Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

I really should read my own blog.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Bark louder, little dog.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Republicans in disarray!

Come on, man.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

I was promised a recession.

You are here: Home / Organizing & Resistance / Enhanced Protest Techniques / Open Thread: For the Laborer Is Worthy of His Wages…

Open Thread: For the Laborer Is Worthy of His Wages…

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Between this ad, and Serena Williams showing up at the French Open in a black tutu and fishnet compression tights, perhaps there is a crack in the Mandated Civility codes?

Reader Interactions

116Comments

  3. 3.

    sukabi

    Saw this earlier and had to laugh…just don’t read the comments on the tweet, ugh. H8ers are out in force. ?

  5. 5.

    indycat32

    Serena wore the black cat-suit at the French Open. The tutu (one black and one baby blue) she’s wearing at the U.S. Open.

  6. 6.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    I posted on Twitter in response to a tweet about how unions stopped child labour. My Dad was an Orphan at age 5. Eventually he was adopted by his Aunt and Uncle but before that the Orphanage allowed him to be employed at the local linoleum factory to run between the rollers to pick the lint off the linoleum. He was 5 YEARS OF AGE. He was employed thus because he was small enough to fit between the rollers. It took Unions to stop this shit, it took Unions to get 5 day work weeks and holidays off. It took Unions to get paid sick leave. We should never forget the power of what Unions have done for the worker. NEVER.

  8. 8.

    catclub

    of course, what Nike believes in is Nike making and selling more shoes than anyone else. But the sponsorship might do a bit more than that.

  9. 9.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Litlebritdifrnt: It’s too bad, but we have. I remember working for a tech company down in the Valley, taking the shuttle every day, and one driver was a really, really, really nice man. [They all were, but he was especially nice.] I learned his name, and would make a point to take his bus, etc. One day I mentioned that I heard drivers at other companies were thinking of forming a union, and that I thought this was an excellent thing to do. He demurred, said he thought he was getting paid well, and ….. well, I didn’t have the heart to argue with him (and heck, I was on company property, so didn’t feel safe doing it). But it was disheartening.

    OTOH, I’ve heart that SF MUNI drivers have an excellent union, and I’m glad for that every time I set foot on a bus.

  11. 11.

    J R in WV

    The sports blogs have comments from Trumpville, despicable, disgusting. No surprise, one guy claimed to be a “combat medic” and didn’t know what he swore an oath to protect. Needs to read the constitution, didn’t know shit about what he swore to protect. Probably thought he swore to protect the Trumpoid…

    Sad.

  12. 12.

    Gex

    Kap’s still not playing. And the cat suit is still banned. Black people have been protesting their treatment for forever.

    The Nike thing is notable though.

  14. 14.

    Suzanne

    Good for Nike. It’s a beautiful ad.
    I enjoy all of the ways that this country becomes our country. Things like this ad are important signs.

  15. 15.

    gene108

    @catclub:

    I am not ready to attribute altruistic motives to Nike.

    But this will stir some shit up. I bet their marketing data showed whatever coveted demographic they are after must look at taking a knee positively.

  16. 16.

    Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman)

    @sukabi:

    Saw this earlier and had to laugh…just don’t read the comments on the tweet, ugh. H8ers are out in force.

    Think they’ll start setting their Air Jordans on fire?
    If they do, hopefully it’ll be while they’re wearing them.

  17. 17.

    petesh

    Yay, Kap!

    “He’s only doing this for the publicity, right?” That’s the kind of comment that elicits the famous double-positive: Yeah, right.”

  20. 20.

    gene108

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    I think, as time goes on, fewer and fewer people have direct anecdotes to the “bad old days”, when mom or dad or grandma or grandpa had to work as children, and do not think we could go back to those times.

    I think the rich fuckwads, who want to undermine the labor gains of the last 100 years, by buying politicians are actively trying to take us back to those days.

  21. 21.

    Chetan Murthy

    @gene108:

    I am not ready to attribute altruistic motives to Nike.

    No need to. If America were still a place where the KKK could mount a 20,000-strong march in DC, Nike wouldn’t be doing this. But America isn’t that place. America is a place where Barack Obama was elected president. Where Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. They [the white supremacists, LGBT-haters, misogynists] lost, and they don’t realize it … yet. Sure, they can mount an armed coup and kill their way to power. But they’ve lost the hearts and minds.

