Chris Lehane likes to cite his work for the Screen Actors’ Guild in 2002 as evidence of his pro-union bona fides. But a research piece on the new Chrislehane.blogspot site suggests that he was brought on to sell a bad deal to the rank-and-file, not to fight for their rights against corporate interests:
The 2002 negotiations were over a 50-year old SAG rule that prevented talent agencies from being owned by companies that employ actors. The SAG board in early 2002 negotiated a deal, championed by President Melissa Gilbert, that would have allowed ad agencies and independent production companies, but not the major studios, to own up to 20% of the talent agencies. Many SAG members opposed this weakening of the old rule, concerned that it would hurt their interests to allow greater corporate ownership.
Fabiani and Lehane were hired by Gilbert and Robert Pisano, CEO of SAG, to sell the deal to a skeptical membership base. As with the double-dealing in the 2001 energy crisis, the hiring of Lehane itself aggravated the internal split within SAG. SAG Treasurer Kent McCord, a leader of the opposition to the talent agencies deal, refused to sign off on pay for the duo until the fees were disclosed and complained about not having been informed about the hiring of the pair. It was at this point that Lehane gave his self-serving quote about taking a reduced fee – 1/3 of the usual – in order to help workers:
"we believe strongly in the need to preserve the strength of the union and this agreement does that. We both come from liberal, progressive backgrounds, and this union represents working people." source
The quote was specifically designed to defuse the criticism over the pro-agreement SAG faction having hired the duo. Lehane continued to spin the agreement, trying to divide the SAG membership by pointing to the agreement’s provisions to create a “Actor Theft Protection Fund” and rules about pay for overseas work.
It didn’t work. Although Valerie Harper, another agreement opponent, failed to beat Gilbert in the race for SAG president in March 2002, the SAG rank and file rejected the agreement in an April 2002 vote. Once again, Lehane’s hiring became the issue, exacerbating an existing divide without actually bringing anything of value – in this case ratification of the agreement – to his employers.
Read the whole thing. It details the legacy of Lehane’s political failures as members of the Democratic consultant class.
Lehane wasn’t exactly working for free — although he probably should have been.
Related posts:
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- Ted Kennedy’s Legacy, and the Nixon Healthcare Deal That Wasn’t
- The Legacy of the Church Committee: “Good Democrats; Bad Republicans”
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Didn’t Lehane just claim that he was doing it from the bottom of his heart…? ;-)
Ooh, Zed is not dead… *g*
Hi Jane!
The Los Angeles Times and Variety both reported that Dick Clark Productions, the company responsible for producing the Globes ceremony, said it would attempt an independent deal with the guild in order to prevent the show from being picketed.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com…..elevision/
So… was Lehane working for NARAL in 2005-2006, by any chance?
ot – maybe you-all already covered the house vote today… if so, i apologize for the duplication:
272 – 142 to give bush another blank check.
ya, brokering a bad deal over a decade ago and then making believe you were the champion for the union
sick dance from these maggots
this is like the president, totally destroying our infrastructure and then saying “he’s not going to fix them because that would raise taxes”
mess it up and then somehow take credit.
got an anecdote to tell
when I was growing up in my lower middle class family, if I wanted to have a cookie, piece of cake, piece of fruit, if there was a whole bunch I would have just a little piece because that wouldn’t be missed
but if there was very little I would have a big piece because everyone would know I took the piece, might as well take a healthy portion
well, that’s what the president and these people do, I’ve been saying “the more exposed they are the more brazen they become” and my anecdote fits perfectly
There is death and dying going on. Why do you have a “hard-on” for this guy? Fine to run a vanity press when our troops are not in harms way. Is anybody paying attention out there?
Just in case you didn’t just do a flyby and you’re still here, I’m not sure what the point of your comment is/was.
What do you want?
Wow! What a thoughtful comment.
Maybe it’s just me, but, I find this; “Why do you have a ‘hard-on’ for this guy?” a bit rude… 8-(
I don’t want to sound ungrateful to Jane and the pups and I understand Jane’s engagement with the writer’s strike is personal and historical, but I need to express my concern, even disappointment.
I am sorry that the subject of Jamie Leigh Jones was abandoned so quickly and for subjects that I dare to suggest are not as timely or as terrifying. Lehane was an idiot and Huckabee was a liar (and vice versa) yesterday and will be tomorrow.
JLJ only has this one chance to get our attention.
So, to do my part to reorient our interests and, ideally, to make her the object of our energies, I report that in addition to CNN and ABC, Reuters and AP are carrying the no-show story and that there is considerable interest in Texas newspapers.
