Syte Reitz

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world…….

Why the Bradley-Prosser “Choking” Investigation is So Prolonged

.

Overheard at brunch in Madison, WI; retiree attorneys (Democrats) conversing…

.

Attorney 1: “I’ve worked with Prosser for years.  My politics was completely different from his, entirely different.  But he was always very calm and composed.  My politics was on the other side, but when you met him on the street, he was always very pleasant.”

Attorney 2: “Well, every one of us has a veneer.  Under pressure, the veneer cracks and the real person comes out.  His veneer must have cracked.”

Attorney 1: “I never saw his veneer crack in 20 years.”

And yes, these were Democrats speaking.

.

The same conversation included a discussion of how the investigation on which Justice assaulted which Justice could not conclude with pointing a finger at either Justice– this would discredit the entire Wisconsin Supreme Court tremendously.

.

Yet, what are the options?
Pretend it did not happen?
Hope it goes away?
Censure the guilty Justice and let her/him continue judging after being proven a liar?
What about the witnesses who backed each Justice?  They are Justices, too, and clearly some of them lied – should those supporting the guilty Justice also be censured?

.

Even if a “choking” did occur, what was Justice Bradley thinking when failing to use legal channels, but leaking this story to Madison’s liberal press, to Bill Lueders, of the Soros-funded Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism?  Is this how the Supreme Court handles legal complaints? continue reading…

Media malpractice and Justice Prosser

or

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.

So busy having a wonderful July 4th weekend, didn’t have time to post.
Family
Wisconsin
Lake
Bonfire
Lighted boat parade.
Good food.
For all this — thanks be to God, and may God continue to bless America!

  • dscn3018
  • dscn3019
  • dscn3014
  • dscn3020
  • dscn3029
  • dscn3031
  • dscn3036
  • campfire
  • campfire-5
  • campfire-3
  • july-4-2011
  • sweetened-corn-cooked-with-bacon-grease

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court Justice Assaults Fellow Justice

or

What is Happening in Wisconsin, AGAIN!?

or

Alinsky Tactics, Supreme Court level

or

Which Justice Assaulted Which Justice?

.

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.

.

Following Wisconsin Supreme Court’s June 14th 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 :

More participants at "Walkerville" today, ~ 300

Wisconsin Supreme Court Upholds Collective Bargaining Law
or

“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.

.

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

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

  • American flags on Flag Day
  • Walkerville-  Rude signs
  • Flag Day at the Capitol, June 14, 2011
  • MC calling demonstrators to demand entrance to the Capitol
  • Pink-enrobed young man - the MC
  • Shouting slogans
  • I\'m outta here!  Have to find a different old lady to harrass.
  • Time to go elsewhere
  • My horn-toting friend turns away after I start snapping photos of him
  • Reporters arrive, liberal protesters come to life
  • Walkerville from State Street
  • Steelworkers Union
  • WSP Local, 3732
  • Raise your flag for Governor Walker
  • Calling a Walker a Nazi?
  • Governor Walker supporters
  • Union members- MTI
  • Walkerville- noon, June 14, 2011 ~ 300 demonstrators
  • Walkerville Information tent -6-14-11
  • State Street 6-14-11- not too crowded

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

.

“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).

.

"Walkerville" Day 3: row of empty tents

.

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)

.

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.

.

Hooverville, 1932, Washington DC

.

.

.

.

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

.

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

.

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.



.

Vuvuzela: lone protester using volume to get attention

.

.

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.”

.

.

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

.

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.

.

.

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.

.

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.

  • Hot Pink Planned Parenthhod T-shirts dominate the rally of 30
  • Not much going on at Capitol Square at lunchtime
  • R.E.I. tents
  • One occupant is actually there
  • Ghost town
  • State Street
  • One group on State Street wearing tags-- union officials?
  • Not much action for police
  • No protesters in sight
  • Noontime rally draws around 30 onlookers
  • State Street quiet
  • Planned Parenthood T-shirts close up.
  • Posters
  • All the Yuppie comforts...
  • Largest block of 15 (empty) tents
  • Tents closer up
  • Found one small group of protesters
  • Capitol lawn has been restored
  • Buses, first aid tent
  • Nobody\'s shopping
  • R.E.I. comfort
  • No crowds here
  • Capitol Square- not exactly crowded
  • First Aid at Grace Episcopal
  • Police supporting public teacher unions
  • Union headquarters?
  • Law Enforcement Officers Memorial
  • Walkerville demonstrators sparse, Day 10
  • State Street uncrowded
  • Looks like Russ Feingold is posturing himself to replace Scott Walker (poster).
  • Capitol Square is quiet 6-12-11
  • Campers looking quite comfortable
  • Rude posters
  • Not much happening
  • Ghost town, 15 tents
  • Handful of protesters
  • Lone drummer
  • Not much action
  • Lone vuvuzela trumpeter

Discussing Abortion

From a recent discussion on abortion:

Syte:

You should stop calling abortion a woman’s “right.”

