WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.480 --> 00:00:04.360 You've got port workers striking all up and down the 2 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:08.439 East Coast, and the president is out to lunch over it. 3 00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:12.599 I want to talk about this issue because it's striking 4 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:16.239 at a couple of different I don't know if it's 5 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:20.640 political principles I've got, but political instincts i'm feeling. So 6 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:31.160 here are the issues. The Longshoremen's Association, the International Longshoreman's Association, 7 00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:41.159 is the labor union representing doc workers who are key 8 00:00:41.320 --> 00:00:45.600 cogs in the machinery of American commerce and American shipping, 9 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:51.679 international shipping. They have a basically that they are a 10 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:55.479 key cog in this whole machinery. If they don't work, 11 00:00:56.159 --> 00:01:01.320 goods can't come into ports along the East Coast. Now 12 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:07.879 they are striking. They are demanding a seventy seven percent 13 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:12.359 wage increase over six years, a complete ban on automation 14 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:15.599 at ports on the East Coast and the Gulf Coast 15 00:01:16.680 --> 00:01:21.680 as they're negotiating a new labor contract. This is in 16 00:01:21.719 --> 00:01:25.519 an economy that's already been wounded pretty seriously by inflation 17 00:01:25.560 --> 00:01:29.280 over the last four or five years, in the middle 18 00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:35.799 of a presidential election. This is a alarming thing. Okay, 19 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:40.239 this is something that could really seriously harm the economy, 20 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:47.879 esp Right after a massive natural disaster has devastated large 21 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:56.719 swaths of North Carolina and Georgia. Now they're sort of 22 00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:00.959 these dueling critiques. You have traditional conservatives who hate labor 23 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:02.840 unions all the time, and I don't know that I 24 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:06.040 am part of that. I've always been a little bit more. 25 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:09.479 I guess this is the thing I've struggled with. I 26 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:19.919 recognize that labor unions benefited working class Americans by improving 27 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:25.360 their wages, improving their hours, improving their conditions of employment 28 00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:28.879 over the course of American history. The concept of the 29 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:38.159 weekend is a pretty nice one. And I recognize that 30 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:45.039 the decline of union labor and union manufacturing jobs in 31 00:02:45.080 --> 00:02:49.479 America has been part of the economic decline of the 32 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:55.960 middle class and the lower socioeconomic classes in this country. 33 00:02:56.039 --> 00:02:59.759 That real wages have not grown, real wages have gone 34 00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:02.879 DOWNENNI you know, millennials and Gen z are going to 35 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:07.080 do worse than their baby boomer parents for one of 36 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:10.360 the first times in American history that a succeeding generation 37 00:03:10.439 --> 00:03:16.879 is going to do worse economically than their parents. The 38 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:20.159 millions of manufacturing jobs in America that have moved away 39 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:25.039 from America to other countries, to Mexico to China wherever. 40 00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:30.039 These are all really bad, and you have this sort 41 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:37.639 of bizarre, unholy alliance of basically elite capitalism that has 42 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:41.560 always hated labor unions, never likes them. They don't want 43 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:44.199 to pay workers more, they want to keep more profits 44 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:46.280 for themselves. So they figure, well, if I can get 45 00:03:46.439 --> 00:03:49.840 the same work done rather than a labor union, a 46 00:03:49.879 --> 00:03:52.520 labor union represented worker in America, who's going to make 47 00:03:52.759 --> 00:03:56.960 you know, the today equivalent of you know, twenty five 48 00:03:57.039 --> 00:04:01.039 dollars US, Or I can have this go to Mexico 49 