We often mock the MSM’s preference for stories about white females, preferably blonde, who have been the victims of alleged heinous crimes.
Here is one that offers us an opportunity to make MSM’s obsession work toward justice for one woman, and at least 11 more.
12 angry women, it has a nice sound, could be a movie title.
Now, could we please make some moves. Jane, help us organize here.
CSPAN is showing the hearing with rape victim Jamie Leigh Jones now, just getting underway
Roy,
I think most of us tend to get pretty burned out if we try to maintain the anger edge 24/7/365.
Even the troops take various types of breaks for mental health. Just call these types of posts mental health posts that allow Jane et al to concentrate on something other than the anger. You don’t have to read and participate if you don’t want to do so.
Roy — Perhaps because Jane gives a shit abot the writers strike? Because it is part and parcel with trying to bust the union movement? Because Lehane is working for the studio heads who are trying to screw not just the writers’ union, but also SAG and the DGA as well in upcoming negotiations?
You think union issues and the problems with Democratic consultants who could give a shit about the issues at the heart of the rank and file of the party are just some little pissant piece of the whole, festering pie, do you? Think again…
And, while I’m at it, it’s incredibly rude to show up in someone’s thread and start telling them what they should be thinking about or writing about…you don’t like the topic? Git yer own blog.
(Sorry if this sounds a bit crabby, but honestly, what in the hell were you thinking with the “your topic isn’t as important as my topic” approach?)
I guess FDL should never post on anything other than the war or Serious Weighty Issues.
Although I suppose this could be considered a weighty issue…
Thanks Elliot. heartfelt thanks.
I think Chris is trying to become a political “made man” for the GOP. Of course, he’s doing so at the same time that Bush is running the GOP into the ground, so the wisdom of that choice of a career trajectory is somewhat suspect.
vg – it might be a reaction to today’s vote to give bush another blank check to fund the wars/occupations.
How many times has Pelosi vowed that Bush will not be getting any more blank checks?
Oops, my bad – my brain was still on the Huckabee thread.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that Jane has a “hard-on” for Lehane because he’s yet another one of the seemingly endless stream of Democratic “consultants” determined to betray the progressive movement wherever possible.
I believe that worthless assholes like Lehane are a large part of the reason the Democrats are so weak right now, which is, oh-by-the-way, the reason we’re still in Iraq.
The House Judiciary Committee also has it up on their website, where you can watch it whenever you want.
I’m just guessing here, BSRH, but something tells me that we haven’t heard the last of this — not here, not in DC, and not on the campaign trail either.
Melissa Gilbert has a very long and active history with SAG. It’s members certainly have had countless opportunities to review her presidency and Vice Presidency of the AFL-CIO. Perhaps someone has better numbers than I do but my information looks like the members of SAG have a sickly voting record. Only about 1/4 of the members cast a vote. By their absence they allow only a few people to express their confidence in the elected president. It isn’t like Gilbert is new on the scene. She was a member of the board for several years.
When something goes awry, the members look for someone to blame. I suggest they stay active. I support the strike and I support the union position that supports its members.
Peterr — Not by a long shot, if what I’m hearing is correct. I think the DOJ is going to have some significant ’splaining to do as well for quite a while on this, just for starters.
thank you for the link. it’s perfect. this is a lie that i do care about.
First and foremost, why wasn’t any DoJ rep there…
Eli,
Is your question pointed at me, or the Royguy?
My comment was asking him what he wants. Didn’t understand his comment.
I know fully well that Jane’s thread is weighty. I haven’t worked a day since the Writers Strike started.
????
Eli,-
Okay. Our comments side-swiped.
I’m cool.
Forgive the OT please. It seems that topics change so quickly now, i am always EPU’d. For those who are still interested in some facts about the Huckster’s lies about losing weight, please read my post on the last thread:
http://www.realchange.org/huck…..blicmoneyA Quick and Petty Anger
Mike Huckabee has stood out in this election for his consistently positive, upbeat performancs on TV and in debates. Those who have know him longer know a different side — a vindictive, thin skinned anger. Since the president is the one we look to in time of crisis, this is a serious concern.
One quick example; as he was leaving office, Huckabee directed that a bunch of money that the legislature allotted for other programs be shifted to pay for a new faculty position at the University of Arkansas Medical School, named for the doctor who helped him lose 110 pounds. Legislators questioned the legality of this move, and even the medical school president suggested it might be better to do this the right way, by asking the legislature to approve the change. (This all happened just days before a new legislative session opened.) Huckabee got mad and cancelled all of the spending.
Why give money to a doctor for ‘helping’ you lose weight?! As far as I know, exercise and diet is overseen and helped by others than medical doctors in a medical school! The gift of money is telling – and it being taken away is even more telling!
