Media malpractice and Justice Prosser

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We’re still in the U.S.A., aren’t we?

In typical Madison fashion, the biased media has yet again given voice to radicals – now to militant feminists and atheists –  in their attempts to smear Justice Prosser.

Isthmus – Madison’s radical “news” paper. No mention of the fact that Justice Bradley may in fact be the guilty party.

Justice Prosser has my support until someone is proven guilty —  we’re still in the U.S.A., arent’ we?

My contribution at Isthmus:

This story is a prime example of media malpractice.

No mention of the fact that numerous witnesses claim that Prosser was attacked by Bradley, not vice-versa? See https://sytereitz.com/2011/06/which-supreme-court-justice-assaulted-which-justice/ .

To make matters worse, radical females – militant atheist leaders and pro-abortion leaders are leading the attack on Justice Prosser.

How dare they pretend to represent all women, and how can Isthmus cast this twisted attack on Justice Prosser in a pro-woman light?

Tragically, abortion is used globally to eliminate female children selectively, a problem a bit more serious than whether Judge Prosser touched Judge Bradley’s neck while fending off her fisted assault on him.

Finally, if witnesses are anything to go by, Judge Bradley is not only guilty of assault, but also of shameful blatant lies and slander.

Judge Bradley should step down from her duties. Period.

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court Justice Assaults Fellow Justice

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What is Happening in Wisconsin, AGAIN!?

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Alinsky Tactics, Supreme Court level

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Which Justice Assaulted Which Justice?

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Madison media’s lack of balanced reporting is reaching epic proportions, while some members of Wisconsin’s highest court are making a mockery of the powers entrusted to them by the people.

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Following Wisconsin Supreme Court’s June 14^th decision to uphold Wisconsin’s collective

Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson

bargaining law, Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson issued official statements criticizing respected members of her Court.  The stinging unprecedented dissent accused the conservative majority of the Court of making “numerous errors of law and fact” and stated that they “set forth their own version of facts without evidence.” She wrote that “They should not engage in disinformation,” and called their view “long on rhetoric and long on story-telling that appears to have a partisan slant.” The Chief Justice stated that this decision opens the Court “to the charge that the majority has reached a pre-determined conclusion not based on the facts and the law.”

What kind of leadership is this?

The Chief Justice’s job is one of upholding and respecting our democratic system of government, of fostering communication and unity in our highest court, not of fomenting division when a closely split ruling occurs, dividing liberal and conservative Judges of the Court.

Justice Ann Walsh Bradley

To further inflame the situation, now Justice Bradley (liberal), has accused Justice Prosser (conservative), of assaulting and choking her in the presence of 5 other Justices!  The correct procedure for such a complaint would be through legal channels, and the incident should not be discussed publicly before the investigation is complete, as any lawyer should know.  However, Justice Bradley made this accusation through the liberal media, and has not yet filed any official legal complaints in the 2 weeks since the supposed incident.

The conservative judges, as befits the legal profession, are not giving details to the press.  Justice Prosser stated his confidence that he will be cleared with investigation.  “Confidential sources” seem to indicate that Bradley has one witness supporting her claims, while 4 witnesses support Prosser’s innocence.  Yet Madison’s

Justice David T. Prosser

liberal media continues to decimate Judge Prosser’s reputation with headlines like “What To Do About High Court’s Prosser Problem,” , in which they question whether Justice Prosser remains fit to serve!

I have been struggling to assemble information on the latest happenings in Wisconsin’s dysfunctional Supreme Court in the absence of clear facts.

Now that I have managed to unearth facts that Madison’s media is unwilling to divulge, I can paint a more accurate picture.

Bottom line, for those who are impatient, is that liberal Justice Bradley seems to have used Supreme Court level Alinsky tactics.   –She physically attacked Justice Prosser, turned the tables by accusing HIM of what she had done, lied about the incident, leaked reports of the “event” to the obliging Bill Lueders of (George Soros-funded) Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, and now has the assistance of Madison’s media in smearing Justice Prosser and calling for his termination, in the hopes that the liberal 3 would shift the balance of the other conservative 4 judges in the Wisconsin Supreme Court.  With conservative Governor Walker at the helm, this seems to be a pointless pursuit.

The details of the sparring were uncovered and reported by Christian Schneider and can be found at the National Review.  If you read just one reference, this would be the one to read.

Another report summarizes events even more concisely:

Long story short: a liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice named Ann Bradley has apparently tried to claim that another Supreme Court Justice, David Prosser, “choked” her.

The story had been leaked to a George Soros muckraking group, and then the incident seemed to get turned on its head when other witnesses came forth to indicate that while Prosser did put his hands up and touch Bradley’s neck, it is because she was coming at him with fists raised, meaning the contact was defensive in nature, and Bradley was the aggressor.

The plot appears to be thickening now, with news that Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson may have had a hand in orchestrating the leak in an attempt to get the conservative Prosser impeached.

As the investigation moves forward, it appears than instead of collecting a conservative scalp, that the two liberal Wisconsin SCOTUS justices may face impeachment instead. If they are impeached—and that is far from certain at this point—Republican Governor Scott Walker will have the opportunity to add two conservative justices to the bench.

It appears that the plot to frame up Prosser has backfired spectacularly.

I can only wish for such a happy ending for all of convicted felon Soros’ investments in deception.

This report of two liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices, one the Chief Justice, attempting to smear and discredit a conservative colleague with lies, is symptomatic of a more general dissolution of integrity among Democrats in Madison, Wisconsin today.  The problems with Madison’s Democrats, in turn, are reflective of a growing general dissolution of Democrat integrity in the United States.

Most of us trust automatically that respected high officials support the laws they were appointed/elected to administer and that their goals include the peaceful, fair and tranquil functioning of society.

There is, however, a growing new philosophy/methodology, particularly among some in high office, which attempts to circumvent the legal democratic process in order to implement radical change rapidly against the wishes of the majority.

The new methodology welcomes and creates chaos, in the knowledge that it is easier to implement change during chaos.  The new philosophy spurns dialogue and advocates polarization, demonization of opponents, and dispensation of traditional moral constraints such as truthfulness or limiting oneself to civilized behavior.

Saul Alinsky

The new methodology is patterned after what has become known as Alinsky tactics.  Radical Democrats, including President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton, teachers unions, and numerous Wisconsin Democrats have been implementing these tactics more and more often, particularly in recent months.

For example, in Madison, 14 Democrat legislators violated the Wisconsin Constitution by fleeing to Illinois to prevent a quorum on legislation they opposed.  Protesters at the Madison State Capitol have adopted new aggressive techniques, including blowing air horns in Republican Senator’s and in conservative demonstrators’ ears. Unions have shipped aggressive out-of-state protesters into Madison by the thousands, while Madison’s liberal Mayor called off the Madison police.  Radicals brag about “peaceful” protests, while Republican Senators are being chased around the Capitol building by hundreds of protesters, unhindered by police, and damage/security bills mount to over $8 million.  Madison’s police and firefighter’s unions, as well as Planned Parenthood (America’s largest abortion provider), have joined in support of teachers’ unions that are bleeding the State dry with benefits which radically exceed what other Wisconsin workers get.  Republican Senators have received death threats for carrying out campaign promises and attempting to pass responsible legislation.  Wisconsin’s liberal Secretary of State has helped to stall publication of the collective bargaining legislation repeatedly, enabling unions to rush through new contracts before implementation of the law.  Liberal judges have procrastinated making decisions on the pending legislation, taking vacation, and making bad rulings, which must be heard, reprimanded and reversed by the cooler-headed individuals on the Supreme Court.  Wisconsin’s media, seriously dominated by radial liberals, publishes only glowing reports of the radicals, omitting any of the reality mentioned above.  The dirty tactics observed in Madison are overwhelming.

I have been so appalled by the chaos and trampling of democracy I have witnessed in Madison recently that I have written numerous articles documenting and referencing the above facts on my website,  since February.

I don’t jump to the defense of people in the absence of conclusive evidence.  However, in the light of the above facts, particularly those collected by Christian Schneider, I am willing to stick out my neck and venture to say that there is only one logical interpretation of what happened between Justices Bradley and Prosser in Madison on June 13th, the story which was leaked to the liberal press by Justice Bradley and which has spread like wildfire in the national news, accusing Justice Prosser of choking her.  Radical Democrats, yet again, are using Alinsky tactics in an effort to further their (now minority) agenda by eliminating a conservative voice from the Supreme Court.

Prosser was smeared with lies previously by Democrats during his campaign , and his installation was delayed by Democrat challenges and recounts after the election.  The latest June 14 decision of the Supreme Court approving the collective bargaining legislation was almost made in the absence of Judge Prosser, when Democrat JoAnne Kloppenburg threatened to sue yet a second time for recounts, which would have delayed Judge Prosser’s appointment yet again.

Aside from the original reports accusing Justice Prosser of choking his colleague, Madison’s media is not correcting the skewed initial reports.  They are still spreading the dirt and calling for Prosser’s removal: Madison’s Cap Times wrote an editorial entitled “What to do about high court’s Prosser problem” yesterday (6-29-11), in which they suggested that Justice Prosser was “no longer fit to serve.”

The truth cannot be found in Madison media, with very few exceptions.  – go to the National Review for truth in reporting.

Finally, it is interesting to note that Bradley did not file charges against Justice Prosser, which would have put her credibility at risk when the truth was revealed.   She just leaked the fictitious smear story to newspapers to foment liberal frenzy, a la Alinsky tactics. This is certainly not the type of behavior expected from a Supreme Court Judge, or anyone whose job function is to provide reasoned deliberation on matters that distinguish our society from anarchy.

