13,000 protest Governor's plan to change collective bargaining for public employees

[scooterbug44]

Our high school didn't have ROTC - just military recruiters.

 

[poppy]

This is the last I say on this subject. "The 60s live again" says volumes on what has gone wrong in this country. While some of the youth of that era were protesting and blowing up buildings, (so I am told, I wasn't here at the time) other youth were being killed and wounded in a war, which, whether you agreed with it or not, they were asked to fight by their country. They did so valiantly without being able to respond to the protesters. Yeah, all of you who demonstrated in the 60's should be really proud. You won, at the cost of over 58,000 lives and troops being spit on upon their return. IMO, it is a very dark period in our history and there is one thing for which I am really thankful. Those returning from their service in combat areas now are being treated with respect and recognition for what has been asked of them. Maybe those protesters have learned something of value by now.

When I returned from Vietnam in full uniform to LAX I saw no protesters, was not spat upon or shown disrespect in any form. For the next two years I flew around the country in uniform on military standby and still never experienced any disrespect. I believe you are hanging onto a story about a small number of people acting like a-holes not some big movement. Get over it, these types will always be around.

 

[GoodWitch58]

This is the last I say on this subject. "The 60s live again" says volumes on what has gone wrong in this country. While some of the youth of that era were protesting and blowing up buildings, (so I am told, I wasn't here at the time) other youth were being killed and wounded in a war, which, whether you agreed with it or not, they were asked to fight by their country. They did so valiantly without being able to respond to the protesters. Yeah, all of you who demonstrated in the 60's should be really proud. You won, at the cost of over 58,000 lives and troops being spit on upon their return. IMO, it is a very dark period in our history and there is one thing for which I am really thankful. Those returning from their service in combat areas now are being treated with respect and recognition for what has been asked of them. Maybe those protesters have learned something of value by now.

Andy, while you were serving in Vietnam my husband and I were serving overseas as well...I was both a protester and a supporter of the military. The two are not mutually exclusive...

The protests helped end the war and I am proud to have been a part of that--I only wish we had been able to help stop it before so many of my friends and family died.

I spent long hours in the Navy hospital helping care for wounded military--just off the medivac plane from SE Asia...and most of them would have welcomed a protest to end the hell they had just survived.

Yes, there were some people with their own agendas, there always are...but, I am just as proud of those young people in Wisconsin today(two of them are relatives of friends of mine) as I was of my friends and neighbors of the sixties--they are not what is wrong with our country today-- in fact, they just may help get it back to a rational place.

 

[Rita]

Andy, while you were serving in Vietnam my husband and I were serving overseas as well...I was both a protester and a supporter of the military. The two are not mutually exclusive...

The protests helped end the war and I am proud to have been a part of that--I only wish we had been able to help stop it before so many of my friends and family died.

I spent long hours in the Navy hospital helping care for wounded military--just off the medivac plane from SE Asia...and most of them would have welcomed a protest to end the hell they had just survived.

Yes, there were some people with their own agendas, there always are...but, I am just as proud of those young people in Wisconsin today(two of them are relatives of friends of mine) as I was of my friends and neighbors of the sixties--they are not what is wrong with our country today-- in fact, they just may help get it back to a rational place.

.

...This was my first thought after reading Andy A's post.
Glenda, this is one of the best posts I've read in a while and spot on!


.

 

[GoodWitch58]

thanks, Rita. I know that I can get blunt at times, but it really irritates me to have anyone believe that their way is the ONLY WAY to view something....and to do it over and over again.

My family has a long history of being in the military and serving honorablly...AND a long history of standing up for what we believe in a peaceful way...which I have always believed is the American way...

 

[Rita]

.
This just in. ..:shock:

"The governor's main line is busy, so I'll have to grab an in-person spokesman confirmation or denial in a bit.* Until then: Ian Murphy of the Buffalo Beast claims to have posed as "David Koch" and gotten 20 minutes on the phone with Gov. Scott Walker, goading him to take the hardest possible line against unions. (The Koch brothers got the #2 slot in the Beast's annual "most loathsome Americans" list.)

I think Murphy gets a scoop here when he gets Walker to explain a ruse that could bring the Senate back in session. He's discussing the missing Senate Democrats..........."

