Buffalo Gal

The Madison Wisconsin union protests had a bit of a setback when the big snowstorm rolled in on Sunday. But the protest is far from over.
In a Monday article by Daniel Flynn, the opening paragraph said this:
“Your verdict on the protests embroiling the Wisconsin statehouse may depend on whether you think a school is a place to educate children or a jobs program for union members. It may also hinge on whether you view the mob as an impediment to democracy or democracy itself.”
There were also a significant mob of supporters for the Wisconsin Governor and the Republican majority in the legislature this weekend. It is interesting that neither of the groups..the protestors or the supporters of the Governor “got into it” in spite of being together for quite a length of time, marching around the state capitol together at times. I am quite sure there would have been some inevitable verbal exchanges but nothing that turned truly ugly…a great relief and a hope that our American right to free speech is still intact in Madison.

There still remains the fact that a mob should not determine any political issue…..only the proper government can do that and so far, the sore losers from November in the state of Wisconsin are hampering the functioning of governance by fleeing to Illinios so they can avoid the vote on the bill the Governor has proposed. I wonder what the Liberals would have said about Republicans who could have fled the U.S. capitol instead of voting on certain high spending bills that were passed in the US House and Senate between 2009 and 2011. If the quorum rule applied in Washington D.C. the Conservatives could have acted like sore losers also because they were in the minority at that time. I know that the Hue and Cry from the liberals would have been long and loud….just as they are silent now about what the WI Dems have done to avoid voting….no they are not silent at all…..President Obama’s re-election political team is sending in busses of outside protestors and speaking out in favor of the union mob that is determined to have its way in Madison.
Another quote from the article I read this morning is necessary:

“Mobs don’t lead. They follow. The mob also does not check credentials. It admits indiscriminately. If you don’t fit in outside the mob, you will fit in inside it. That’s why so many misfits flock to it. People wanting to escape themselves find a good hiding spot in the pack. Mobs convey emotions, not ideas. When the mob attempts to appeal to the intellect, it does so in the most anti-intellectual manner. The premade placard slogans, the nursery-rhyme chants and ther bull-horn interrogative, (“what do we want?”) doesn’t require thought but conformity. People who want to make an intellectual point don’t do so while beating oversized bongos.”

There may be power in a union but there is madness in a mob.

Interviews with Protestors usually yielded the same response: as in… “this bill will bust the unions!” No the bill will not do that. It is asking the big powerful public unions….government workers and teachers, principally….are being asked to contribute to their own pension funds and medical insurance programs. They are being asked to suspend collective bargaining for the good of a state that is broke…over 3 million dollars in debts. The union workers are not going to be “busted” but their formerly bullying tactics in “negotiating” will change with the passage of this bill.

I find it interesting that the Unions now have taken the exact same place that big businesses occupied when the union movement began…to make business treat workers more fairly. Now it is the unions who have the states and in some cases, businesses by “the short hairs”…just the opposite of earler decades…..the big businesses went too far in their treatment of workers and now the unions have gone too far in making their demands for salaries, benefits, early retirements and medical coverage for the rest of unions workers’ lives.

Some comments on this article are most illuminating…enough to share some or parts of them.

“LH2″ comments: “The spectacle of these cretins calling in ‘sick’ to defraud taxpayers while they mob the state capitol to prevent democracy sums it all up for anyone who wants to be objective. These are not noble teachers fighting for their rights. They are contemptible frauds with no concern for education attempting to thwart the people’s will with intimidation.”

“Genna 2″ says “When Democrats are in control, they ram unpopular legislation down our throats, mock and demonize anyone who disagrees with them, and pat themselves on the back for a job well done. When Republicans are in control , Democrats go into hiding and refuse to participate in the democratic process because in their very small and narrow minds if they can’t win there’s no point in playing.”
(OUCH)

Of the 14 comments on this article there was not one that was pro-union protestors. Also 59% of Wisconsin citizens support Governor Walker and that percentage went up 2 points after the protests began.
The big union supporters may have egg on their faces and a proverbial hole in their feet after these mob protests in Madison have been fully processed in the minds of Americans all over the nation.