I know, I know. You were out in force, well behaved, didn’t break anything and didn’t even bring the giant puppets or BusHitler signs. But apparently, you are doing this all wrong. The size of the protest only matters if half of you are in Medicare scooters with “Jesus is my CoPilot” stickers on the back, and the other half of you are carrying signs taking the Founding Fathers out of context. If you do that, then the media will pay attention to you like they do the tea parties.
Or it might be that the oligarchs running the media and all the newsmen making 200k+ a year are much more interested in tax cuts and “limited government” so they cover the tea parties, but couldn’t give a shit about unions or teachers. But that would be crazy talk.
Southern Beale
CBS This Morning gave the Madison protest one sentence and it was about how “tens of thousands of protestors” showed up.
It’s not just the protests. As I pointed out today, the Republicans passed one budget-busting bill after another when they were in charge and no one said a peep. Well, the liberals sure raised the budget issue but the media never bothered to point that out. Budget deficits, like protests, only matter depending on the party doing the protesting or budgeting.
Jrod the Cookie Thief
Yes, but the Tea Party protests featured far more Red-Blooded True Americans(c), so there.
I mean, teachers? Everyone knows that teachers are the tip of the fifth-columnist spear, so who cares what they think?
What’s that? Police and firefighters are protesting too? Ha ha, you’ve been fooled by the librul media once again. Now run along and play with the other children.
Davis X. Machina
You’d expect more coverage considering that Obama finally went out to Madison yesterday for one of these rallies. There’s no other possible explanation for crowds over 100,000 besides Obama being there. Because as we all know, without a charismatic leader, movements are powerless. Without the President, in person, the crowds will grow less from week to week, unless he puts on his walking shoes.
And there were were crowds over 100,000 — perhaps well over that figure.
So Obama was there.
It’s called logic.
Litlebritdifrnt
Except that all the tea-partiers (those on the said scooters and dependent upon medicaid and social security) are now seeing the results of their rage, their elected officials are now proposing to cut off their benefits, cause it suits them. Oooooo the irony is sooooo sweet.
MattR
In the comments of a story about the NFL labor situation (at the Denver Post I think), someone posted the Corporate CEO, Teabagger and a union boss sharing a dozen donuts joke/story. I was not paying close attention to timestamps, but I did not see anyone actually try to refute it. Good to see that meme spreading.
JPL
You know what else the media ignores, when white terrorists are arrested. We would rather focus on the brown terrorists.
The Political Nihilist Formerly Known As Kryptik
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Except they’ll still vote Republican because they’ll convince themselves it’s all because of the fucking hippies.
Again, there’s a reason I’ve changed my name here. I’ve just plain given up any fucking hope.
trollhattan
“Union thugs, union bosses, union thugs, union bosses…”
Thanks, I kan haz KochBucks(tm) nao?
April 15 at the state capitol will be interesting. Teabaggerz vs. SEIU? One can only hope.
Southern Beale
@Davis X. Machina:
No, no. Obama wasn’t there. The Decemberists played! That’s the only reason a bunch of people show up at a rally, for the music!
Just Some Fuckhead
It definitely loses a lot of the spectacle value when the signs are spelled correctly.
The Political Nihilist Formerly Known As Kryptik
Oh, oh, and lets not forget that the number is fake anyhow, because the union thuggists bussed everyone in, so no one there is a real Wisconsinite nor are they really American, so fuck ’em.
Woodrowfan
well, did any of the protesters’ signs specifically denounce Stain and/or broccoli? No? well then..
Southern Beale
@Just Some Fuckhead:
I thought our puppets were part of the spectacle.
cathyx
@The Political Nihilist Formerly Known As Kryptik: No, the reason they will keep voting republican is because democrats might take their guns away.
trollhattan
@Woodrowfan:
I denounce Stain! Billy Mays, we need you.
priscianus jr
I have a humble request. Can everybody please stop whining, at least for a few minutes?
http://largegreenbird.blogspot.com/2011/03/people-slightly-disturbed-in-wisconsin.html
The Political Nihilist Formerly Known As Kryptik
@cathyx:
No, that’s the reason they’ll beg for legislation legally defining liberalism as treason.