  24. 24.

    Ked

    Nike shoes – soles, really – don’t fit my feet. And they have their fingers in a lot of ethically dubious pies. But good on them, and the side of corporate/CEO America who understand.

  25. 25.

    gene108

    @Suzanne:

    The Culture War is won. We beat the conservatives.

    But they still have enough influence and followers to think they can reverse their losses, if they keep fighting.

  26. 26.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Chetan Murthy:
    That would be my point: If Nike test marketing showed this received as positive in a large enough segment for them to go with this, then yes, it also shows where the support lies….but do they vote?

  27. 27.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Chetan Murthy: My Dad eventually became a Master Plasterer. It is with a great deal of pride that I take my Husband now into buildings where my Dad worked, he was one of the remaining Master Plasterers who could repair the intricate ceilings of iconic buildings that had been neglected for decades. Just here in Lancaster I can take him to the second floor of the WH Smith building which is now the Post Office and look at the ceiling, and the Nat West building where he did the same thing. I am very proud.

  28. 28.

    Suzanne

    @gene108: I agree with you. But we have to keep fighting to hold ground, and things like this prove once again that we hold the higher ground.

    The best thing about this is that of course Nike doesn’t have altruistic motives, they believe their identity is strengthened and their financial position made better by making this statement. I hope they are right.

  29. 29.

    Doug R

    I was wondering why Kap wasn’t playing in the CFL or some European league.
    Nike gave him some “FU” money.

  30. 30.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Chetan Murthy: I shoulda added: Nike wants to sell shoes. And they’re hitching their brand to Kaep, and Serena, b/c they think they’ll sell more shoes that way. If putting …. Curt Schilling in a Nike ad would sell more shoes, they’d have done that. But they didn’t did they?

    I used to work for one of the largest old-line IT companies, and that used to be a real white-shirt, blue suit, men-only company once, eh? When I worked there, a person went male-to-female transsexual; my VP was an out gay man, and neither of these were regarded as ground-breaking. The company has always said that its workforce will reflect its customers, b/c that’s just good business sense.

    Nike’s saying the same sort of thing here. Diversity, decency, and celebrating civil rights, is good business sense.

    [And yeah, I know they’re not always this way, and they sure aren’t that way in their factories overseas. But it says something, that this is what they want their public face to be.]

  31. 31.

    gene108

    @gene108:

    But they still have enough influence and followers to think they can reverse their losses, if they keep fighting.

    I think on second thought, the conservatives realize they aren’t going to reverse losses and win people over to their point of view, but figure if they and their political allies can game the system, they can still impose their will on us.

  33. 33.

    gene108

    @Suzanne:

    The best thing about this is that of course Nike doesn’t have altruistic motives, they believe their identity is strengthened and their financial position made better by making this statement. I hope they are right.

    I think the decision will help their financial position. Angry middle age and older white Fox News viewers probably aren’t a demographic that buys sports shoes for exercise or sneakers to make a fashion statement.

    It will appeal to younger minorities, and some whites, who will buy shoes for exercise and/or for fashion.

  34. 34.

    The Dangerman

    @gene108:

    …the conservatives realize they aren’t going to reverse losses…

    Don’t want to (at least not cultural); just wanna keep the Common Clay of the New West riled up so they stay in office long enough to do the tax cuts, etc.

  37. 37.

    Mnemosyne

    @catclub:

    Despite what libertarians and leftists both claim, companies are not actually required to only do evil things in order to make money. Companies can also do good things in the hope of making money. It looks like Nike is hoping to have their own “Black Panther” moment when consumers come out of the woodwork to prove all of the naysayers wrong.

    I’m willing to buy some sweatpants and a hoodie to help them do that.

  38. 38.

    Suzanne

    @rikyrah: Ooooh, that sounds awesome. I will have to check it out.

    In general, brands that are very clear about who they do not want associated with them (in this case, Trumpy people) are more effective than those who try to appeal to everyone. Clarity is very appealing.

  43. 43.

    Mnemosyne

    @Doug R:

    Kaep probably couldn’t take those other jobs as an athlete while his breach of contract lawsuit against the NFL is still working its way through the courts. Nike has basically made a public declaration that they’re taking his side in that lawsuit by allowing him to keep paying the legal fees with this contract.

  44. 44.

    Ruckus

    @gene108:

    It will appeal to younger minorities, and some whites, who will buy shoes for exercise and/or for fashion.

