Saturday, November 17, 2012

The 1934 Minneapolis Truckers’ Strike

During the deadly 1934 Minneapolis Truckers’ Strike, members of the Teamsters Union attacked Minneapolis Police with lead pipes and other weapons.

To maintain public order, the Minnesota governor was forced to call in The National Guard. When that proved insufficient, the Minnesota governor ended up imposing martial law.

The governor’s actions during the Truckers’ Strike were atypical—the governor in question was a Leftist loon. He attempted to place under state ownership Minnesota’s electric and gas utilities, iron mines, gas and oil fields, grain elevators and meat-packing plants.

Happily, a non-partisan state legislature acted sanely, and prevented the governor from destroying the state’s economy.

Not long after, the governor died in office of cancer—but not before one of his most powerful opponents was gunned down in his front yard in the presence of his wife and daughter. The crime has never officially been solved. (It was and is believed that the governor, who had extensive, lifelong ties to organized crime, ordered the hit.)

Minnesota has a sordid history of labor troubles going back to the 19th Century. In fact, Minnesota may be the worst state in the nation when measured by number of ugly labor conflicts.

Oddly, given that Minnesota’s is now primarily a white-collar economy, the sewage of labor troubles continues to this day.

7 comments:

  1. Weren't the strikers beaten by the police first?
    And didn't the police open fire on the strikers?

    I'm sorry about your sewage troubles.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would be the first to acknowledge that your expertise in the field of sewage is vast, unparalleled and unchallenged.

    I—and so many others—love your nonstop campaign of defamation, all over the worldwide web, directed against the Minnesota Orchestra. The amusement you provide is unending, and you have many fans. Reading such foolishness provides normal persons such as myself with a window into the crud underbelly of America—and in that sense you provide a valuable service to all.

    From an ethical standpoint, I find it not only unprofessional but disturbing that an employee of the Eugene Symphony would find it appropriate to defame publicly another orchestra in a labor dispute.

    Nonetheless, it would be churlish of me not to commend you for the ceaseless energy and unbounded dedication you have exhibited in your work. While your actions reflect no credit upon you, and say little about your mental acuity, stability or judgment, they do serve as public warning of sorts, alerting all of us to the dangers of zealotry and an uneducated citizenry. For that we must thank you.

    Do you expect to be fired once your actions are brought to the attention of the Eugene Symphony Board? And do you anticipate further legal repercussions, not only for yourself but for others, including the person for whom you act as proxy?

    Ah, well . . . these troubles are for you and others to address and sort out over these next many, many months. My advice to you: hire the best lawyers money can buy.

    As for everyone else, they may continue to laugh at your Facebook portrait—it’s a brave woman who would post such a photograph—while reflecting upon the many studies that establish a pure correlation between human intelligence and attractiveness.

    Sorry you were not a winner in either category.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That’s the most elegant yet devastating putdown I’ve ever read. I would kill if I could write as well.

    Joel said he gave you the Morgan brief. He said in four days you produced a work of art. He said the Circuit Court could understand the case in all its complexities with a single reading of your brief. He said your work has “perfection of utterance” and “a bracing clarity of thought” and he called you inspired. Pretty high praise.

    Let me know if you’re ever interested in moving.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am happy where I am, Scott. They are very good to me.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Drew, you need to go out on a lecture tour.

    “The Art Of Social Polish, Lesson One: How To Call Someone A ‘Shabby, Sleazy, Trashy Bitch’ In The Most Civilized And Cultured Of Tones”

    ReplyDelete
  6. It appears this smelly woman took down her facebook. I’m glad I captured and saved her pic. I’d use it as wallpaper, just for a laugh, but I think I’d puke if I had to see her face more than once a month.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The poor woman closed down her Facebook page because people were confusing her with Martin Bormann, to whom she bears an alarming resemblance.

    I would do a switched-at-birth weblog entry, complete with matching photographs, if I did not have more pressing things to do with my time.

    Happy Thanksgiving!

    ReplyDelete