General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: WAKE THE FUCK UP [View all]HardTimes99
(2,049 posts)comes pretty damned close (about as close as Jimmy Carter).
FWIW, your father-in-law was not that unusual. IIRC, the fucking Teamsters endorsed Reagan in both 1980 and 1984, to their eternal shame. And the AFL-CIO? Don't even get me started on how it sold out PATCO (while paying lip service to its claims).
People forget that when Reagan was California governor, he warned UC students there would be 'blood in the streets' if they continued to protest against the Vietnam War. After Kent State, though, Reagan closed all UC campuses for the remainder of 1970. IOW, Reagan was all talk and no action. Moral of the story: had the AFL-CIO called a 'general strike,' Reagan would have backed down.
Ancient history now, I suppose. But I date the beginning of the end to a cold day in January 1981.