When I managed a unionized manufacturing organization, I faced it every time I had to make a controversial decision that had an underlying principle at risk. The event was often quite simple to assess, but the repercussions of the decision were not. For instance, there was a time when an employee committed a minor infraction and because of the supervisor's method of reprimand, all the union employees walked out of the plant in an illegal strike.
Should I sue the union for breach of contract and lose the employee workforce forever? Or do I work to get them back without breaking the union, considering the long term consequences of hiring a whole new workforce. On the surface it can look like asking the question, "who's running the plant?" At a deeper level, actions have consequences and unless I took appropriate actions, I would concede the power to manage the plant over to the union.
This is what our government faces today. Will they hold the insurrectionist politicians responsible, so those politicians suffer the consequences? Or do they bow to the forces that support a renegade president and forfeit control of the government to a gang of insurrectionists?
I hate to say this, but recent history has shown that consequences just don't seem to be a part of life in the upper social classes. To be clear, this doesn't apply to the lower social classes. You know what I mean. An ordinary bloke can get three years in jail for carrying too much pot and the multi-millionaire banker can destroy the life savings of millions and get a $100 million bonus on the way to his next big opportunity.
I'm betting that nothing will happen to the politicians who voted for and supported the violent overthrow of the government. Maybe a minor slap on the wrist will be administered and with that the power to run the country will accrue to the insurrectionists. Let's face it, the country's split almost 50/50 so, either way, there will be hell to pay.
This is one of those no-win situations that takes a statesman to solve. Unfortunately, American statesmen are in short supply these days.
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