Exceptionalism. Hence minimizing America is a goal of his.

He will succeed in transforming America. In doing so he will fail the American people.

Even the mainstream media will have to recognize reality, stop cheerleading for the President, and blaming the GOP an Bush for all that ails America. That's how bad it will be.

 Tell me how I'm wrong.

Is It Apocalyptic Time?

Is Hal Lindsay’s Apocalyptic Vision of the Late, Great Planet Earth Coming True?

Earthquakes striking Beverly Hills?

 Tornadoes touching down in Brooklyn, Queens and Springfield?

Wildfires in Colorado?

Eyjafjallajokull erupting in Iceland?

Avian flu, Swine flu, West Nile, Ebola, AIDS, SARS, hepatitis, hantavirus, dengue fever, anthrax, herpes, chlamydia, antibiotic resistant bacteria? 

Tsunamis in Indonesia and Japan?

Wildfires and flooding in Sydney?

Flooding of the Opryland Hotel?

Drought in the Heartland of America?

Levees failing, flooding New Orleans and the Saints?

Vanuatu drowning under climate change?

Killer Bees, fire ants, Zebra Mussels, Asian Carp, Burmese Pythons, kudzu, nutria?

Wars in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Israel with Hamas and Hezbollah?

The collapse of Notre Dame football?

Genocide in Rwanda, Yugoslavia, the Holocaust, and Armenia?

Barry McGuire's The Eve of Destruction?

The potential reelection of President Obama, which would make him the Anti-Christ to some?

Questions, questions, questions?

Will Israeli and Arab armies meet on the plains of Megiddo?

Will the Mayan Calendar strike on December 21, 2012?

What did Nostradamus write?

Hal Lindsay wrote a best seller in 1970, the Late, Great Planet Earth in which he looked to the ancient prophecies to predict the running of a 40  year clock to the end of the world. The clock could start with the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 or the Jewish building of the Third Temple. Even the most devout, conservative Jews in Israel are not avidly advocating the rebuilding of the Third Temple, which would constitute a substantial interference with the Dome of the Rock.

Dr. Lindsay changed his interpretation over the years; Doomsday prophets have been false prophets so far, so why not simply consult the Delphic Oracle?

Let me suggest that natural disasters were common in the Old Testament and throughout history. We called them Acts of God, although they were really forces of nature.

The difference today is twofold. Nature hasn't changed. First, we have instant media coverage. Second, the effects will be much more devastating in a world of 6 billion people spreading out into geologically and meteorologically dangerous areas.  If you wish to live in a floodplain, Tornado Alley, slippery slope, on the coastline, a faultline, then expect the consequences.

What If They Gave a Political Convention and Nobody Watched? Further Reflections on the Democratic and Republican National Conventions

What If They Give a Convention and No One Watches?

Wait; that’s what happened. Ratings show a plunge in viewership from 4 years ago. I did not watch the conventions, except for about 45 minutes watching the airport TV during the DNC. My comments therefore come from news broadcast, the print media, and the internet. I have yet to view any of the presentations on Youtube.

Why should anyone watch this year? Every nanosecond of both conventions was choreographed, except for Clint Eastwood’s monolog with a stiff chair. Look where that got the GOP? The media did not understand the metaphor or metaphysics of the empty chair.

Robotic talking points are a bore, rather Republican or Democratic, on talk shows, press conferences, or conventions.The excitement came when Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords came onto the floor and led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Otherwise, no suspense; no excitement, just the media trying to find a griping issue when none existed. The mainstream media, which used to provide gavel to gavel coverage, broadcast only a few prime time hours this year.

Bring back the smoke filled rooms with deals being cut and backstabbing in vogue. Bring excitement to the conventions. Make them meaningful again, or at least exciting.

The last open Republican Convention was 1976 when Gerald ford narrowly edged out Ronald Reagan.  The Democrats have to look back to 1956 when presidential nominee Adlai E. Stevenson threw the Vice Presidency nomination to the convention. Senator Estes Kefauver beat Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy for the nomination.

The Republicans did a better job showcasing their emerging political leaders, especially minorities, but the GOP remains essentially white, which is not a good omen for the future. The Democratic convention was in Reverend Jesse Jackson’s earlier words a “rainbow coalition.”

The Republican Conventioneers consisted of professional politicians and those who “made it.” The Democratic conventioneers consisted of professional politicians, Hollywood celebrities, government workers, union members, and those otherwise dependent on the government.

