Anti-Climacus

THE MOOSE SPEAKETH: and we all listen. My thoughts exactly:

"The Moose notes that some have it and some don't.

Andersen accounting cheats don't have them. Neither do tax dodging corporate execs. The CEO's at Enron, World Com and Global Crossing didn't have them. Neither do the market analysts who lied to investors about falling stock.

In contrast, many of the heros of 9/11 had them. In fact, probably the majority of the NYC and DC firefighters had them. Many miners have them.

What in the world is the Moose referring to? Union cards, of course. The Moose is not exactly a cheerleader for the labor movement. In many instances, it is narrow, shortsighted and parochial. Particularly annoying are teacher's unions that stand in the way of school choice.

Nevertheless, unions are an essential brake on the power of money in American society. At a time when even some Democrats are intimidated and faint of heart about being labeled as "anti-business", labor serves as an important balance to corporate power.

The reason that the Moose's attention is on the union label is the President's stance on waving union rights in the new Homeland Defense agency. While it appears that the GOP has lost its appetite for limited government, it continues its animus toward labor.

It has never been clear to the Moose how the creation of a new federal bureaucracy will make us safer. The prudent approach would have been first to have an independent commission to study what went wrong on 9/11 before reshuffling federal agencies. Moreover, the new department does not even address the problems in the primary agencies that are charged with our national security - the FBI and the CIA.

Nevertheless, the President has drawn the line on the one enemy that unites all K Street Republicans - organized labor. Interesting how those union rules didn't inhibit firefighters from sacrificing their lives on 9/11? Ask yourself, would you feel more secure being rescued by non-union CEO's?

The Moose senses the political and cultural spectrum is shifting from the worship of the market and individualism to an embrace of prudent regulation and collective action. Note the words of the President yesterday at the signing ceremony for the corporate reform legislation, "This law says to every dishonest corporate leader: you will be exposed and punished; the era of low standards and false profits is over; no boardroom in America is above or beyond the law."

This rhetoric is quite an interesting contrast to Clinton's, "The era of big government is over."

In the aftermath of the Pennsylvania mine miracle, the Moose was particularly struck with a television interview with the President of the United Mine Workers. When the interviewer asked how miners cope with their hazardous work environment, he explained that it was much like the way his platoon in Vietnam looked out for each other.

Needless to say, he has a union card."