BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator

Subject: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Stringsinger
Date: 04 Mar 11 - 05:00 PM

Unionization has been a staple of American Democracy since the 1930's Wagner Act.
Walker and Kasich are attempting to win their argument by any means necessary.
The only resolution to this struggle is by numbers of people willing to stand up to
this arbitrary and Un-American way of handling this issue.

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Bill D
Date: 04 Mar 11 - 05:09 PM

The title is not 'exactly' right.....Walker WANTS to be a dictator. Seems to me he's doing a pretty lame job of it.

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Greg F.
Date: 04 Mar 11 - 06:22 PM

Walker is an juvenile,ignorant asshole who has swallowed TeaBagger/Koch brothers fantasies, and is attempting to put them into practice..

But Ain't That America- as Mark Twain said over a hundred years ago: "a nation which has usually not been willing to have a chief executive of gold when it could get one of tin."

Same goes for governors of the states.

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 04 Mar 11 - 06:31 PM

"stand up to this arbitrary and Un-American way of handling this issue. "

As a foreigner, I see a lot of that sort of 'strong' action in the US, and indeed a lot of praising that sort of arbitrary action, as well as a lot of haranguing of people who would stand up against it, declaiming them as less than human, Commos, liberals, etc.

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Bill D
Date: 04 Mar 11 - 07:28 PM

We have some of every stripe! The 'extreme' ones make the most noise, but not necessarily much light.

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Bobert
Date: 04 Mar 11 - 10:37 PM

Hey, here's one fir ya'll... I don't have all the details as yet but it seems that Walker when he was the Mayor of Milwaukee pulled the same stunt in firing security people who were unionized and brought in the same "private" security people who had been caught on film drinking vodka shooters from each others, ahhhhh, butts over in Afganistan???

Anyone on this one yet??? Sounds like one heck of a little story that, if true, will not only take out Walker but probably the Republican Party in the 2012 elections...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Bill D
Date: 04 Mar 11 - 10:47 PM

Not only that, the court reversed him, and he's having to pay 'those guys' and the original security people also. Nice for the budget, hmmm?

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 12:30 AM

Walker puts the "dic" in dictator!

Bev and Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 01:34 AM

"RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator"

And Bozo is really Ronald McDonald, pretending to be Rosie O'Donnell.
Jeez!

...and Representatives who hide from voting, are called 'Democrats'??................................as in Democracy???????

Some how, or at least on here, I don't know, but with the rise of Independents, I think a LOT of people are starting to see it.....that puts the Damns and the Repugs in a rather agitated place, of 'less serenity'. I guess they have to shout louder at each other, to make sure everyone gives them attention!...meanwhile, nothing gets done, and everybody on top is positioning themselves.........Oh, not for YOU, though.

GfS

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Bobert
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 08:05 AM

You won't have any "serenity" with the Repubs thinking they were elected to "dictate" to everyone... There is no "compromise" in their strategy or their tactics... All I see the Dems doing is trying to hold the fort while these ideologues try to burn it down around them...

Scott Walker is the prime example of "slash and burn"...

Democracy isn't supposed to be about fascism where the minority is completely trashed...

I mean, lets look at the health care reform... The part that the Repubs leave out in their ever revised history is that Obama and/or his staff met with them over and over trying to get them to participate but that does not get into the Repub narrative...

So what we have is yet another "BIGASS LIE" by the Repubs about just how the health care reform bill came about... They want to paint a picture where they were "trashed"... That is pure mythology... Almost the half the bill was from Republican ideas??? Yet they play the "boo hoo" card as if they had been "trashed"... Fine, boo hoo got them one election but the American people are beginning to see that right thru those fake crocodile tears and so if John "Job Killer" Boehner thinks they can cry their way thru another election then he's delusional...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 09:14 AM

"Representatives who hide from voting"

Clever smear tactics by use of emotive words.

Such tactics have been used in extremis, when one side refuses to negotiate, and is determined to force their way through all though history, any opposition can only walk away, this is called abstaining.

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Bobert
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 10:13 AM

Abe Lincoln climbed out a window to do it...

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Greg F.
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 10:23 AM

And, as the TeaBaggers et.al. keep reminding us, the Repulsicans are "The Party Of Lincoln". Seems they should oughta be supporting the fellows that walked out, no?