Opie-jeanne
Was there any coverage of the Road to Ruin event today.? We’ve been all over the O.C. and the Inland Empire today and haven’t noticed anything.
The Political Nihilist Formerly Known As Kryptik
@priscianus jr:
Sorry, but all the link did for me is convince me further that we can never fucking win, because God Abhors a Dirty Fucking Hippie. Seriously, the fact that they’re having a serious fucking discussion about how protest on the state capital is UNCONSTI-FUCKING-TUTIONAL shows how institutionally fucked we are.
Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen
OUTSIDE AGITATORS! Also.
The folks in Madison should all get Obama iz a Soshulust signs and wave them about for exactly 25 seconds. There will be a loud boom, but that will just be the media breaking the sound barrier to get there.
jnfr
Back in the Reagan years I lived in Tucson and was working with a nationwide organization of nonviolence trainers called the Movement for a New Society. It was started in Philly around the time of Vietnam by a bunch of Quakers, pretty much the orginal DFHs.
Anyway, at that time Reagan was preparing to put nuclear warheads on Cruise and Pershing missiles and forward base them in England and Germany, only a few minutes from Russia. As you might imagine, this was not popular with many people in Europe and in fact there were constant demonstrations with crowds in the hundreds of thousands, made of people, mostly young people, who believed that basing nuclear missiles near their homes could make them a target for preemptive Russian nuclear strikes.
We worked with those good folks doing supportive demonstrations all around the U.S. We never got the numbers they did – perhaps some of the large cities did, but still it was the same then as now. I guess and the powerful never want to give media coverage to those who challenge them. Most folks in the US wouldn’t know those huge demonstrations were happening in Europe at all (no Internet, nothing in the papers = nothing happened, right?).
And we did some fairly clever types of demonstrations that were seriously annoying to the commanders at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, handing out breakfast at the main gates with “Croissants not Cruise Missiles” signs, and setting up a peace camp where people actually lived in tents outside the base for several months. On Hiroshima Day we had mothers go out and weave baby clothes and pictures of their kids into the chain link fence around the base. (They were always gone the next day, but no one came out in the light to take them down.)
Eventually we actually invaded the base physically. My group was the Justice League of Arizona and we wore tights and capes. A couple of other groups actually went through holes in the fence at the back of the base while we were out front and got on top of the Cruise training building where they unfurled banners and played “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” on a boombox. The military people treated us very kindly, though the snipers on top of the buildings were unnerving to say the least.
Anyway, the local paper named us one of their top media stories for the year in an article that dripped disdain for how we kept managing to trick them into covering our cause with our devilish photo ops. We were pleased to get any coverage at all.
Good times, and some things never change. (Oh, but Reagan backed off on forward-basing the nukes in Germany. I don’t think the European governments hate their citizens quite as much as ours hates us.)
Villago Delenda Est
My nym explains my position on the vermin of The Village.
No compromise. No surrender. No retreat.
Villago Delenda Est
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Rule number one of protest signs: be sure to spell it “Moran”.
maya
No shit, Sherlock. The Fourth Estate has become a gated community within the Second Estate and along with wind chimes, DFH’s, Unions and teachers are strictly verboten by their HOAs.
MikeJ
@maya:
The clergy?
Social outcast
Is it too much to ask one of these union protesters to bring an assault rifle to one of these events and tell reporters he’s tired of the government taking away his rights? We need our political reporters to start taking this stuff seriously.
Villago Delenda Est
@MikeJ:
IIRC:
The First Estate: The nobles.
The Second Estate: The clergy (which included a lot of nobles, especially at the top. See Blackadder I for further details :P)
The Third Estate: Everyone else
Xecky Gilchrist
I’m hoping the effect all this has is to further discredit TV news.
trollhattan
@Villago Delenda Est:
Also, too, “Failor”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/skeeterbytes/4525186416/in/set-72157623455926300/
jnfr
Sorry that ran so long. Hosts please delete if you think it’s TMI.
Yutsano
@trollhattan: Is there another protest scheduled for April 15th again this year? I hope so, cause that will be another fail on their part. Because of a holiday in DC Tax Day is Monday the 18th.
TaMara (BHF)
@Just Some Fuckhead: Win.
JPL
@jnfr: I enjoyed it and bravo to you for following through on what you believe.