President Obama’s speech could not be the uplifting “Hope and change” of three years ago. “Forward” doesn’t cut it. Instead, it was Stay the course,” but that was President Reagan’s theme in 1982. President Obama was therefore at a loss for words. There was “no there, there” in his 2008 speech, but it sounded inspiring and beautiful. He proved in 2012 that he still reads beautifully off a teleprompter. Now we all know “there’s no there, there.”

Vice President Biden was “literally” at a loss for words.

What do we learn from the party’s platforms, which hardly anyone ever read?

The Republicans are totally pro-life and the Democrats equally strongly pro-choice. That will only matter, and we’re not sure which way, if social issues rather than economic issues control this election.

Both Republicans and Democrats believe in fossil fuels, but we know President Obama does not. Actions speak louder than words.

Both Republicans and Democrats believe in God and Israel, but the Democrats needed three floor votes, and a disputed ruling from the apparently deaf convention Chair Antonio Villaraigosa to put God and Israel back into the platform over a loud chorus of no’s. The anti-Israel, anti-God vote does not bode well for the party, America or Israel in the future,

Democrats believe in gay marriage. Republicans do not. I saw a billboard on 1-94 Friday near Detroit Metropolitan Airport, sponsored by the Republican Party:  “Obama believes in gay marriage and abortion; Do you?” We’ll see,

Both presidential candidates received the equivalent of a dead cat’s bounce from their conventions. President Obama remains in perilous territory. He can’t budge his favorability/unfavorability ratings.

Both political parties are once again reconsidering the role, purpose, and format of the conventions.

The federal government necessarily spends a small fortune on security for the two conventions. It should not though otherwise subsidize them.

The most unsettling part of the conventions was the speeches, the carefully worded speeches. I got the impression, especially from the Democratic speakers, that this was a personality cult rather than a debate on the issues. President Obama this, President Obama that, as if he were the high, exalted leader.

We do not need to feed his narcissism.

The moments that were not high praise consisted of tearing down the opposing candidate.

For that, we can view Jon Steward.


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One week later we discover more of the farcial atmosphere of the Conventions. The Democratic Convention had a fleet of naval ships as a backdrop to saluting our veterans. The fleet is a Rusiian, and not American, fleet. Interpret that as you please.

Welcome to Michigan and the Fate of Unions in November: The Second Most Critical Election This Year

Welcome to Michigan. I’m back in the self-proclaimed Mitten State, but the steel gloves are out.

This Presidential election is truly for the future of America. The second most critical decision for voters is in Michigan. It is not for the Senate or Congressional elections. Nor is it for state legislative positions. The Michigan election is for the future of organized labor, especially the public sector unions, in Michigan and throughout America.

The unions lost in Wisconsin, won in Ohio, and are now going for the tiebreaker in Michigan.

The 2010 midterm elections were a deep sweep of the Midwest. Republicans took control of the governorships and legislatures in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, as well as Pennsylvania, and almost control in Iowa and Minnesota.

Governors and legislatures in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin proceeded to enact anti-union measures of varying degrees. Wisconsin was the most extreme anti-union, or at least anti public sector union, measure, but excluded fire and police. Ohio included emergency responders in its anti-union legislation. Indiana became a right to work state.

The unions failed to overturn the Wisconsin legislation in four electoral tries in two years. The Ohio unions mounted a successful referendum campaign to overwhelmingly reject the Ohio measures.

Michigan took a less confrontational approach. Public sector workers were required to pay a greater percent of their pension and health costs. In addition, the government would no longer collect union dues from the public employees. Most of the reforms dealt with local government financing reforms, including placing municipalities into financial receiverships, which could nullify union contracts.

Some Republican legislators suggested enacting a right to work statute in Michigan. Governor Rick Snyder responded by saying he did not favor such a bill, but would sign it if passed by the legislature.   

Right to work statutes, whereby a worker cannot be compelled to join a union, help propel the job migration to the South. Detroit’s competitors from Japan, with the exception of Toyota in Marysville, Ohio, built non-union plants in right to work states. The United Auto Workers has repeatedly been unsuccessful in organizing the non-captive import plants.

Even the threat of transforming Michigan, the heartland of the industrial workers unions, into a right to work state was scary for the unions.