More references from both sides of the dispute, by date :

• Saul Alinsky Tactics Evident in WI Protests 3-15-11
  

• Full Text Of WI Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson’s Powerful Dissent Last Week 6-19-11

• Blaska Rules Who is Partisan on the Wisconsin Supreme Court 6-24-11   Blaska –  Madison’s Isthmus.

• Prosser Allegedly Grabbed Fellow Supreme Court Justice Bradley by the Neck 6-25-11 8:46 AM  Bill Lueders at Madison’s Isthmus – Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism – funded by George Soros.

• Bradley Says Prosser Choked Her 6-25-11
  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel online

• Sources: Argument between Prosser, Bradley Becomes Physical 6-25-11
  Bill Lueders : WI Center for Investigative Journalism,  Madison’s WI State Journal

• Wisconsin Justice Says Court Fight Led to Choking 6-26-11
  Fox news
• Wisconsin Justice Accuses Colleague of Choking Her 6-26-11
  msnbc

• Cops Look into David Prosser “Choke Hold” Charge 6-27-11
  Politico

• Tensions Run High, Very High, at Wisconsin Supreme Court 6-27-11
  Wall Street Journal

• More Details Emerge in Wisconsin’s “Chokegate” 6-28-11 ***
  Christian Schneider, National Review Online  ***

• Court Watchers Say High Court Has Hit New Low 6-28-11
  Madison’s Wisconsin State Journal – Abrahamson – “Observers noted that such a personal attack was unusual in the history of the court”
• Justice Shouldn’t Trump The Law 6-28-11
  Madison’s Cap Times – Chris Rickert: “When it comes to workplace violence, justice shouldn’t trump the law.”

• Dane County Sherriff Mahoney Turns Supreme Court Investigation Over To Chief Deputy 6-29-11
  Madison’s Wisconsin State Journal –questions were raised about Mahoney’s objectivity because he endorsed Prosser’s opponent in the recent election

• What To Do About High Court’s Prosser Problem 6-29-11  
  Madison’s Cap times editorial    “no longer fit to serve”

• Barbara Beck: Justices Should Go To Principal’s Office 6-29-11
  Madison’s Cap Times defending Bradley – “behavior rarely demonstrated by a woman”

• Liberal Wisconsin Justices Looking Bad in “Chokegate” 6-29-11

• Questions – and Answers – on that Wisconsin Supreme Court ‘Assault’ 6-30-11
  ***

More participants at "Walkerville" today, ~ 300

Wisconsin Supreme Court Upholds Collective Bargaining Law
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“My ears are still ringing!”

Yesterday, prior to the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s approval of Governor Walker’s collective bargaining law, the unions did muster up a bit more activity in fizzled-out “Walkerville,” attracting about 300 demonstrators, primarily members of various unions.

I visited the Capitol at noon to document events, and was subjected by a liberal enthusiast to an air-horn blowing repeatedly 12 inches from my ear, presumably to punish me for interviewing some Walker supporters, which is what I was doing at the time.

Air Horn

A slide show follows below,  images from  Capitol Square yesterday afternoon.  About 300 demonstrators were there, numerous unions were represented, and there were lots of noisemakers – vuvuzelas, plastic buckets, air horns, and chanting – as soon as members of the press appeared.

My air-horn toting friend retreats

My air-horn toting friend was surprised by my reaction to his air horn; rather than being unpleasant, grabbing his air-horn, or cursing him, this grey old lady picked up my camera and started clicking away at him.  First, he turned his face away from the camera, but continued honking in my ear.  As I continued clicking away with the camera, he eventually backed away and went somewhere else to torture another victim.

His lack of civility was typical of liberal behavior in Madison in recent months.

The Governor Walker supporters pointed out to me that yesterday was Flag Day .  Their sign read “Raise your flag for Gov. Walker,” and they were waving little 12-inch American flags.  The group included a public school teacher who was opposing her union’s actions, a retired nurse, and a retired U.S. Marine.  They had driven in from an outlying town to show some support for Governor Walker.  Theirs were the only flags visible on Flag Day.

Governor Walker supporters- teacher, nurse, Marine

One Walker supporter my age told me that she was approached by a man sputtering at her, informing her that he comes to these events to punch the teeth out of the bodies of fat people like her.  She didn’t even look fat, but looked very pleasant, ladylike and motherly, sitting quietly on the edge of a concrete wall and waving her American flag.  She had come to support Governor Walker, stating that we must first stop the fiscal bleed going on in our State; later there would be time for civil discourse regarding the details of union contracts.

MC: young man in pink

Announcers were on the Capitol steps behind us, calling for people to approach the Capitol doors to demand entrance inside.  I did not see anyone responding.  The announcer was a young man dressed in a filmy pink dress, signifying I have no idea what – Planned Parenthood again? Just looking for attention?  Not sure whether he made a good spokesman for his cause.

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Slide Show of Capitol Square on Flag Day, June 14, 2011:

The Supreme Court upheld limitation of collective bargaining law on the same day.

More on Flag Day (June 14, 2011) at Madison’s Capitol Square:

• Vicki McKenna, Madison newstalk 1130 radio host, describes mob reaction to Supreme Court announcement Tuesday and interviews Senator Grothman, who also had an air horn blown in his ear yesterday.

• Governor Walker’s reaction and statement on the Supreme Court decision.

• You Tube: one of protest leaders was arrested, wanted for an outstanding warrant in Waukesha, WI.

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“Walkerville” or Ghost town?

How many participants and tents in “Walkerville?”

"Walkerville" Day 3, noon rally at the Capitol; where is everyone?

The “tent city” established in downtown Madison (by public unions in protest of the limitation of collective bargaining) is not a City at all, but a group which has shrunken to twelve overnight campers and some 20 empty tents. Many families are bigger than that.

This is not news. Even if Madison’s City Council permitted family reunions on Madison’s Capitol Square, all of Madison and Wisconsin would not want to read about it over morning coffee. Yet Madison’s media continues their sympathetic coverage of “Walkerville,” publishing close-up shots of individual (empty) tents and describing what the last family left camping at the Capitol had for dinner last night.

I live 3 miles from Capitol Square, and my parish Church is 3 blocks away. Irritated by completely nonobjective reporting on public union issues, I’ve tracked events myself and I’ve taken some photo tours around the Capitol (photos and links below).

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"Walkerville" Day 3: row of empty tents

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Is Walkerville really similar to Hooverville?

On a typical day, there are about 20 R.E.I.-type tents with electric fans and cases of Dasani outside, 30 attendees at a noontime rally dominated by hot pink Planned Parenthood T-shirts (WHAT does Planned Parenthood and abortion have to do with teachers unions?

Hot Pink Planned Parenthood T-shirts dominate "Walkerville" rally on Day 3 (30 attendees)

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Do teachers unions officially support the abortion of their future students?).  There are typically 6 people carrying protest signs, a lone vuvuzela trumpeter, a lone plastic bucket beater, some posters showing vulgar comments, and very little else visible in downtown Madison. What IS visible resembles Yuppie Ghost Town more than it resembles Hooverville, after which unions named Walkerville.

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Hooverville, 1932, Washington DC

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It is somewhat shocking to compare teachers who have upper middle class lifestyles and benefits which dwarf those of the rest of America—shocking to compare these privileged individuals to the starving and jobless people of Hooverville during the Great Depression .

Hooverville 1932

Opposition to public unions growing

It is not surprising that support for public unions in Madison seems to have fizzled out.

"Walkerville" Day 3 noon rally :attendance fizzling

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Some are even dubbing Madison “Entitletown,” and accusing unions of clinging to benefits while the rest of the nation is forced to sacrifice.

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A noise complaint against “Walkerville” was even filed with police by the wife of Democrat

Senator Risser

minority leader Senator Fred Risser.  Apparently the Senator and his wife live a block away from the Capitol Building, and the poor lady could not take the loud drumming noise any longer.  Risser was one of the fourteen democratic senators who fled the state for Illinois in February to stall Walker’s proposed reduction of collective bargaining rights for most public employees. Risser also led the effort to impose sex education programs authored by Planned Parenthood (America’s largest abortion provider) on public school children in Wisconsin.

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Vuvuzela: lone protester using volume to get attention

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Debbie Brown, a retired state employee and Democrat writes (letter to the editor, Wisconsin State Journal) :  Walkerville a tantrum, not a helpful event: “To the demonstrators (current state employees, graduate students who may not even be from Wisconsin, and educators), you are behaving like children, throwing tantrums because you’re not getting your way.”

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Was this the drumming Mrs. Risser could not take when she called the police? Unbelievable volume this fellow achieved!

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Where have all the protesters gone?

Why has support for public unions fizzled out since the massive demonstrations in downtown Madison in February?

Some speculations:

• People may be tired of demonstrating.  The novelty may have worn off. Reality is setting in.  Walker is the face of reason and responsibility.
• Unions may have run out of funds to bus thousands of protesters into Madison and to cover their expenses over extended periods of time.
• Some teachers, particularly the younger ones, may have realized that their jobs are being sacrificed to the economy so that senior union members could retain their privileges (which they call “rights”).  Union leadership has NOT been considering the welfare of ALL teachers, only that of senior teachers.
• School is out – so teachers can no longer be paid to participate in union activities such as demonstrations.  Now they would be giving up their vacation time or their summer job incomes (Yes, many teachers DO have summer jobs, despite the median teacher salary of $71,000 per year!).
• UW Madison is out— the semester is over, and 40,000 undergraduates are gone from Madison dormitories just a few blocks away.
• The weather has not been kind to Walkerville – ranging from 95 degree temperatures to severe thunderstorms, flooding and soaking Walkerville and whipping away tents  during the past week.

More to come?

