Shakespeare kept a copy of Nostradamus at his bedside, which probably accounts for the passage, "The first thing
we do, let's kill all the lawyers turned judge by Carter and Clinton." That's the famous passage as it appeared in the draft manuscript of King Henry VI.
The Bard, however, feared that high school students would be
put off by so enigmatic a reference, so it was altered.
Too bad.
Nearly a 20 years ago the U. S. Supreme Court established what are now known as "Beck
rights" in the landmark decision Communication Workers v. Beck.1 Beck rights
dictate that workers cannot be forced under union contracts to pay any dues or fees beyond
those necessary for the performance of the union's employee representation duties.¹.
To that end, employers were supposed to post notices so employees would
be made aware, and know where they could report violations.
"Stroke of a pen. Law of the land. Kinda cool." -
(Paul Begala on Clinton's use of the Executive Order)
In 1992 Bill Clinton became President, and his Attorney General Janet Reno chose not to enforce Beck. Simple as that. A decade later President Bush issued his own Executive Order (13201) , requiring federal contractors to post notices informing employees that
they cannot be compelled to pay union dues spent for partisan politics
or any other activities unrelated to collective bargaining. It took Clinton Judge
Henry Kennedy Jr. about ten seconds to invalidate the Bush E.O.
So much for ''stroke of the pen'' when it's Republican ink.
Today, "Numerous
conservative groups are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate a
Washington state law that requires unions to get permission from
non-union employees before spending their mandatory dues on political
causes and activities." (Union Foes Seek High Court Ruling on Dues for Politics ).
All of this is to illustrate that when it comes the law, liberals get to choose which one they will obey, thanks to fellow traveler judges Shakespeare got it right the first time.
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