Saturday, February 26, 2011

100,000 March on Wisconsin Capitol

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has the story, "Protesters deriding bill again fill Capitol Square."

And the video's c/o Althouse, "
Outside the Capitol today — a march, snow, and Peter Yarrow":
1:38 — "HITLER STALIN WALKER."
Yep. Watch the clip and see that sign. The enormity of evil, trivialized.

RELATED: At Legal Insurrection, "
50-State Union Protest Falls Far Short Of Predicted Turnout" and "FAIL… Dems Left Red-Faced; Protesters Fail to Materialize at National MoveOn Rallies" (via Instapundit).

And Los Angeles Times blends it all together, "
Protesters out in force nationwide to oppose Wisconsin's anti-union bill":
Nearly two weeks into a political standoff, tens of thousands rallied in Madison and in dozens of cities around the nation to oppose a bill that would severely limit collective bargaining rights for most Wisconsin public employees.

Joel DeSpain, spokesman for the Madison Police Department, said the rally — in steadily falling snow — drew between 70,000 and 100,000 and may have been the largest protest in Madison since the Vietnam War.

"I've been around Madison for 50 years, and I have not seen anything like it so far," he said.

A Republican-backed bill containing the anti-union provisions prompted 14 Democratic state senators to flee Wisconsin, denying the Republican majority a quorum to pass it. The Republican-dominated state Assembly passed a version of the bill early Friday, but the Senate remains stymied until Democrats return.

Despite exhortations by Republican Gov. Scott Walker, the Wisconsin Democrats were still hiding in Illinois as supporters rallied across the nation. The liberal group MoveOn.org said it organized rallies in 66 cities, including every state capital.

"From what we can tell, it was kind of an amazing wave of energy around the country," said MoveOn.org Executive Director Justin Ruben.
Look, I marched with 50,000 people last year in Phoenix. Seeing 100,000 in the snow in Madison is absolutely nothing to sneeze at. That said, I think the Times is gilding it a bit on the rest of the nation business. We'll be seeing more protests when the budget axe starts to fall in other Statehouses. Today is Madison's glory.

3 comments:

  1. Had dinner last night with my brother & sister-in-law, both teachers in Milwaukee & one a parochial charter while the wife is a retired teacher's union member.

    The discussion was quite civilized [WI isn't like NY or CA or IL or even NJ] and I mentioned the New Yorker article a while back on 'rubber rooms' in NYC for teachers who refused to teach or discipline their kids while the unions there back the scofflaws to the hilt.

    In the end, they picked up the tab at a nice Delray Beach eatery and a good time was had by all. Too bad the entire USA isn't like the Badger State...! [The cheeseheads are absolutely 50-50 in registration across the board and remember, WI was the birthplace of the Republican Party in 1854].

    ReplyDelete
  2. Any Democrat or Union organizer who fells good about these somewhat inflated numbers is whistling past the grave yard. It was an abysmal turnout nation wide though the MSM will try to paint it as something other than what it was, a BIG FAIL.
    Most likely the numbers would have been bigger if it was held on a work day that way it would have been a paid vacation.
    Interesting the recall demonstration of one of the "fleebaggers" was larger than many of the protests outside of Madison.
    I can imagine it is "Put on a happy face" time at the DNC, Leftist blogs, and the unions.
    The longer this goes the more the Left will lose. This is not 1995 when the narrative was almost totally controlled by the Left.
    A thought here, Federal workers, for good reason, do not have those collective bargaining rights that the unions try to make everyone thinks exists. Might explain why Obama seems some how absent from the discussion.
    Has anybody considered that the unions would be the "de facto" governments around the world if they can organize government workers every where? The elected governments and citizens in every country could be held hostage to a very small number of union thugs who were/are not elected by anyone.
    We would have a one world "shadow" government with the power to destroy anybody in their path. Think about all that power and no responsibility.
    This is the real danger in allowing government worker unions. If one thinks that Trumpka, Sterns, et al don't have this in mind they have to be kidding themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  3. One has to understand that the "media" is not an uninterested, nor unbiased party in reporting. The vast majority of them are union members as well as Democrats. Nothing that the "Media" writes should be taken as the "truth" or without a huge grain of salt.
    These demonstrations/protests are only a skirmish in a larger war against the producers, taxpayers, et al. This is part of a plan to control every aspect of the economy.
    Consider why the Union bosses are all talking global instead of protecting workers here? Why the big push to unionize government workers throughout the world? Does anyone seriously believe that the forced unionization of federal workers is not next? Obama almost blew it by commenting on Wisconsin.
    It would not be a huge jump in logic to imagine many country's military being unionized in some fashion.
    Consider the power that can be exerted on governments if one can utilize government workers to bring down the government. Is this not what is happening in Wisconsin?
    I don't think most of us who live on this planet are going to be happy with the results.
    Sadly those politicians who think they are going to be the leaders are only going to be the puppets and useful targets of derision and blame for a few union thugs.

    ReplyDelete