Randy Shannon – 11/22/04

This page was last updated on August 22, 2006.

Unions must show solidarity; Randy Shannon; Beaver County Times; November 22, 2004.

Interested to hear and see folks like Mr. Shannon in person, I attended a Mothers Opposing Bush rant on October 16^th in front of the Beaver County courthouse. Mr. Shannon was one of the “speakers.” Below are some bullet points from Mr. Shannon’s talk. I believe these points give insight into his letter.

· Mr. Shannon was introduced as a “peace activist.”

· Militancy is needed now more than ever. This and the following point are curious coming from a “peace activist.”

· Using the court system doesn’t work.

· Prescott Bush (George W. Bush’s grandfather) led the first family of fascism.

· Vietnam bankrupted the United States.

· The United States has a $200 trillion debt. (Note: The actual debt is approximately $4.4 trillion.)

· “Socialist competition” is gone, whatever that is. Given the context, I believe Mr. Shannon lamented the passing of powerful communist/socialist countries like the Soviet Union to “balance” the United States.

· Kerry came out of nowhere because he was acceptable to “finance capital,” unlike Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich.

· Corporations control life in the United States.

· We have fascism in the United States.

· We have the Gestapo in the United States.

· President Bush was unelected in 2000, like Hitler.

Just as his “speech” at the MOB rally, Mr. Shannon’s letter is no more than a series of disconnected sentences.

8/22/06 - Here are more points made by Mr. Shannon on March 19, 2005, in another rant in front of the Beaver County courthouse. I counted about 30 attendees.

· The U.S. is about imperialism.

· We’re too democratic.

· We’re seeking military domination of the world, including space.

· Republicans were behind anthrax attacks on liberals.

· There’s a state of terror in the U.S.

· There’s no al-Qaida in the U.S.

· He was concerned about the potential torture of terrorists.

· President Bush is using “9/11 psychological warfare” to promote world domination.

· People “bought options on airline stocks” prior to 9/11 because they knew the about the attacks ahead of time.

· Promoted the idea that something other than the planes crashing into the WTC really brought down the Twin Towers.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“The merchant banks of Wall Street have sucked all the profit out of the airline industry and left it to the vulture capitalists to pick over the bones. We saw it happen to the steel, glass, textile and other industries across America.

“The pilots association said its lawyers put up a fight, but the contest is not in the courtroom. Instead of studying one airline’s books, they should be looking at the capital structure of the whole industry and find where the money went.”

[RWC] I don’t know what a merchant bank is, though I believe the British use this term for investment banks. Mr. Shannon ignores the fact that not all of the airline industry is failing. Well-run airlines like Southwest Airlines have been and continue to be profitable. Wall Street didn’t have anything to do with airline problems. The blame rests solely with company and union management. That’s also true for the other industries Mr. Shannon cited.

“The Wall Street banks and the White House are the real negotiating partners. Only collective action by the pilots will force them to come to the table and disgorge some of their loot.”

[RWC] “The Wall Street banks and the White House are the real negotiating partners?” Where does Mr. Shannon get his information? Lest we forget, the primary shareholder of U.S. Airways is “The Retirement System of Alabama.”

“When General Motors tried to dismantle the auto plant in Flint, the United Auto Workers stopped it by occupying the plant with support of the community.”

[RWC] I don’t know what Mr. Shannon is writing about. I believe GM closed its last Flint auto assembly plant – Buick City – in 1999. It’s my understanding a GM truck assembly plant and some GM parts plants remain in Flint.

“The machinists know what a strike is. It may be illegal to strike, but it’s a moral value to protect your job, your family and your community from devastation.

“The flight attendants, the great majority of whom are women, are showing they know the definition of ‘union’ and ‘backbone.’ No doubt the pilots and machinists will demonstrate that they understand the moral value of ‘solidarity.’

“The industrial workers of western Pennsylvania and their sons and daughters know the meaning of solidarity. The merchant banks of Wall Street plan to rip off America for every last penny.”

[RWC] What plan to rip off America? I hate to break it to Mr. Shannon, but no one profits when a business goes belly up. Investors lose their investment and creditors get pennies on the dollar.

“Somebody has got to put a foot down and say: ‘It stops here.’ Let it be the flight attendants.”

[RWC] What will this accomplish? Is it Mr. Shannon’s desire to wreck the profitable airlines too?

“God bless them. We won’t let them down. An attempt to break the flight attendants’ strike with scabs will be met by a monumental traffic jam at the airport.”

[RWC] Who is “we?” Perhaps Mr. Shannon should reconsider the use of the word “scab.” If replacement workers are scabs, the workers they replace must be open sores. Does Mr. Shannon really consider workers to be open sores?