When my German friend, Irmgard, asked me back in the '60s what
the difference was between Democrats and the Republicans, I
answered naively: "The Democrats are for the little guy, and
the Republicans are for Big Business." Here in New York
City, neither party gives a damn about us. Our two Democrat
senators were too busy sniping at the president to get involved
in an illegal transit strike that was crippling the biggest city
in the state they allegedly represent. Our Republican governor
released a statement Tuesday saying he would not get involved in
any negotiations. He's too busy trying to raise interest in his
run for president in 2008. He's blown an opportunity to
demonstrate the kind of real leadership the newly elected Reagan
demonstrated in 1981 with the Air Traffic Controllers Strike. Mr.
Pataki should have been shouting out the terms of subsection 210
of the state's Taylor Law.
"No public employee or employee organization shall engage in
a strike, and no public employee or employee organization shall
cause, instigate, encourage, or condone a strike.
Then he should have enforced the next part of the law:
"In addition, any public employee who violates subdivision
one of this section may be subject to removal or other
disciplinary action provided by law for misconduct."
Where was the attorney general, Eliot Spitzer? Gearing up for his
run to succeed Mr. Pataki? How I would have loved to hear anyone
in authority say, "Get back to work or you're fired!"
In Staten Island our train service, the Staten Island Rapid
Transit, was still operating, as was our ferry service. There is
a free connection bus from the Manhattan side of the ferry, which
travels to Chambers Street. As I waited for this freebie Tuesday,
I asked a woman waiting with me what she thought of the strike.
She shrugged and said, "They have to do what they have to
do." What an inane answer, I thought, but so typical in this
brainwashed town, which sympathizes with every extortionary
gambit the unions throw at it.
I asked her if she even knew what the contract battle was about.
The Transport Worker Union's president, Roger Toussaint, had the
nerve to call the strike for the "unborn," meaning the
new hires who would be affected by the proposed contract. The
transit workers already have a better contract than many of the
poor workers being forced to walk, bike, and carpool to their
jobs, shopping, and doctor's appointments. The woman just raised
her eyebrows at my vehemence and rising voice and walked quietly
away.
Where were you, Senators Clinton and Schumer? Voting against
renewal of the Patriot Act, were you? The same act that prevented
the bombing of the Brooklyn Bridge many New Yorkers were forced
to walk across because of this reprehensible strike? How many
similar plots were uncovered by the Patriot Act in the past four
years? Frankly, I don't need to know the details.Thank goodness,
the act has been extended, if only for one month.
In addition to the TWU's devastating attack on the working class
of New York, the continuing tirades against the Bush
administration's war on terror are a source of my increasing
frustration with the Democrats who could care less about our
security. A former New York Police Department detective sergeant,
Bob Weir, reminded us in an essay for the American Thinker what
Abraham Lincoln did during the Civil War. Clement Vallandigham
was a Democrat congressman from Ohio, who was a bitter critic of
Lincoln. He continually lashed out at Lincoln and the Republicans
because of what he claimed was the improper handling of the war.
Because his criticism was viewed as injurious to the morale of
the soldiers, Lincoln ordered him arrested for sedition.
No matter what Vallandigham may have said about Lincoln, I doubt
seriously it was as vicious and vile as what President Bush has
had to endure from Senators Kennedy, Kerry, Reid and the House
minority leader, Nancy Pelosi. Let's not forget Bushbashing
Hollywood liberals who still can't figure out why the box office
is slumping badly.
My biggest problem with Mr. Bush is his enduring patience with
his critics. Just once, I'd love to hear him say, "We are at
war. Get over it."
During World War II, President Roosevelt ordered Japanese and
German Americans to be placed in concentration camps, but that is
okay because he was a Democrat. Mr. Bush ordered the wiretapping
of phone calls from al Qaeda to cells here in America to prevent
more 9/11s and he's a criminal?
The Democrats' neglect of our national security is due to bitter
partisanship and hatred of Bush. Local Republicans are neglecting
our local interests because of spinelessness and self-interest.
Nevertheless I wish them all a merry Christmas and happy
Chanukah.