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:04.360 or China and pay workers the equivalent of five dollars 50 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:07.159 per hour US. Yeah, I know what I'm going to 51 00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:16.079 do or what I want to do. So I feel 52 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:19.279 like this is my problem, is that I like labor unions, 53 00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:21.279 but I feel like I only tend to like them 54 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:27.000 in theory. When I'm actually approached with real live labor unions, 55 00:04:27.959 --> 00:04:32.800 I get kind of grossed out with the actual, real 56 00:04:32.839 --> 00:04:37.319 life manifestation of them. And this is where I kind 57 00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:40.399 of get to when I'm looking at the International Longshoreman's 58 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:46.680 Association the ISLA, So the International Longshoreman's Association is the 59 00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:51.160 labor union that kind of controls shipping, et cetera at 60 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:55.680 ports along the East Coast and the Gulf Coast. And 61 00:04:56.519 --> 00:04:59.800 they're already very well compensated. These guys are making like 62 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:02.639 three nine bucks an hour as longshoreman. Some of the 63 00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:06.439 senior guy, I mean, some of the senior guys are 64 00:05:06.439 --> 00:05:09.040 making you know, two hundred grand a year being a 65 00:05:09.160 --> 00:05:15.920 port worker. A lot of these are jobs that could 66 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:19.160 be automated that other countries have completely switched over to automation, 67 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:23.120 where we've been insisting on just keeping humans doing these jobs. Now, 68 00:05:23.639 --> 00:05:29.839 I am not crazy about automation replacing human work. And 69 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:35.040 I you know, they're already people starting to rumble about 70 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:39.720 the idea of you know, AI powered cars and trucks 71 00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:46.600 replacing human truckers over the next ten years. Uh, there's 72 00:05:46.680 --> 00:05:51.519 debates about this in Sacramento, and uh initiative initiatives to 73 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:59.639 ban you know, uh, non human trucking. And I do 74 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:03.279 think things. I'm not a total sort of libertarian when 75 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:07.000 it comes to this. If human beings are doing a job, 76 00:06:07.079 --> 00:06:09.680 you cannot just snap your fingers and immediately overnight just 77 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:13.800 lay off all the human beings doing those jobs. When 78 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:20.079 automation becomes more sensible. This is, these are human beings. 79 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:24.959 There can be a general transition towards there. There has 80 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:27.600 to be a slower and slower transition towards automation when 81 00:06:27.639 --> 00:06:31.000 it makes sense. It can't happen just overnight. So I'm 82 00:06:31.079 --> 00:06:35.040 sort of sympathetic. At the same time, we are paying 83 00:06:35.079 --> 00:06:38.639 these guys for work that genuinely can be done by 84 00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:47.439 machines faster, better, cheaper, without the threat of a strike. Also, 85 00:06:48.360 --> 00:06:53.920 the ILA itself has a long and somewhat notorious history 86 00:06:54.399 --> 00:07:00.439 of connection with the mafia, with mobsters, with organized crime. 87 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:12.920 That is unfortunately part of their history. The mafia has always, 88 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:15.720 you know, the mafia has always tried to have connections 89 00:07:15.720 --> 00:07:20.120 with the organized crime. It's allowed them to get protection money, 90 00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:22.800 it's allowed them to control construction projects, it's allowed them 91 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:25.160 to stop construction projects, allowed them to have all kinds 92 00:07:25.160 --> 00:07:29.319 of political power and influence. Labor unions have consistently been 93 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:32.920 a thing that organized crime in America has sort of 94 00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:41.600 flocked to. And this is not ancient history necessarily. There's 95 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:44.959 a piece in National Review by Dominic Pino who writes, 96 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:47.959 most people are aware of the historical mafia connections of 97 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:51.240 the International Longshoremen's Association. The East Coast Dock Workers Union 98 