Mr. President, when you addressed the convention of the United Steelworkers, I believed every word you said. When you said "Corporations have to learn that it is not the Department of Management, but the Department of Labor!" and " We will pass the Employee Free Choice Act!" I stood and cheered and hollered until I was hoarse.
I believed you and I voted for you. And now what do we have to show for it? Nothing. Not all your fault, it appears that several long time Democrats have actually been anti-labor yellow dogs. Their time will come next election. They aren't making any friends with labor by touting your state's "right to work" laws.
But now, Mr. President, the time has come to go out on the court and play street rules. You are up against a bunch of the dirtiest players on the court, and they are going to take you down any way they can. So stop playing like you are dealing with players from Punahou prep. These guys play south Chicago style and so should you. Get out there and throw some elbows, trip them and poke them in the eye. In other words, make recess appointments to the NLRB for Craig Becker and Mark Pearce. I know, I know, you told the other team that you would be happy for now with them passing 27 of your least controversial nominees. So what. It's time to show them that can take the ball away under the basket, and you aren't afraid of a fight. Don't worry about them not liking you after the game. If they are real players, they'll respect you for standing up to them. If not, well, I'm still your friend, so are all my sisters and brothers of my local and all the members of organized labor in the country. And we take care of our friends and treasure them.