    Or to make a statement.

  45. 45.

    Suzanne

    @debbie: What is always interesting to me is when brands essentially say that one group’s allegiance/money is more worthwhile and important than another group’s. Luxury brands have done this for a long time, but this is definitely a different axis of association. The brand is very intentionally telling some people that they don’t want them to wear Nike’s clothes, because their association tarnishes the brand. That is bold.

  46. 46.

    Suzanne

    OT, but I cannot bear to endure another thread about John McCain and if it’s ever okay to feel anything other than abject hatred for anybody in the GOP.

  47. 47.

    chris

    @catclub:

    it is from may 2018 so not exactly setting the internet on fire, although I think it should

    To be fair the Institute for New Economic Thinking is not a nearly-top-10,000 institute.//

    But it should be. I agree that everyone should read the article. I sent it, some time back, to a couple of poli-sci people and they were appalled. Everyone should know about Buchanan in particular but also about the Mont Pelerin Society. They are responsible for a lot of the current economic shitstorm .

  51. 51.

    Robert Sneddon

    @sukabi: Most big sports events have a dress code for competitors — Wimbledon still insists on white clothing only, ladies must wear skirts, gentlemen shorts. Gradually highlight colours have crept in but under tight control of size and placement but there are still no logos permitted on competitor’s clothing at the All-England Club.

    Nowadays sponsors often have deals with the TV companies for specific amounts of screen time showing logos during a sports broadcast, watch out for odd close-ups on shoes or caps during a talking-heads voiceover if you’re into spotting that sort of thing.

  53. 53.

    Mary G

    Facism really is on the rise:

    A party with recent roots in the neo-Nazi movement may come first or (more likely) second in Swedish elections this Sunday, and far too few people are paying attention to this stunning development.(Thread.)1/n— Yascha Mounk (@Yascha_Mounk) September 3, 2018

    She points out that their economy is in great shape and people’s standards of living have gone up, so it’s not economic anxiety!

  54. 54.

    Suzanne

    HAHAHA just went to Breitbart to enjoy the meltdown in the comments section about this campaign. All these stupid Trumpy MAGAts acting like Nike is going to be hurt by their boycott……when instead, Nike is telling them to eff off, that their brand is for cool people.

  55. 55.

    MagdaInBlack

    Parkland school shooting survivor and gun control activist David Hogg helped raise $9,700 in less than 24 hours in a plan to finance a billboard display of President Donald Trump’s tweets attacking Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

  56. 56.

    chris

    Good for Kaepernick and good for Nike as well. Can’t wear their shoes but I do have a couple of shirts.

    Also, wonder if we’ll ever know how many New Yorker subs were cancelled today?

  58. 58.

    gene108

    @catclub:

    That is a chilling article and fits in with other things I have read about conservatives undoing the gains of the last 100 years.

    I can understand why it is not more widely publicized, because the idea is complicated to get a hold of and is multi-pronged, because it involves going over history, law school curriculum, state and local government changes, etc.

  59. 59.

    opiejeanne

    @A Ghost To Most: Good for Nike, indeed. At the risk of being called a heretic I didn’t want him on the Seahawks because Isaw him play a lot and thought he wasn’t all that good, in comparison to the QBs we had. My friends felt the same, and it had nothing to do with his kneeling. We all applauded him for that.
    However, I was disgusted that he didn’t bother to vote in the 2016 election, and it still burns me up.
    I am glad though, that he is being supported by Nike.

  62. 62.

    Mnemosyne

    @chris:

    I wonder how the hell the New Yorker is going to be able to hold the festival at all now that the headliners are all pulling out.

  65. 65.

    Suzanne

    @MagdaInBlack: They’re also telling them that they aren’t ***good enough*** to matter.

    It’s a small thing, but this is the kind of thing that helps drive their crappy culture back to the margins, where it belongs.

  66. 66.

    Ruckus

    @raven:
    At this point it is what she can eat, what she will eat and what doesn’t make her sick. Nothing else matters.
    I’d bet canned food is easier to chew/swallow and probably digest. Didn’t you say that’s what didn’t make her hiccup?
    BTW I have that. Sometimes when I eat as I try to swallow I get the hiccups. Maybe Lil Bit and I have the same thing. Maybe I should try canned dog food.