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:54.519 on the Waterfront, starring Marlon Brando, came out in nineteen 99 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:57.399 fifty four. Many of the mafia connections to transportation were 100 00:07:57.439 --> 00:07:59.639 laid out by congressional committees in the fifties and sixties 101 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:02.160 than by prosecutors in the major mafia trials in the 102 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:13.519 eighties and nineties. But here's here's something from extremely recently, Okay, 103 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:18.639 from twenty eighteen, here's one account. The Superior Court of 104 00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:21.800 New Jersey appelad Division denied the emergent motion by Frank 105 00:08:21.879 --> 00:08:24.920 Ferrara for a stay of the Commission's revocation of his 106 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:27.319 registration to work as a maintenance man, penning his appeal. 107 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:29.959 Ferrara's registration was revoked after the Commission found that he 108 00:08:30.040 --> 00:08:33.039 had associated with the following organized crime figures who had 109 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:38.720 been convicted of racketeering activities. Pasquale Patty the clubber Falcetti Senior, 110 00:08:38.759 --> 00:08:41.919 a soldier in the Genevezi crime family. Andrew Gigante, an 111 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:43.840 associate of the Genevezi crime family and the son of 112 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:47.279 the crime family's late boss, Vincent the Chin Gigante, Carmine 113 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:50.159 Little karm de la Kava, a soldier in the Genevesei 114 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:53.320 crime family. The Commission further found Ferrara had committed fraud, 115 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:56.279 deceit misrepresentation in connection with a sword interview in which 116 00:08:56.279 --> 00:08:58.559 he falsely denied associating with anyone who's a member or 117 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:01.200 an associate of an organized crime group. In addition, the 118 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:03.240 Commission found that for ours presence in the port was 119 00:09:03.240 --> 00:09:05.799 a danger to public peace of safety. So you got 120 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:08.960 that That's just one example. Pino has like a bunch 121 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:16.519 of different examples of different associations by Longshorman members who 122 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:22.200 were totally mobbed up. Anthony pan Zzi, the third of Brooklyn, 123 00:09:22.200 --> 00:09:29.679 New York. He was affiliated with. He was associated with 124 00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:34.279 the careers of offenders of convicted racketeers. Anthony Sonny Chacone, 125 00:09:34.360 --> 00:09:38.759 a coppo in the Gambino crime family whose crimes involved 126 00:09:38.759 --> 00:09:41.519 the domination of il a Local one eight one four 127 00:09:41.799 --> 00:09:45.879 the same local river So Anthony pan Zizi, an associated 128 00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:49.039 with the Gambino crime family, Joseph scoops Licata, a coppo 129 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:53.720 of the Philadelphia Bruno Scarfo crime family, and Jerry Balzano, 130 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:57.600 a soldier of the Cavalcante crime family. Okay so these 131 00:09:57.600 --> 00:09:59.759 are all a bunch of cases. He's lined up like 132 00:09:59.799 --> 00:10:05.559 four or five cases of mobsters associated with the long 133 00:10:05.559 --> 00:10:10.120 Shoreman's Union from twenty eighteen. The head of the president 134 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:13.279 of the long Shoreman's Association is this guy who's making 135 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:15.919 seven hundred thousand bucks a year, walking around with like 136 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:20.279 gold chains on, you know, has a yacht, brags about 137 00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:26.080 how he can cripple the whole country. These are not, 138 00:10:26.840 --> 00:10:33.240 you know, savory characters. The reality of who these long 139 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:39.399 shoremen are as far as their union is kind of 140 00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:44.600 CD more than kind of CD, and their willingness to 141 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:49.559 strike and thereby cripple American manufacturing to get you know, 142 00:10:49.559 --> 00:10:52.639 their their initial demand, and granted it's an initial demand, 143 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:55.399 it's a negotiation. You shoot for the stars, and you 144 00:10:55.399 --> 00:10:57.240 shoot for the moon and hope you land among the stars. 