Academy Awards Politics: Unions

On at least two occasions during last night's ceremony, winners of Academy Awards thanked members of unions in their acceptance speeches.

First, Wally Pfister thanked his "fantastic union crew" when he won for Best Cinematography.

From ABC News:

At the Academy Awards tonight, best cinematography winner Wally Pfister made a point during his acceptance speech of thanking his union crew on “Inception.”

Backstage he went further, expressing shock at Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal, which would limit union’s collective bargaining powers. Opponents of the plan have been protesting at the state capitol for 21 days.

Here's video of Pfister's backstage remarks:

WALLY PFISTER: I think that what's going on in Wisconsin is kind of madness right now. I've been a union member for 30 years and what the union has given to me is security for my family. They've given me health care in a country that otherwise does not provide health care, and I think the unions are a very important part of the middle class of America. So I stand strong behind any of the union members in this country and any other country, 'cause all we're trying to do is get a decent wage and have medical care.

Obviously, Pfister doesn't know what's happening in Wisconsin and doesn't at all understand the truth of the situation. The madness in Wisconsin right now is the camping inside the Capitol, the drumming, the dancing, and the utter disgrace of the 14 senate Democrats hiding out in Illinois in order to obstruct the will of the people. Note to Pfister: You don't have to be a union member to get medical care or a decent wage or security for your family. In addition to Pfister, the winners for Best Sound Mixing, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick for Inception, voiced support for unions when they accepted. From the Associated Press:

Gary Rizzo, who won for sound-mixing on "Inception," thanked "all the hard working boom operators and utility sound people that worked on the production crew. Union, of course.

I bet those "hard working boom operators and utility sound people" don't get the sort of benefits the public school teachers and public employees in Wisconsin get. I don't think Rizzo has a clue. I wonder if these Oscar winners are concerned that federal employees don't have collective bargaining "rights." Is what's going on around the country on the federal level "madness"? I didn't hear Pfister call out Obama. More politics:

Another winner said that it was wrong that executives whose banks were bailed out by the U.S. government had not gone to jail. Charles Ferguson, whose winning documentary "Inside Job" analyzed the causes of the global financial crisis of 2008, told the audience that those behind the crisis were criminals. "Not a single financial executive has gone to jail and that's wrong," he said to applause. Backstage, he offered reasons why they hadn't been prosecuted. "The financial industry has become so politically powerful that it is able to inhibit the normal processes of justice and law enforcement," he said.

Slamming financial executives -- same old, same old. I didn't hear a single winner or presenter make any statements about the war. Do they remember that we're at war? Where's the outrage? Has Hollywood become filled with hawks in the past couple of years?