Elizabeth Warren and Walter Reuther.

[Ninga]

My dad walked the streets in Detroit to help support the union movement.

For the first 10 years of my life, many times we went 3 to 4 months with no money because my dad was on strike. Our family sacrificed a lot for what turned out to be the greater good.

Many times he worried because he had no assurances that the movement would succeed, but he always said we have to try and make things in the workplace better for all workers. And the man who was my dad was as much a patriot as the man who took up the arms of war.

Walter Reuther was a Leader among others who had a vision and used the power of his ideas to start a movement that many thought impossible. It wasn’t the Democrats or a
Republicans that gave us an 8 hr workday, it was the strikers of the union movement.

Many years later, my husband had a white collar position at Ford Motor Co in Dearborn Mi. The auto workers division went on strike for several weeks, with no pay, while my husband who was not in the union, continued to work and get paid. Ultimately, when the strike was settled, the white collar workers received some of the benefits of the new contract without having to break a sweat.

Fast forward to Memorial Day and the 4th of July. People line the parade routes waving the American Flag feeling patriotic. They stand when the American Flag passes as a sign of respect.
Is feeling patriotic the same thing as being patriotic?

Now we have Elizabeth Warren who is whip smart and sees the need for the greater good still exists. She says she has a plan, actually many of them. They are comprised of many intertwined parts and pieces. The plans require the support of patriots who do not have to take up arms to fight, or to go without a paycheck for months on end, but to re arrange their budgets, pay much less here and more there but at the end of the year, come out ahead.

To many this is frightening. They do not understand that the greater good requires trust, some sacrifice and Solidarity.

Elizabeth Warren may be the right person at the right time, or she may be too futuristic.

Only time and patriots will tell.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

1. K & R

[Ninga]

2. Thank you. I feel my emotions might have gotten the best of me. Sen Warren created

the Consumer Credit Bureau, but could not be appointed to run it because Pres Obama knew the Senate would not confirm such a hard working smart woman.

I see Elizabeth. I get Elizabeth. I have an enormous amount of respect for Elizabeth.

However, what I dare not say in an OP, is that I fear America is too soft to elect Elizabeth.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

7. I feel the same way but could never have expressed it as well as you did!

[LAS14]

3. "Elizabeth Warren may be the right person at the right time, or she may be too futuristic."

Climate change requires us to go for broke. We have to gamble that the country is ready for big ideas, because if it's not, we're sunk.

[Ninga]

4. Totally agree with you re climate change, and although M4A doesn't seem as urgent as climate change

unless you are among those who die because they could not afford to go to the doctor.

[LAS14]

5. It's an exciting time. If climate change drives us to big ideas, then....

... we can maybe address health care and the wealth gap and gun control in big ways too. But it requires that we take back the senate.

[Ninga]

9. What will drive the action is a President who has vision and understands how to implement.

This and of course the Senate.

[demmiblue]

6. +1... Brother's on the Line - Official Trailer (by Sasha Reuther):

Now available on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Instant, and Google Play across the U.S. and Canada. (http://www.brothersontheline.com/buy/) Brothers On The Line is a documentary feature exploring the lives and legacy of the Reuther brothers - Walter, Roy, and Victor - pioneering labor organizers and social justice statesman, and their remarkable leadership of the United Auto Workers union. Directed by Victor's grandson Sasha Reuther and narrated by Martin Sheen, the film follows the brothers from their rise as shop-floor organizers in 1930s Detroit to leaders in collective bargaining, civil rights, and international labor solidarity. It combines rare UAW archive footage, personal photos, oral histories, and original HD interviews with a broad spectrum of labor, civil rights and political personalities. A timely tale of one family's quest to compel American democracy to live up to its promise of equality, Brothers On The Line is a dramatic blueprint of successful social action. For more info visit www.brothersontheline.com

[Ninga]

8. OMG, a hundred million thank yous for posting this. I owe you!

[kcr]

10. This is an excellent post

I grew up in Flint, and my dad was a member of the UAW, so I had to rec and respond because boy did this resonate with me. You are spot-on in your assessment of Warren and why this country needs her and also why some are still hesitant to support her. Who knows how this will end up as no one can predict the future. But, for some reason, I've always had a feeling she would be a dark horse in this race. Way back, even before the whole Pocahontas flap, I'd said she would be the one to watch, and at the time friends told me I was nuts to think so. But, sure enough, here she is, a front runner. She's got a real chance at this, and there's a reason for that. The attacks on her we've been witnessing lately are because some are only now realizing just how dangerous she is to the status quo, and they're realizing that maybe a little too late.

[Ninga]

11. I agree with your thoughts. At the end of the day, she is the master of her own destiny in how

she run’s her campaign. Her wisdom will either resonate with voters or not, we have no control.

It will be instructive to see how she addresses the “you must answer yes or no” detractors.

Plenty here at DU.


I had some great times in Flint as a youngster.