More demonstrations to come? Or fizzled out? Madison's Capitol looks back to normal after $8million security and restoration following February's demonstrations.

Today, with the GOP state lawmakers preparing to make another run at passing Gov. Scott Walker’s reduction of collective bargaining for public employees, it will be interesting to watch what activity the unions will be able to muster downtown.  Stay tuned, more camera tours will be posted on this website.

“Rights” or entitlement philosophy?

Few people want cutbacks or belt-tightening, including my family, which has already suffered 15% cuts here in Madison, Wisconsin.  We don’t enjoy it.

However, when the choice is 15% cuts for everyone, versus senior workers (like me and my husband) hogging tenure and privileges while the young are fired, then we welcome the cuts. The American spirit of sharing burdens and walking together through hard times must prevail.

As people start to realize that protests are organized by senior public union officials who are not poor by any definition of the word, who are clinging to their luxurious bubble lifestyle of the past, while young teachers are losing their jobs and the rest of America carries an unfair share of the burden—as people realize these things, the support for public unions shrinks, and the support for Governor Walker grows.

Vacant tents, vacant Capitol Square -- 15 min before scheduled Russ Feingold rally 6-12-11 at 5 PM.

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I have great compassion for those who don’t want to give up the privileges they previously enjoyed, and for those who don’t want to give up their dreams of a cushy retirement. I belong to that group. However, the public union officials don’t seem to realize that at this point in the economy, if they cling to their very generous slice of pie, they are depriving others of having any pie (or bread, for that matter) at all.

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For those who are unaware of the “cushiness” senior union members have carved out for themselves, or of the effects of this comfort on the rights of children, see The Impact of Collective Bargaining on Teacher’s Rights and Children’s Rights– What is Fair?

Where's everybody? Apparently, a few blocks away, at the UW Memorial Student Union Terrace.

Ducks are at Memorial Union Terrace, too.

More links and photos:

“Walkerville:”

Pre-Walkerville:  Thursday, June 2nd, Protesters disrupt budget committee meeting, several carried out.

Day 1: Saturday night, June 4th :Camp set up(You Tube), ~80 tents, 100 people

Day 2: Sunday morning: ghost town —You Tube -biker rides around the Capitol filming, finds 30 tents, few straggling demonstrators. 4 people shouting “Recall Walker”.  You Tube interviewing several participants — attendance sparse.   Badger Herald posts photos.

Day 3: Monday: Public Service Day March: 300 supporters attend, plus 2 tractors, one fire engine, megaphones, bagpipes, vuvuzela. Eggs tossed at Walkerville camp.  Isthmus slide show of March.

Day 4: Tuesday:Lunch rally attracts 30; ~20 tents, 6 demonstrators

Day 5: Wednesday: Union demonstrators dressed as zombies interrupt the Special Olympics ceremony scheduled at Capitol Square.  Severe thunderstorms threaten “Walkerville” campers.  Isthmus sets up live blogging on Walkerville. Down to 12 overnight campers.

Day 6: Wisconsin State Journal covers the campers, reporting that they “show spirit.”  CNN reports, misleadingly showing large crowds from February demonstrating.  In actual fact,  “Walkerville” houses at most two dozen people.   Public News Service discusses “tent city” without mentioning that the population is a couple dozen.

Day 9: AFL-CIO live blog with photos and schedules.

Day 10: Sunday 5PM, Russ Feingold scheduled to appear:  no crowds yet at 4:45 PM; about 20 demonstrators with one vuvuzela and one plastic bucket.

The Impact of Collective Bargaining on Teacher’s Rights and Children’s Rights– What is Fair?

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History

Lawrence Textile Strike, 1912

There is no denying the crucial role of unions in labor history, particularly in the United States.  Unions helped workers overcome deplorable and unfair conditions early in the 20^th century, improving nationwide treatment of the workforce. The Catholic Church, always the champion of the downtrodden, has also made numerous statements in support of unions and of the rights of workers.  This includes a recent statement by Archbishop Listecki of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, in February 2011.

Historically, when industrialization placed too much power in the hands of employers, unions restored some of that power to workers, preventing worker abuse.  We can thank unions for improving the health of the employee-worker relationship, and for numerous workplace benefits which restore justice and improve family life, including the now permanent concept of “weekend.”

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Healthy Relationships

Is the employer-worker relationship healthy and just in 2011?  In any relationship, a healthy balance of power and of rights is required.  Domination by either party can lead to injustice.  The restoration of power to an individual who was previously powerless can be taken too far, and giving too much power to the previously downtrodden can simply reverse, instead of eliminating, the injustice.  Have we reached that point of reverse injustice between employers and workers in the United Sates today?

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Public Teacher’s unions

Recent conflicts between public teachers’ unions and state governments, as well as conflicts between teachers’ unions and school administrators, highlight the need to reevaluate this question of balancing employer-worker rights.  When the “employer” becomes the fiscally crippled state government, or particularly when the employer becomes the children and families of America, it becomes crucial to find a fair balance between teacher’s rights and children’s rights, as well as between teachers’ rights and fiscal reality.

Several current news items are particularly relevant to this discussion.  They include:

• Recent disclosures about New York City teachers’ unions by the Chancellor of the New York City (NYC) public school system.
• Recent union-led teachers’ demonstrations in Madison, Wisconsin.
• An Op-Ed article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the state of Wisconsin schools by Tony Pedriana, a retired teacher, principal, union rep, author, and member of Governor Walker’s Read to Lead Task Force.

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Disclosures about NYC teachers’ unions by the Chancellor of the NYC public school system

An eye-opening article has just appeared in the June 2011 Atlantic Monthly — The Failure of American Schools— written by Joel Klein, Chancellor of the New York City (NYC) public school system for 8 years.  Klein’s attempts to reverse the rapid degeneration of the NYC educational system were frustrated by a number of political problems stemming primarily from teachers unions, which DO raise the question of whether union workers may have become too powerful today.

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Main Points made by Chancellor Joel Klein:

• American scholastic achievements have been deteriorating rapidly since the 1980’s. The United States now ranks 48^th in math and science, near the bottom of industrialized countries.  Less than 1/3 of US 8^th grade students are proficient in math, science or reading.  76% of our high school graduates are not adequately prepared for first-year college courses.   A Nation at Risk 1983, National Commission on Excellence in Education

• Student progress is affected dramatically by individual teacher performance. Holding all other factors constant, some teachers can advance a class as much as 1.5 years in one year, or by as little as 0.5 years.  The cumulative effects of such teacher quality differences could lead an 8^th grader to perform anywhere between 12^th grade level and 4^th grade level, depending on the teachers they have had.
• NYC teacher unions do not tolerate the evaluation of teachers, the rewarding of good teachers (merit raises), or the removal of poor teachers.  All salary raises are compulsory, based purely on seniority, and teachers are not dismissed for any reason,  including conviction of sexual child molestation.
• Teacher unions have negotiated remarkable benefits for their members, FAR exceeding what other Americans can hope for outside of union jobs.  These include average salaries of $71,000 per year for elementary and high school teachers (average salary for much more highly educated college professors is $81,000). ( Incidentally, teachers are drawn from the lowest quarter of graduating undergraduates.)  Benefits also include 185 days of work per year (most other workers work 250 days per year), with mandatory 10% raises every 3 years, retirement at age 55 (others retire at 65), retirement income of $60,000 free of state and local taxes with cost of living increases, and lifetime health benefits for the teacher’s entire family.
• Among teachers, poor performers, even those convicted of sexual misconduct or other abusive behavior, continue to collect paychecks, raises, benefits and retirement, while sitting in “rubber rooms” or at home, awaiting arbiters who have been selected by the union, to determine their fate.  The unions and their “arbiters” routinely demand the return of these individuals to the classroom.  In NYC, about 2% of all teachers are collecting full salary while not teaching, doing administrative duties or substituting, because no principal wants to hire them.  These teachers are costing NYC $100 million per year.  Firing a public-school teacher for non-performance is virtually impossible.  Out of NYC’s 55,000 tenured teachers, Chancellor Klein was only able to fire about 6 teachers in one year for incompetence; only one in 10,000 teachers.

How do teachers and their unions get away with these appalling statistics?

• Unions are intimately connected to the political process.  Unions are among the top spenders in politics, contributing heavily, particularly to Democrats, who pass legislation requested by the unions, such as passing tenure, seniority pay, early retirement with pension and health benefits, including cost of living increases, all privileges independent of performance. In return, the unions provide services to the politicians; patronage hires, school-placement opportunities for connected constituents, millions of union members turn out to go door-to-door, staff phone banks, and attend rallies when summoned by the union.  Union contracts include time off for teachers to do union work during the school day. (This explains the plentiful out-of-state attendance by teachers at Madison’s recent labor demonstrations.)
• When interest rates drop during recession, and teacher pension plan reserves cannot cover the benefits of retired teachers, luxurious teacher benefits are paid from present and future school operating budgets, depriving today’s children of a quality education which the school budget was passed to ensure.  In addition, eager young teachers with less seniority are laid off, to ensure the comfort of senior union members.  Syte’s note: In NYC, now over 4,000 thousands of teachers are being laid off — Similarly, in Wisconsin, the recent teachers’ union demonstrations in Madison achieved the same effect  — the demonstrations by bussed-in from nationwide union members served as effective delay tactics, permitting unions to rush through contracts ensuring their continued privileges and comforts before Governor Walker’s budget law could be passed.  Now that budgetary realities must be addressed, hundreds of teachers are being laid off, primarily those with least seniority, including award-winning junior teachers like Karen Niehausen.
• Unions oppose implementation of new teaching technologies.  When technology offers new techniques for raising the quality of each child’s education, such as offering Advanced Placement (AP) computer lectures from “super-teachers” (augmented by individual interaction with teachers in the classroom), unions veto the plan, claiming that if a child is not taught by a live teacher, they will not fulfill a requirement called “seat time,” which ensures the need for large numbers of teachers.  “Seat-time” is a union-backed requirement which undermines the ability to implement new teaching technologies.
• Unions oppose merit rewards and higher pay for junior teachers. Proposals to offer bigger dollars to young teachers and to offer merit raises, in order to raise the quality of teacher available to children were similarly rejected by unions. The unions demand instead equal pay for all teachers in all subjects, regardless of performance.  The only mechanism for increase in pay is seniority, tenure, and staying in the system.