Oops, sorry about that. I missed.
Hope so. There was a level of outrage among the commenters that I have not seen equalled in the year since I came to the lake.
Ya merely misquoted… *g*
Come to think of it, it’s kinda ironic that someone would complain that Jane is beating up a Democratic consultant when there’s a war on, when it’s the Democratic consultant types who keep trying to convince Democrats not to talk about the war…
Well if we take the circumference of a circle and multiply this by the number of blank checks given and divide all this by pi times the radius times two, the result is how many times Pelosi has promised no more blank checks.
this is just not so…. at least from what i saw while i was working at two medical schools.
While the number of times that Pelosi has actually blocked blank checks… is imaginary.
. . . and apparently infinite.
Though I would be happy to be proven wrong.
Why not, I’d be concerned if it hadn’t elevated… considering the sheer amount of BS this Maladministration is getting away with…
i know. poor congress critters don’t know how to think for themselves.. they’re not responsible – it’s all the consultant’s fault.
p.s. i despise lehane and am happy to see him taken down. i just don’t see him as complicit in this most recent cave by our congress.
Is this ever OT, but I just stumbled across it: Here’s Sen. Reid talking about POTUS, and here we sit at times wondering why Sen. Reid seems to kowtow to the WH so much >>>
Does Sen. Reid by any chance have father-figure issues? “Have I done something wrong?” Nuh-uh: not Majority Leader material, IMHO.
Eleventy bajillion.
But it’s alright now. In fact it’s a gas!
(Just to bring the last post up here and the kerfuffles.)
It’s just so darn frustrating to be living with the news of the day.
We Do pay attention. And, we call and fax and Care.
And, then Some People just lie their asses off.
AND it’s the holiday season which can be an anxious time for alot of folks.
I’m good friends with the writer of a certain movie that has gotten a whole buncha air time because of the Writers Strike, so he’s getting some checks, but he told me he feels guilty because of the circumstances.
Really nice guy. (friends from church.)
Every time I hear “No more blank checks”, I know that the speaker is looking for something to say because she is on the spot and that statement seems to shut up further questions. It’s a convenient one liner. Don’t take it seriously. In fact, don’t take much of anything she or Harry says seriously. The only things serious about the statements are the consequences.
Roy, if you know of anything FDL has not done to get our troops out of Iraq, please by all means let us know. Within the parameters of this community, I think there’s incredibly wide spread consensus. Unfortunately, Congress continues to ignore us and the majority of Americans.
I agree that the quote makes Reid sound like a little boy. But if you read the entire article, it provides a context that makes it clear that Reid is simply flabbergasted at the intransigence of Bush.
Lehane personally, probably not. I think the consultants are most pernicious around election time, and I think they have Rahm and Schumer’s ears 24/7.
But yes, the congresscritters are ultimately accountable for their own actions. It’s their prerogative to tell the consultants to bite them when they suggest something stupid or downright evil.
*gah* Cliff May is on Abrams stating there’s a partisan witch hunt afoot… Pot meet Kettle…
And just to be clear: I’m no Reid supporter. I would like to see someone like Dodd as ML much more than Reid.
Harry needs a dose of LBJ.
I just found it amazing that he would speak so ill of Bush… and then work so hard to facilitate his demands.
i wasn’t complaining (jeeze didn’t we have an amazing victory on tuesday that jane and christy basically pulled out of the air with 2 years of work on fisa and warrantless spying?).
it was just an observation that i, and perhaps others, are upset at congress and it might show in our comments… but please consider the reason and don’t take it as directed at you.
taht is all.
Stockholm Syndrome.
Selise – Sorry – you know more than I. My understanding was that usually a doctor oversees someone’s recovery after bypass surgery – not just doing exervises and diet planning for someone who wants to lose 110 pounds. But that wasn’t my main point – it was about Hucklebee being told by the state that what he was doing was an inappropriate procedure, and he got angry and pulled the donation. I assume you read the article. I just find this man unethical in so many ways – and many of them have not been brought to MSM or blogging light.
I just spewed my coffee imagining Harry the Mormon sitting down with Lyndon the Texan.
On the issue of Jamie Leigh Jones and the DOJ- and Dodd
A bit of a ramble, but I will get there in the end.
I’m sorry I couldn’t find the link at FDL, but Jane was talking about how the idea evolved very quickly among bloggers to ask Dodd to step on the FISA issue. And, she also linked Glenzilla.