  67. 67.

    opiejeanne

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Your dad? When was he born? The closest we come to that in my husband’s family were the damned Orphan Trains that his great grandfather rode in 1880, and that was bad enough. “Adopted” by a farmer in Illinois to be cheap/slave labor at age 9, mistreated, beaten so badly he still had the scars in his old age.

  70. 70.

    Platonailedit

    @Mary G:

    There is also this.

    Around 65,000 people have attended a free concert against racism in the eastern German city of Chemnitz.

    The town has seen far-right rallies and counter-demonstrations after two migrants were identified as suspects in the fatal stabbing of a 35-year-old German man late last month.

    Punk and hip hop bands performed on Monday evening under the slogan “there are more of us”, in response to the far-right slogan “we are the people”.

    Many people chanted “Nazis out”.

    Organisers had to change the venue to accommodate all those who wanted to attend.

    The concert began on Monday evening with a minute’s silence for the victim of the stabbing attack.

    Soon after, a singer from the group Kraftklub addressed the crowd.

    “We’re not naive. We’re not under the illusion that you hold a concert and then the world is saved,” he said. “But sometimes it’s important to show that you’re not alone.”

    At the same time the concert was taking place, local police announced that they had arrested a man suspected of attacking a journalist during far-right demonstrations on Saturday.

    All is not completely lost.

    I read somewhere yesterday that fascism expands to fill the space if given the opportunity and it’s best to deny them that space.

  71. 71.

    Jeffro

    Bannon booted from New Yorker conference after outrage and cancellations

    We’ve got em on the run!

  73. 73.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @MagdaInBlack: If I were Soros, or Steyer, I would flood Texas TV with clips of Cruz and trump sniping at each other, especially Cruz calling trump a “sniveling coward” for attacking his wife’s looks, remind everybody that Cruz is sucking up to the man who so personally insulted his wife

  75. 75.

    Baud

    Now if we can just get Hoverround to sponsor Kaepernick, GOP voters won’t be able to make it to the polls in November!

  76. 76.

    Anne Laurie

    @gene108:

    I think, as time goes on, fewer and fewer people have direct anecdotes to the “bad old days”, when mom or dad or grandma or grandpa had to work as children, and do not think we could go back to those times.

    Yup. One of the things Hillary Clinton talks about is her mother essentially “going into domestic service” when she was 14. Which turned out to be an improvement in her life, because her employers were more interested in her getting an education than her own parents were… but that’s *not* a choice that should be given to / forced upon parents!

  77. 77.

    Ruckus

    @raven:
    I hope so.
    Although I do have to say that I don’t try to eat when on all fours only when sitting in a chair. We won’t discuss my digestion in public.

  84. 84.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    @catclub:
    I read that article and was greatly disturbed and was considering partially modeling the philosophy of my villain in a story I’m thinking about on Buchanan, but he seemed almost over the top evil to be believed. From the article:

    Crediting people with altruism or a desire to serve others was “romantic” fantasy: politicians and government workers were out for themselves, and so, for that matter, were teachers, doctors, and civil rights activists. They wanted to control others and wrest away their resources: “Each person seeks mastery over a world of slaves,” he wrote in his 1975 book, The Limits of Liberty.

    In response to Pinochet’s human rights abuses and his hand in it, Buchanan wrote:

    “Despotism may be the only organizational alternative to the political structure that we observe,”

  85. 85.

    Platonailedit

    Bannon is a marginal crank whose flagging career is being revived by The New Yorker and The Economist. Who pays the price for the mainstreaming of his racism? Not the self-congratulatory ‘free speech’ festival crowd who’ll pay to hear him.

    — Hari Kunzru (@harikunzru) September 3, 2018

    Honestly, my world is now divided between those who understand that this is a dogfight and the consequences of losing will be catastrophic, and those who think it would be nice to go for a drink with the other team after the debate

    — Hari Kunzru (@harikunzru) September 3, 2018

  86. 86.

    Mnemosyne

    @raven:

    Is it mean that I laughed at her forlorn expression? ?

    I assume she cheered up once she realized this was the new way to get hand-fed her favorite foods.

  88. 88.

    JMG

    It’s also a message to the NFL owners that Kaepernick now has the money to pursue his lawsuit as long as he wishes. It’s a pretty explicit message from one of the biggest players in the sports universe, bigger than the NFL, as the world is bigger than the US, that Keep ought to get a job.