It becomes pretty clear from NYC Chancellor Klein’s Atlantic article, from his points discussed above, that one of the primary obstacles faced by those seeking to improve American education is the resistance encountered by teachers’ unions—which make it their priority to increase the size of their unions, their budgets, their power, and the comfort of their most senior members.  This trend of prioritizing the comfort of adults over the welfare of children and over the welfare of junior teachers is disturbing, and is contrary to democratic and Judeo-Christian values.

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Recent union-led teachers’ demonstrations in Madison, Wisconsin

The recent demonstrations in Madison, Wisconsin in February, 2011 brought many of the same teacher union issues to the forefront in Wisconsin, including the prioritization of senior union members and the politicization of the entire educational system.  Not only were teachers and members of other unions bussed in to Madison, but local teachers interrupted classes to demonstrate, some even bringing their naïve students to demonstrate with them at the Madison Capitol building.

Events in Madison included a number of shockers;

• abandonment of classrooms by teachers claiming to be sick
• dishonest doctors handing out fake sick notes
• violation of Capitol hours and rules by demonstrators refusing to leave the Capitol building
• violation of parking and other City ordinances
• abandonment of duties by Democrat Senators who fled to Illinois to sabotage the democratic process
• property damage at the Capitol building
• Madison police failing to enforce laws among the crowds,
• crowds chasing Senators around the Capitol building
• death threats to Republican Senators

Some of these events are described in my previous articles:
A Word from the Silent Majority on Liberal Tactics
What’s Really Happening in Wisconsin
What’s Really Going On in Wisconsin- continued
Clashes Between Liberals and Conservatives – Washington, United Nations, Madison- Common Denominator?
Sarah Palin’s Message to Madison
Alinksy Tactics
Few of these events were reported by Madison’s liberal media, which idolized the lawbreaking crowds and the lawbreaking Democrat Senators.

Ultimately, the demonstrations served to delay implementation of the budget bill with its public union benefit reductions, and allowed additional teacher’s union contracts to be finalized, protecting the status quo for senior union members at the cost of the younger teachers, who are now being laid off .

The dishonesty continues, as Democrats and liberal judges in Madison continue to use delay tactics on the teachers collective bargaining limitation legislation, and on the seating of Judge Prosser, in attempts to prevent the implementation of the budget legislation, which was passed by the Republican majority which was elected in Wisconsin in November of 2010.

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article on the state of Wisconsin schools by Tony Pedriana

Priority should be kids’ reading, not politics

by Tony Pedriana – retired teacher, principal, union rep, author, and member of Governor Walker’s Read to Lead Task Force.

Tony Pedriana confirms that all the problems discussed above in the NYC public schools also exist in Wisconsin:

• 2/3 of Wisconsin’s 4^th graders cannot demonstrate age-appropriate reading ability.
• Wisconsin’s student ranking has dropped within the United States—from 3^rd in the nation 10 years ago, to 30^th in the nation today.
• The achievement gap between minority and white populations is larger in Wisconsin than in any other state.  80% of minority students read below age level.  Florida and Mississippi have surpassed Wisconsin, and they spend far less than Wisconsin per child.
• Administrators who factor student achievement in a teacher’s evaluation face grievance hearings.

In the face of these statistics, are Wisconsin’s teachers not embarrassed to clamor for more “rights?”

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Educational Bubble

While prosperity was with us, we were delighted to treat our teachers with the privilege and respect that the vast majority of them deserved.  However, now that less bountiful financial times are upon us, and particularly now that educational standards have suffered nationwide from decades without proper teacher evaluation, teachers must make an adjustment along with the rest of the nation.  A captain does not wallow in luxury for long, while his  ship goes down in neglect.

The education bubble has burst, and public teacher unions must recognize this and accept their share of sacrifice.

It is not only unethical, undemocratic, but also remarkably short-sighted, to continue augmenting the privileged positions of senior teachers in the school system as our national educational achievements slip toward those of third world countries.  The time to overhaul the strangle-hold of the public unions on education has come.

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What is fair?

We should respect moral authorities at least as much as we respect civil authorities, medical authorities, and academic authorities.  Turning to the Catholic Church, champion of the downtrodden, is always a good idea when groups with conflicting interests want to ask what is fair.

Bishop Morlino gives some good advice on the Madison teacher’s union situation: –

What is fair?

The question to which the dilemma boils down is rather simple on its face: is the sacrifice which union members, including school teachers, are called upon to make, proportionate to the relative sacrifice called for from all in difficult economic times? In other words, is the sacrifice fair in the overall context of our present situation? – Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Diocese of Madison, WI

Bishop Morlino leaves us to determine the answer to this question ourselves.  It seems to me that the answer is clear.  Change is imperative because ensuring children’s rights ensures our future as a nation.

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Videos of Liberal protesters during Sarah Palin’s appearance:

Man screaming repeatedly at Sarah Palin

Liberal crowd doing their best to drown out 14 year old speaker

Leftists booing Star Spangled Banner

Man cursing at 14 year old speaker

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Transcript of Sarah Palin’s Message to Madison:

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Hello, Madison, Wisconsin!

You look good.

I feel like I’m at home.

This is beautiful.

Madison, I am so proud to get to be with you today.

Madison, these are the front lines in the battle for the future of our country.

This is where the line has been drawn in the sand, and I am proud to stand with you today in solidarity.

I am here today as a patriot, as a tax payer, as a former union member, and as the wife of a union member.  What I have to say today, I say to our good patriotic brothers and sisters who are in unions.

I say this too, proudly, standing here as the daughter of a family full of school teachers–my parents, my grandparents, aunt, cousins, brother, sister, so many good folks, who are living on teacher’s pensions, having worked or working in education.

A pension is a promise that must be kept.  Now your Governor Scott Walker understands this.  He understands that states must be solvent in order to keep their promises.  And that’s what he’s trying to do.  He’s not trying to hurt union members.  Hey, folks, he’s trying to save your jobs and your pensions.

You know, but unfortunately some of your union bosses don’t understand this, and they don’t care if union members have to be laid off.  No, they want to protect their own power, and if that means forcing a Governor to lay off union workers, then so be it, they’ve proven that, it’s fine with them.

But that’s not real solidarity.  Real solidarity means coming together for the common good—this Tea Party is real solidarity.

Well, I’m in Madison today because this is where real integrity and real courage can be found.

Courage is your Governor and your legislators standing strong in the face of death threats and thug tactics.

Courage is you all standing there with them.

You saw the forces aligned against fiscal reform.

You saw the obstruction and the destruction.

You saw these violent rent-a-mobs trash your Capitol and vandalize business.

Madison, you held your ground.  Your Governor did the right thing.

And YOU WON!  Your beautiful State won!

And you know what?  People still have their jobs because of it.

That’s courage, and that’s integrity.

And you know, that’s something that’s sorely missing in the Beltway today.

Because let me tell you what ISN’T courageous.  Its politicians promising the American voters that, as we drown in 14 trillion dollars of debt, that they’re going to cut 100 billion dollars out of this year’s budget.  But, then, they cave on that and they reduce it down to 61 billion dollars after they get elected.  Then they get in there and they strike a deal and decide they’ll reduce that down to 38 billion dollars.  And then after some politics as usual, and accounting gimmicks, we find out that it’s not 38 billion dollars in cuts – you know that 38 billion dollars?  We don’t even HAVE it, we’re borrowing it.  We borrow from foreign countries to give to foreign countries, and that’s insanity.  We find out it’s not even 38 billion dollars, it’s less than 1 billion dollars in real cuts.  Folks, that 352 real dollars, the 352 million dollars in real cuts, that’s more than the Federal government’s going to spend in the time that it takes us to hold this rally today.

That is not courage, that’s capitulation.

Now there is a lesson here.  In the Beltway politico, something that they need to understand, the lesson comes from here in Madison.  So, our lesson is to the GOP establishment, first.  And, yeah, I’ll take on the GOP establishment.  What more can they say about us, you know?   So, to the GOP establishment, if you stand on the platform, if stand by your pledges, we will stand with you.  We will fight with you, GOP, we have your back.   Together we will win, because America will win.   We didn’t elect you just to rearrange the deck chairs on a sinking Titanic, we didn’t elect you just to stand back and watch Obama redistribute those deck chairs.  What we need, is for you to stand up, GOP, and fight.  Maybe I should ask some of the Badger women’s hockey team, those champions, maybe I should ask them if we should be suggesting to GOP leaders they need to learn to fight like a girl!

And speaking of President Obama, I think we ought to pay tribute to him today on this Tax Day Tea Party, because, really, he’s the inspiration for why it is that we’re here today.  That’s right, the Tea Party movement wouldn’t exist without Barack Obama.

You see, candidate Obama didn’t have a record; well, he was in office.  But President Obama certainly has a record, and that’s why we’re here.  And hey, media– it’s NOT inciting violence, and it’s not hateful rhetoric to call someone out on their record, so that’s what we’re gonna do!

We’re gonna do it to be clear.