145 00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:00.720 Shooting for a seventy seven percent pay increase. What industry 146 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:06.840 is getting a seventy seven pay increase in this country? Now, 147 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:11.039 on the other hand, there's a part of me that 148 00:11:11.080 --> 00:11:17.120 thinks this I think part of why people get Let's 149 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:20.960 set aside the striking aspect, Let's set aside the mobbed 150 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:24.039 up aspect. What are they asking for? They already make 151 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:30.279 decent money, they want more. I think part of our 152 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:34.519 resentment and the resentment people on the right feel, is 153 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:37.519 this resentment of nobody else in America's got this good 154 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:39.559 of a deal. What the hell are these guys doing 155 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:44.320 pushing for such a big pay increase. Maybe it's because 156 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:47.120 a lot of the rest of America is getting screwed. 157 00:11:49.559 --> 00:11:55.200 I guess I don't blame these guys for living out 158 00:11:55.240 --> 00:11:58.320 what a lot of other Americans should be living out. 159 00:11:59.080 --> 00:12:03.080 These guys acknowledge. Yeah, prices for everything has gone up, 160 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:05.440 cost of living has gone way up. You know, a 161 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:07.399 lot of these guys living in New York, New Jersey, 162 00:12:07.399 --> 00:12:12.679 these are not cheap places to live. And they're saying, hey, 163 00:12:12.919 --> 00:12:16.360 you know, I signed up to be a dock worker. 164 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:21.000 I got a thirty year mortgage on my house. If 165 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:24.840 you replace my job with automation, how am I paying 166 00:12:24.919 --> 00:12:27.559 my mortgage. I'm a dock worker. It's not like I 167 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:29.919 got other you know. It's not like I can go 168 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:33.759 be a computer programmer tomorrow. It's not like there's a 169 00:12:33.799 --> 00:12:37.679 green technology just automatically waiting for me. And that's always 170 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:42.200 sort of the attitude that I think real strict libertarians 171 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:45.440 have is that, well, when an industry becomes obsolete, you 172 00:12:45.480 --> 00:12:48.200 got to immediately replace all the human beings working in 173 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:51.200 that obsolete industry, replace all the human beings with automation. 174 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:54.440 Because it's economically it economically doesn't make sense, all right, 175 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:56.399 But what do you do about this human being who 176 00:12:56.480 --> 00:13:00.159 might have again a mortgage that those payments aren't going away. 177 00:13:01.240 --> 00:13:04.320 He's been doing this for the last fifteen years. It's 178 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:06.279 not like you can snap your fingers and this guy 179 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:10.039 automatically gets a job doing something else. I mean, this 180 00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:13.799 guy could be this human being with a human being 181 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:17.840 family might be massively worse off as a result of this. 182 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:26.240 So I guess I feel conflicted. On the one hand, 183 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:29.480 I can see yet some of these long shortmen, I mean, 184 00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:31.960 the union that represents them has had all these historic 185 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:36.360 ties to the mafia. There's a lot of problems there. 186 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:40.919 The terms of what they're asking for do seem extreme, 187 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:47.200 and using their striking power at a time to using 188 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:49.600 their striking power in this kind of a disruptive way 189 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:52.399 that's going to disrupt the whole economy that, I mean, 190 00:13:52.440 --> 00:13:55.679 the head of the union's bragging about how he can 191 00:13:55.720 --> 00:13:57.960 cripple the entire United States, he can bring the entire 192 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:03.279 country to its knees. I guess that really ticks me off. 193 00:14:03.559 --> 00:14:05.240 There's a big part of me that ticks me off 194 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:11.360 that where that attitude, that behavior, and President Biden's total 195 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:13.679 nonchalance about it, which we'll talk about in the next segment, 196 00:14:14.679 --> 00:14:23.679 really ticks