Links: Right-to-work voted down, and Niagara Falls has frozen over

Links: Right-to-work voted down, and Niagara Falls has frozen over 

Congress needs to repeal all so called right-to-work laws. In reality, they are part of the attraction of undocumented labor, sometimes in slave-like conditions.

Gasp! Republican politicians are pandering to the worst of their party's voters. The fall of Trump will end this. Without him, the worst of the party will fade into the weeds.

Speak of the devil, some of his minions trying to cash in is pathetic. Rich people do not give to lost causes. I wonder who will be funding these organizations. Could it be....Trump? I would not count on The Donald to share. It is not in his DNA.

Politics is work. Cults of personality do not join the work once their idol is cast down. Rumors of the of the GOP are greatly exaggerated. Normal Republicans did better than Trump where it counted the most.

American exceptionalism is very real. While republican forms of government have, on occasion, resulted in egalitarian blood sport, for the most part they have tossed aside authoritarianism. Until Vatican II, the Church was its main enemy. Exceptionalism has become universalism, which is why ethnic and religious nationalism have reared their ugly heads, from Le Pen to Paprocki.

The rumor that job losses in coal country are related to the drive to clean energy are not without a grain of truth. People who work the mines are not mobile. Their children are, however. Throwing money at them for the new economy - and not necessarily in energy - is the way out for all concerned.

The great thing about the winter in this part of the world is that it makes an appearance and then goes away. Without the warming caused by burning coal and gasoline, however, winter may not be so kind as to leave. Be careful of what you wish for.