That’s right, we’re here, we’re clear, get used to it.

Candidate Obama promised that he would be fiscally responsible.  He promised to cut the deficit in half, but PRESIDENT Obama tripled it.

Candidate Obama promised that fiscal responsibility, but President Obama flushed a trillion dollars down the drain on a useless stimulus package, and then he bragged about the jobs he created in congressional districts that don’t even exist.  That’s right – on this, White House, you lied.

The only thing that trillion dollar travesty stimulated was a debt crisis and a Tea Party.

Now the left’s irresponsible and radical policies awakened a sleeping America, that –we understood finally what it was that we were about to lose – we were about to lose the blessings of liberty, and prosperity.  They caused the working men and women of this country to get up off their sofas, to come down for the deer stand, get out of the duck blind, and hit the streets, come to the town halls, and finally, the ballot box.

And Tea Party Americans won an electoral victory of historic proportions last November.  We the people, we rose up, and we decisively rejected the left’s big government agenda.

We don’t want it, we can’t afford it, we are unwilling to pay for it.

But what was President’s, what was his reaction to this mandate for fiscal sanity?

Less than 90 days after the election, in his State of the Union address, President Obama told us– naw, the era of big government is here to stay, and we’re gonna pay for it whether we want to or not.

Instead of reducing spending, they’re going to “win the future” by investing more of YOUR hard earned money in some cockamamie hair-brained ideas like more solar shingles, more really fast trains, some things that venture capitalists will tell you are non-starters.  We’re flat broke, but he thinks these solar shingles and really fast trains will magically save us!  So now, he’s shouting “All aboard!” his bullet train to bankruptcy.

Win The Future?  WTF is about right.

And when Wisconsin’s own Paul Ryan presented a plan for fiscal reform, presented that plan, what was Obama’s response?  He demonized the voices of responsibility with “class warfare” and with “fear mongering,”  and I say personally, to our President, “Hey, parent to parent, Barack Obama; for shame,  for you to suggest that the heart of the common sense conservative movement–  which wouldn’t do anything to harm our esteemed elders, to harm our children with Down’s Syndrome, to harm those who are most in need—no, see, in our book,  you prioritize appropriately, and those who need the help will get the help.  The only way we do that is to be wise and prudent and to budget according to the right priorities.  No, our President isn’t leading.  He’s punting on this debt crisis.

The only future that Barck Obama is trying to win is his own reelection.  He’s willing to mortgage your children’s future to ensure his own.  And that is NOT the audacity of hope, that’s cynicism.  Piling more debt onto our children and grandchildren?  That’s not courage; no, that’s cowardice.

But did you notice?  When he gave that polarizing speech last week, there was a little gem in the speech—maybe you missed it. But he spoke about the social contract and the social compact.  Well, Mr. President, the most basic tenet in that social compact is adhering to the consent of the governed.  That would be WE, the people.

President Obama, you do not have our consent.  You didn’t have it in November, and you certainly don’t have it now.  You willfully ignored the will of the American people.

• You ignored it when you ran through ObamaCare.
• You ignored it when  you drove up the debt, to 14 and a half trillion dollars.
• You ignored it when you misrepresented your deficit spending.
• You ignored it when you proposed massive tax increases on the middle class and on our job creators.  You ignored it when you went to bat for government-funded abortions, and yet you threw our brave women and men in uniform under the bus, Mr. Commander-in-Chief.
• You ignored it when you got us into a third war for fuzzy and inconsistent reasons—a third war that we cannot afford.
• You ignore it when you apologize for America, while you bow and kow-tow to our enemies and you snub our allies, like Israel.
• And you ignore it when you manipulate the U.S. oil supply, you cut off oil development here, and then you hypocritically praise foreign countries for THEIR drilling.  And when hard-working families are hit with $4 and $5 a gallon gas, and your skyrocketing energy and food prices, as you set out to fundamentally transform America, you ignore our concerns and you tell us we just better get used to it.

Well, Mr. President, we’re not going to get used to it.  Not now, not never.

You ignored us in 2010, but you  cannot ignore us in 2012!

Mr. Obama, Mr. President, you and your cohorts threw all the hatred and all the violence that you could at these good folks here in Madison, Wisconsin, but you lost here.  And Madison, you defended the 2010 electoral mandate.  You are heroes.  You are patriots.  And when the history of this Tea Party movement is written, what you have accomplished here will not be forgotten.  Your historic stand brought down the curtain on the last election, and the 2012 election begins HERE.

We will take the courage and the integrity that you showed ALL of America—we will take it and we will win back our country.  God has shed His grace on thee, America—we will not squander what we have.  We will fight for America.  And it starts here, in Madison, Wisconsin.  It starts here, it starts now.  What better place than the state that houses the Super Bowl champs, to call out the liberal left, and let ‘em know – Mr. President, Game On!

God bless you, Wisconsin, and God bless America!

Clashes between Liberals and Conservatives – Washington, United Nations, Madison — Common denominator?

Dirty tactics in Washington

A group of Washington liberals apparently decided that the recent government stalemate on spending was entirely Republican Speaker Boehner’s fault, despite the fact that President Obama and his Democratic House and Senate failed to schedule and pass the budget in a timely manner last year before the November 2010 election. Not one or two, but over 8,700 of these liberals recently committed to a Facebook campaign to dump their trash outside Speaker John Boehner’s residence today, because a government shutdown (from failure to pass the budget) would have halted trash collection in Washington. When a compromise was reached late last night on Federal budget issues, preventing the looming government shutdown, the Facebook group claimed victory, cancelled the trash-dumping while ridiculing Speaker Boehner:

Liberal facebook campaign

“Moments ago, a very orange Speaker of the House just announced that he caved into some of our demands. This is Victory Accomplished.”

Trash dumping is illegal. Ridicule of elected officials is unprofessional. Speaker Boehner represents the majority of Americans who voted in an election.  The use of such bullying tactics in a democracy is unacceptable and uncivilized.

Dirty tactics at the United Nations

The United States State Department, headed by Secretary of State Hillary

Cllinton addresses Human Rights Coucil Feb 28, 2011

Clinton, has recently been misrepresenting the Catholic Church’s position on a sexual orientation declaration, in a effort to win votes for this resolution:

The officials (of the U.S. State Department) purposely misled Latin American delegations into believing the Holy See (Catholic Church) had changed its position on a sexual orientation declaration that called for “sexual orientation and gender identity” to be new categories of non-discrimination in international law… The Holy See, in fact, opposed the declaration…

– National Catholic Register

The US Department of State (headed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton) is telling Latin American delegations to the United Nations that the Vatican has changed its position on a sexual orientation declaration that was just released at the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

-Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute

The practice of such duplicity by United State officials at the United Nations is more than shocking.

Due to silence on these issues by the liberal media, few people know of United States efforts (headed by Hillary Clinton) toward the global spread of abortion rights and redefinition of marriage.

The fact that the U.S. State Department has been so emboldened now as to LIE about the Catholic Church’s position on these moral issues (in order to garner votes for this global liberal agenda), is very disturbing.

Latest dirty tactics in Madison

The latest development in Madison’s struggle between taxpayers and unions has involved the use of slander by liberals to influence Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice elections – an attempt to radicalize the composition of the Supreme Court, which will soon be making decisions on Governor Walker’s budget and collective bargaining law.

Toward this end, there was an outpouring of national union funds for defeating (and slandering ) Wisconsin’s conservative incumbent Supreme Court Justice Prosser.

Slanderous ad attempting to smear Jutsice Prosser

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Democrat ads falsely accused  Prosser of injustice in the handling of a 35 year old Catholic Church sex scandal case – a double punch to conservatives and to the Catholic Church( If You’re Looking for Child Abuse, the Catholic Church is the Last Place to Look).

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JoAnne Kloppenburg

Despite protests by the sex scandal victim and his demands that JoAnne Kloppenburg (the liberal candidate challenging Justice Prosser) pull the slanderous advertisements,  the untrue and malicious ads were not pulled. JoAnne Kloppenburg claimed that the ads were not run by her, but by a third party, and that she did not wish to deprive them of their “freedom of speech.”

Justice Prosser

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Clearly a display of unethical behavior and a poor choice by a candidate who might have served on the Wisconsin Supreme Court for the next 10 years!  Fortunately, as of this writing it appears that she is no longer a contender .

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I have survived a nuclear firestorm of criticism and attack and smear” –Justice Prosser

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History of dirty tactics in Madison

Being driven to political activism has been a real eye-opening experience for me—occurring, as it has, in Madison, WI, where I have been living for 22 years.

Reeling in disbelief at the recent below-the-belt political tactics exercised by the left, and mystified by the escalating frequency of illegal and quite frankly uncivilized behavior of previously respected elected officials and “teacher” demonstrators, I embarked on some research into liberal tactics.  The name of Saul Alinksy began to surface—the author of a new disgusting form of “activism” which is in direct conflict with Judeo-Christian values and which specializes in undermining democratic rule, for use by radicals who want to force change against the will of a majority.

It was easy for me, as well as for many Americans, to steer clear of political involvement previously, under the pressures of career, child-rearing and (for me) home-schooling, particularly while practicing the forbearance we were taught as a good Christians —assuming the best possible about others; treating them as you would be treated; assuming they are doing the same to you.

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Bad assumptions, as it turns out, in Madison, Wisconsin, USA in 2011.

SO bad, that I marvel at and have started blogging about the discontinuity between media reports and actual reality in the recently publicized budget struggles between Governor Walker and union leadership in Madison Wisconsin (A Word from the Silent Majority; What’s Really Happening in Wisconsin; What is REALLY going on in Wisconsin).  My blogging is the product of my frustration and indignation in watching the discontinuity between reality and left-leaning “progressive” media reports.

