Exploiting 9/11 Again, Fourth of July Parade in Racine attracts Tea Party/Vicki McKenna Flies.

UPDATE:  Mark Hinkston, president of Fourth Fest of Greater Racine, said firefighters in uniform will be allowed to march with the parade float honoring firefighters and other emergency workers killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.


I'll be the first to admit it; the unions have to work on their public relations skills. They've been slow to adapt to the many sympathetic protesters, made up of public and private workers, who support what unions have contributed to labor rights. Small business owner support as well. 

Understanding that conservatives are all about how things look, images, and phony symbolism, unions should have stopped itself from galvanizing the right wing fringe with a poorly thought out act of tough love;

jsonline-Dan Bice: The Racine firefighters union doesn't want to have anything to do with a parade float aimed at honoring public safety workers killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But a lot of other people do.

As No Quarter reported Friday, fire Lt. Matt Gorniak is going ahead with plans to exhibit the float at Racine's big Fourth Fest parade Monday, even though leaders of the Racine firefighters union recently voted against supporting it. Union officials are upset that Gorniak resigned from the state firefighters union earlier in the year.

Reached Friday, Craig Ford, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 321, defended his executive board members' unanimous decision … "The union is not going to use union resources to support this." In general, the union boss said he thinks Gorniak is doing something laudable. Ford said he had no ax to grind with the nonunion firefighter. It's just that, Ford said, his union cannot offer its support. "I don't know how we got caught in the cross-hairs," he said. "This has turned into a PR nightmare."

The flag pin party of image conscious conservatives, who never stop searching for the next golden idol to worship, couldn’t wait to exploit 9/11 again:

Of course, some political types, especially union critics, are trying to score points off the controversy. The Racine Journal Times reported Friday that the local tea party group has mobilized members to come out and support it. Conservative talk show host Vicki McKenna was also encouraging listeners to join her in Racine for the parade.

These fair weather “love our country first” conservatives, a country in their image only, won’t get the chance:

Mark Hinkston, president of Fourth Fest of Greater Racine, said his group doesn't want anyone hijacking the event to make a statement about Gov. Scott Walker's collective-bargaining plan or union politics.