I love the smell of (republican) fear in the morning

Old Nolan had another beauty of a column this past Sunday--not only for its utter deafness to the plight of working Americans, but also because the fear of the working class uprising turning the tide back to the Democrats was palpable. And judging from this poll (yes, I know it's early, but with the tea party effectively controlling today's republican party, does anyone see the republican party changing course between now and November 2012?), the Democrats already have a chance to take back the House in 2012.... Three points in old Nolan's column bear noting: 1) His claim that public sector workers concerns about their sacrifices ring hollow with private sector workers who have already taken pay cuts, are paying more for their health benefits, and have lost their pensions. I'd like some examples of each please, because in my experience I know of no one who took a pay cut (we went a year without raises at the company I work for, but if they'd cut our pay they'd have had mass exodus and they know it--the job just isn't that great or well paying), the cost of everybody's benefits has been going up for years, and most of us have no fucking clue what it's like to get a pension and know how fucked up our 401ks are. Methinks old Nolan has been attending too many of those sparsely attended, old white guys meetings also known as tea party gatherings. 2) His claims that these public sector union protests are not about collective bargaining rights. Horseshit. He cites the contract changes given by the UAW to the Big 3 automakers as to how it should be done. You'll note, however, the UAW did not give back its collective bargaining rights--reason being, when business turns around, they're going to come back and ask for their fair share. Why should public sector workers accept any less? 3) I'd be willing to bet there are plenty of policemen, state troopers, firefighters, and teachers who would be awfully surprised to find they are a "privileged class of workers." Because, you know, I'm amazed at how many of my son's teachers talk about their yearly vacations in Europe, and how many Lexuses I see parked in front of the local fire station.... In the end, what republicans failed to understand is just how pissed off those of us in the private sector are at the shitty deal we've been handed by our companies--through no fault of our own. Why in the hell would we begrudge our friends and neighbors their paltry livelihoods? And raises the question we should be asking of every sitting republican legislator and every future republican candidate: Why do you hate people who actually work for a living? Peace, emaycee