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Fred Risser, the senior Democrat member of the Wisconsin Legislature

While unions (which historically have done much good work), and the Democrats who represent them, now break laws, slander, malign, misrepresent, and conspire to stall the democratic process, and while the Madison police who support them fail to enforce the law, while the Mayor of the City of Madison assists liberals in stalling the progress of the State Legislature’s work, and while liberal judges overlook State law (also helping unions to stall impending budget legislation), the media, and much of liberal Madison, continue to applaud and idolize all these agents who are actually impeding the fair implementation of democracy (A Word from the Silent Majority; What’s Really Happening in Wisconsin; What is REALLY going on in Wisconsin).

Dirty tactics appear systematic, not isolated

The tactics being used in Madison today (unreported by most media) are shocking even to someone like me, hardly an “innocent,” who grew up in New York City, commuting to high school daily on New York City subways, and attending the State University of New York at Stony Brook in the 1960’s and 70’s, at the height of student unrest in the Vietnam protest era.

Research on these tactics led me to findings that would surprise most Americans who value Judeo-Christian ideals (that would be over 80% of us).

The apparent abandonment of political ethics and morality which we have been observing evidently is not a random, unplanned general degeneration of public standards that one might initially suspect.  There are actually methods and calculated political action being implemented (primarily by liberal radicals, although occasionally conservatives have been known to lash back with similar tactics).  These efforts are well organized, and have achieved much success in implementing radical agendas against the wishes of the majority in the United States.

Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals

As it turns out, these “new” radical methods stem from the radical philosophy of Saul Alinsky (author of Rules for Radicals ), and have been embraced and used quietly and surreptitiously by powerful individuals and organizations including Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama, the National Education Association (NEA), and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).

Saul Alinsky

Saul Alinsky (1909-1972) was an American “community organizer” and writer .  Born in Chicago to an orthodox Jewish family, his plans to become an archaeologist were disrupted by the depression.  Instead, he embarked on a career of political activism, organizing first for the labor movement, then in ghettos across the United States.

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Barack Obama, “community organizer”

Saul Alinksy’s radical methods for community reorganization (does this term sound familiar? Barak Obaman’s campaign credentials included being a “community organizer” in Chicago) were practiced by Alinsky since the Great Depression, were published in 1971, and have slowly been permeating the modus operandi of the unions, and of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) which represents them, since then.   Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, outlining his beliefs and methods, can be distilled down to an “anything goes” or “ends justify ANY means” philosophy—a philosophy unhampered by truth, fairness or lawful behavior. A philosophy that scorns communication, compromise and the democratic process, while extolling the intentional generation of conflict toward the purpose of manipulation through fear:

Alinsky was a bluff iconoclast who concluded that electoral politics offered few solutions to the have-nots marooned in working-class slums. His approach to social justice relied on generating conflict to mobilize the dispossessed. Power flowed up, he said, and neighborhood leaders who could generate outside pressure on the system were more likely to produce effective change than the lofty lever-pullers operating on the inside.—Peter Slevin, Washington Post

In his book Rules for Radicals, Alinsky himself writes:

“What follows is for those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be. The Prince was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power. Rules for Radicals is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away.”

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Alinsky’s influence

Alinsky’s “community reorganization” methods have been a common ideological touchstone for Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama.  Hillary Clinton wrote her senior honors thesis at Wellesley College on Saul Alinksky, and was offered a job by Alinsky in 1968.  Following Alinsky’s death, Barak Obama was hired by Alinsky’s followers to organize black residents on the South Side of Chicago, while learning and applying Alinsky’s philosophy of street-level democracy.

Teacher’s groups like the National Education Association (NEA) used Saul Alinsky as a consultant to train their own staff, and unions like the AFL-CIO acknowledge their roots in Saul

Alinsky–inspired community organization , and list Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” on their web page under training for shop stewards .

Radical liberals who embrace Alinsky’s philosophy and tactics are well aware of the unpopularity of such tactics with 80% of (Christian) Americans, and they are not in a big rush to acknowledge, name or publicize their techniques.

What ARE Alinksy’s rules?

Alinsky’s book, Rules for Radicals, is prefaced by an acknowledgement to Lucifer, the “very first” radical:

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Lucifer

Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgement to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history ( and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins—or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom – Lucifer.

– Saul Alinsky

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Alinsky’s rulesinclude:

• “Wherever possible go outside the experience of the enemy. Here you want to cause confusion, fear and retreat.”
• “Make the enemy live up to his/her own book of rules. You can kill them with this. They can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.”
• “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also, it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage.”
• “The threat is generally more terrifying than the thing itself.”
• “In a fight almost anything goes. It almost reaches the point where you stop to apologize if a chance blow lands above the belt.”
• “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and polarize it.” (Use name-calling to damage your conservative opponents.  Demonize them.)
• “One of the criteria for picking the target is the target’s vulnerability … the other important point in the choosing of a target is that it must be a personification, not something general and abstract.” (For example, choose a conservative to demonize aggressively for political incorrectness, while applying much more lax and forgiving standards to your own radical colleagues.)
• “The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength.” For instance, Democrats imply conservatives are racists or that Republicans want to kill senior citizens by limiting the growth of the Medicare system, they imply Republicans want to deny kids lunch money without offering real proof. These red-herring tactics work.

The contrast between Radical rules and traditional Judeo-Christian rules

The Ten Commandments

.. . .. These Alinsky rules can be contrasted with the Judeo-Christian 10 Commandments, which are based on Exodus 20:2-17, and which form the springboard of the U.S. Constitution and of most conservative thinking:

A new set of rules has been introduced by radicals

It is beginning to look like a new philosophy is becoming prevalent in the political arena – the strictly utilitarian Alinsky philosophy, which defies Judeo-Christian morality and despises the exercise of egalitarian democracy.  It reflects a culture of selfish entitlement, by whatever means necessary to advance oneself and one’s friends.  It strives to preserve the illusion that there is a community participating in the decision-making process, while in actual fact the citizens and their opinions are being squeezed out.  This Alinsky philosophy has been adopted widely by numerous liberal groups, including teachers unions,  the DNC, and President Obama’s community organizing friends, including ACORN.

Much evidence is accumulating that Planned Parenthood operates using these tactics too. For example, it has successfully propagandized gullible Americans into believing that killing an unborn human is a “choice” that improves a woman’s “health,” when in actual fact abortion is associated with an increased chance of death in comparison with childbirth.  Even President Barack Obama uses this “progressive” jargon in reference to abortion, contrary to the beliefs of the majority in America.

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Saul Alinsky

Practioners of the Alinsky method welcome conflict, and use conflict to their own advantage, to circumvent the will of the majority.  Their method often goes unidentified, or lurks under many titles, but is rarely identified as the Alinsky method.  The method often adopts or transforms other techniques such as the “Delphi Technique,” creating spin-offs under different names.

ridicule

Until we responsible conservatives recognize this new breed of liberal, and develop our own plan of action for identifying and countering these opponents who despise and violate common sense rules of morality and the foundations of a healthy democracy, much ground will be lost.  While we spin our wheels, bewildered and incredulous, the Alinskiites are continuing to acquire power and to erode our freedoms.

What next?

Knowing the enemy is the principal step towards victory.

Ridicule is the radical liberal’s biggest tool.  Religion (Judeo-Christian values) is their biggest target.

This is a war of values, and we must guard ourselves carefully against the new barrage of lies with which responsible conservatives are being attacked.

Once we learn not to take their attacks personally, and once we realize that our opponents have no interest in honest negotiation, we can move forward with determination and with strength, which, incidentally, leaders like John Boehner and Scott Walker are doing for us.

We must support our conservative leaders with our votes, with our confidence, with our emails, with our words, and with our pocketbooks.

Related Article, 7/27/13:

.Continued from “What’s (REALLY) Happening in Wisconsin?”…

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Since Wisconsin Republicans voted on Ash Wednesday, March 9, 2011 to limit union collective bargaining by passing the Budget Repair Bill , information blackout continues, and even people like me, living only 3 miles from the Wisconsin Capitol, are struggling to get all the facts.

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I continue to be amazed at the lack of news or analysis provided by mainstream media concerning all of these events, as well as the radically liberal spin seen in articles which do appear.

Persevering in collecting facts during recent weeks, I am astounded at the lack of ethics permeating the actions of the left—of the union leaders and of the Democrats who represent them.  Some of these are documented further below, in the Background section.

Newest developments:

Republicans flee Madison for safety from angry mobs and death threats

Threat slipped under a Republican Senator's door

Fifteen minutes after their rushed March 9^th vote to limit union collective bargaining, Republican legislators had to leave the Capitol building under police protection because they were being threatened by an angry mob.  They were told to get out of Madison as quickly as possible, since Republicans were unsafe in Madison that night.  The legislators filed out of the Capitol building past Democrat legislators in orange T-shirts, who reviled them, repeating phrases such as “Are you proud of yourself?” while Jesse Jackson (!) looked on.   Outside, the Republican senators were harassed by an angry mob .  Many Republicans received death threats , and some of their cars and homes were vandalized .  Little, if any of this barbaric behavior by demonstrators, was reported by mainstream media other than FOX.

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Democrats stall, backtrack on promises and misrepresent to the media

The “14 Dems” who had fled Wisconsin in order to obstruct (in violation of Senate rules) the controversial vote for which they did not have a majority, have been idolized by liberal Madison, and by the liberal media which clearly favors the Democrats.  Media, Democrats and demonstrators routinely misrepresented the Governor and the Republicans.  Their portrayal of  Republicans as rigid and uncompromising tyrants was deceitful, because in actual fact numerous secret meetings were held near the Wisconsin-Illinois border between Democrats and Republicans from Feb 28 through March 9.  During these meetings Democrats made numerous promises to compromise and to return to Madison, but reneged repeatedly, and ultimately it became apparent that Democrat leaders were stalling, were backtracking on offers, were being disingenuous, and were not negotiating in good faith.