Southern Beale
Just now getting around to reading the NY Times and saw the obituary of coal executive Edward Leisenring Jr. It’s notable because back in 1978 he was involved in the famous United Mine Workers strike:
The beginning of the end of unions.
gene108
I miss the good old days, when Governor Walker could’ve called in the Wisconsin National Guard to start shooting up the crowd, while the Koch Brothers sent in their private security detail to bust some heads.
I say Gov. Walker and Koch’s are going too easy on these protesters, which is why no one’s paying attention.
Some aerial strafing of the crowd, by the Wisconsin Air National Guard, would probably get the media to pay attention.
I mean look at how much attention mine workers got from the Battle of Blair Mountain.
I’m just sayin’, this new civilized right-wingery, is also, too a part of their master plan to turn America into a Third World nation. They’ll things so quiet, no one will realize they’re actually trying to kill us, until it’s too late.
maya
@MikeJ: Heck yeah! Repubs rule the pulpits and the posterns and all Repubs are ordained by gawd.
mr. whipple
Well, this blows.
Anyone who thought John Bonham of Led Zep playing his boneheaded triplets with his hands was some sort of pioneer, would do well to watch a master..
jnfr
@JPL:
Thanks!
jeffreyw
Hush! you Puppies!
Mr Stagger Lee
If Hillary Clinton had any ideas on breaking from the Obama administration, and running for president in 2012, and getting big media’s help This may quash her goals
The Money Quote!
You don’t step on Superman’s cape, you don’t spit in the wind, you don’t take the mask of the Lone Ranger, and don’t call out and front the American Media.
trollhattan
@Yutsano:
I hope so, it’s such a great photo-op! I see some set for 4-15, but nothing for Sacto so far.
http://www.teapartypatriots.org/Today.aspx?date=4/15/2011
Yutsano
@jeffreyw: You didn’t. You did! You vile tempter you!
@trollhattan: I shall now commence mad giggles.
dww44
While it also makes me feel better to complain about the lack of coverage by the media of the Wisconsin demonstrations, it makes me feel even better to complain where it matters. In this case, on the 5:30EDT news on CNN, Frederica Whitfield gave the demonstrations in Madison a two sentence coverage: That the 14 Dems came back to Madison and were cheered by demonstrators ( no number provided;but a picture was) and the CLOSING remark was that Republicans says all this was necessary to balance the budget. No mention of crowd size;no mention of what the fight was about(that isn’t a state secret;they really don’t have to take Walker at face value;not if they are any good).
I left the TV room downstairs and came up and sent them off a complaint via email. That’s what we should all do: every time we complain here;we need to go do something, preferably 2 somethings, constructive. Write a letter, send an email to a higher up, make a donation, plant a couple of trees. Makes me feel better. I can’t keep internalizing all this anger.
Omnes Omnibus
@trollhattan: I see nothing is planned in Wisconsin.
Yutsano
@Omnes Omnibus: Coincidence? Oversight? I don’t recall seeing Ohio or Minnesota either.
GregB
Did all of those asterisk eyed Palin-bots run around and park their cars on the highways and blow their horns while weeping tears of impotent rage today?
hhex65
Yep, descent is the final form of patriotism.
JCT
@jeffreyw: One of my favorite vices — I didn’t truly understand the origin of the name “hushpuppies” until I owned a real BEAGLE.
Tonight was pan fried chicken and home made macaroni and cheese. Tossed down with a decidedly non-southern beverage — a very stiff margarita. How I managed to make all of this while yelling at the beagle to get out from under my feet was a miracle. Still buzzing from that drink, hmmmm, maybe I accidently made it a double? Oh well.
And please– what I’m waiting for is the teabagger outrage when one of these varmint govs come after their pensions…. what a tragedy . And I’m sure the MSM will cover it.
Omnes Omnibus
@Yutsano: Lack of welcome.
jnfr
@dww44:
That’s good. That’s very good. For every complaint, two constructive actions.
parsimon
@maya: I’m seriously bummed that wind chimes are out. I mean, I figured, but still.
martha
@Southern Beale: OK, I have to say, there were lots and lots of great signs (yes, I was there, thug and slob that I am). It was glorious!