me off. But on the other hand, you know, 197 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:26.919 this guy's representing all these workers. The Longshorm Union is 198 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:28.960 representing all these workers. He wants all of his workers 199 00:14:29.000 --> 00:14:31.200 to still have jobs. He wants all of his workers 200 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:33.639 to still be able to make money, and he wants 201 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:36.600 them to make more money. I mean, he's using the 202 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:42.200 tools that are at his disposal. And if every worker 203 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:44.879 in this country had been able to fight like that 204 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:49.279 to prevent manufacturing jobs from leaving the United States over 205 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:54.000 the last forty years, to prevent jobs moving to China, 206 00:14:54.120 --> 00:15:00.080 jobs moving to Mexico, et cetera, I mean, maybe we 207 00:15:00.120 --> 00:15:04.039 needed more, you know, maybe maybe we needed more guys 208 00:15:04.200 --> 00:15:10.000 named you know, Lou and Moose and Rocco, you know, 209 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:14.279 handling these kinds of negotiations to stop big, huge corporations 210 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:17.120 from moving good paying, middle class American jobs out of 211 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:19.240 the United States. Maybe we needed more of that over 212 00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:23.480 the last forty years. I don't know, and I guess 213 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:27.360 it's a thing of if you want the middle class 214 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:33.080 to grow, if you want labor to be paid well, 215 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:35.159 if you want real wages in this country to go 216 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:38.639 up for the middle class, maybe you need some guys 217 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:41.879 like this who are pushing for people to make more money. Now, 218 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:44.960 when we return, I want to talk about Joe Biden's 219 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:47.279 idiotic posture through all of this, which really I think 220 00:15:47.320 --> 00:15:53.759 shows his disconnection from reality and where Senile Joe is 221 00:15:53.799 --> 00:15:56.399 really harming this country. That is next on the John 222 00:15:56.440 --> 00:16:33.600 Girardi Show. Some of you may have remembered this clip. 223 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:39.120 I played this on air about a week ago on 224 00:16:39.159 --> 00:16:41.399 September twenty ninth. I guess, so a couple of days ago, 225 00:16:41.799 --> 00:16:46.279 President Biden is going to It looks like this was 226 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:51.000 on his way back to Rehobeth for you vacation weekend, 227 00:16:51.080 --> 00:16:54.159 because every weekend when you're president Biden is vacation on 228 00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:56.960 the beach weekend essentially. So he's getting out of a 229 00:16:56.960 --> 00:16:59.960 big black suv and walking to a plane. He's on 230 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:03.039 tarmac somewhere, got Secret Service agents around him, and there's 231 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:05.920 some press on the tarmac and they're yelling to him, 232 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:09.039 and they're they're trying to ask him about the Israeli 233 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:12.640 strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, which is one of 234 00:17:12.759 --> 00:17:19.839 several Iranian proxies that have been attacking Israel, and President 235 00:17:19.880 --> 00:17:28.079 Biden had this bizarre exchange, mister President, will you deploy 236 00:17:28.200 --> 00:17:33.960 more US troops in the Middle East? Mister President hukung 237 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:38.200 to fall any comment on the strikes and Yem and 238 00:17:38.279 --> 00:17:43.759 mister President, that is strikes. We got set the stroke. 239 00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:48.359 We collective party never I think they'll show the start. 240 00:17:48.839 --> 00:17:53.000 So if you didn't catch that, the reporters were asking 241 00:17:53.079 --> 00:17:57.480 him about the Israeli strikes against the Houthis, and President 242 00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:01.160 Biden said, I think they'll settle the strike. I've talked 243 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:04.799 to both sides and I'm pretty sure the strike will 244 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:07.920 be resolved soon. So they were asking the President about 245 00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:12.400 Israeli missile strikes against Yemen, and President Biden thought they 246 00:18:12.440 --> 00:18:16.680 were talking about the Long Shortman's strike, the labor union strike, 247 00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:19.839 or hopefully he was thinking about the Long Shorman union. 