Friday, May 24, 2013

The Wheels on the Bus Come Off, Off, Off….

Almost two weeks ago, we filed this post, and endeared ourselves to the good souls over at Brunswick Clueless United with our reference to the timeless childrens’ song about the wheels on the bus:

In response, Fred Horch kindly alerted the BCU Facebook followers, and promptly boosted Side’s readership, which has continued to hold on to many of the new readers, judging by daily totals.  So thanks again, Fred.

Following up a week later, we posted here that plans had been changed, and that Bowdoin’s good Professor Vladimir Duhovnikoff (VD) and his colleagues would instead be joining in on a demonstration organized by a ‘steering committee’ consisting of:

  • Maine AFL-CIO
  • Maine Education Association
  • Maine People's Alliance
  • Maine State Employee's Association

We added this note:

Remember when we told you about BCU really amounting to Brunswick Community Unionists?  This turn of events only confirms our suspicions, or more to the point, our assertions.

The members of the ‘steering committee’ shown above are, in three cases, unions.  All four are true believers that one’s lot in life (compensation, health care, food, housing, and anything else one would like) should be determined and compelled by the force of law. 

On your behalf, we monitored the news wires and other sources so we could update you on the event.  Wednesday morning, Professor VD reported with great excitement that he was on his way to Augusta for the event with a BCU fellow traveler.  Not long after, he filed a photo from the event, which we found ever so endearing.

Before we could sober up and pass the photo along to you though, we discovered it had been taken down, which puzzled us.  Why would an image of a textbook ‘people’s movement’ suddenly be deemed unfit for public consumption?   We set about investigating what might have happened. 

And we have landed upon a theory.  It derives from this video:

In the video, Leslie Manning, one time senior official in Maine’s Department of Labor, and current Maine Council of Churches Vice President and Board Member, is making a keynote speech, and in the process, advocating for the fusion of church and state. 

We can’t help but wonder whether upon reflection, the good Professor’s sensibilities were offended by this merger of union advocacy and Christian theology, and he had no choice but to take down the photo he took in the excitement of the moment.  Bowdoin, we’re sure, as any enlightened campus must, considers religion to be an opiate of the unwashed masses, rather than a fundamental tenet of big government, union-driven advocacy.  Surely he was conflicted.

Things were no doubt made only worse by those at the gathering who took the other side on matters, as shown in this photo:

          IWN1

For a more detailed report on the event, you can check out this report on the MaineWire.  Note that the video shows City of Augusta School Buses being used to shuttle the assembled union members to and from the demonstration.

We’re left to wonder how many MEA, MSEA, and AFL-CIO members blew off their they employers and their students, demonstrating how little they identify with working people who take their job responsibilities seriously.

      

Thanks for reminding us of this Professor, even though we had to be on top of our game to get the details. 

And Fred, we’d be grateful for another plug!

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