But my favorite sign was “The Wreak of the Walker-Fitzgerald”…yes, this is sort of an inside joke to a Cheesehead, but sue me.
opie_jeanne
@Mr Stagger Lee: Have you seen any coverage of the supposed Tea Bagger protest, the one where they were all going to pull over for an hour and tweet each other?
We saw nothing like that in SoCal today, but we did hear about an old white guy yelling at an AfAm to move his goldurn truck outta the alleyway. The gentleman was picking up a nice antique table and matching chairs with his wife. This was in the city of Orange, the heart of Orange County. Everyone else was annoyed with cranky old white guy.
Omnes Omnibus
@martha: I wasn’t able to get there until after 4pm. I haz a major sad.
Yutsano
@Omnes Omnibus: It could be my lack of optimism lately, but I’m refusing to see that worm turning. Maybe the cynicism is starting to seep in.
martha
@Omnes Omnibus: We were there from about 10 until around 3. We had to leave because we had work to do (irony alert). It was incredible people watching. The Tractorcade was just great to watch. I was really impressed with the number and type of tractors that showed up. It also cracked us up how many farmers were driving their tractors and texting!!! Too funny.
martha
@Yutsano: Honestly, I’m waffling. I WANT to believe things will change, but I’m not convinced yet. I think I have faith that in WI, Walker is such an evangelist and rigid idealogue (with his Fitzgerald cronies), we may succeed somewhat. I don’t think it’s in him to compromise.
jeffreyw
@JCT: LOL! My Brittanies love them some of my hush puppies. With a little dab of bacon ‘n beans if you please, sir.
jwb
@dww44: You’d do better canceling your cable. Just saying.
Svensker
@martha:
Sung in Gord’s best tenor…
lllphd
john! you forgot the requisite guns!
my gawd, man; our reason for living! you must be slipping.
kideni
Yesterday in Madison was amazing — a tractorcade!, so many people, such happiness and warmth when the 14 Senate Dems appeared before the crowd — but I’m not surprised the national media have decided that the story’s over, time to move on. Fortunately, I don’t think it’s going to die down here, and I think people are right that this is something that’s doing just fine without the national media. The petition drive to recall 8 Repub senators seems to be extremely well organized, both in the districts and here in Madison (there were stations where people who live in targeted districts could sign up, and people were circulating around throughout the square). And for people who think Obama should be there, at their news conference before they came out into the crowd, the Senate Dems all said that Obama should stay away for now, since this is a Wisconsin situation, and if he comes here that’ll make it an Obama situation. They said his public statements have been great, and they know that he gets briefings about us daily.
As for crowd sizes, I really have no idea how it’s done, but this was definitely the biggest yet. I live about fifteen blocks from the Capitol, and people had to park on my block because the downtown garages and other side streets were all filled up — that hasn’t been the case the previous weeks.
martha
@Svensker: You got it. Unfortunately, my husband has been tormenting me with his rendition since yesterday. But it really was creative, which is why it’s one of my very favorites. Really, the only misspellings I saw were those that were done on purpose.
Omnes Omnibus
@martha: Now I haz a sadder. I was aiming to be there by 1pm, but everything I was doing took 30% longer than anticipated…
@Yutsano: Crazed and delusional I may be, but I think things are changing and I am optimistic. In addition, The Plague is one of my favorite books, so I would argue that even if we have no real hope of winning we still need to keep going.
Dieter von Cunts
I can’t believe you guys are talking about Wisconsin and not poor dear, sweet Bradly Manning, who’s being held without charge on Devil’s Island, simply because he reads FDL.
kideni
@martha: I love how topical the signs are all the time. The palm trees last week, Mark Pocan’s FitzWalkerstan and all the Charlie Sheen-themed signs this week, all the middle-aged women admitting to being union thugs. The creativity is just amazing.
Wile E. Quixote
@Villago Delenda Est:
The only good villager is a dead villager.
martha
@kideni: Oh, I agree. Gosh, people picked up Fitzwalkerstan really fast! (Just saw Mark Pocan in the grocery store BTW. Grinned at him and let him be.) Yes, the Charlie Sheen signs were really popular! Lots of people snapping pics of those. We talked to lots of people from around the state from small towns who came down for the first time. That was inspiring, to see those middle-aged and older mild-mannered WI people take a stand in their own quiet ways…
AliceBlue
@kideni: Reading some of the comments at Digby’s earlier today, I was amazed at the teabagger-like logic. Basically, they’ve got their knickers in a twist because Obama’s not there, then in the next breath it’s “well, if he was there, he’d compromise and screw it up.”