248 00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:21.799 I don't know, maybe he was just saying generic kind 249 00:18:21.799 --> 00:18:24.240 of things that he say that he would say for 250 00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:27.519 any kind of big labor union strike. I've talked to 251 00:18:27.559 --> 00:18:30.079 both sides, and you know, I think the strike will 252 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:33.799 resolve itself soon. I'm hopeful it'll resolve itself soon. So 253 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:37.440 his classic example of Biden being flat out senile, not 254 00:18:37.640 --> 00:18:40.440 understanding what the reporter was saying, and spitting something back. 255 00:18:40.599 --> 00:18:44.640 And this is this is Biden. He's If you read 256 00:18:44.759 --> 00:18:47.240 through sections of the her transcript, you can just see 257 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:52.599 anyone who's dealt with an older relative can understand this. 258 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:59.480 They're not able to hear the question, process the question, 259 00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:05.200 respond in a responsive way to your question with the 260 00:19:05.240 --> 00:19:09.680 speed and alacrity that any normal functioning adult can do. 261 00:19:10.279 --> 00:19:13.240 And sometimes they get it wrong. Sometimes it takes them 262 00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:15.720 a while to understand what you're saying. They're probably a 263 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:18.319 little hard of hearings, so you got to repeat yourself. 264 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:23.160 That's the stage he's in and the posture Biden has 265 00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:26.799 taken to this strike by the International Longshoreman Association. So 266 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:30.079 this is, you know, the labor union representing dock workers 267 00:19:30.160 --> 00:19:33.480 all over all up and down the East Coast. A 268 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:39.079 huge cog in American shipping could cause big supply chain disruptions. 269 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:41.799 If American shipping has to go from the East Coast 270 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:43.759 to the West coast, instead, if you've got to go 271 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:46.359 through the Panama Canal or however it is that you're 272 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:48.680 going to get into the United States instead, it's going 273 00:19:48.759 --> 00:19:55.920 to cause huge disruptions, huge costs. And what President Biden 274 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:59.519 has basically said is I'm not going to invoke the 275 00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:07.039 Taft Hartley Act. Now, what is Taft Hartley. Taft Hartley 276 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:12.400 is a tool that President Biden has in his toolbox 277 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:18.880 to fix this. It is a law that Congress passed 278 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:27.119 over Harry Truman's veto actually, and basically what it does 279 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:31.359 is it allows the president when there's a major American 280 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:36.400 labor union, it allows the president himself to intervene in 281 00:20:36.680 --> 00:20:40.359 a big worker's strike. It allows him to go to 282 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:46.759 court to direct the Attorney General to basically get an 283 00:20:46.759 --> 00:20:51.039 injunction to stop the strike, force the two parties to 284 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:58.440 come back to the negotiating table with federal mediators. So basically, 285 00:20:58.440 --> 00:21:02.200 for any kind of strike that poses real threats to 286 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:07.319 the national interest, which I don't know, all us shipping 287 00:21:07.319 --> 00:21:09.839 on the East Coast, Yeah, that's in the national interest. 288 00:21:10.200 --> 00:21:12.279 In the middle of a hurricane, in the middle of 289 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:17.480 you know, a devastating hurricane recovery that has left a 290 00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:20.440 bunch of North Carolina and Georgia in chatter, you know, 291 00:21:20.519 --> 00:21:26.119 in tatters. This would probably be a good time for 292 00:21:26.200 --> 00:21:29.200 President Biden to intervene and stop a strike and the 293 00:21:29.240 --> 00:21:33.279 harmful effects of a strike. It doesn't mean that union loses, 294 00:21:34.119 --> 00:21:36.960 It doesn't mean that labor, it doesn't mean that management wins. 295 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:40.640 It does mean, though, that everyone has to get back 296 00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:42.279 to work. We have to get back to the negotiating 297 00:21:42.279 --> 00:21:46.640 table