How our blog got its name
Sidney Hillman was a powerful national figure during the Great Depression, a key supporter of the New Deal, and a close ally of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
When the rumor spread that President Roosevelt ordered his party leaders to “clear it with Sidney” before announcing Harry S. Truman as his 1944 running mate, conservative critics turned on the phrase, trumpeting it as proof that the president was under the thumb of “Big Labor.”
Over the years, the phrase lost its sting and became a testament to Hillman's influence.
It's hard to imagine a labor leader wielding that kind clout today, but we like the idea—and we hope Sidney would give thumbs up to our blog.
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#Sidney's Picks: Debunking Aurora Web Pranks; Union Drive in MS; Marriage and the Middle Class
- Rumors are flying in the wake of the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado. Gawker media reporter Adrian Chen explains why "clues" linking the shooter to the online community 9gag are probably internet pranks
- Joe Atkins of the Jackson Free Press takes us inside the UAW's high-stakes battle to unionize Nissan in Mississippi. Hillman trustees Bruce Raynor and Danny Glover are there.
- Katha Pollitt of the Nation takes Jason DeParle to task for his sentimental paean to marriage as a path to economic stability. "Do we really need a front-page story in the Sunday New York Times to tell us that a woman with a college degree and a good solid marriage is better off than a college dropout raising three kids alone?" she asks
- Greg Ousley killed his parents 19 years ago, at the age of 14. Prison officials in Indiana hope he'll be paroled in a few years. Should he be?
- "These are my guys forever." John Gravois reports on an innovative new program that places disabled veterans in family homes
[Photo credit: Wander Mule, Creative Commons.]
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