The unions spent $1.15 getting a proposed amendment to the state constitution on the November ballot. 322,609 valid signatures were needed for the referendum. About 700,000 were obtained. The unions have another $7 million in the bank to fund the measure in the general election, and may spend up to $20 million on the cause..

The United Auto Workers contributed $1 million, the AFL-CIO Unity Fund $1.25 million, AFSCME $1 million, the American Federation of Teachers $460,000, the Teamsters $333,334, the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters $250,000, and the IBEW $243,972.

The unions, led by the once omnipotent UAW, are scared that Michigan might follow Wisconsin after this round of elections. Hence, they are trying to block any future anti-union measures by a Republican legislature and governor.

Their simply worded proposal, the deceptively simple worded proposal, states that collective bargaining is a right guaranteed by the state constitution.

Depending on how the courts construe the provision, its interpretation could be so broad as to preclude state regulation, i.e. legislative enactments, that would in any way interfere with wages, benefits, and working conditions negotiated by the unions in their collective bargaining agreements.

In short, little restraint would exist, short of federal bankruptcy, on the sweetheart contracts the public employee unions have negotiated with plaint city, county, and school officials, often elected with union help.

Governor Snyder said the proposed provision could invalidate up to 170 existing state laws that affect unions.

Labor also has two other referendums on the ballot. The first would provide for the unionization of home health care workers and the second would repeal the state's emergency manager law. Repeal the emergency manager law will result in an increased bankruptcy of Michigan cities. It is the republicans attempt to bring fiscal sanity to local government.

Michigan’s previous governor, the feckless Jennifer Granholm, who was in thrall to the public employee unions, hurriedly fled Michigan to Berkeley and an obscure cable show when her term was up. The tax payers of Michigan are paying a high price for her ineptitude.

If the unions win in November, they will buy time, but the economic tides are against them. If they lose, then Michigan, and other states, may well follow Wisconsin’s lead with severe union busting statutes, at least for the public sector unions.

They must win, but then so do did the Wisconsin unions.

John Burton is Going Home for a Root Canal, and Hopefully More

Johnl Burton is Going Home for a Root Canal

John Burton is as big a verbal idiot in the Democratic Party as is Congressman Troy Akin for the Republicans. Both parties suffer from buffoons.

We know about congressman Akin's utterly indefensible comments about abortion.

Former Congressman John Burton returned the gaffe Monday. He referred to Congressman Paul Ryan's statements as lies, as have many others Democrats, eventhough the Congressman’s remarks about the Jamesville GM plant closing were technically correct and not a lie. The notoriously foul mouthed Chair of the California Democratic Party and Chair of the California delegation to the DNC did not stop there.

He continued “They lie and they don’t care if people think they lie … Joseph Goebbels – it’s the big lie, you keep repeating it.” He added Congressman Ryan told “a bold-faced lie and he doesn’t care that it was a lie. That was Goebbels, the big lie.” He also referred to the Vice Presidential candidate as a “horse’s ass.”

These remarks were immediately jumped upon by the Republicans. Significantly the mean stream media found them equally repugnant. His home town San Francisco Chronicle through its SFGate website said “Burton’s actual sentences weren’t particularly coherent – no surprise there.” It added “There’s a truism that the first person in an argument who reaches for a Nazi comparison has lost the argument.” As to the Chair’s leaving the convention for dental surgery, SFGate added “We urge him to consider other ways he can fix his mouth during his absence.”

John Burton offered a semi apology and then announced his return to San Francisco for a root canal. He must have missed in his short stint in Charlotte that the city is a sophisticated metropolis with doctors, dentists, and lawyers. He should also have noticed that the headquarters of the great Bank of America, founded in San Francisco over a century ago by Amadeo Peter Giannini, moved from San Francisco to Charlotte in 1998.

Burton said “If Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan or the Republicans are insulted by my describing their campaign tactic as the big lie. I most humbly apologize to them or anyone who might have been offended by that comment.” He added he never used the word “Nazi.”

The insult was not just to Republicans but Americans and Jews in general. The Nazi epithet should never be trivialized.

Of course, maybe it’s not John Burton, but either something in the Charlotte water or a contagion.

Dick Harpootlian, Chair of the South Carolina Democratic State Party was informed that Governor Nikki Haley was participating in daily Republican news conferences in a basement studio at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He quipped this morning “She was down in the bunker a la Eva Braun.”