I sent someone in the Dodd campaign an email suggesting that this (Jamie Leigh Jones, rape, DOJ) is a second powerful issue that Dodd should address- come out swinging- big time. I send the link to the previous thread:
http://firedoglake.com/2007/12…..-like-her/
Dodd is the person to speak up. imo.
Lehane and Penn are pining for the good old days.
when workers knew their place and company thugs were socially acceptable.
Ya owe me a keyboard… :P
for someone who want to loose 10 lbs, no. but someone who wants to loose more than a third of his body weight? sure.
Well, I did read the entire article — that’s how I stumbled upon the quote. And those sentences, which seem like self-flagellation by a person wondering why he can’t satisfy an authority figure — stood out because they seemed quite revealing. One might be flabbergasted and not ask, “What did I do wrong?”
((((DEMI))))
Thanks you for your insight. It still was not my main point.
Huffpo has a story “Neocon Purge At Time With Kristol, Krauthammer Out” but not to worry Time is trying to get Ramesh Ponnuru to sign on so the average intelligence of its columnists will remain the same or decrease slightly.
*gah* Cliff May is on Abrams stating there’s a partisan witch hunt afoot…
Amazing, isn’t it, that Dan Abrams changes his tune/policies and begins to address real issues, and then makes it utterly unwatchable by keeping Cliff May around to shout louder than any other guest – and to piss *me* off so much that I can’t take it. Remote w/in easy reach for Cliff May alerts…
i’m not arguing with your main point.
(((LOO HOO )))
Singing…we belong to a mutual, admiration society…..
hey, girl!
There is no way to know for sure just from the transcript, but I took it as more like a sarcastic, “What’d I do wrong?” Anyway, Reid sucks as ML. ‘Nuff said.
This is kinda like accusing the CT Democratic Party of “purging” Joe Lieberman.
Or accusing the NYT of “purging” Jayson Blair…
Hey, Dan the Man, did tell him to STFU a couple of times recently… *g*
lol. thank you, i needed a good laugh.
Totally OT….
I took my mother to see my sister’s elementary school holiday show this afternoon.
Sis took an early retirement from management at NBC, went back to school to get her teaching credential and is teaching fourth grade.
Led her choir in singing Light One Candle and Let There Be Peace On Earth.
Now, that’s a nice counterpoint to today’s BS political news.
According to AmericaBlog, Reid took the floor earlier today and did one thing right. Speaking to the President of the Senate, Reid said this:
Looks like Webb will be back in the Chair, running the senate for a couple of days. Or at least a couple of minutes for a couple of days.
I never knew Dan the Man had such a hot temper.
Any word on JokeLine’s tenure there?
Hey, Dan the Man, did tell him to STFU a couple of times recently… *g*
I’m thinking it’d take a 2 x 4 to shut him up. Or maybe just mace the summbitch…
Ya gotta give some slack, he just made sure bus can’t make any appointments over the holiday season. He is keeping the senate in proforma session inot January!
Heh, not on a par with Billo or Dobbs… ;-)
Don’t Tase me, Bro… *g*
The article only dealt with conservatives, not “liberals”.
I’ve never understood. When they are speaking on the floor, who are they addressing when they address Mr. President?
Hey, give’m a little credit they did hire Markos…
The person holding the gavel in the Senate also holds the title “President of the Senate.” That does make it odd to listen to at times.
president pro tem of the senate, i think. (did i even spell it right). the senator who’s sitting up on the big chair with the gavel.
President of the Senate: the Vice President of the US.
They are addressing the President pro tem of the Senate.
Thank you. I appreciate that people here correct misstatements. But my own comment after quoting the article was tangential. I just wish people would read this whole article about Huckabee’s demonstrated lack of ethics, stealing and shows of anger. I think it is important in evaluating his fitness as a presidential candidate.
http://www.realchange.org/huckabee.htm#publicmoney
Whomever is occupying the chair, they’re anointed the Prez of the Senate… ‘Cept when Darth enters the chamber…
Loo Hoo- partial answer, bec. I can’t remember the details I got from google- but President of the Senate is a rotating position- rotated several times during the FISA debates. Sometimes it was “Mr. President”, sometimes it was “Madame President” depending on who was presiding.
Yeah. I should have said, “The President of the Senate: the VP of the US, when he is there, otherwise, whoever is sitting in his chair”.
here’s a bit from the congressional record for this morning on the senate floor:
they take turns (several senators during the day), i guess they have it all planned out on somekind of rotating basis… but that’s just conjecture.
shoot i messed up the bit from the CR. trying again:
I like watching the House much better. All the yelling and groaning and gavel-pounding is much more democratic (as the Founders intended).
I love Parliament because of the slap your knee heehaws by opponents. That’s a lively debate. Can you imagine shrub trying to mouth out rebuttals at the speed Brits speak the English language? That would be a hoot!
