Dan Sullivan, helluva guy.
A Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in Alaska has had to sorta-apologize for comparing union dues to slavery.
Comparing things to slavery that are not in fact slavery is one of the great Republican pastimes these days, but not only did Dan Sullivan go way, way out of proportion and display his utter lack of understanding of just what slavery was and is, he also managed to show his lack of understanding of or willingness to misrepresent the anti-union law he was embracing.
Sullivan's apology fell short as so many Republican apologies these days do; he issued an "if the use of the word offended anyone" apology, and that only after first refusing to apologize, and accompanied by a defense of his position:
But in a statement late Wednesday afternoon, the Republican and current mayor of Anchorage said he remains opposed to rules compelling mandatory union membership for certain work, which he referred to as a form of "economic slavery."
"To me, the term has no racial connotations except that people of all races may be prohibited from holding certain jobs unless they pay tribute to an organization they may not support," he said in the statement, released by a city spokeswoman.
If you think that the term slavery has no racial connotations, or that it's about being prohibited from holding certain jobs, well, you're in serious need of some remedial history lessons. Shoot, some dictionary-reading lessons.
And about the other part: No American can be compelled to join a union. Period. What workers must, in some states, pay if they have a job under a union contract is a fee covering the direct costs of bargaining the contract and representing workers under that contract. If you're opposed to that, logically speaking you'd have to be opposed to staffing agencies that take part of the pay of the temp workers they place in jobs.
To summarize: Dan Sullivan is an idiot who doesn't understand slavery, unions, or apologies. Or he's an extremist who misrepresents them.