The final blow to Republicans was a letter sent by minority leader Mark Miller (D) to Governor Walker, accusing the Governor of wanting to “keep lines of communications closed,” which was released first to the media before being delivered to the Governor’s Office.  In light of the secret negotiations going on for 10 days, during which Republicans traveled regularly to the Illinos border for meetings, this letter represented an outright betrayal and lie.  This was what compelled the Republicans to move forward on the vote in the absence of Democrats on the evening of March 9^th.

The Budget Repair Bill is Passed

The vote was conducted in the Senate in the evening of March 9^th, the Assembly approved the bill on March 10^th, and Governor Walker signed it on March 11^th.  It could have been published by the Secretary of State Doug La Follette as early as by March 15th , the last step before implementation of the bill .

Democrats Desperately Try to Stall Publication of the Budget Repair Bill

However, Democrats (representing union leaders) have launched a number of stalling tactics of dubious validity during the past week (March 10-18), attempting to delay the publication and implementation of the Budget Repair Bill.  There is little doubt that the vote was legal and that the law will stand, but by stalling implementation of the law, Democrats are buying time for  unions to rush through contract extensions and pay raises.

Incidentally, the rushing through of union contracts does NOT benefit all union members— instead, it benefits only the union bosses and senior union members, at the expense of junior members.  When union contracts with generous benefits are negotiated in lean fiscal times, the budget is used up to pay the senior member’s generous contracts, and junior members are then laid off as the money runs out.  By negotiating generous benefits, the union leaders are feathering their own nests at the expense of the jobs of their own young union members.

The stalling commenced immediately on March 10^th, with the Democrat Secretary of State stating that he plans to wait the maximum 10 days allowed before publishing the Budget Repair Bill, delaying publication until March 25 (in place of March 15).  Next, several Dane County and City of Madison officials, including  Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz  and Dane county Executive Kathleen Falk, filed complaints with the Dane County District Attorney alleging that Wisconsin’s Open Meeting laws were violated when the Budget Repair Bill was passed.

These actions were taken despite the fact that the the Open Meetings law was not violated at all.  Governor Walker ensured, prior to the vote, that the procedures adopted satisfied all relevant rules and statutes.  Legal opinions from three nonpartisan legal agencies were obtained endorsing the procedures used, and even respected Democrat Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett had indicated that a separate vote without Democrats would be valid.  Democrats were filing invalid accusations simply to buy time.

On March 10, the day after the Budget Repair Bill was passed, James Troupis, an attorney for Fitzgerald (the Senate Majority Leader) explained to Vicki McKenna on WIBA radio that the Open Meetings law was not violated and even does not to apply to Senate proceedings, “since the Wisconsin constituti­on is quite explicit in providing the Legislatur­e with independen­t authority.”   Jim Troupis indicated that the vote had satisfied all pertinent rules—the Wisconsin Constitution, the Open Meeting law (which itself states in section 19.87 sub 2 that no provision which conflicts [with Senate rules] shall apply), and the Senate rule 93.

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Nevertheless, one week later, on March 18^th, liberal Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi issued a temporary restraining order, barring the publication of the Budget Repair Bill , claiming the violation of the state’s open meetings law.  The judge has not ruled on the claim, and is now on vacation!

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The Senate Majority Leader and Assembly Speaker released a joint statement condemning the judge’s decision:

“Dane County always seems to play by its own rules, but this morning, we saw a Dane County judge try to re-write the constitutional separation of powers… We fully expect an appeals court will find that the Legislature followed the law perfectly and likely find that today’s ruling was a significant overreach. “

One more motivation has been suggested (WIBA, March 21) for the desperate and dubious stalling tactics being exercised by Democrats on the Budget Repair Bill during the last 10 days –  Democrats are attempting to stall the Bill for a sufficiently  long time to effect the recall of the Republican Senators who voted for the bill — the newest bizarre strategy for instituting  minority rule and defeating the democratic process with stalling and bluffing.

Background

Election 2010

At the outset it is important to point out that in November of 2010 the citizens of Wisconsin elected Republicans into power— not only to the Governor’s mansion, but also into both houses of the State Legislature  .  Wisconsin, previously a Democrat stronghold, suddenly went “red” in the last election.  Voters appeared to be motivated by a desire to cut spending, to cut deficits, and to avoid passing on crippling financial burdens to future generations of Wisconsinites– the “Tea Party” philosophy.  Conservative is the new Liberal .

Madison, the Capitol City of Wisconsin, historically very liberal, locally referred to as “Moscow on the Mendota (a local lake),” was now a radically liberal island surrounded by a much more conservative sea of Wisconsin Republicans.  Madison is the home of 40,000 liberal college students on a campus adjacent to the Capitol building, home of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and Madison is so entrenched in liberalism that only Democrats can be found as candidates on Madison Mayoral ballots.

Wisconsin pulls in their belts

Now that the newly elected Republican Governor and Republican houses of legislature have embarked on fulfilling their campaign promises to reign in the reckless and out-of-control spending of the previous Democrat administration, numerous state employees have suffered cuts in salary and benefits—including my husband, an engineering professor at the State University, UW Madison .  Despite my husband’s status as a Wisconsin Distinguished Professor and a global reputation in automotive research on engine efficiency and emission controls, he has not even received a cost of living increase in about 7 years.  Last year, he had the equivalent of a 5% salary reduction in the form of a mandatory furlough, and just recently we received notification that his take-home salary would be reduced by an additional 10%, in the form of reduced benefits (previously paid by the employer, the state of WI, and now paid for by us).  Unquestionably, this will affect our entire future.

We have not complained, because we saw the reason behind the pay cuts.  If the salary and benefits of senior members of the University community like us were not cut, then junior members (those without tenure) would be the first to lose jobs, to allow us to continue to enjoy our comforts.  Our duty to pull in our belts when financial times are tight, rather than watching the young people around us become unemployed.

Unions not out for the common good

Teachers? or Union Power?

This is the crux of the matter—willingness of senior members of organizations to take cuts so that junior members would not have to be laid off.  The willingness to put the common good before the personal good.  This is what the union leaders of Wisconsin (and of America) seem unwilling to do.

The unions of Wisconsin enjoy many benefits and have been extremely privileged.  There are dozens of states without Wisconsin’s collective bargaining for public employees, and in fact most federal workers do not have collective bargaining rights.  We value our teachers in Wisconsin, and they deserve the great treatment they had while the economy was good.  However, now that financial hardship is upon us, teacher union leaders do not have the same philosophy that most Wisconsinites have of sharing the sacrifice across the board.  They have been rushing through contract extensions before the new budget cuts are made, and have even been attempting to force through pay raises as well.  Meanwhile, typical non-union Wisconsin workers earn about 30% less than union workers in the same jobs, and are not complaining about the necessary belt-tightening.

This is not a uniquely Wisconsin phenomenon.  Unions across America have been hustling to make similar changes in advance of the budget cuts which Tea Party activists demanded in the last election, and union leaders have seen this battle coming.

Union bosses mobilized their resources to fight in Wisconsin – Madison is one of the first places these legislative fiscal reversals have come up, Madison is a liberal union-supportive environment, and Madison is filled with graying radicals and leftist college students.  Madison could be relied upon to provide numerous protesters downtown, adjacent to the campus. With the organizational help of the Democratic National Committee, the rallies in Madison were huge these past several weeks, and also included protesters bused in from across the entire nation.

What most demonstrators did not and still do not realize, is that even now, as Democrats continue political maneuvers to stall the implementation of the new restrictions on union benefits, union leaders are continuing to rush through more contract extensions which will ensure the senior union members continued comfort and benefits at the expense of laying off junior union members — who unknowingly have been out at the Wisconsin Capitol demonstrating for the union bosses.

The informational black-out; facts unreported by media

Wisconsin Capitol grounds damage

Demonstrations in Madison anything BUT peaceful

The demonstrators at the Wisconsin Capitol during the past month were loud, aggressive, unruly, and they violated many Madison ordinances.  They damaged the Capitol building, littered the downtown, destroyed the grass and Capitol grounds, brought ammunition onto Capitol grounds, harassed Republican senators, and paraded vulgar signs in and around the Capitol in front of young children. This past weekend I personally witnessed Democrats with bullhorns yelling vulgar language at Majority Leader Fitzgerald outside the Capitol building, while children in strollers were wheeled by.

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City agencies assist unions and help thwart the Governor and Legislature

The Madison City government, Madison police, Madison firefighters, and Madison media all collaborated to facilitate the union protesters and to misrepresent the belligerent and threatening tone of the demonstrations to the outside world.

The Mayor sided with the demonstrators, instructed Madison Police not to remove the demonstrators violating Capitol visiting hours, and allowed false statements to be published on the City of Madison website which proclaimed that all demonstrations were peaceful and respectful.  They were not.

The Madison Police, whose unions are exempt from the proposed legislation, still sided with the unions and stopped ticketing cars downtown for parking violations, did not arrest demonstrators for violating Capitol hours, for destruction of property, for harassment of Republican Senators , for defacement of property, for littering, and for numerous other legal infringements.

One Republican Senator was pursued and harassed by a crowd of 200, and not one policeman was in sight to protect him.  Eventually, firefighters arrived to escort him away from the barbaric crowd.  FOX was the only news channel to report on this incident.