Yeah. Wouldn’t it be great if Dems and Reps just laughed their asses off during the SotU address?
Yeah like the language on this site is so pristine. What about Soldiers dying do you not understand. There is an illegal “war” going on. The writers are fine, they are finding ways to bypass the Networks. Lehane is irrelevant.
If any of you paid any attention you would know that most of my posts on this site are quite lengthy – and never read. So what seems like a “flyby” was within your attention span.
The guys and gals in Iraq do not have it so good and it is hard to recover from death. If you are not actively doing something every day to try to end this stupid “war” you are as guilty as Bush and as CHS says, there is blood on your hands.
OK you can go back to short attention span theater.
It seems pretty clear that there is quite a bit you do not get the point of. Are you someone who would be able to do something about “what I want?”
Death and dying, now what could I be talking about?
Take a little time and it may come to you that we have men and women dying in Iraq for no reason at all. If you knew that and think that it is old news, you are wrong. They are still in harms way and the PPPM(Pathetic Progressive Peace Movement) is useless. Democrats in Congress sell us out. And here where there is a stage from which to influence I find some drivel about a “Democrat” operative sell out the people.
I hardly think that the SAG feud takes any precedence over the “war”. SO far the SAG is not killing its members.
SO finally the point is that there is a “war” to be stopped. The heck with Lehane and the SAG.
You seem to fit your name.
Roy,
Vigorous discussion and debate are encouraged, but we don’t insult fellow commenters here.
The mods will remove comments which they believe violate that policy.
Thanks
IT is not my topic. What about death do you not understand. It is as was said here in this venue that the blood of the soldiers is on our hands, your hands, my hands, if we do nothing about it.
Yes the soldiers take breaks, but they really never get away, they can die just as easily on their breaks as when they are not on break. Then they are kept there endlessly. Suicide rates among our soldiers are intolerable. War is not just another job, or someones pet issue. They are there 24/7/365 and until we bring them home we can never forget or be diverted by less pressing issues.
That is why they are still there. Becasue we just don’t get it. War is what the Writers put on the screen for most of us, but some of us have been there, had the bloods of fellow soldiers litterally on our hands. Taken the bodies to Graves Registration.
So please do not be so flip to suggest that Bush’s illegal war in Iraq and his misuse and abuse of our military is just another issue, or “my” issue.
You have the stage and seem to be intellegent and educated, I expect more of you and Jane and all there rest of you who try to fill the very empty shoes of journalists past who brought the important issues to us and kept it infront of us.
Please do not insult my intellegence or the lives of our soldiers and suggest that what is going on with SAG, Lehane, and the Writers strike is anyway on par with ending the war.
They just set there in Iraq. It is like a child has wandered onto a busy street and his mother has gone into the house to get help and was sidetracked by her soap opera.
Well you go ahead. I am not stopping. My generation has invisible people all over our country that fought in Vietnam, came home and were forgotten. The number of vets that are homeless and have untreated problems is shameful. Now we have another “war” and they are not even home and they are forgotten. Everyday we need to acknowledge their presense there and remind all who we reach that Congress must feel the 24/7/365 heat so our men and women come home alive.
MSM at least kept a count of the number of days that the Hostages were in Iran. Starting the day acknowledging those who serve us – even though that service is being misused – is the least we can do. It seems we are intent on doing the least we can do.
You remove it before it is read.
Tell me that
“Wow, what a thoughtful comment” is not as insulting as anything I ahve said. That is a comment that is typlical of the “VAlley Girl” image.
But that is fine delete me. That does not make you right or me wrong.
IT jsut shows that you can’t handle views that challenge your appathy and betrayal of what you claim is your Progressiveness.
You are what you do.
Tell me what is insulting here?
You are as bad as the MSM. Just print the comments. They asked the question “What do you want” as if they were some one who could do something about what I want.
No wonder that the people in congress no longer have any fear of the MSBloggers. You are jsut like them.
I have seen the F word used on this site, not by commentors but by the featured writers. So this site does not have so pristine language. What is insulting about that?
If you look at that nature and length of the comemnts here, it seems that the average attention span is short. Nothing insulting there, just a pretty good observation. When I have written longer comments I get no response. Today with a short comment I got three in a row.
I think the problem is not with me, but in the fact that you do not want to admit that I am right that you are distracted by the frivilous from the really important issues. Only the Dodd filibuster comes anyhwere close to then imoport of ending the “war”.
Sleep well.
Roy….just curious, when you are a guest in someone’s house, do you usually trash the choice of food and beverage they serve you?