February 19, 2011

"Keep our protest CIVIL/Don't become Incited/THE NATION IS WATCHING/And so are our children!"

2 young men with good signs at the Wisconsin State Capitol last night:

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(Enlarge.)

Someone put a blindfold on the "Forward" statue:

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And, in the rotunda, the old "Obey" image has been Walker-ized:

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(All photos by Meade.)

43 comments:

iftheshoefits said...

I'm noticing the lack of pre-printed signs this go-round. At least they've learned to make their own signs, if they want to have an appearance of an authentic protest.

And they didn't farm out the protest work. Of course, they got paid all week long to do it, but they are in fact doing the dirty work themselves instead of hiring in the busloads of goons.

Anonymous said...

Yes, the nation is watching as the median household income in WI is $49,994 and the average teacher is paid $48,000 + benefits.

Additionally, 64% oppose public unions.

These people are the death rattle of the Democratic party base...

iftheshoefits said...

For all the tea pary dissing that's gone on since the start, it seems as if they're certainly trying to follow the new protest model that's been put out there over the past two years. Funny that.

Lincolntf said...

So the message from the T.U. thugs is:

You Tea Partiers better be civil! You're still all worse than Hitler, but that doesn't mean you have to be rude about it!

Jason said...

Yes, be civil....

And also remember that our legislature was forced to adjourn early yesterday because their safety could not be guaranteed. According to one staffer, they were bussing in people who "arent afraid to get arrested".

In our capitol building.

The time has come to put an end to this garbage. Elections have consequences.

Almost Ali said...

PSA:

ATTN. Wisconsin Tea Partiers; counter-protest preparation:

Your Complete Union Primer:

Plus, what to expect from your fully unionized police departments:

Plus the complete Obama pocket translator:

(cross-posted to promote the general welfare)

reader_iam said...

The days of state politics being left to people in the state are over (see certain key elections last fall). FULL STOP. I say this not as an advocate of that but as an observation.

That horse has left the barn, Althouse, and well you should know it (in fact, in certain ways, you helped encourage it to leave, whether you intended to or not).

Peter V. Bella said...

Let's see. The teachers are out "sick" but they are healthy enough to protest. The Democrats fled the state, abdicating their responsibility to do the people's business.

So, the questions are- Will the teachers be disciplined, have their pay docked, and be financially penalized through huge fines for shutting down the schools?

Will the salaries of the legislators be docked for the days of work lost and will they be subject to recall for their failure to perform the duties they were elected and sworn to do?

hombre said...

It would be best if there were no counter protesters there to be scapegoats when the originals up the ante -- as they must when media interest begins to wane.

reader_iam said...

Oops! Posted in wrong thread, but I'm going to leave it anyway--especially because you forgot to add your "civility bullshit" tag to this post.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

"We want ours, screw you."

I 'm looking for that sign.

rhhardin said...

They're not threatened by peaceful. They're threatened by ridiculous.

Fen said...

Why they fight, why we fight:

"Mr. Walker would require that public-employee unions be recertified annually by a majority vote of all their members, not merely by a majority of those that choose to cast ballots.

In addition, he would end the government’s practice of automatically deducting union dues from employee paychecks. “Ending dues deductions breaks the political cycle in which government collects dues, gives them to the unions, who then use the dues to back their favorite candidates and also lobby for bigger government and more pay and benefits”.


Unions are anti-democratic. They force workers to join, they force them to donate money to the political campaigns of Democrats. Unions fear the secret ballot because that would liberate workers to vote how they please, without allowing voter intimidation and retribution by union brownshirts.

Bust them down.

/via insty

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704900004576152172777557748.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

Calypso Facto said...

I agree with you hombre. I don't think there's a significant interest in this counter-rally, so as I said yesterday, I'm prepared to be underwhelmed. And I think the potential for violence is becoming high, which will then just be spun as the counter-protesters fault. At this point I say let this tantrum by 10% of the Wisconsin workforce run out of steam on its own. But to anyone on the way there, be calm, cool (no problem today!), collected, and represent!

chickelit said...

Typo alert in your headline.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

They can clean up their behavior all they want, they still are on the wrong side of the debate.

Unions are corrupt, anti-democratic and in the tank with one political party. It must end.

Unknown said...

Ann, you've got a good heart; you want everybody to be safe and for this to work out for the best for everyone. I just wish certain others did.

And I love this from an Insta reader, "Have the home schooling parents set up tents in the parking lots of shuttered schools and invite parents to bring their kids down for a day of learning using the materials approved by the school system.".

Hoist, meet petard.

PS Love the new masthead.

Chip Ahoy said...

Jay, yesterday I read figures that conflict sharply with the ones you're posting here. Do they take into account benefits? Where are you getting your figures? Can you post a link please?

AllenS said...

I just returned from a trip to Hudson, WI., and after I left, there was a protest group of about 200 on the overpass on #94. Half of them were CHILDREN!

Fen said...

"Keep our protest CIVIL", as Obama buses in Union thugs.

