As someone who is VERY pro-labor and pro-union, I think first we need to stop thinking of them as unions.

But mayors seem to be unwilling or unable to stand up to them – and when the union publishes the arrest information of your daughter – well, it just seems like a glorified protection racket. (And DeBlasio hasn’t exactly been a critic of the police through all this, and yet here we are.)

If the Mayor is the boss of the Police Chief and his officers are in charge of the safety of the Mayor – there seems to be an inherent conflict of interest here. Sure, if you have a department that is fiercely ethical, dedicated to the community, understands the issues confronting those living in that community, a community where social services are properly funded, etc, etc – then you probably don’t have an issue where the Mayor has to tell the Chief to get his folks in line.

But, if you have a department that’s been able to do whatever the fuck they want since the beginning of time, and a union that is backing up their right to do so, with the inherent threat of “nice life and town the Mayor has here, it would be a shame if something happened to it” – well, then there is a problem.

I just don’t know what the hell we do about it.