and get this resolved now. Organized labor has never 298 00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:52.720 liked this bill, this law, never liked it. They realize 299 00:21:52.759 --> 00:21:55.359 they have more power, more weight, more leverage if they 300 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:59.319 can just strike without having something happen that can force 301 00:21:59.400 --> 00:22:04.000 them back to the negotiating table. They know they have 302 00:22:04.039 --> 00:22:06.440 more leverage and can get more if they have the 303 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:09.559 effective power of knowing you want to keep crippling the 304 00:22:09.640 --> 00:22:12.119 United States economy, we'll do it. We don't give a crap. 305 00:22:15.559 --> 00:22:18.559 And for President Biden to just take the position, oh no, 306 00:22:18.680 --> 00:22:22.119 I'm not gonna invoke it. It's the most lazy pro 307 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:28.799 union position humanly possible. And it's this dismissive. I've just 308 00:22:28.839 --> 00:22:34.039 got the sense that the White House discussions on it 309 00:22:34.200 --> 00:22:37.839 just sort of went nowhere. Biden knows it still rattling 310 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:40.079 around in his brain. Probably what it is. He knows 311 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:42.559 enough about labor unions and labor union policy from his 312 00:22:42.680 --> 00:22:47.000 thirty whatever years is VP and Senator and president. Now 313 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:49.799 he knows what it is. He's got it rattling around 314 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:52.000 his head. He knows organized labor doesn't like it, and 315 00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:54.680 so he just does the most reflexively pro labor union 316 00:22:54.720 --> 00:23:00.839 thing he possibly can. And I gosh, I kind of 317 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:03.920 think that's a really terrible thing to do. I think 318 00:23:03.960 --> 00:23:13.039 that's especially like right at this precise moment, when devastating 319 00:23:13.079 --> 00:23:21.000 hurricane North Carolina and Georgia, a somewhat lackluster federal response, 320 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:25.519 a lot less media scrutiny of that federal response as 321 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:35.440 compared with the federal response to say, Hurricane Katrina, and 322 00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:37.599 I and just this, No, we just do what the 323 00:23:37.640 --> 00:23:41.880 labor unions want. I honestly wonder how that's going to 324 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:45.400 play out in North Carolina and Georgia, two of the 325 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:48.640 three most important states in this whole election coming up 326 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:55.079 when we return the disappointing problem of every Republican first 327 00:23:55.160 --> 00:24:28.799 lady being pro choice. Next on the John Girardi Show, Well, 328 00:24:28.839 --> 00:24:33.759 in another disappointing round of taking it on the Chin 329 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:38.440 on the part of the pro life movement. Milania Trump, 330 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:42.400 President Trump's wife, released this memoir in which she gave 331 00:24:42.440 --> 00:24:47.160 a full throated defense of abortion rights and talked about 332 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:51.440 how abortion should be legal and a bunch of the normal, 333 00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:58.240 obvious cruddy arguments in favor of legalized abortion. Blah blah 334 00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:02.279 blah blah blah. I don't know how many of you 335 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:09.920 have noticed this. I have noticed this. Every single first 336 00:25:10.039 --> 00:25:18.359 lady since Rovy Wade has been pro choice Republican Democrat. 337 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:23.960 Every single first lady since Rovy Wade has been pro choice. 338 00:25:24.200 --> 00:25:31.480 Richard Nixon's wife, Gerald Ford's wife, Jimmy Carter's wife, Nancy Reagan, 339 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:41.759 George H. W. Bush's wife, obviously, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush obviously, 340 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:47.839 Michelle Obama, and now we learn Malania Trump, and of 341 00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:51.680 course Doug M. Hoff is more than you know, slightly 342 00:25:52.200 --> 00:25:57.440 uh pro choice. Oh oh, and Jill Biden too. Okay, sorry, no, 343 00:25:58.119 --> 00:26:00.319 I forgot for a second that Joe Biden was president. Okay, 344 00:26:01.799 --> 00:26:09.880 So every single first spouse since again, you know, since 345 00:26:09.960 --> 00:26:12.599 rov Wade, since Rovi Wade nineteen, every three, every single 346 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:17.759 first lady has been pro choice, including all the Republican 347 00:26:17.799 --> 00:26:24.880 wives now this in itself, one might say, is irrelevant. 