  91. 91.

    Platonailedit

    Dear readers and staff,

    In a cheap and tawdry attempt to get publicity and sell tickets I thought I'd play 'confrontation theater' and invite Steve Bannon – you know, the guy who campaigned for the child molester

    People dropped out. $ would be lost. Oops

    https://t.co/CB9IfWNlnL— Old Rant Dump (@TrumpinTheShark) September 3, 2018

  94. 94.

    Platonailedit

    John Mulaney, Judd Apatow, Jim Carrey, and Jack Antonoff have all tweeted that they're pulling out of the New Yorker Festival over Steve Bannon.

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 3, 2018

    Also. Too. Patton Oswalt.

  95. 95.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    @efgoldman:
    A lot of Republicans make up the military thanks to the All-Volunteer Force. White supremacists have been infiltrating law enforcement…

    I wouldn’t dismiss this out of hand

  96. 96.

    Shell

    I was in the mood for something goofy and boy, did I find it with the Tom Cruise “The Mummy” flick. What a holy mess. With zombies! I was saying ‘WTF’ every five minutes and that was before Russell Crowe’s character shows up. (Dr. Jekyll? Seriously, movie?) I think, though, we’re safe from the threatened sequel.

  98. 98.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @gene108:

    I bet their marketing data showed whatever coveted demographic they are after must look at taking a knee positively.

    Bangalore!

    Rich white folks mostly don’t buy their stuff. Poor white folks mostly can’t.

    I will be gobsmacked if Capitalism Red In Tooth And Claw (CRITAC) ends up dragging this society back from the abyss it helped create because the only color CRITAC cares about isn’t white or black or brown or yellow but green. Stranger things have happened – but not many, & not often.

  99. 99.

    sgrAstar

    @gene108: Nike has always tried to ride the zeitgeist. Putting up Serena and Kaep as the faces of a new campaign is a brilliant example of that central strategy. S and K are heroes to many young Americans who are committed to the same values that we- their teachers, parents, and role models- have taught them: Respect for all, honoring diversity, creating space for every voice, advocating for justice and fairness. I like the new Nike campaign, a lot. They are a soulless juggernaut for sure, but some of their behavior can produce positive results. Putting Kaep in the foreground is definitely a FU to the president and his supporters, and a thumbs up for Kaep’s concerns.

  102. 102.

    trollhattan

    If Kaep plays his cards correctly he can get through this with his dignity, bank account, knees and brain intact. I’m fine with that.

  108. 108.

    Suzanne

    @sgrAstar: Nike is also very much an aspirational brand. They don’t want everyone to have it or to be associated with it, because then the trendmaker-types (aka cultural influencers, in today’s parlance) lose interest. They are very clearly saying that the people are worth aspiring to be because they are great hold certain values, and if you the consumer want others to know that you, who are also great, you will buy Nike to let everyone know.

    This is the difference between a brand like Nike and a brand like McDonald’s, who just wants everyone’s money and as a result, seems THIRSTY, which is about the worst thing to be ever in this arena.

  110. 110.

    Procopius

    @catclub: The existence of the guy, a relatively obscure teacher, is mildly interesting, but you have to figure there are literally tens of thousands of like-minded people working diligently together to implement his vision. Lewis Powell wasn’t the only person who believed in the vision he described of the rich becoming oligarchs and taking control.

  112. 112.

    Platonailedit

    Serena Williams. Sloane Stephens. Madison Keys. Naomi Osaka. Suarez Navarro. All in QF.

    Collective wingnuts’ heads explosions.

  113. 113.

    Procopius

    @chris: I thought everybody knew about the Mount Pelerin Society. Don’t you know about Milton Friedman? Friedrich Hayek? Wossisname von Mises? There’s an excellent book titled Masters of the Universe: Hayek, Friedman, and the Birth of Neoliberal Politics, by Daniel Stedman Jones, who described how they gained such enormous influence in economics. Still have it.

  114. 114.

    John Fremont

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Trump tweeted earlier this year about the airlines having their safest year in years and he took credit for it. The airlines are one of the last private sector industries that are unionized. Pilots, mechanics, machinists, electrical/avionics techs, flight attendants, baggage handlers, etc all built that safety record. So if anyone tries to tell you that unions are a bunch of overpaid slackers ask them if they flew anywhere in the last few years. If they did tell them they put their life in the hands of union workers!

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