Wednesday, June 6, 2012: I awoke this morning after yesterday’s election to be greeted by people on various social media, making threats, either directly or indirectly, against the life of Gov. Scott Walker, his wife and even his children.
This is absolutely irresponsible and unacceptable behavior by those making the threats.
I don’t care how impassioned the contest is and how disappointed one is, no elected official should ever be subjected to threats towards them or their families. This type of behavior makes it impossible to engage in a meaningful dialogue. It cheapens the cause in which one is supporting and detracts from the credibility of one’s position.
We saw this type of behavior emerge shortly after the budget repair bill protests began and now that Gov. Walker and Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch have been reaffirmed after winning the recall against them, it is rearing its ugly head again. We on the left must make a stand and strongly condemn this thuggish behavior, stopping it whenever it emerges.
It is my hope that the media investigates the perpetrators and when identified, spread their names and images all over the front pages and the TV screens; followed by prosecution to the full extent of the law.
We on the left must take the moral high ground and refuse to be a part of such unsavory activity. I know how disrupting and unsettling such threats can be after experiencing threats from the extreme right. Let cooler heads prevail.
Just because you don't know something doesn't mean it hasn't existed. It simply means you are uniformed. Study up ;p
The unions have evolved into something my father, a former national leader of the Steelworkers union in 50's thru 70's, finds disgusting. Unions have been a means to protect poor employees, not advance better employees. They have become the number one political arm of the Democrat Party. And the Democratis Party numbers far more millionaire and billionaire donors than the Republicans. Your father's memories of his days in the union and the benefits received were of better days of the labor movement. Sadly, today 's unions are not the unions of your father's time.
Unions lost most of their in 1947 with the enactment of the Taft-Hartley Act. They were prohibited from most job actions including, wildcat strikes, solidarity strikes, etc. The only action possible was strikes after contract termination and the support of political candidates. For your information, it is illegal for union dues to be used to support candidates. My wife has been with AFSCME for nearly 16 years and for all of that time, if she wanted to contribute politically through the union, she had to contribute to the union PAC. You just don't have a clue and most of your opinions are based on suppositions and inaccurate beliefs.
I understand your position and support of those who pay your bills and are critical to your livelihood. You are dependent on wealthy people, companies and the government contracts for your business. You know what side your bread is buttered on.
"93 percent of donations made by National Education Association political action committees and individual officers went to Democrats, according to OpenSecrets.org. According to the NEA's own “Status of the American Public School Teacher 2005-2006,” (latest available data produced March 2010) only 41 percent of public school teachers are Democrats. A Wall Street Journal editorial revealed that the National Education Association — the nation's largest teachers union — “is spending the mandatory dues paid by members who are told their money will be used to gain better wages, benefits and working conditions. According to the latest filing, member dues accounted for $295 million of the NEA's $341 million in total receipts last year. But the union spent $25 million of that on 'political activities and lobbying' and another $65.5 million on 'contributions, gifts and grants' that seemed designed to further those hyper-liberal political goals.” It is not illegal so you should check your facts. http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_67.htm. So before you ponificate to me, please read a little further than the Daily Kos.
And really Lyle, talk about suppostion when you presume to know my client base.
Can Billionaires convince Voters they make too little, And Teachers make too much!
Yes, I do think the ultra-liberal movement is dying and a lot of it is self-inflicted. Demonstrations such as the ones in Madison and the Occupy movement have exposed an idealogoy that the general masses don't agree with. Extremism by either side does not play well to the middle. But the right is in a center-right movement, not an extreme as some have suggested. The policies put forth by Walker and others is common sense and that is why since 2010, conservatives are winning elections.
I took my child to a Tea Party rally because I knew it would be a good experience for my child. I was right. Everyone was respectful, the tone was upbeat and it was great to show my child that adults can gather peacefully. It was upon our exit where we were shown the contrast in sensibilities. What you fail to accept is the different approaches taken by the opposing sides. We will you remove your plutocrat oligarchy B.S. (since those words can be applied to almost any authority figure and produce a false positive). The tea party rallies were filled with people exhibiting a strong love for country and a determination to leave it better then they inherited it (something that cannot be said for the majority of the boomer generation). They were supporting the democratic process and political figures willing to stick their necks out to return power to the people. In contrast, the unions, teachers and public employees were marching around the capital (many with kids and strollers) mad that they had lost some of their privileges they had been falsely been told were rights. Unions had pumped them full of anger from propaganda and lies. Hence, they interacted in mass with the tea party with hate (a reaction not displayed in reverse). Emotion fueled their rage and not logic. This is why I think your article is grossly disingenuous. The divide was not equally produced. You can't now take the high ground, when your side excavated the low ground.
When all else fails, blame it on the "boomers".
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/13/obama-trade-document-leak_n_1592593.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D169383 I guess it all depends on whose billionaires are doing the convincing. Make sure you get out the vote for this guy in November in order to defeat the evil billionaires, Skippy.
Oh Great One, what is the proper age for a political rally? Were the kids the teachers were walking over to union protests in Madison old enough? In fact, why were teachers walking kids there anyway, at least my son was under the supervision of his parent. You are completely missing the problem here. It is not my poor parenting, as I will restate there were many children walking around the capital that day holding 'Support the Teachers' signs and I personally know of teacher families that made the trip to protest the governor over the course of the past year; this is about the liberal demonstrators lacking all self control because they were emotional charged by union/democrat propaganda. Had I known that your ilk lacked all decency and was willing to attack a man and his child with vile verbal insults; my son would not have come. Hindsight being what it is, I know understand that liberals have no bottom floor when it comes to civility. If my open mindedness and tolerance allowed me to accept that liberals were still virtuous people, that rally and your present attack on parenting only supports my complete lack of respect for the liberal mindset. Let me be clear, the Tea Party was good and the speakers respectable. It was the union thugs as we tried to leave that instigated the situation. Even then, the Tea Party participants left peacefully not lowering ourselves to the behavior of the liberals.
Billionaires convince me that I am not rich enough and that if I try hard enough I to can have their money and power. MUWHAHAHA
Did we take care of our budget deficit and save public workers jobs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC_ult6-Tb4&feature=related
"Andy Stern's (one of Obama's favorite White House visitors) Service Employees Union has established a worldwide network of security-guard unions as the first of what the union hopes will be a series of organizing campaigns for workers in a variety of occupations here and abroad. Former labor leader and U.S. Under Secretary of Labor Jack Henning eloquently explained why such steps are urgent and essential: "We were never meant to be beggars at the table of wealth. We were never meant to be the lieutenants of capitalism. We were never meant to be the pall bearers of the workers of the world. Global unionism is the answer to global capitalism. There is no other answer." http://www.dickmeister.com/id253.html
Can Obama donors convince voters, including the middle class, that they need to pay more for their energy ...while they get rich AND land high ranking positions "Several of Barack Obama's top campaign supporters went from soliciting political contributions to working from within the Energy Department as it showered billions in taxpayer-backed stimulus money on alternative energy firms, ABC News and iWatch News have learned" http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/obama-fundraisers-ties-green-firms-federal-cash/story?id=14592626
Of course your right. I take full responsibility for the childish actions of the liberal left. Just curious though, is your attack on my parenting the proper way to "dial down passion and rhetoric"? I thought maybe that meant getting back to the issues within politics, not the same old personal attacks liberals have made famous. There I go again keeping an open mind to the idea of liberal virtue.