Media misrepresents events in Madison

The media misrepresented the belligerent and threatening behavior of the protestors, and misrepresented the issues at the heart of the dispute, casting union protesters in a favorable light while vilifying the government which was trying to carry out the work it was elected to do.

The media glorified the 14 Democrats who fled Wisconsin to prevent the presence of the quorum needed to pass the legislation, while failing to report on the duplicity and outright dishonesty of the Democratic negotiation tactics – which included numerous secret meetings with Republicans near the state border, numerous promises to compromise and to return to Wisconsin, followed by numerous reversals and failures to live up to promises.

Unions are out-maneuvered by the Governor

When Governor Walker finally realized the duplicitous nature of  Democrat “negotiations” which were only being used for stalling, he outmaneuvered the Democrats by rewriting the budget repair bill. Appropriation of funds was removed so that the bill would not require a quorum to pass, and could be passed without the presence of the 14 missing Democrats.  On Wednesday, March 9^th, senate Republicans passed the new budget repair bill.  On Thursday, the Assembly approved it.  Prior to Wednesday vote, the Governor had the procedure endorsed by three nonpartisan legal agencies.  The Mayor of Milwaukee, Tom Barrett, a prominent State Democrat, had also expressed agreement that the vote could be taken without the 14 missing Democrat senators.

The rest of the news from the last 10 days has already been reported above.

Where to from here?

The only remaining question is whether the citizens of Wisconsin, as well as citizens across America where similar tactics are being used by union bosses, will withstand the lies and misrepresentations and sustain their resolution to repair the economy both in Wisconsin and nationwide.

Hateful and threatening images remain

(vulgar images have been omitted):

The chalk outline is customarily used to indicate where the murder victim once was.

Teachers? or Socialists?

Message scrawled on Republican Senator's window at the Wisconsin Capitol

Peaceful and Respectful Protest?

Freedom to trash the Wisconsin Capitol? Or freedom to subvert democracy?

Graffiti and chalk body outlines all over the Wisconsin Capitol grounds

Wow…  3 miles from my home, and 3 blocks from my parish in Madison…

Wisconsin State Capitol, Wed eve, Mar 9, 2011

Wisconsin State Capitol Building, Madioson, WI

Last night, police “ceded control of the State Street doors and allowed the crowd to surge inside.” Some report that demonstrators broke windows—see the situation here:

Last night, Republican legislators were told to flee Madison for their own safety(Senator Grothman, March 9, 2011).

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Mayor Dave Cieslewicz instructed Madison Police Chief not to allow his officers to participate in removing demonstrators from the building.    Last week, the City of Madison also issued a supportive statement about crowds  “peacefully assembled to exercise democracy andFirst Amendment rights.”
Media has been reporting protests as “peaceful,” although there is much evidence to the contrary.

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Senator Grothman cornered by angry mob

Last week Police gave no protection to Senator Grothman when a mob of 200 pursued him.
President Obama has been supporting the unions, not Governor Walker.
The impression many conservative Madison, Wisconsin residents have is that liberal/union crowds have run amok, and that Madison’s liberal City government, liberal police and liberal media are forsaking their responsibilities to the public and are assisting the rebels.
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This is being done because a minority objects to legislation which duly elected conservative legislators

Wisconsin State Journal Cartoon

are attempting to pass, according to democratic process.  Incidentally, contrary to liberal propaganda, Governor Walker is not eliminating ALL collective bargaining rights for teachers, he is  just trimming them to be a little more in line with the rest of Wisconsin’s workers.  If teacher collective bargaining in Madison were left unrestrained, all the cuts unions are pretending to accept this week could be reversed next week.

During recent weeks, even the liberal Wisconsin State Journal has begun showing support for Governor Walker — to the dismay of the Isthmus, an extremely liberal Wisconsin paper.

Again contrary to liberal claims, last night’s vote to limit union collective bargaining was valid – Wisconsin Open Meeting Law states that “every public notice of a meeting be given at least twenty-four hours in advance of the meeting, unless “for good cause” such notice is “impossible or impractical.”  If “good cause” exists, the notice should be given as soon as possible and must be given at least two hours in advance of the meeting.
It would be difficult to imagine that threats of mob attack on legislators in the absence of police protection would not constitute “good cause.”  Two hours notice WAS given. In actual fact, the possibility of this vote was discussed several weeks ago, so the 14 renegade Dems had closer to 3 weeks notice that this vote was imminent.    The Dems have been out-maneuvered legally, and they are raging mad.

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All very shocking and  becoming scary–  the tactics being used by unions/liberals who were voted out in November. Even MORE shocking,  they seem to have the cooperation of Madison’s City government, police and media.  The situation has become more disturbing than anyone previously realized.  We are well on our way to MOB RULE– by a loud unruly minority.

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http://istandwithwalker.com/

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Governor Walker is a long-overdue Godsend – may God help him and may God help us all!

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The culmination of these events occurred on Ash Wednesday, at the beginning of Lent.  Lent is a time to give up comforts and privileges for our own spiritual strengthening and edification, and for the common good.  The unions/liberals at the Wisconsin Capitol should be reminded of this.  In difficult economic times, the unions need to take their fair share of cuts and limitations for the common good, so that thousands of others would not be left without jobs at all.

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A prayer marathon is in order.

God come to our assistance, Lord make haste to help us.

Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

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. a facebook post, lifted with permission from my son Chris:  

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Political litmus test

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by Chris on Saturday, February 19, 2011 at 6:47am

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I got this email forwarded from a friend. It gave me a good chuckle.

A pre-note, though; I RARELY put anything political on facebook, because I don’t want to start fights. Anything mean-spirited (on either side) WILL be deleted. Any complaints about this policy WILL be deleted. I want my facebook to be a friendly, positive, G-rated place, so if you can’t find anything good to say, don’t say anything at all. Discussion or debate on this is fine, but let’s keep it civilized.

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With that:

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A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, and among other liberal ideals, was very much in favor of higher taxes to support more government programs; in other words, redistribution of wealth.

She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in school.

Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn’t even have time for a boyfriend, and didn’t really have many college friends, because she spent all her time studying.

Her father listened and then asked, ‘How is your friend Audrey doing?’ She replied, ‘ Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She’s always invited to all the parties and lots of times she doesn’t even show up for classes because she’s too hung over.’

Her wise father asked his daughter, ‘Why don’t you go to the Dean’s office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA,  and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA.’ The daughter, visibly shocked by her father’s suggestion, angrily fired back, ‘That’s a crazy idea, how would that be fair! I’ve worked really hard for my grades! I’ve invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!’

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The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, ‘Welcome to the Republican party.’ If anyone has a better explanation of the difference between Republican and Democrat I’m all ears.

If you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test!

Conservative versus liberal:

If a conservative doesn’t like guns, he doesn’t buy one; if a liberal doesn’t like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.

If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn’t eat meat; if a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.

If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life; if a liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.

If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation; a liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

If a conservative doesn’t like a talk show host, he switches channels. Liberals demand that those they don’t like be shut down.

If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn’t go to church. A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced.

Discussion:

You and Tom like this.

Allen:

You know I think it is funny we make these generalizations about liberals and conservatives that are not really true. We say things like Republicans hate minorities and poor people and Liberals want to take all our wealth away and turn us i…nto China. This is what were told at least. The truth is that we all want about the same thing, maybe not always, but mostly. This article is based upon a logical fallacy, false analogy. As a moderate liberal I do not believe in most of these things. The exceptions are these, homosexuals demand legislated respect because if they do not they are found dead on the side of the road and while I believe in higher taxes and better government programs, there is a limit to this. There is a fundamental ideological difference here, I don’t see it helping those are lazy and don’t want to work, but those, because of circumstances out of their control, need help. Let’s drop all of the bullshit generalizations and have a real conversation about ideology.

Chris:

As a moderate conservative, I agree with most of what you’re saying 🙂

Trust me, I’m NOT trying to say that we should get rid of all government programs, because, just this week, I almost needed to take advantage of one (unemployment)! Howev…er, I think we’d both agree that there ARE some lazy bums who get free rides from the government, and I’d bet both of us would agree that that should stop. The only question is how to do it in a way that doesn’t hurt those in genuine need.

Re: homosexuals, I’d be a little careful there for several reasons. First, you’re saying that we should legislate respect for a minority who is hated by another minority (I’d submit that 99% of people really don’t care either way what someone’s sexual orientation is, as long as they don’t make a public show of it – public shows of heterosexuality can be just as creepy as public shows of homosexuality!). To put it differently, you’re advocating making hatred illegal or legislating morality. Morality has to come from within, not without, because laws that govern what goes on inside someone’s head can’t be enforced.

Second, if you want to truly respect a minority group, and be able to say that they are truly equal, then, at least in law, they should be treated no differently than the majority. They should have no extra perks; nor any penalties.

Third, ok, let’s for a minute say that we can have equal respect for a given minority, while treating them differently than the majority. I still say we shouldn’t do it and here’s why: if we are going to make special programs for African-Americans and homosexuals, then why can’t we have a program for left-handed South African-Lithuanian-Americans (I’m pretty sure I’m the only one out there)? If we start giving extra perks to one group, if we want to be fair, we should give perks to ALL groups, and that would be a herculean task.

I think the only way to ensure respect for all groups is to teach our children, when they meet someone, to make the flash-judgment, “This is a member of Homo sapiens, a human person, just like me. If I cut them, they will bleed like me. If I love them, they will be happy like me. They want the same thing I do; the details may be different, but we both want to be loved and accepted, and we both want the opportunity to succeed.” Until we can get people to view each other like that, there’s no point in trying to legislate respect.

I now yield the soap box 😉

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Syte:

I like your soap box.
Let me know if I can post it on my blog.
🙂

Chris: sure