Leary was in the Arena
Ahh. What would the blogosphere be without self righteous keyboard warriors who fashion themselves as legitimate authors who always pretend to know more than they actually do?
GregoryAButler's post below, is a window into the sanctimonious views of a linguistic bomb thrower, who operates under the delusion that his weapon of choice, "shocking prose", will bring an end to big bad union power and once again deliver the proverbial "power to the people." Quoting Brutus, and referencing Cesar is a well adapted defense mechanism by this published Author as he fights a lifelong, self loathing battle against the social structure that has always viewed him as a nothing more than a union thug contstruction monkey. Butler's flawed cognitive path leads him to act out against this stereotype by attacking all those whom he fears he is associated with in the larger social construct.
Though this has probably worked well in the past for Butler, he has unfortunately taken aim at a target that he cannot see through his scope. Butler has, through his ill-advised posting on this site, insulted an individual that is worthy of reverence and praise. In doing so, he has attacked a local and its members, that displayed last week the true differences between a union and it's corporate employer. The 19 lines of rhetoric that Butler has posted above, is an assault on a deceased worker and his friends that understand the meaning of sacrifice, and dertimination, while exhibiting the utmost concern for each other and their families.
The Funeral of Jerry Leary, was anything but elaborate. In fact, the perfection of the ceremonies were its imperfections. A friend to many was laid to rest as he lived his life, surrounded by his family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors. Though Butler, possibly due to his own feelings of general inadaquacy, chooses to characterize Leary's funeral in a certain fashion, the reality is much different. The Catholic Church that day was filled with the music of a solo vocalist, and a single organist, butressed only by the collective voices of a faithful gathering. That gathering, a mix of men and women from all sorts of backgrounds. Many of Jerry's co-workers turned out that frigid morning in their Carhart overalls, stained from the manholes that they toiled in only hours before. Not to mourn a King, Pope, or "Telecomm. Local Leader", but to celebrate the life of a friend who sacrificed so much for the union that meant so much to him.
Many of his co-workers, and fellow union activists recalled his tireless activism on behalf of workers throughout the Boston area and the Commonwealth. Not parochial in his belief that all workers demand respect in the workplace, Jerry has been there on the front lines during the struggles of workers from many different unions, and organizations. Perhaps it was Steve Early's account of the funeral procession that so bothered Butler. If he had only asked however, he could have been made aware of the incredible struggles that the City of Boston firefighters have endured in their tenuos relationship with the Mayor of Boston, as well as the unrelenting support that Leary provided to these workers despite incredible political pressure to do otherwise. As Leary's son Patrick pointed out so beatifully that day, one will never forget the Summer of 2004 when Leary stood with his fellow telephone workers as they refused to cross a picket line manned by Boston Firefighters, and Police as they pressured the Mayor prior to the Democratic National Convention. In Butler's world, it would have been acceptable to simply forget such loyalty. An honor guard was appropriate, and fitting for a activist that stood up against his own international to do what was right.
I would be negligent in my own post if I did not point out Butler's hypocrisy. He points out "endemic nepotism" in the labor movement and presumably, we can gather that Buttler is opposed to such practices. Yet he vilifies Leary for not keeping "his own kid on the payroll." Would the author have preferred for Leary to exercise the strength of his position by saving only "his own kid." Butler attempted, and once again failed, to attach a stereotype to an individual that did do the right thing for the membership, and that fought until his dying day for all workers, not just those that shared a name, parish, or local.
Leary, as Early's article pointed out was a true hero for all workers and deserving of the pedestal placed underneath him since his passing. A pedestal not granted by title, or bought with money; A pedestal not lifted by subordinates, or supported by favors. The memory of Jerry "Judgie" Leary and the lessons learned by his life have been placed on a pedestal that will be carried by the people whose lives he touched and the workers he dedicated himself to. Telephone workers, police, firefighters, construction workers, professional men and women, will all share the load of the pedestal that carries this labor heavyweight.
Perhaps you will appreciate the words of Theodore Roosevelt who opined that: "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles of where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
The difference Mr. Butler is that Jerry Leary fought in the arena, giving of himself in each battle. You, stand outside the arena, wait for the strong man to die, and offer unsolicited comments in an attempt to appear noble in your own right. In reality though, you are among the cold and timid souls, who will never experience the love and support that the Leary family felt last week. In the end, I suppose, that is Justice.