I expect mischief. I've been across from Union thugs at protests, this is their pattern. They will try to start a fight and have their MSM cronies frame it as Tea Party violence.

Keep your eyes open, and be very skeptical of media reporting.

Calypso Facto said...

AllenS: when I was in Eau Claire yesterday I saw a DAYCARE (haven't figured out the gov't union link yet) parading toddlers with union support signs up and down the sidewalk in the 15 degree air.

Crazy people.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The left, unable to come up with a persuasive argument, compare everyone they hate to the worst historical monsters.

Wisconsin voted using the democratic process, and the left compare Walker with Mubarak?

These idiots are in charge of teaching our children. Weep, America.

AllenS said...

I kept it civil and did not throw any of them off the bridge onto the freeway.

traditionalguy said...

Civil disobedience first requires a Dictator to disobey. Their problem is that an elected legislature and an elected Governor first have to be portrayed as a Dictator. This requires the highest skills of a Walt Disney fantasy narrative because it is obvious that the closest thing to a Dictator in Wisconsin has been the Wisconsin Public Employees Unions.

Fen said...

Its interesting that none of your bright students have figured out Walker is attempting to liberate workers from the Union leadership.

Anonymous said...

Obey? Thought he retired.

ricpic said...

"Don't become incited."

Who's going to incite them. Someone who dares say "Stop picking my pocket?"

garage mahal said...

Best way to treat these morons is just flip them the peace sign, and move on. Or tell them you still love them. That should short circuit and neurons left in their skulls.

Best sign of the night, presumably by a nurse - "Hey Scotty who is going to wipe your ass when you have a stroke??"

Haha. Indeed.

garage mahal said...

*any neurons.

Lincolntf said...

Oooh, feces and stroke jokes. Way to keep it classy, Libstains.

Anonymous said...

Jay, yesterday I read figures that conflict sharply with the ones you're posting here. Do they take into account benefits?

No. As I said, teachers get $48,000 + benefits.

Link 1 WI Median Household income

Link 2 Avg WI Teacher Salary

Fen said...

Best sign of the night, presumably by a nurse - "Hey Scotty who is going to wipe your ass when you have a stroke??"

During the day, she maintains she went into nursing to help people. She makes many sacrifices to be so compassionate, so she expects special dispensation because of it.

ie. a typical liberal.

Shanna_B said...

a slightly annoying and abnormal use of "incited"

William said...

I live in fly-out country (NYC) where people have a sense of perspective. It's all very well for you midwesterners to have civil service disputes but only overweight cheeseheads would have the grandiosity to portray this as some kind of Armageddon or fulcrum point in the history of the republic. The world will not end if some third grade teacher moves a couple of notches above or below the median income level. I'm very glad that people in Wisconsin finally have found something besides football to give their lives a sense of meaning and significance, but I can't get lathered up about this. If, tomorrow, Charley Sheen died of an overdose, I am pretty sure that that tragedy would not affect the course of this protest one iota. There is something very self involved, self important, self dramatizing about all--pro and con-- who cluster around this issue.

Trooper York said...

Garage Mahal said....
"Best sign of the night, presumably by a nurse - "Hey Scotty who is going to wipe your ass when you have a stroke??"

An illegal immigrant home care worker who gets below minimum wage because nobody will pay for the unionized aides who make five times as much.

Or are you not interested in what happens in the real world.

deborah said...

"If, tomorrow, Charley Sheen died of an overdose, I am pretty sure that that tragedy would not affect the course of this protest one iota."

lol, Callous bastards.

Alex said...

During the day, she maintains she went into nursing to help people. She makes many sacrifices to be so compassionate, so she expects special dispensation because of it.

Gee I thought people went into nursing to HELP people, not lord it over them. Typical Lefty psychopath.

Alex said...

How can the left claim any mantle of civility with all the Walker = Hitler signs and still using the pejorative "teabagger"?

BJM said...

Too late, civility bolted the barn with the first Nazi reference.

Watching the scene and listening to the Dems and union talking heads on TV news brought this bit of union buffoonery to mind.

BJM said...

@lincolntf

Flinging feces is the left's usual fallback mode when they can't support an argument.

Not a terribly useful tactic when one is circling the wagons.

BJM said...

Best sign of the night, presumably by a nurse - "Hey Scotty who is going to wipe your ass when you have a stroke??"

Who wiped their asses while nurses picketed outside hospitals?

This attitude is why American nurses are scarce in CA hospitals.

iftheshoefits said...

It's nice to see that the resident unflinching left-wing apologist here is effectively letting on that the whole "civility" thing was just so much bullshit.

Amazing what a bit of ballot-box democracy can do to strip off the masks and the pretense. Not that there are any real surprises to those who have been paying attention.

AST said...

The problem they have is that civil disobedience only works if the other side is cruel and violent. That's why MLK's and Ghandi's protests worked. They demonstrated the wrongness of the prevailing system.

But labor strikes nowadays don't really have that much to complain about. They claim that management is unfair, but when others look at your case and it doesn't look that bad, which is what's happening now
with Wisconsin teachers, your protest just looks like a tantrum by a spoiled child.