Omnes Omnibus
@martha: The sheer ordinariness of the protesters is one of the things that has struck me. The signs have been clever, but the people carrying them look like everyone’s next door neighbor or fishing buddy. It makes it had to portray them as an “other.”
Jenny
@martha: I wanna see. Got a link to the charlie sheen signs?
Also, where does the Fitzwalkerstan joke come from – did Stephen Colbert come up with it?
Sly
@Villago Delenda Est:
First Estate: Clergy
Second Estate: Nobles
Third Estate: Peasants
It’s in order of importance. God, King, Man.
Or, as I learned it: “Those who pray, those who fight, and those who work.” The fighting bit is related to the nobles occupying the military command structure, particularly as mounted knights, during the Medieval and Early Modern periods. Later on this traditional role was phased out as the military became proletarianized and the European proto-state started relying on standing armies with a centralized command bureaucracy. By the time of the French Revolution I believe there were more “Nobles of the Robe,” or nobles occupying purely magisterial roles, than “Nobles of the Sword.”
Sly
@Omnes Omnibus:
You can’t have a “Taxpayers vs. Public Employees” dichotomy, and thus demagogue the shit out of the latter, if public employees are also, you know, taxpayers.
kideni
@martha: I feel so lucky to be here when all this is happening. I’m a misanthropic cynic who mostly just gets out to walk the dog, but I may change my view of my fellow citizens if this all works out. I think Walker expected that anyone who’s not a public worker would just shrug their shoulders and not care about the ramifications of his plans. He underestimated us.
kideni
@AliceBlue: I know. I thought about weighing in there, but I don’t like to get into fights, even on blogs. People have their narratives and they stick to them.
Wile E. Quixote
The media in this country exists for one reason and one reason only, and that is to make money for their corporate owners, either by pushing crap and spectacle like the Charlie Sheen nonsense or promoting corporate interests. Show me someone who works for the NYT, Washington Post or CNN and I’ll show you someone who is no better or no different than someone who works for AEI or the Chamber of Commerce.
The sooner we get everyone to realize that the media is corrupt and biased the better because the only reason the bastards make any money is because we pay attention to them.
martha
@Jenny: Fitzwalkerstan was coined by Mark Pocan, my state assemblyman in the final debate before the WI assembly rammed the final bill through on Wednesday night. He said something like “I feel like I’m living in Fitzwalkerstan”…brilliant! It’s so true!
As for photos, gosh, if you go to #wiunion on twitter, you can find tons of links to everyone’s pictures. None of MSM photos I saw were so “undignified” (hah!). But #wiunion is ground zero for what’s going on in the twittersphere (twitterverse?)
martha
@kideni: well, I don’t even have a dog in this fight (and I mostly just walk my own doggie). I actually own a business, not a public sector worker or union member. But these past few months have been a bridge too far for me and mine. Of course, being the daughter and sister of teachers might have something to do with it.
AliceBlue
It was 73 degrees and sunny in my little corner of Georgia today, but if I could I would gladly go to Wisconsin and stand in the cold (and I hate cold weather). I’m so proud of these people–I haven’t seen anything like this in decades. A video of the tractorcade actually brought a lump to my throat.
Caz
Actually, I do recall seeing plenty of “Walker = Hitler” signs in Madison, and they did break the law by refusing orders to leave the capitol when the police needed to evacuate it at certain times for maintenance. There were several arrests.
So maybe whatever news sources your checking aren’t showing you the full picture. The liberal protesters in Madison at least were using “Hitler” signs and did break the law.
The liberal protesters are far more aggressive and law-breaking than the tea party gatherings which you all so vehemently despise. And all they are is a bunch of patriots trying to get the government to follow the Constitution and curb the spending spree.
Unless your a balloon juicetard, then reality doens’t matter, and I’m a troll and the tea party is a bunch of law-breaking nazi skinheads.
Get a grip, juicetards.
