Invisible Labor Secretary

I noted a while back the difficulty labor unions have in getting their voices heard on network TV -- even when they're willing to pay for the privilege. David Swanson in Truthout points out another facet of Labor's invisibility in Bush's America: the lack of coverage in the U.S. media of the Labor secretary, Elaine Chao. Chao is one of the few cabinet-level re-appointments for Bush's second term, but I bet you haven't heard about this (in fact, 10-to-1 you haven't even heard about her). The basic point of the article is not that Chao has received excessively favorable media coverage; rather that she's received essentially no substantive coverage at all! The wife of powerful Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, Chao is seen by the media as a "safe bet" for renomination, and her status as an immigrant is a point of note -- but that's about it. She's certainly no friend of American labor, but the deeper issue is that she just doesn't get covered. It's like the media just don't care about labor issues. In fact, it's clear they don't! I like to point out to anyone who'll listen that almost every major newspaper has a large business section, but never a labor section -- yet many more Americans work for a wage than own stocks and shares. Why is that? What do we even have a labor secretary for? Now that's a quesion ... .