When we talk about union thugs, often union sympathizers get all offended by the term thugs. For the record, the following story is WHY WE CALL THEM THUGS. A veteran union lobbyist threatened Sen. Jesse Ulibarri, a Democratic state Senator from Adams County, after Ulibarri sent out an email bemoaning lobbyists at the State Capitol. In the email with the subject line “656”, which represents the number of registered lobbyists, Ulibarri said the following:
“It’s hard to stand up for progressive values. I know because I have witnessed the swarm of corporate lobbyists, the oil and gas industry and health insurance companies that descend on the Capitol to drown out the voices of Colorado voters.”
Chuck Ford, a thirty-year veteran of the lobbyist corps who advocates for a wide variety of issues including labor unions, launched a fiery response (pardon the language, it’s not ours):
“I am a Labor Democrat, a Progressive Democrat, an Early-early Supporter of Bernie Sanders, a Radical Opponent of Corporate/plutocratic Government AND a registered Colorado Lobbyist for 30 years. YOU are a complete fucking idiot for daring to send me a piece of shit like this and, if you have the cojones to meet mano a mano I show you how I REALLY feel about you.”
Ouch. According to a Colorado Independent article, the email was sent at Thursday around noon, which means that Ford wasn’t drunk. Right…?