And, again, I don’t stick around to see what you all have to say about my comment, so you can save your breath calling me a troll or an employee of Koch or Fox or whatever.
Try reading Cato’s blog once in a while to see what libertarians really think, and you’ll also get an idea of how the government according to our Constitution is suppposed to operate.
Our government is out of control, and you all are supporting their erosion and attack on the Constitution, our national security, and our individual liberties.
The truth is the furthest thing on the minds of you juicetards, and it doesn’t appear that there is any hope for any of you.
I bet not one of you will start reading Cato’s blog, if only to get the other perspective on the issues your write about.
I would hope you would all agree that you shouldn’t draw a conclusion without hearing both sides of any given story. Well, why don’t you guys try getting the other side of the story from the horse’s mouth instead of getting a slanted and false version of that other side of the story from biased sources that don’t want anyone to know what the other side of the story really is.
If only you could get Keith Olberman to contribute to this blog, you’d be complete. Olberman, you complete me.
See you next time I decide to troll in and respond to your idiocy. Party on, juicetards!
goblue72
@Caz: Bwaahahahaha.
jl
@lllphd: I for one, am glad that the WI protesters are smart enough to leave their guns at home.
If they brought any, the chance that it would be covered the same way it was for the Tea Peoples is about zero.
I bear arms because it is my Constitutional Right to wave one around and vaguely threaten violence to get my way! (Sorry, I meant, to protect my other Rights And Freedom). You carry arms as symbol of the importance of the second amendment.
That guy over there is carrying a gun because he is a criminal thug and it’s time to call the SWAT team and blow up that evil terrorist. And investigate everyone on his side who came to the meeting.
That is how it would play out.
martha
wow, just love the hit n’runners.
There were no arrests on Saturday, which was the topic of the most recent conversation on this thread. There have been no arrests in any of the protests over the past three weekends per the Madison police department. Protesters were taken out of the Capitol last week, but I don’t believe they were arrested. Perhaps a few were.
Yes, some signs compared Walker to Hitler. But the vast majority were much more creative.
And I read Cato’s materials until they give me a headache, which is usually about half way through. Then I usually laugh and stop. I make it all the way through a few articles/posts. In most cases, I just want these people to get real jobs in real companies and have to deal with real people in the real world and balance real checkbooks. But I’m practical that way.
Moonbatman
It is easier to tell that the progressive protests are bigger than the teabaggers ones.
We leave more garbage behind like our professional printed signs.
Peace Out. The Power is Yours.
goblue72
@Southern Beale: Hope he likes his weather warm, since its going to be pretty hot where he’ll be spending his eternity.
Omnes Omnibus
@martha: See, this is the kind of politeness that Cole was talking about. Many people would have just told Caz to fuck off.
hhex65
@Caz: oh, my stars and garters!
Yutsano
@Omnes Omnibus: I considered this until I read this line:
which is just a slightly fancier way of saying, ,”LALALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!” Then again when he has bothered to stay and defend his “points” he gets clowned even further. Notice not a single link to any of his assertions? In gaming with cards (that I can’t say, FYWP) that’s called a tell.
Omnes Omnibus
@Yutsano: He(?) is one of the lesser trolls.
Gian
GOP and Hitler comparisons? Well, first they came for the trade unionists…
Kinda hard to think the GOP isn’t coming for the unionists right now isn’t it?
In the same week the House has started it’s committee on scapegoating Muslims?
In the same week someone was in court for the attempted assasination of a congresswoman, and the murder of a little girl, and who ranted right wing talking points?
I mean it’s really not that hard to imagine that Walker is going to trot out on stage and break into “waiting for the worms” without any hint of irony
jl
@martha: Gee, you too find most of CATO’s stuff worthless. I’ve wasted time reading their economic reports and they are mess. What have I seen: not know then the difference between differences and ratios, or the difference between relative risks and odds ratios, not knowing it is bad to divide by zero, not knowing they WERE dividing by zero, confusing stocks and flows.
In deference to our hit and run troll, and because I am a nice person, and sucker for concern trolls, I looked at the CATO blogs and saw on one story on WI, and it emphasized that the WI collective bargaining was mainly about political power, and the GOP trying to dismantle any political opposition in the state.
So, my take away from the CATO blog post is that the WI Governor Walker is a lying political thug.