Half of all women disagree with you.  Half of all women are pro-life, and half of all women believe that abortion is morally wrong – Gallup Poll 2011.

www.faithmouse.com

Women have no more “right” to kill an inconvenient child than they have to kill an inconvenient husband, an inconvenient elder parent, or an inconvenient neighbor.

Abortion also hurts women physically, emotionally and psychologically — abortion facts.

As a woman, I have a right not to have my taxes spent on the killing of human beings and the damaging of women’s lives.

There is a new, much improved feminism which is superior to the old outdated feminism which demanded the destruction of what a woman values the most—her family.

Alan (name changed):

And the half that don’t agree with you Syte? Their voices matter less than yours? Abortion is legal whether or not you agree with it. You might want to revise your BS line about it being the same as killing a husband. Or was that “not intended to be a factual statement”? By your logic I have a right not to have my tax dollars go towards illegal foreign wars and gas subsidies. In a democracy you don’t always get what you want.

Syte:

Alan —

If you want democracy, the Gallup poll shows that 51% of Americans consider abortion to be morally wrong, while 39% find it morally acceptable.  Not that public opinion can alter morality, but even on your terms, you lose.

BTW, despite your attempts to call pro-life opinions “BS”, morally, the “wrongness” of the killing of a pre-born child is not less than the killing of a husband.   A human is a human, no matter how small.

Alan:

From the the exact same poll you keep posting 49% are Pro-Choice while a measly 46% are Pro-Life (or anti-choice as I like to call it). A human is a human sure but a fetus is a fetus and a zygote is a zygote and abortion is legal. Tell me again why Republicans did NOTHING while they controlled ALL of the federal government from 2001-2006? Keep fighting the good fight though if it makes you feel morally superior. It’s a fight you’ll never win. As soon as Republicans take action they lose this as a wedge issue. And that’s all this is. Republicans manipulating Christians.

Syte:

Alan –

No need to get so emotional.  Perhaps YOU like to feel morally superior, but you have no grounds for throwing that accusation at me.  It is possible to disagree with people and to debate the facts without feeling morally superior or turning it into a fight.

You might like to call pro-lifers “anti-choice,” but I refrain from calling you guys “pro-murder,” and I also point out that the only reason that you are debating with me today, and the only reason other readers are reading this, is that nobody killed US when we were zygotes, fetuses, pre-borns, or whatever terminology pleases you.

So what about the “choice” of the unborn child?  The Constitution guarantees the right to “life, liberty and property.”  Abortion takes away the first, fundamental right, life, without which there can be no further rights.

Just trying to put the facts out there.  BTW, you misquoted the poll.  You might concede that within the error margin of the Gallup poll, Americans have been pretty much 50/50 on pro-life and pro-choice for the last several years.  Which, incidentally, is quite a change from the 33/56 ratio we had in 1996, fifteen years ago.  Like it or not, Americans are rapidly turning pro-life, as they find out more about abortion and its effects on women, on children and on society.

In addition, on other related questions, pro-life is actually winning today in 2011   :

  • 51% say abortion is morally wrong, while 39% say it’s morally permissible.
  • 27% say abortion should be legal under any circumstances.
  • 37% say abortion should be legal under most circumstances
  • 61% say that abortion should be legal under no or few circumstances.

Regarding majorities and abortion and why the Republicans have not reversed abortion, you should know better, unless you have not been following this issue.  There has never been a vote on the legality of abortion in the United States, either by the people, or by the legislature.  Abortion decisions, starting with Roe v. Wade, have been made by APPOINTED judges who were not elected, and who do not represent the will of the American people in any way.   When a liberal president appoints a liberal judge, we are stuck with that liberal judge’s decisions for the tenure, regardless of the will of the people or of the legislature.  Liberals have found a loophole in the Constitution, by which the will of the people can be circumvented.  Glad to have the opportunity to point that out.

Alan:

Yeah that damned Liberal court we have now sure is making decisions based on the will of the people. Is that thier job? Their job is to interpret the law, or in Clarence thomas’ case sleep through the process while others interpret the law. I only pointed out the near 50/50 tie becasue you decided 51% in a poll on morality was enough to support your argument. Stating that a pre-born child is a life is also not a certainty. It’s not according to the US Constituiton or the bible so where do you get the idea that life starts at conception? What I want is for conservatives to stick to thier supposed values. Keep the government out of the uterus.

