The Labor Day festivities

By Letters to the Editor
From page A7 | 3 Comments

EDITOR:

Once again, the Mountain Democrat is guilty of journalistic malpractice and of sacrificing ethical journalism at the altar of right-wing ideology.

Were you aware that Sept. 3, Labor Day, was a national holiday? It seems to me that when the country officially shuts down, a real newspaper would tell us why. Instead, the Mountain Democrat mentioned the words “Labor Day”once, in connection with the giant garage sale that typifies so many holidays in Placerville.

Acknowledging the holiday for its significance would have meant recognizing that hundreds of working Americans gave their lives for the 40-hour week, for the end of child labor, for vacation days, for safety regulations, for union-sponsored retirement and medical plans: the list of benefits we enjoy thanks to “Labor” is endless. Printing such a list would, no doubt, have stuck in the collective craw of the MD.

On Sept. 3 and 5, the Mountain Democrat could have chosen the high road by giving its readers a refresher history course on the “Ludlow Massacre” in which almost 200 Colorado miners were killed by company thugs; or the Pullman Strike, when hundreds of workers were also bloodied by hired hit men; or a short history of the equally bloody struggle of the United Mine Workers to obtain even a modicum of safety equipment.

Instead of a history lesson, the Mountain Democrat treated us to a deer falling into a pool, a car crushed by a tree, and pictures of a giant garage sale.

In spite of its amnesia about the significance of Labor Day, the Mountain Democrat did not let ideology get in the way of commerce. It had a booth at the Fair/garage sale, pushing its product under the guise of “newspaper.” Caveat emptor!

JOHN GARON
Placerville

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Discussion | 3 comments

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Adam DraperSeptember 14, 2012 - 10:36 pm
It can be embarrassing to acknowledge Labor Day, as it brings up some of the great advances that liberals have brought to this country. For example, a conservative republican from a prominent local republican family is running for Supervisor. Shouldn't he be publicly thanking those in the progressive labor movement, who ensured that he would have a fat pension for the rest of his life?
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Phillip VeerkampSeptember 14, 2012 - 10:46 pm
Adam, I take offense at your loose assignment of Republican to my family. FROM PAOLO SIOLI, 1883 ". . . Mr. Veerkamp is surrounded with an interesting family, all industrious and of good habits. He came to El Dorado county poor, and has suffered many and severe losses, but is now rated among the most influential and well-to-do men of the county. In politics he supports the Democratic nominees as a rule . . ." Shame on you!
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readerSeptember 15, 2012 - 6:16 am
Excellent points all, John. Why has "labor" become a dirty word in America?
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