Sometimes the pro-union left just needs to take a chill pill and accept defeat; Tuesday, after Michigan passed its right-to-work laws, was one of those times.
Sure, the law — which ban mandatory union fees — deal a blow to labor in the heart of a traditional bastion: the industrial Midwest.
But the bills were passed by duly elected lawmakers and signed by a democratically empowered governor, Rick Snyder.
So is it too much to expect the unions to accept that outcome civilly? Nonviolently?
Apparently.
“There will be blood — there will be repercussions,” vowed state Democratic Rep. Douglas Geiss, as a vote on the bills neared.
He wasn’t kidding: Outside, thousands of pro-union demonstrators raged — and state troopers in riot gear were called in.
Two tents belonging to supporters of the legislation were vandalized. Fox News contributor Steven Crowder was roughed up.
Alas, the incitement comes from the top of the movement. Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa himself threatened a “civil war in this state.” What a way to express disappointment — and promote civil discourse.
Nor was the reaction in Michigan unusual for the bullying, pro-labor left.
Who, after all, can forget the never-ending, raucous protests in nearby Wisconsin after it passed laws unions opposed?
One notable labor ally, Occupy Wall Street, was specifically formed to push at the bounds of the law and infringe on the rights of others, as its very name suggests.
Even the practice Michigan banned this week, forcing workers to pay labor bosses if they want jobs, itself smacks of extortion.
None of this, obviously, is good for republican democracy, public debate, the rule of law — or freedom of thought or speech.
Core American values, that is.
Do the unionists have a beef with them?
So it would seem. For shame.