Syte:

Alan, you wrote:  “Stating that a pre-born child is a life is also not a certainty…..   not according to …..the bible.”

No? Not a certainty, unless you consult moral experts—including most major religions, the Dalai Lama, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Hindus, Islamic leaders, the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, Oriental Orthodoxy, Orthodox Judaism, Protestant Churches (all Fundamentalist, Pentecostal, Charismatic and other Evangelical denominations), the Southern Baptist Convention, the Roman Catholic Church, and thousands of other moral experts including over 1,000 pro-life groups that are not affiliated with religious denominations, who all oppose abortion on demand.  These moral experts are not in vehement opposition to the surgical removal of a mole, but to the termination of a human life.

Also, your claim that a pre-born child may not be a “life” IS addressed in the Bible:

“And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the INFANT leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost”- Luke 1:41

John the Baptist was a second-trimester baby at the time that he is described in the Bible as an “infant.” Christ, to whom John the Baptist was responding, was an embryo, probably a few weeks old.  Surely, the Bible’s use of the term “infant,” and the ability of persons to recognize and respond to each other, indicates the existence of “life”?

Throughout our society our laws and language acknowledge the “life” of a pre-born child:

  • Murderers get charged with TWO counts of murder when they murder pregnant women.
  • The Mayo clinic uses the word “baby” throughout their online description of “fetal” development.
  • Even YOU used the phrase “pre-born CHILD.”

A child only seems to lose human life status when he or she becomes “inconvenient,” and comes under consideration for abortion.  Then the language of dehumanization kicks in, to whitewash what is really going on, and to make it more palatable.

Steven (name changed):

Out of more than 600 laws of Moses, none comments on abortion. One Mosaic law about miscarriage

Michaelangelo’s Moses

specifically contradicts the claim that the bible is antiabortion, clearly stating that miscarriage does not involve the death of a human being. If a woman has a miscarriage as the result of a fight, the man who caused it should be fined. If the woman dies, however, the culprit must be killed:

“If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.”

—Ex. 21:22-25

The bible orders the death penalty for murder of a human being, but not for the expulsion of a fetus.

Syte:

Steven—

Your quotation actually shows that under Mosaic Law a pregnant woman was acknowledged to be carrying a CHILD, and that causing the loss of that child “will surely be punished.”

HOW do you contort that into claiming that Mosaic Law approved abortion?  Your quotation actually does the opposite of approving abortion.  It acknowledges the human life existing in the woman and specifies punishment for the destruction of that life.

You are really grasping at straws.

Steven:

You fail to investigate the bible’s definition of life (breath) or its deafening silence on abortion. Moreover, the Mosaic law in Exodus 21:22-25, directly following the Ten Commandments, makes it clear that an embryo or fetus is not a human being.

Steven:

If you are an American christian, you may want to check out these groups:
American Baptist Churches-USA, American Ethical Union, American Friends (Quaker) Service Committee, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Episcopal Church, utheran Women’s Caucus, Moravian Church in America-Northern Province, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Unitarian Universalist Association, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, United Synagogue of America, Women’s Caucus Church of the Brethren, YWCA, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Catholics for Free Choice, Evangelicals for Choice

Syte:

Steven –

Of course, the fact that we are having this discussion is because you were not aborted as a child.  This unequivocally proves that the developing fetus is a human being, unless I am now debating with just a huge mass of cells.

It is dangerous to interpret a “deafening silence” in your own favor.  For example, before Sept 11th, there was a “deafening silence” in the U.S. and in our homeland security policies regarding flying airplanes into buildings.  It cannot be inferred from that silence that the U.S. approved of flying airplanes into buildings.  It is more reasonable to infer that such a heinous act was never imagined to be possible before Sept 11th.

So it is equally possible, and even more probable, that the relative silence of the Bible ( don’t dismiss my Luke 1:41 example above, which the vast majority of religions interpret as evidence that a preborn child is as human as the rest of us!), that the relative silence of the Bible on abortion was due to:

  • The violent and destructive nature of abortion, which rendered it an unthinkable act previously –something no one in their right mind would consider, akin to flying airplanes into buildings.
  • The tremendous medical risks associated with abortion without the assistance of modern technology, which was not available at the time.

Regarding your listing of some Christian Churches which allow abortion– the reason for the historical proliferation of Christian Churches in recent times is the fact that people who wished to justify what was previously considered to be morally wrong split off from the first Church – starting with divorce, now including abortion.  Finding a church which approves your favorite transgression of previously accepted morality is not the best way to go, for anyone interested in what is REALLY right or really wrong.

