Obama's Most Progressive Act Yet; Solidarity With the Chicago Factory Worker Sit-in

[G_j]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Obama-s-Most-Progressive-A-by-Rob-Kall-081208-592.html


Headlined on 12/8/08:
Obama's Most Progressive Act Yet; Solidarity With the Chicago Factory Worker Sit-in

by Rob Kall Page 1 of 2 page(s)


Martin Luther King would be proud.

What a difference a president makes.With a few words, workers protesting move from being at risk of being accused of terrorism to becoming national heroes. It took just a few words from President-elect Obama to set an extraordinarily different tone. Perhaps more than anything he's done or said, Obama's response to a question at yesterday's press conference, announcing his latest appointee, exemplifies, in a palpable way, the huge difference between a president who walks to talk about caring about workers, versus one who stiffly issues empty proclamations.


It look like the laid off workers in Chicago who are sitting-in at the Republic Windows and Doors factory which gave them three days notices, after, for some, 34 years of dedicated work, represent the beginning of a movement, a message we can not only rally around, but have faith that OUR PRESIDENT supports.

This doesn't mean that we can assume that Obama will support or approve of any kind of escalation of what the workers are engaged in. But what a concept-- a president who hears what protesters say... and then, damn, it brings tears to my eyes, actually supports them.

There are those on the left who have challenged Obama's appointees. Some even say that Obama's presidency is no different than Bush's. That's what Nader and McKinney supporters have suggested might be the case. Well, yesterday, we saw concrete evidence that the world has changed.
..more..