Weigel : Did Scott Walker Reveal His Crisis-Ending Ruse to a Prank Caller?


.

 

[Geo]

Holy cow- I think this deserves its own thread. I think this is going to be HUGE!

 

[30ashopper]

The minority party in the legislature responded with a collective freak-out. Massive populist protests were held, drawing national press attention. A few signs in the crowd compared the newly elected executive to Hitler. Partisan cable TV opinion anchors doubled their duty, drumming up the crowds and then offering "analysis" on air. The language of apocalypse was invoked, the battle lines were drawn -- and domestic politics started to feel a little like a war.

No, this isn't a recap of Washington 2009 after Barack Obama's election, but Wisconsin 2011 after Gov. Scott Walker's election. And if you were offended by one, but cheering the other, you're part of the problem -- an atmosphere of hyperpartisanship in which extremes on both sides of the political spectrum act like wingnuts crying wolf.

Wisconsin's street theater stalemate obscures real issues - CNN.com

 

[30ashopper]

Democrats are in Illinois, in their third-day of a walkout that began Monday in a protest over a bill targeting labor union talks but which encompasses many more labor and education bills. House Minority Leader B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, said Democrats would not return today, and that it was a ?day to day? discussion about when they would return.

Democrats issued a list of 11 bills they say are concerns, including one which already has passed the legislature and is on its way to Daniels? desk: a fix to the state?s busted unemployment fund. That legislation cuts benefits to the jobless while also raising taxes on businesses.

Bauer said he knows that not all the bills Democrats oppose could be stopped, but said some are essential, including the so-called ?right to work? bill banning unions and companies from negotiating contracts that require non-union members to pay for representation and also the voucher bill which lets tax dollars pay for private school tuition. Bauer also singled out a bill which limits collective bargaining for teachers to wages and wage-related benefits, but not working conditions.

House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said Republicans would not negotiate and that the Democrats needed to return from Illinois to do their jobs.

Daniels said the Democrats actions are ?un-democratic? and that they simply are trying to re-fight the November elections, in which voters put Republicans in charge.

?You don?t walk off the job, take your public paycheck with you and bring the whole process to a screeching halt,? Daniels said.

He also clarified his remarks to reporters made Tuesday, in which he had said the activities of the past few days were an acceptable part of the process. Daniels said he was talking about the thousands of labor union members who have come to the Statehouse to protest, and not the Democrats? walkout.

Republicans have killed a controversial labor bill that has sparked a Democrat work-stoppage and large union protests at the Statehouse.

Indiana Senate leader says right-to-work bill is dead | The Indianapolis Star | indystar.com

Another group of spoiled children recently chastised by votes goes stomping off into a corner.

Imagine if this was common practice amoung all law makers.

 

[Rita]

.
Not all prominent republicans view these kind of walkouts as childish stompouts:

"Just as they've done in Wisconsin and Indiana, as an Illinois state rep Abe Lincoln once fled the state house -- exiting out a window -- to prevent a vote on a controversial bill. But all week, conservatives -- as well as a few confused pseudo-liberals -- have been advancing the argument that when a minority in a legislature uses parliamentary procedures it's some kind of assault on democracy. There's even an effort underway to recall the 14 Wisconsin senators who left the state last week.

Today, Think Progress reports that not all conservatives have bought into this argument.

Yesterday, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) defended his state?s vanished senators, saying their fleeing is ?perfectly legitimate?:

Daniels, a Republican, said earlier Tuesday he supported the Democrats? right to deny Republicans a quorum to do business and the rights of labor unions to protest at the Statehouse.

?The activities of today are perfectly legitimate part of the process,? he said. ?Even the smallest minority, and that?s what we?ve heard from in the last couple days, has every right to express the strength of its views and I salute those who did.?

Today, appearing on conservative radio host Laura Igraham?s show, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) ? who has been one of Walker?s most reliable defenders and whom Walker says he talks to ?everyday? ? refused to condmen the senators? actions or Daniels? comments, saying to a displeased Ingraham, ?If you were there, you might end up walking out the chamber too!?......"

ThinkProgress ? GOP Govs. Daniels And Kasich Defend Dem Lawmakers? Walkout As ?Perfectly Legitimate?


.