We don’t usually make our own unprofessional conclusions before seeking a doctor, engineer, lawyer, or home inspection expert who agrees with us.  We call in the experts, and ask THEM for guidance.  So, too, with a church—if you decide for yourself whether abortion is morally right or wrong, then choose  a marginal church according to your own conclusion, then you are wasting your time.  You might as well call yourself Church and be done with it.

You are ignoring the fact that the vast majority of mainstream religions do not approve abortion.  You misquote the policies of some churches – for example, the United Methodist Church does NOT condone abortion – “The United Methodist Church upholds the sanctity of human life and is reluctant to affirm abortion as an acceptable practice” – Wikipedia on Christianity and Abortion .  Similarly, not all Presbyterian Churches allow abortion. Catholics for a Free Choice are not a church, but a miniscule minority group of dissidents within the Catholic Church, who have been excommunicated. Their membership comprises 0.001 of 1% of Catholics.  I have not checked the rest of your list, but you might be wrong on quite a few of them.

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

.

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 20th 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.”

.

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?

.

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.

.

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 MonthlyThe 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.

.

Main Points made by Chancellor Joel Klein:

  • American scholastic achievements have been deteriorating rapidly since the 1980’s. The United States now ranks 48th in math and science, near the bottom of industrialized countries.  Less than 1/3 of US 8th 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 8th grader to perform anywhere between 12th grade level and 4th 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.

.

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.

.

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 4th graders cannot demonstrate age-appropriate reading ability.
  • Wisconsin’s student ranking has dropped within the United States—from 3rd in the nation 10 years ago, to 30th 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?”

.

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.

.

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.

Vuvuzela

.

The Isthmus cover of  May 13, 2011 (paper issue) very appropriately illustrates the lead story, The New Activists, with the image of a man blowing a vuvuzela, the Wisconsin State Capitol in the background.  The vuvuzela is a long plastic African horn that has become famous for disrupting the Soccer World Cup games in South Africa and for driving players and fans mad. The behavior of Madison’s new activists WAS loud and obnoxious in recent months, and many DID bring vuvuzelas to disrupt and to inspire fear with their noise:


Vuvuzelas at World Cup


.

.

“Fans and competitors from outside South Africa often complain that today’s vuvuzela doesn’t inspire fear or amazement, just irritation, and that its sound is a loud, unwelcome and unpleasant distraction.” –ABC news

.

Less appropriately, the article INSIDE the Isthmus fails to mention the noise, disruption and unruliness of the new activists participating in the demonstrations against Governor Walker at the Madison Capitol in recent months.  Neither vuvuzelas, drums, whistles, megaphones, nor angry chants and rude posters, all of which were ubiquitous during the downtown demonstrations, are mentioned in the Isthmus article.   The Isthmus article focuses instead on describing four interesting individuals, their use of music, T-shirts, social media (twitter), and business groups, in implementing their protests.

Well, maybe four people did do that.  🙂

Angry Liberals at Wisconsin Capitol

.

The new, much more aggressive and uncivilized behavior of the “new activists,” not discussed by  Isthmus, IS discussed at Clashes between Liberals and Conservatives – Washington, United Nations, Madison — Common denominator?

These tactics are called Alinsky tactics, previously known as “dirty fighting.”  Drowning out and ridiculing the opposition are common, as well as demonizing opponents, backtracking on promises, outright lying, death threats, and property damage.

Wisconsin Capitol Protesters

Now that conservatives have been voted into office in Wisconsin, liberals seem more willing to use any means whatsoever to further their agenda against the wishes of the majority, to stymie the progress of democratic rule.  This is where the REAL story is found, and Isthmus should write about THAT.

With the “new activists,” ridicule is the primary weapon, and conservative values are the primary target.

.

More You Tube examples of liberals using Alinsky tactics in Madison:

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

Alinsky tactics used by President Obama:

Even our President is adopting these techniques – watch President Obama  ridiculing the Mexican border security issue, where numerous people on both sides have lost their lives:

Message for Isthmus

Hey, Isthmus — some news for you — the “new activists,” at every level, from citizen on the street to President, are using a great deal more than just music, T-shirts, twitter, and business groups to promote their agenda– they are violating all previous rules of civilized behavior and decency and are using Alinsky tactics which include ridicule, lying, and death threats.  This is not activism, this is terrorism.

.

.

.


.

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

.

Transcript of Sarah Palin’s Message to Madison:

.

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!

All Posts