Jimmy Hoffa Sings the Siren Song of Desperation

James Hoffa Jr., aka Jimmy the Lesser, joined President Obama yesterday for a rally of the rapidly-dwindling faithful. (Thanks to some heavenly playwright for setting this scene in Detroit, a city more decimated by leftist ideology than any other.) As the President sat calmly by off-stage, Jimmy the Lesser excited the crowd with an old-fashioned stemwinder of trade unionist fire-and-brimstone. (Paging Jeremiah Wright.) It is worth multiple viewings:

The “Era of Civility” is definitely over, I guess.

Most of the commentariat is arguing over whether or not Jimmy the Lesser was making threats against the tea party (read American public). The wanna-be grundoons at Media Matters spittle that somehow Hoffa’s comments were taken out of context. Such an argument takes the context out of context. I’ve learned that when a Teamster or Longshoreman says things like “war” or “army” and calls his opponents “sons of bitches” it is prudent not to fidget over the nuances of language. Best to get ready for a dust-up.

But, the “debate” over whether or not Jimmy the Lesser was making threats is kind of beside the point. I watch his speech and see only one thing…panic.

Imagine you are Jimmy the Lesser. The economy is in the tank and your members are feeling the brunt of it. They are losing their jobs, which reduces the money into your coffers. You’ve staked your members’ fortunes on a politician who is increasingly seen, even by Democrats, as completely out of his depth. There is no prospect for recovery and Obama is out of tricks.

Worse, the general public seems onto your game. Wisconsin moved to end the most-favored-employee status of union members. The unions stormed the capitol and vandalized it. You and your brethren marched and protested. You threatened, screamed and cajoled. You vowed to inflict political armageddon. You pulled out every trick in the trade unionists book and…you lost.

You then targeted a Supreme Court special election and orchestrated recall elections against half a dozen GOP Senators. You threw tens of millions of dollars of your members’ hard-earned money to execute a political game-plan that had historically worked. You used every scare tactic possible and got plenty of cover from your allies in the media. And, again, you lost. The public rejected you at every turn. In Wisconsin.

Yep. Panic, pure and simple.

A friend of mine suggested that Jimmy the Lesser was perhaps a few sheets-to-the-wind during his rant. I don’t know about that. I do know, however, that the drunk in the bar always makes his most boastful and belligerent threat right before he passes out.