So, glad I read CATO! Thanks, hit and run troll!
jl
Some one tell me when CATO decides that the government money received by private contractors, government subsidies to corporations, and ag support payments to the likes of ADM and Cargill is still government money after they receive it. And their political donations are just laundering political payola, and corrupt ‘garnishes’. Then I might take what they say about public employee unions, or other unions, seriously.
kideni
@martha: My only dog’s canine too. I used to work for the university, but I wasn’t unionized, and now I’m self-employed. The closest I get to unions is my father-in-law, and it was because of his union job that my husband’s family could put him and his sister through college. I do, however, have this character flaw called empathy, and I recognize that the Republican agenda will hurt people, and that really pisses me off. I also realize that all the damage that agenda does will end up hurting everyone. We keep talking about the union busting, which is bad enough, but the cuts to healthcare, education, the environment, local government, and on and on will just be devastating.
Ash Can
@Caz: ROFL!
Villago Delenda Est
The thing is, Hitler came for the trade unionists BEFORE he came for the Jews.
Some of his first acts when placed into power were to give the industrialists who backed him for years the payoff they wanted.
The Night of the Long Knives was about many things, but prominent among them is that the leadership of the SA actually believed in the propaganda of the party about socialism…about taking out the industrialists and the Junkers.
Hitler took care of that, toot sweet.
Villago Delenda Est
@Caz:
What color is the sky in your world?
slag
@Moonbatman: If by “professional printed signs”, you mean these: http://notmywisconsin.wordpress.com/, then you’re talking about signs created and donated by an individual protestor for the cause. Don’t hate them for their creativity, talent, and spelling prowess.
Also, I know for a fact that your garbage argument is garbage. Probably just like all your other arguments.
trollhattan
@Villago Delenda Est:
Piss yellow.
Monday shopping list:
-Eggs
-’07 Priorat
-Better trolls
jefft452
”Actually, I do recall seeing plenty of “Walker = Hitler” signs in Madison, and they did break the law by refusing orders…”
“Disobeying orders” equals “Breaking the law”?
Because (in cheesy German accent)“Orders must be obeyed at all times without question”?
where is that in the Constitution?
Jim, Once
@kideni:
My one year old granddaughter wore a sign saying “Union Thug.” I’m so frustrated that I can’t figure out how to link the photo here.
Jrod the Cookie Thief
@jefft452: It’s the same amendment that states that the rights to assembly and free association can be abridged for any or no reason. Or maybe I’m thinking of a Bible verse? Meh, same difference.
Yutsano
@Jrod the Cookie Thief: Oh yeah…I fergot about the right-wing exception clause.
bonkers
@Caz: Love how libertarians wrap themselves in the Constitution as if they own it. It does make sense I suppose, since the Constitution starts with, “I, the Person…” right?
And it’s not like the ENTIRE document is about the creation of the American government and bureaucracy, I mean, c’mon, right? And, as I’m sure the Cato Institute (where does their money come from anyway…from “the people” with lots of small donations, or a few mega-rich funders?), will tell you, the U.S. Constitution is full of references to the glories of “corporations” and the “free market,” right?
Bruuuuce
@Sly: “Those who pray, those who fight, and those who work.” Actually, we all know that it’s the religious caste, the warrior caste, and the worker caste, as ordained by Valen.
JenJen
Late to the discussion, but as far as the weekend’s rally in Madison goes, can you really blame CNN for going wall-to-wall with Japan earthquake, tsunami, possible nuclear meltdown coverage? From time to time, during the reset breaks at the top of the hour, they’d show some footage from Saturday’s protest, and the return of the Wisconsin 14. But then it was right back to on-the-scene coverage from Japan.
MSNBC has the Prison Doc-Block on, so there’s no excuse there, but as far as global news events go, what’s happening in Japan obviously eclipses the protests in Madison, at least for the time being.
As far as print media? That’s another angle. The way I look at it, I guess I’d be more pissed if the news media was covering Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan and the NFL lockout more than what’s going on in Wisconsin. At least this time they’re chasing an actual news story instead of just boldy ignoring protests that don’t involve Teabaggers. I think it’s timing right now, not willful actions by news producers.
And now I’m going to go prepare myself for eternal hellfires by defending the MSM just this once. Fuck.