348 00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:30.319 Who cares? You know, the first lady doesn't have any power. 349 00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:34.799 First lady doesn't have any responsibility. She's just the president's wife. 350 00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:40.759 Who cares? I care? I think it kind of matters, 351 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:45.920 and just you know, it matters in this way. Just 352 00:26:46.039 --> 00:26:51.440 talking about marriage, I think most of the presidents and 353 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:56.599 most of the first ladies have had what looks like, 354 00:26:56.680 --> 00:27:02.039 on the outside, fairly healthy looking marriages. Barbara and George H. W. 355 00:27:02.200 --> 00:27:04.880 Bush were married for a bazillion years. George and Laura 356 00:27:04.960 --> 00:27:10.400 Bush seemed to like each other. Other presidential and first 357 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:14.440 lady marriages not so sure. I really don't know the 358 00:27:14.519 --> 00:27:20.400 dynamic between Donald and Millennia. Lania does seem to care 359 00:27:20.440 --> 00:27:24.039 about him. I I don't know. I don't know how 360 00:27:24.039 --> 00:27:27.799 that works with you know, the third wife, and you know, 361 00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:35.000 fairly credible timelines and reports about Donald's infidelity even within 362 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:42.079 that marriage, certainly within his prior marriages. And god knows 363 00:27:42.200 --> 00:27:45.920 what's the dynamic between Bill and Hillary. But you know, 364 00:27:46.039 --> 00:27:49.759 i'd like to say many you know, Nancy and Ronald 365 00:27:49.839 --> 00:27:51.880 Reagan seemed really to love each other very deeply. I 366 00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:54.920 guess I don't know much about Gerald and Betty Ford 367 00:27:55.079 --> 00:27:59.880 or Pat and Richard Nixon. But let's let's concede that 368 00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:04.480 many of the presidential marriages were more or less healthy marriages, 369 00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:08.079 and even in the ones that weren't healthy, involved a 370 00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:09.880 kind of meeting of minds on a lot of things. 371 00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:13.119 Bill and Hillary Clinton. God knows what that dynamic is, 372 00:28:13.359 --> 00:28:15.039 but at the very least it does seem that they 373 00:28:15.079 --> 00:28:17.559 have a meeting of minds when it comes to politics. 374 00:28:19.160 --> 00:28:25.519 I think most healthy marriages involve two people who think 375 00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:34.000 really similarly about big picture stuff. I look at my marriage, 376 00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:36.720 which I would say is very healthy marriage. My wife 377 00:28:36.759 --> 00:28:39.519 and I love each other very much, and we're pretty 378 00:28:39.640 --> 00:28:44.519 darn happy being married. We have this little joke with 379 00:28:44.559 --> 00:28:47.720 each other where we sing this. We have this song 380 00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:50.599 that we sing sometimes where at the end of a 381 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:55.279 hard day, I'll sing, I don't like this part of work, 382 00:28:55.279 --> 00:28:56.680 and I don't like that part of work, and I 383 00:28:56.680 --> 00:28:58.880 don't like this, and I don't like that. I don't 384 00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:03.559 like this, and I don't like but I like you. 385 00:29:03.559 --> 00:29:06.279 You're the one that I like. I don't like anybody else. 386 00:29:06.759 --> 00:29:09.400 You're the only one that I like. Everyone else can 387 00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:11.920 take a hike. So this is a song that I 388 00:29:12.039 --> 00:29:14.920 made up one day when I was frustrated about things 389 00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:17.400 and was talking to my wife, like, Yeah, you're like 390 00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:23.480 the one person who consistently always makes me happy, and 391 00:29:23.680 --> 00:29:28.440 when you have a healthy marriage, you think alike on 392 00:29:29.079 --> 00:29:31.759 probably a lot of things. I feel like my wife 393 00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:34.200 and I have known each other for so long, like 394 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:37.000 we've known each other. I mean, we're I'm thirty seven now. 395 00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:41.319 Holly was a year behind me in school, so when 396 00:29:41.359 --> 00:29:44.440 we met, I was nineteen and she was eighteen, And 397 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:48.440 we've been kind of dating pretty much ever since we met, 398 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:52.400 dating slash married ever since we met. So I've just 399 00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:56.720 been hanging out with Holly, you know, almost every day 400 00:29:57.000 --> 00:30:00.440 for at this point, about eighteen of my life, thirty 401 00:30:00.440 --> 00:30:06.440