Because That Worked Out So Well Last Time

In my in-box this morning, forwarded from the UO Concerned Faculty listserv:

Dr. P-,

I'm writing on behalf of the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), an anti-sweatshop monitoring organization that conducts investigations at factories around the world. Our goal is to combat sweatshop abuses, by publishing factory reports and aiding workers in their efforts to defend their workplace rights. We focus primarily on the rights of workers who produce collegiate apparel, helping schools to enforce labor rights standards that they impose on companies who produce their logo merchandise.

Agatha Schmaedick, a University of Oregon alum and former WRC staff member suggested that I contact you. I’m going to be visiting the University of Oregon this week on Wednesday, March 5 and Thursday, March 6, in an effort to generate interest and educate students about this issue. Would it be possible for me to speak with any of your classes about the issues that the WRC works on? I apologize for the short notice, and understand if this is not a possibility.

If you can suggest other professors, students, or student groups that I should be in touch with about my visit, please feel free to pass along their contact information and I can be in contact with them directly.

Best,

Theresa

Outreach Associate

Worker Rights Consortium

War, Good God Y'all

Presidents Day got me thinking about W. and his legacy. I recently declared him the worst president ever--which had to sting, you know it did--but Bush, as we know, is banking on history to redeem him. Granting that it is unlikely that historians will ever view Bush as anything more than a poor president, is it possible that the people may one day come around and we'll find ourselves living in a time when the name Bush is not synonymous with "what was I thinking?" Will my 85 year-old eyes find myself looking at that smirk on a shiny quarter?

I'm asking you, loyal reader, can you think of a president or a war that was hated at the time, but in retrospect now looks really good? Lincoln and the Civil War are very obvious, although I think at the time of the actual war, it was decently popular.

Anything else? Anyone want to make a case for Truman? Spanish-American?

It Figures

Although many on the right have tried to declare Mitt's Mormonism as a out-of-bounds topic, there has been some light discussion of the issue of racism in the Mormon church.

Mitt has countered this charge by arguing that his family has always been a supporter of civil rights for blacks, specifically citing the fact that he saw his father march with Martin Luther King. You can see that here, at 18 seconds. Elsewhere he expanded on that to say that his father marched with MLK when he was governor of Michigan.

It has recently come to light that King did not march when he was in Michigan in the only time frame that would fit Romney's recollection and there is no evidence that Romney pere met with King. Moreover, young Mitt was off converting the French to Mormonism (and not fighting in Vietnam) at the time.

So what does Mitt have to say about all of this?

On Wednesday, Romney’s campaign said his recollections of watching his father, an ardent civil rights supporter, march with King were meant to be figurative.

“He was speaking figuratively, not literally,” Eric Fehrnstrom, spokesman for the Romney campaign, said of the candidate.

Ah yes, figuratively marched with King. There are so many directions to go with this, I don't know what to say. Let's go with this:

My father played with Hendrix at Woodstock and my mom rioted with the French students in '68.

What did your parents do?

Bambina Blogging

Amber: Dad, did you know that you could be sent back from Ellis Island, back to your home country, for lameness?

Me: Do you know what "lameness" means?

Amber: I guess not.

Me: It means one of your limbs doesn't work.

Amber: Oh, I thought it was, you know, for not being cool enough.

Sweet Frustration

I was just at a graduate student orientation where the head of the office of affirmative action was bragging about the expansive non-discrimination policy at the UO, including "gender identity and expression."

I have less right than others to be chagrined about this, but it was annoying to hear the UO bragging about a policy they fought and fought. I guess it's better to be annoyed hearing it than to not hear it all.