ETA: As I type this, Godzilla vs. Mothra: Battle for Earth is on Starz. By accident. I’m truly going to hell.
jl
@bonkers:
Well, the Constitution isn’t perfect. Because corrupt union thugs like Benjamin Franklin used his government payola, garnishes and slush funds to force totalitarian outrages like the post office into the Constitution.
If only John Galt and Ayn Rand had been at the Convention to stop him!
Pete Talbot
Where can one pick up one of those $200k journalism jobs, John. There certainly aren’t any around these parts.
Wile E. Quixote
@Caz:
You’re so brave and manly. Way to stand up for what you believe in! If you’re an example of what the Libertards have to offer then it’s no wonder that no one takes them seriously or ever votes for Libertarian Party candidates.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@AliceBlue:
These are the Real Americans that the M$M breathlessly talks about. The problem is that they conflate the bussed-in teabagger rallies as the Real Americans who are raising hell. If there were firehoses and teargas directed against the protesters, cops in riot gear beating on them while their dogs are are chewing on others, then you know that they would be breathlessly ‘reporting’ on it in every negative way that they could come up with.
This crowd is peaceful, orderly and their signs aren’t full of hate or spelling errors. They’re just regular people protesting their government. IOW, there’s nothing to report because their cause doesn’t matter if the M$M can’t find a way to fit it into their narrative in a way that feeds it.
@Caz:
Watch out, it’s a flaming bag of shit! Don’t step in it, just let it burn out on its own.
priscianus jr
@The Political Nihilist Formerly Known As Kryptik:
PPOG Penguin
@jl: I am sure each of of the errors you cite can be explained by a completely isolated episode of gastritis.
Wile E. Quixote
@priscianus jr:
Because being emo is so much fun, and so much easier than actually trying to do anything. SATSQ.
Jrod the Cookie Thief
@Pete Talbot: Well now, that depends. How are your fellatio skills? If they’re up to snuff, we might just a have a ahem position available for you at CNN.
MattR
@JenJen:
I suppose I shouldn’t tell you about the 1 hour “special” I saw running on MSNBC whose title was something like “Is Charlie Sheen Winning?”
JenJen
@MattR: Oh, dear…
S. cerevisiae
Didn’t even read the thread, but I needed to throw this in the fray: EAT THE RICH!
Bon appetite.
buckyblue
Yeah, the media absolutely blow. I thought they sucked before, now they blow. Even in Milwaukee, the two big radio stations are either Nazi Radio with Limbaugh, Hannity, Local Haters and even Savage. The other attempts to be impartial but the ‘reporters’ would grill any ‘union thug’ and toss the softballs for the Repugs. Thanks God for blogs so you can find out what’s really happening. And, also, too, Facebook.
Moonbatman
@slag:
Nothing better shows that the teabaggers protests are astroturf then 100 identical professional printed signs at a grassroots union protest passed out as they get off the SEIU sponsored bus.
Peace Out. The Power is Yours.
agrippa
What matters:
the recalls. If the GOP pols are recalled, that is what matters. if they are removed from office, that is what matters.
2012 election is what matters. If the GOP loses, that is what matters.
the key: organization; and, doing the work that needs to be done. Results are what matters.
The media: when one comes, they all come; when one leaves, they all leave.
Ash Can
@Moonbatman: You don’t really understand what the slang term “astroturf” means, do you?
bemused
@martha:
The only useful thing I’ve ever read at Cato was Chairman William Niskanen’s Message, ” ‘Starve the Beast’ Does Not Work” from 2004. Last sentence, “Reducing tax revenues only shifts part of the burden of government spending to future generations”.
LOL
Xecky Gilchrist
@slag: If by “professional printed signs”, you mean these…
The “professional printed signs” slur is an oldie from the Teabaggers – ginned up during the ’09 Death Panels phase, IIRC. The idea was to make the Teabaggers appear to be more grassroots by having their corporate backers be too cheap to print signs for them and let them make their own poorly-spelled racist signs.
That was before it was discovered that poorly-spelled racist signs were not a thing to be proud of and were really the product of liberal infiltrators all along.
Master of Karate and Friendship
You could replace “oligarchs and media” with President Obama and still have a perfectly true statement.