We were in Charlotte two summers ago, so I know it’s not the water.

Idiocy and verbal diarrhea are not contagious, so it’s the party chairs themselves.

John Burton’s brother, Phil Burton, was the political genius. John succeeded to Phil’s assembly seat when Phil was elected to Congress.  Phil was the epitome of the hard drinking, hard smoking politician. He lost the House Speakership by a few votes to the Texan Jim Wright, who later left office because of an ethics scandal.

Congressman Phil Burton is the father of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, proposed the “closed rule” in the House for bills presented to the full House of Representatives for a vote, and successfully fought for the termination of the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

His great political success in California was starting the demise of the California Republican Party in 1980.The California House delegation was split 22-21 Democratic in 1980. After Congressman Phil Burton redrew the map after the census, it became 27-18 Democratic. The Congressman referred to his convoluted map as “my contribution to modern art.”  The decline of the California Republican Party began with the statehouse and Congressional reapportionment.

John Burton served in Congress from 1997 to 1983 when he stepped aside because of addiction to cocaine and alcohol. He later served in the California Assembly from 1988-1996 and California Senate from 1998-2004, when he was forced out by term limits – a strong argument for term limits. He was elected Chair of the California Democratic Party in 2009. The septuagenarian settled a sexual harassment suit in 2008.

Phil Burton returned to San Francisco for a root canal.  He should retire from politics and spend time with the grandchildren. He’s an embarrassing throwback to the politics of the past.

The 2012 Cowboys Classic: Roll Tide

Almost all prognosticators predicted Alabama would defeat Michigan Saturday night in Jerry Jones’ Cowboy Classic. Few felt Michigan should be ranked in the Top 10 at this point in the season. The point spread was up to 14 for Bama.

Alabama won by 27. The game wasn’t that close. The 90,413 in attendance watched the defending national champions pick up where they left off in defeating the previously undefeated LSU 21 – 0 for the national title last January. Alabama may have lost 7 defensive starters, but it successfully reloaded.

Alabama outgained Michigan 428-261 yards with Michigan rushing for only 68 rushing yards. That says it all.

The SEC proved, once again, it is a better football conference than the Big Ten.

General Eisenhower prepared a letter prior to D Day accepting the blame for the Allies failure in the Normandy Invasion. Obviously, he never had to send it.

By the same token, I prepared a blog before the match in case the football gods smiled on the Wolverines. Maybe, just maybe, Michigan could win. That blog will remain unpublished now.

I have waited 3 days after the Saturday Night Massacre to objectively write this blog.

Michigan is not back yet. It still needs a year or two to compete with the Alabama’s, LSU’s and USC’s of the college football world.

Brady Hoke, in his second season at Michigan, proved a miracle worker last year. Alabama showed Michigan ‘It’s not there yet.” No excuses or explanations are necessary. Henry Ford II once said after an auto accident in which he was accompanied by a woman who was not his wife “Don’t explain; don’t complain.”

Don’t blame injuries, stupid penalties, dropped passes, or some bad officiating calls for the loss. They didn’t decide the game.

Don’t look for scapegoats. Alabama was by far the better team which Michigan could not match up to.

Michigan was not physically ready to play Alabama. Coach Hoke said after the game “We didn’t play Michigan football, and … that is bothersome to me.”

Nick Saban was 6-6 in his first year at Alabama and emerged 12-2 in 2008, his second season. He was 14-0 in 2009 and 12-1 in 2009, winning the national title in both years. Nick needed three years to fully restore the Tide to its glory. Brady needs at least three years.

Michigan was known to be weak on both its defensive and offensive lines. Football is won at the line of scrimmage, which Alabama dominated.

Nick Saban had tremendous respect for Michigan from 1995 – 1999 when he coached Little Brother. This Alabama team had little respect for the Block M entering the game. They knew from film they would dominate the Wolverines.

Three questions arise from the game. First, will the young Wolverines recover to have a 8-4 or 9-3 season?

Second, can Michigan offset the injuries so far this year? The Wolverines are short on depth on the lines, wide receivers, and defensive backs. The young, super sophomore cornerback, Blake Countress, left the game early with a season ending ACL. Can the secondary be patched to offset his loss?  The Maize and Blue left the field black and blue, incredibly banged up.

Third is will Michigan react to the defensive strategy used successfully by Michigan State and now Alabama to stop Denard Robinson, the explosive quarterback? They jammed the ends and stuffed the middle.

