Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, September 25, 2012
2012 / Sports America's Newest Union Advocates
Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Sep 25, 2012 at 10:58 AM
Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who made a national name for himself by going after public employee unions last year, posted a message on Twitter calling for the return of the NFL’s locked-out unionized officials after a disputed call led to a Seattle Seahawks 14-12 victory over the Packers on Monday night.
If I were a SEIU executive—or just about anybody working for just about any union—I'd be hard at work on a series of ads tying this referee thing to the importance of union workers. All of a sudden, there's a very visible example of why unions matter, and America is paying attention. Just one extremely catchy ad showing a non-union referee standing in front of a room full of students, teaching them that 1 + 1 = 3 is all you'd need to do to drive the point home.
1
And all it took to make people realize that was a football game. Not failing schools, nothing frivolous like that. Football. Congratulations, Amercia, you've got your priorities straight.
2
Watch this spin into "those greedy unions are ruining everything, including football"--and blaming the regular refs for making the super rich owners lock them out in order to control that union's greed.
And the truth is, as angry as Packers fans (including Walker & Ryan) are...nobody's going to stop watching the NFL. In fact, ratings will probably go up...look at all of this free advertising...people will want to watch to see what to complain about.
We are getting used to putting up with things that are not nearly as good as they can...just so the super rich can have a little more. And half of this country will eagerly sign up to let things be shitty.
And the truth is, as angry as Packers fans (including Walker & Ryan) are...nobody's going to stop watching the NFL. In fact, ratings will probably go up...look at all of this free advertising...people will want to watch to see what to complain about.
We are getting used to putting up with things that are not nearly as good as they can...just so the super rich can have a little more. And half of this country will eagerly sign up to let things be shitty.
3
ugh, he's just the worst speaker ever. it's so painful. he can't even get "give me a break" to sound sincere.
4
I have no idea what Paul Ryan is carrying on about here. Something about refs and debt clocks and the president's budget office. Is this a football thing? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT
5
Catchy new Monday Night football theme song;
"Are You Ready For Some GOP Union Busting Hypocrisy and the gutting of defined benefit pensions in favor of marketized 401k type swindling"
Why The Decline In Pensions Will Mean An…
"Are You Ready For Some GOP Union Busting Hypocrisy and the gutting of defined benefit pensions in favor of marketized 401k type swindling"
Why The Decline In Pensions Will Mean An…
7
From ESPN.com.
In light of Monday's dispute, the NFL issued a statement on the labor dispute with the referees.
There is broad agreement that the quality and consistency of officiating can and should be improved. How to accomplish that is a critical issue separating the two sides in this negotiation," the statement read. "While the officials' union would like to turn this into purely an economic dispute, we have told the union and the federal mediator that we are prepared to make reasonable economic compromises and that we will invest more money in officiating as long as it assures long term improvement."
---
The league (and by that, I mean the OWNERS) are spinning this that they're bravely standing up against the referees union in order to improve the bad officiating, while the referees only want money.
The bad and inconsistent refereeing of the REPLACEMENT officials is now being blamed on the REAL referees who the owners are locking out.
This is the logical disconnect that the right uses all the time--with sports, as it often does, offering itself as a simplified and isolated example that expresses a more complicated larger real-world situation.
In light of Monday's dispute, the NFL issued a statement on the labor dispute with the referees.
There is broad agreement that the quality and consistency of officiating can and should be improved. How to accomplish that is a critical issue separating the two sides in this negotiation," the statement read. "While the officials' union would like to turn this into purely an economic dispute, we have told the union and the federal mediator that we are prepared to make reasonable economic compromises and that we will invest more money in officiating as long as it assures long term improvement."
---
The league (and by that, I mean the OWNERS) are spinning this that they're bravely standing up against the referees union in order to improve the bad officiating, while the referees only want money.
The bad and inconsistent refereeing of the REPLACEMENT officials is now being blamed on the REAL referees who the owners are locking out.
This is the logical disconnect that the right uses all the time--with sports, as it often does, offering itself as a simplified and isolated example that expresses a more complicated larger real-world situation.
8
@1 Scott Walker and Paul Ryan seem pretty confident that the public will be so blinded by partisanship that they'll miss the hypocrisy.
9
Don't Walker and Ryan know that the Packers are Socialists?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bay_P…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bay_P…
10
I'm not thrilled it's football that got republicans thinking that maybe unions aren't pure evil but heck, I'll take it!
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
It's Spring! Who's Ready for Street Harassment? by Cienna Madrid
-
SL Letter of the Day: Insane Demands by Dan Savage
-
SL Letters of the Day: Just Say No to DSGs by Dan Savage
-
SL Letter of the Day: Gonna Boil My Laptop After Answering This One by Dan Savage
-
Bigot Florist Files Countersuit by Dominic Holden
-
New Gun Enthusiast... by Dan Savage
-
America Doesn't Care About Black People by Charles Mudede
-
"Bus service shouldn't be optional—it should be a right." by Cienna Madrid
-
US Military Grants Itself the Power to Police American Streets and "Quell" "Civil Disturbances" by Brendan Kiley
-
Fucking NBA Rejects Kings Move to Seattle by Goldy
Stranger Personals
The Stranger
RSSSeattle Art & Performance Quarterly
A complete guide to Seattle's current art, film, dance, and theater season.
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (10) RSS