Tuesday was a busy day for me, between work and drinking, so I didn't have a chance to watch the Gorsuch nomination hearings. Reading The Rude Pundit, I decided to check out Al Franken's grilling of Gorsuch regarding his dissent in a decision about a truck driver who was fired because he abandoned a trailer which had frozen brakes and a non-functioning heater. Put in stark terms, the man had a choice- disobey the orders from his company or die of hypothermia. He disobeyed orders and was fired, then filed a complaint with OSHA about the firing, and Gorsuch dissented from the decision, which supported the truck driver's case. Gorsuch's family made its fortune by retailing ski clothing- the idea that the guy wouldn't know how deadly being stuck without heat in minus-fourteen degree temperature is ludicrous. Here's Franken's amazing grilling of Gorsuch:
Gorsuch's attitude is that Alphonse Maddin, the truck driver in question, should have followed orders even unto death. Basically, he should have been a martyr to capitalism, and obediently frozen to death so as not to negatively impact the company's bottom line.
As much as I've thought Chuck Schumer, my senior senator, has been a Wall St flunky, I am proud that he will fillibuster Gorsuch's nomination. Sure, the excesses of Wall Street are villainy, but they aren't the sort of 'Dead Peasant' cartoonish supervillainy that Gorsuch is comfortable with.
I'm not a fan of Schumer, either. I guess these things are relative, to some extent, though. I can dislike him a lot while still preferring his positions to those of other politicians.
ReplyDeleteHave I mentioned I'm in Texas?
Attila the Hun would be a preferable Senator to ours.