On the other hand one wit suggested “The Victors” should be renamed “The Victims.”

Not at all! This is still Michigan.

Today is Labor Day: Do You Know Where Your Union Is?

Today Is Labor Day. Where is Your Union?

If you’re reading this, you’re probably not in a union. Only 11.8% of the workforce is unionized, down from 20.1% in 1983, and 37.4% in the mid-1950’s.

If you’re working for a private employer, then you are not unionized unless you fall in the remaining 6.9% of the private sector that is unionized.

Labor Day has become a three day weekend whose meaning to most Americans today is a three day weekend which marks the end of summer. It's a bookend to memorial Day which is the start of summer..

The unions, especially the auto and steelworkers, fought epic, often bloody, battles over decades to improve the working conditions, wages and benefits of their members. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire fueled the rise of the ILGWU and gave rise to many f the New Deal Reforms. The unions brought prosperity, a middle class living, to their members and families. The sons are daughters of the unions emerging out of the New Deal became doctors and lawyers.

How the mighty unions have fallen.

The great United Auto Workers had 1.5 million members in 1979. The UAW lists 390,000 active members today and 600,000 retired members. Even these numbers include non-traditional auto workers, such as Mother Jones and Sierra Club employees, and graduate research assistants, teaching assistants, and tutors at the University of California, California State University, University of Massachusetts, University of Washington, and New York University as well as 6,500 post docs at the University of California.

President Obama saved the UAW workers in the Chrysler and GM bailouts. He really saved their health and pension plans by throwing the shareholders, bondholders, dealers, blue collar and non-union workers overboard, and handing Chrysler to an Italian company to pay back the UAW for its support. The American taxpayers are looking at a $25 billion loss on the bailouts.

What would Walter Reuther be thinking?

A critical turning point in the labor movement was 2009 when the number of public sector union members exceeded the private sector union members. By 2011 7.6 public sector employees were unionized (including my wife) compared to 7.2 million private sector employees.

The once great unions, the UAW, the United Steel Workers, the United Coal Workers, still have power, but political power today rests with SEIU, AFSCME, NEA and AFT. They are now the power brokers. They control California, for example.

President Obama propped up the public employee sector in the Stimulus Act, but economic reality and Wisconsin is striking them.

Democrats still faithfully attend union rallies, parades and picnics on Labor Day, but even the Democratic Congress under Prsident Obama failed to give them the card check, one of Labor’s biggest priorities.

President Obama now places the environment above Labor. Thus he vetoed the Keystone Pipeline, which will employ 15,000 union members in its construction and is trying to close down the coal industry, killing the jobs of tens of thousands United Mine Workers of America members.

North Carolina is the least unionized state in the country with no union hotels in Charlotte. President Obama therefore scheduled the Democratic National Convention for Charlotte. He won the state by 14,177 votes in 2008 and hopes to carry it again. He won't and Labor is fuming.

The great unionized oligopolies, auto, steel, glass, and rubber fell to non-union competitors producing higher quality at a lower price.

Many unionized employers are no longer scared of unions and strikes. Caterpillar closed in February an unionized Electro-Motive locomotive plant in London, Ontario and moved production to a new plant in Muncie, Indiana. It also defeated last month a 3 ½ month long strike at its Joliet, Illinois facility. The workers agreed to reduced health and pension benefits as well as a wage freeze for senior employees.

WalMart is notoriously non-union, resulting in union funded battles to keep WalMart out of everywhere. WalMart wins some and loses some, but it is slowly making its way into cities such as Chicago and New York and expanding nationally. Unionized supermarkets have trouble competing on price with WalMart’s superstores.

Target is also non-union, but Labor’s opprobrium sticks to WalMart, probably because the professional class loves Target. Ironically, Labor opposes the blue collar WalMart, but allows it for the white collar Target.

The NFL is entering the regular season this week with replacement officials.

The word “SCAB” remains a four letter word, but apparently has lost its pejorative.

does not carry the opprobrium, it once did.

The public employee unions are beginning to discover that even the public throve is not bottomless. Voters in San Diego, San Jose, and Wisconsin sent a message that the health and pension benefits are no longer tolerable.

Remember, President Obama said the private sector is doing fine, but the public sector needs help. The public disagrees on both fronts.

This is not your grandfather’s Labor Day.