Monday, February 28, 2011

I Thought Sundays Without Football Were Supposed To Be Uneventful

Now that we are three weeks removed from the Superbowl, I thought Sundays would be quieter times and a chance to actually relax.  Maybe they are for most of the country, but they sure aren't here in Wisconsin.

First thing was Scott Walker's appearance on Meet the Press.  Sadly, it looked like their researchers didn't do a very complete job, and David Gregory was unable to nail Walker down on several lies.

For example, Walker was mewling about collective bargaining, saying that it kept him from getting meaningful concessions from the unions, when the reality is that he never even made a proposal to the unions for them to accept or reject.it, making his point a false argument.

Another doozy was that he was against lay offs.  During the campaign, he was regularly boasting about ridding Milwaukee County of 20% of the workforce and laughing about laying off almost 200 workers.

On the upside, Gregory did hit Walker on the fact that he was refusing the concessions that the was seeking.  He also called Walker out on some of his foolishness when he thought he was talking with David Koch.  Unbelievably, on national TV, Walker admitted he considered putting operatives among the peaceful protesters to act as agitators in an effort to discredit them.

In fact, Walker's people expected him to do so poorly that they made quick arrangements for him to have th full half hour of the Charlie Sykes' Incite program in an effort to do damage control.

Things calmed down for a few hours, but then picked up rapidly in the afternoon.  Walker and his administration, kowtowing to his radical supporters, reported that they were going to clear everyone out of the Capitol by 4 pm, so that they could "clean" the building.

This was a blatant attempt to violate the protesters' First Amendment rights of Freedom of Speech and Freedom to Assemble.  If they can clean a hospital without moving everyone out, there is no reason why they couldn't do so at the Capitol, especially after Walker also admitted to a national audience that the protesters were very cooperative.

As the time came closer, several hundred police officers and firefighters came to stand with the protesters, as they said they would last night.  They knew right from wrong, and true to their oaths, they stood up for what was right.  Many of those present or observing from afar pointed out that Walker should know he is in trouble when the police and firefighters were willing to get arrested along with the protesters.

Four o'clock came and went and nothing happened.  Several protesters decided to leave and did so in their usual peaceful manner.  More than one stated that they thanked the police officers on their way out, and the police, even the ones that came to arrest them, actually thanked the demonstrators for coming out and standing up for the people.

Things were building up in tension as the live streaming videos coming from inside the Capitol abruptly ended. Some speculated that the feeds were cut off by Walker's people, but an equally likely scenario is that they simply overloaded with the rapidly growing number of people hopping on them.

After a few hours, it was announced that the protesters that were inside the building would be allowed to stay, since they were not breaking any laws and were being cooperative with the cleaning crews.

The people won this battle.  They actually won, which I don't think many people expected.

Almost as sweet as the victory, was the reaction of the right wingers.  Many of them were apoplectic and I thought Charlie Sykes might break a blood vessel, judging from his tweets.  James Wigderson called for the firing of Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs.

However, seeing how the order for the protesters to be forcibly removed came from Walker's administration, it is much more likely that Walker and/or his people backed off fearing the PR disaster that it would be for them.  Then again, one of the the police officers that joined the protesters, claimed that it was the level-headed law enforcement professionals that were "running the show", and that is why peace was maintained.

Either way, it is egg on Walker's face. And just after he got done cleaning it off from the eggs he got splattered with in his morning's adventures.

But Walker's day was still spiraling down.

First, an anonymous online activist group decided that they were going to get involved and temporarily disabled the website for Americans for (Kochs') Prosperity.

At about the same time, Twitter came alive with the rumor that Republican Republican Senator Dale Schultz (R. Richland Center) has come to reason and would be voting against Walker's bill.

Just two more and the bill could finally be put to its well deserved end and our elected leaders can get back to the jobs they were elected for, which is to create jobs.

2 comments:

  1. This was a blatant attempt to violate the protesters' First Amendment rights of Freedom of Speech and Freedom to Assemble. If they can clean a hospital without moving everyone out, there is no reason why they couldn't do so at the Capitol...
    Of all the hospitals I have ever worked at or been in, they don't clean the patient hallways or rooms at night.
    Why couldn't the protesters go outside for a few hours to carry on? There is no right to assemble in the capitol for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I would like to see that in writing. When I lived in Madison, they shut down the capitol to non-working staff every day. I couldn't visit anytime I wanted, where they violating my rights?

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  2. I should have added that they, the hospital or nursaing home try and wait for the patient to leave their rooms before they do their heavy cleaning during the day shift.
    But it doesn't matter, they go them out this morning and they will have a chance to clean.
    Now, if Walker imposes very unreasonable restrictions, that won't be good, but there is still no reason why they cannot protest outside.

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