Name: Neil Gorsuch
Age: 49
Occupation: Supreme Court justice wannabe
Last Seen: Washington, DC
Bee-otched For: not really being a people person
Age: 49
Occupation: Supreme Court justice wannabe
Last Seen: Washington, DC
Bee-otched For: not really being a people person
Last weekend, I was reading a sad article from the Detroit Free Press.
The story was about Alphonse Maddin, a man who once worked for the Big Three automakers as a designer. However, the 2008 recession hit, causing him to switch careers. He became a trucker for TransAm, which is based in Kansas.
One night eight years ago, he was hauling a freight of meat through Illinois when he was running low on fuel. He called his dispatch and asked where to fill up. While he was pulled over, the brakes to his trailer froze. He called roadside assistance for help and told him that they would come. So, Maddin decided to lay down in his bunker. However, three hours later, he was awaken by his cell phone going off. It was a family member checking on him. When he answered the phone, his body was numb and could barely talk. The heater to his big rig was broken and the temperature in his cab was a bone-chilling -14 degrees. Maddin was scared that he was going to die. He called roadside assistance again and they told him "just hang in there". He couldn't take it anymore, so he had no choice to put matters into his own hands.
Alphonse got out of his cab and unhitched the disabled trailer, filled with thousands of dollars of meat. He was able to get his cab to a gas station where he fueled up and warmed up. He got back to the trailer where the brakes where repaired and he was on his way to make his deliveries. However, bad news was waiting for him in Kansas.
Three TransAm employees cordoned Maddin to come to a room, where he was fired. The company found out that Maddin abandoned his freight, a cardinal sin in the trucking industry. Maddin ended up pressing charges against TransAm under the Surface Transportation Assistance Act, which prohibits trucking firms from firing their workers for refusing to drive an unsafe truck. The case went in front of several judges over the years, and last year the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Maddin 2-1. The court ordered TransAm to rehire Maddin, who instead settled for back pay.
Despite having two college degrees, Maddin, 48 is living with family and friends until he can get back on his feet. However, while doing an internet search recently, he found out about the only judge who voted against him in favor of TransAm.
And guess who it is? None other than Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.
In his statement regarding Maddin's case, Gorsuch wrote, "A trucker was stranded on the side of the road, late at night, in cold weather, and his trailer brakes were stuck. He called his company for help and someone there gave him two options. He could drag the trailer carrying the company's goods to its destination, Or he could sit and wait for help to arrive. The trucker chose None of the Above, deciding instead to unhook the trailer and drive his truck to a gas station. In response, his employer, TransAm, fired him for disobeying orders and abandoning its trailer and goods."
However, in Senate conformation hearings, Gorsuch claimed that it's his job not to write the law but rather to enforce it.
So in other words, what Maddin did was illegal in Gorsuch's opinion and deserved to be fired, although his only other option was to freeze to death literally. Nice.
And yet, this asshole wants to chip away at abortion rights while real live humans suffer.
Folks, this is what happens when Repukes are in charge. In 2005, I had 400-degree glue poured on my arm at work. My shop didn't have a supervisor and nobody told me to go to the hospital. I ended up dumping a ton of Neosporan and gauze on my wound. The next day, my boss looked at my THIRD DEGREE burn and simply said "oh, I'm sorry," and walked away. Finally, after two weeks of the burn still oozing and pussing out, my boss finally told me to go to the occupational clinic where they gave me ointment that cleared up the burn. Twelve years later, My burn is still visible. Of course, my ex-boss was a pure asshole who also never gave me a real raise in the 10 1/2 years I busted my ass for him. Then again, with BusHitler running the show for most of the years I worked for him and the economy in the shitter most of the time, I had no real choice.
Now, we have another Repuke in the White House and he's proving to us all that companies are more important than people. Of course, he thinks he's creating jobs - especially by rebooting the coal industry - but they'll find a way to get around the law so we all get screwed while the 1% wins. But once again, don't look at me because I didn't vote for the guy.
The good news is that the Democrats are banding together to filibuster Gorsuch's nomination. Our country cannot afford leadership that only cares about big business over us. I cannot wait until next year so we can start taking Drumpf's power away from him. I hope the House and Senate have a Democratic majority in 2018 so we can totally shut his wealthy ass down.
And in the end, the Alphonse Maddins of the world will all be happy.
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