Teenagers with bats seriously beat one of the striking clerks in LA yesterday. He was sent to the Hospital; they were questioned and sent home. As Nathan Newman observes: Anti-union propaganda always harp on "union violence" but they rarely talk about the violence employer-related thugs regularly inflict on peaceful picketers...Like the hyping of "union corruption"- rarely more than pissant embezzling by a few isolated officials, a pale reflection of the mass looting by Enron and other corporate officials, the hype of "union violence" while ignoring employer and government violence is one of the Big Lies by the Lying Liars of the rightwing to undermine public support for unionism. Don't hold your breath waiting for conservatives to condemn the "cultural explanation" and "media influence" behind this particular crime, or to explore how it is that we convince sixteen-year old boys that standing up for a living wage is a provocation worthy of violent retribution.