Words from John

Hey! Did you know there are rail worker rallies happening tomorrow in Columbus, Denver, Santa Fe, and a handful of cities from coast to coast? Yep. They’re all from 1 pm - 3 pm tomorrow, Tuesday, December 13th. The Columbus, OH event is at the Statehouse.

SMART Union @smartunionworks

TOMORROW: Join a solidarity rally for rail workers in Washington, DC and in states across the country. Find a full list of rallies here: smart-union.org/2022-rail-soli…

I’ll be traveling to Columbus tomorrow to cover. That footage will probably be included in a summary video about the rail workers’ fight soon.

ICYMI, here are a couple of links to catch up on the rail worker situation:

And remember kids, if you’re looking for your political donations to really make an impact, donate them directly to a strike fund. I have several good ones in my linktree.

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Holiday Politics Coach: somebody just said “those people”

@heyjohnrussell MAN BONE. Holiday politics coach is back with thoughts on race and class. #politics #unions #billionaires #solidarity #ohiovalley #appalachia #yallternative #yallidarity #leftist #wva #eattherich #wealth #happyholidays #holidays #inlaws #smalltown

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Video Transcript:

Comment I’m responding to: “What about stuff that’s not related to finance? Cuz most of my holiday political arguments with my family aren’t financial.”

THOSE PEOPLE. Is that what Step-Cousin Steve just said? Time for a little talk with Steve.

If he’s throwing out “those people” left and right, then he can take a little tough love.

Sit him down and say, those people, Steve, are all your poor ass has…. You gotta remember it’s the super-rich vs. everyone who has to work. Do you ever wonder why you pay a higher tax rate than billionaires? There are 700 of them and millions of us. You could fit all the billionaires on two airplanes, yet they rule the world over millions of people, like you and me, who have no power. How?”

Division. It’s that simple. They’re counting on you to say stuff, like “those people”.

That’s the only way 700 people get their way over 100s of millions. God forbid, if we ever unite, it’s game over for the rich. And they know that. So they use money to buy TV networks, to run endless footage of burning cities that makes you mad at other working-class people so you never get together. Do you see how that manipulation is designed? Don’t give them a win. Don’t do what they want.

Be prepared here, he might say something stupid like “Yeah but I’d never burn down my city”.

Oh, you wouldn’t? (Feel free to tickle the man bone here).

You wouldn’t burn shit if the government crossed a line? You don’t have it in you to stand up for yourself?

Come on Steve. All people bleed red. You and those people have the same problems and the same lines you wouldn’t let people cross. Right?

They’re your family. Rich people have everything money can buy. You have other people. Your class family. Don’t just give it away.

Ok get back in there and make it happen!

Dive bar stories: The Tom’s Diner bar fight edition

@heyjohnrussell Always bring another shirt. #storytime #serviceindustry #bartender #divebar #appalachia #ohio #smalltown #wva #chaotic #redneck #yallternative #ohiovalley

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Video Transcript set to the song “Tom’s Diner”:

So I bartend, at a dive bar, in rust belt Appalachia, and I also live above it, it’s as crazy as you think, so last weekend a corrections officer, got a new job up somewhere else, so his buddies, who were COs, hatched a fun crazy Idea, they’d buy Andre which is cheap, for too much fucking money, if I allowed them, to spray it, all over their buddies face, and I said hell yes and they did it, and then they got into a fight.

Going back now in this story, it’s 5 pm that day, and a roughneck, from a frack pad, walked in while it was daylight, then he asked for $100, but in single fucking dollars, which means one thing, so he left, and came back drunk much later.

Back to the champagne, that guy walks in, and he’s fresh off from the (strip club), so he punches the corrections officers, and starts beef with everybody, that includes several marines, and a ton of corrections officers, plus a hippie, and a plumber, and a therapist with a pride flag.

I don’t notice, cause it’s busy, but my girlfriend says go outside, I go out there, and its chaos, this dude’s taking off his shirt, but underneath it, there’s another shirt, I think ok that’s a lot of shirts.

Anyway there is no chance now, of de-escalation, there’s like three dudes, running at him, and he is throwing drunk punches, I rip his sleeves off, like a cartoon, but under those sleeves, there were more sleeves, that’s a total, of three, goddamned t-shirts.

Before I can process, some guy joins in, this stupid rukus, we’re in the street now, across from all things, a police station, I tackle that guy into a fence, the first guy shoves me into a car, now he’s finished, and he’s walking, and I bet you probably guessed it, he takes his shirt off, and there are more shirts, then I go back to work…

The Holler

There are rail worker rallies all over the…