When the pungent stench of horse manure rose from the Seattle Times editorial page, I knew immediately to check George Will's column as the source. Sure enough, there he was, waxing indignant about workers' rights:
A leading Democrat trying to abolish the right of workers to secret ballots in unionization elections is California's Rep. George Miller who, with 15 other Democrats, in 2001 admonished Mexico: "The secret ballot is absolutely necessary in order to ensure that workers are not intimidated into voting for a union they might not otherwise choose." Last year, Mexico's highest court unanimously affirmed for Mexicans the right that Democrats want to strip from Americans.
Now, George Will standing up for the rights of labor has about much credibility as Josef Stalin arguing for an open society. Will refers, of course, to the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would facilitate the organizing of unions by loosening the restrictions on a process known as card checking. A few brief points:
*No one is talking about getting rid of the secret ballot;
*EFCA does not violate anyone's rights: The Supreme Court has upheld card checking as constitutional;
*Workers have a right to organize that has been violated by open displays of intimidation by employers.
In the end, this is another typical example of conservative intellectual dishonesty: Will's real agenda is that he opposes making it easier for workers to organize, but of course he can't come out and say that. So, he cloaks that in a feigned concern for "rights"...