New Orleans I don’t have the energy on a Labor Day for the anger, but there’s no escaping the ironies!

The New York Times writes an editorial on “Labor Day, Now and Then,” and while noting that Labor Day dates earlier than other holidays mindlessly say the following:

• “…nature doesn’t seem quite as rude as it once did.”  What planet is this dude living on in the world of Katrina hurricanes, BP blowouts, Haiti earthquakes, and Pakistan flooding?
• “We need a holiday that needs no preparation, which is a true holiday indeed.”  God knows it shows in this editorial!

So much then for dismissing the hundreds of Labor Day picnics and parades around the country that still celebrate the need for working families to have a break, I guess.  So much for not even mentioning that union density (membership in unions compared to total workers), has now fallen to 7% in this Great Recession.  So much for even looking across the page at Paul Krugman’s warning about the similarities between 1938 and 2010 in the Great Depression and his call for real political leadership and will, and a lot more stimulus.

The one thing gotten half-right is how much we all need a holiday from this unrelenting assault on working families!

Happy Labor / Labour Day for all those who have earned it, and here’s some small comfort and a shout out to the millions who wish this were a holiday from working rather than another day on the calendar in the desperate search for a job.