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Sawzaw
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 10:47 AM

Washington Post Thursday, November 5, 2009

Former Washington Teachers' Union president Barbara Bullock, sentenced to prison in 2004 for masterminding the theft of nearly $5 million from D.C. educators, was released from federal custody Wednesday.

A spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons said Bullock, 71, has been in a halfway house and under home confinement since her release from Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia in May.

She served about five years of a nine-year sentence.

Bullock will wear an electronic monitoring device and be placed under the supervision of parole officials.

Bullock and two other union officials, office manager Gwen Hemphill and treasurer James Baxter, used embezzled funds to pay for clothes, jewelry, furs, trips and season tickets to athletic events. In 2003, Bullock agreed to testify against Hemphill and Baxter. They were sentenced to 11 and 10 years, respectively, and Bullock's sentence was reduced in exchange for her cooperation.

The American Federation of Teachers estimates that roughly $5 million was taken from its subsidiary, the Washington Teachers Union, between 1996 and 2002. The amounts below are just those that can be directly traced to individual conspirators.

Barbara Bullock Barbara Bullock was president of the Washington Teachers Union from 1994 to 2003. In 2003 Bullock was forced out of her office after it was discovered that she had embezzled millions of dollars from the union. She racked up $1.8 million in unauthorized credit card charges and an additional $381,000 in illicit payments.

Gwendolyn Hemphill, an aide to Bullock, spent $492,000 in unauthorized credit card charges and checks.

James Baxter, the treasurer of the WTU, made $537,000 in credit card purchases and illicit payments.

Leroy Holmes was a chauffeur employed by the WTU. He cashed $1.2 million in improper checks for other conspirators and received an annual "salary" of $105,000 -- higher than any WTU official other than Bullock.

Michael Martin (Hemphill's son-in-law) and Errol Adelman operated the company "Expressions Unlimited," which billed the union for $483,000 in fraudulent expenses.

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Amos
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 11:57 AM

Sawz' usual impeccable grasp of situation, similarities and differences bobs to the surface again.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 12:04 PM

There is a difference between unionizing for Federal employees, and regular unions, working for the private sector.
Is the federal government 'unfair' to work for, because of 'unfair' business practices?? Do those fluctuate from administration to administration??? Is the Federal infrastructure so screwed up, that their employees need to unionize, to offset incompetent management?? Are their not rules and regs to watch that stuff?
Tell me.

GfS

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Greg F.
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 12:59 PM

Tell me. GfS

Bite me. GregF

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Bill D
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 01:12 PM

GfS... "Is the federal government 'unfair' to work for, because of 'unfair' business practices?? Do those fluctuate from administration to administration???"

The union is important IF problems develop. You don't need to have a fire to justify having a fire extinguisher handy. Once a fire happens, it is a bit late to run out and buy one.
Issues happen in ALL work environments...and having a built-in format for resolving them makes good sense. Do YOU simply 'trust' management...public OR private... to be fair & reasonable? Yes...'unfair' practices DO fluctuate from one administration to another...why, it is happening in Wisconsin right now.
And I personally know someone who spent 30 years pretty high in one federal agency who told me some real horror stories of how things changed when Reagan got in...and how it got worse under Bush.

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Stringsinger
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 01:16 PM

The Fab Fourteen who left the Dictator's office are the reincarnation of the Lincoln Brigade.
Old Abe jumped out of the second story window to protest the bill that was being forced down the throat of the Senate.

There is an attempt to weaken unions by dividing the goals of the private sector unions and the Federal Employees brought about by Republicans.

The Federal infrastructure needs to be monitored and curbed in their excesses by unions
and regulations. Some of the regulations in Washington are being weakened by Republican corporate business interests. (Like drilling in the Gulf after a disastrous oil spill...by, of all companies, BP, but this is another thread).

Whenever politics is involved, there is always a tendency toward corruption or self-serving politicians and organizations that they represent. The true democratic balance is maintained by unions, constructive regulations and agencies that are not weakened by
corporate oligarchs. This is true of the private as well as public sectors.

A great strike in the 1930's resulted in the passage of the Wagner Act, The New Deal and
the rise of unionism to protect worker's rights. It may be time for a mass wildcat strike -(because of Taft/Hartly, unions can't combine to strike )- and this would change the political landscape in Wisconsin. Perhaps Anonymous would be helpful in effecting this.

What has happened in Egypt and is in the process in the Mid-east has a bearing on what's going on in Wisconsin and Indiana. The U.S. is engaged in political class warfare, the wealthy oligarchs against the working and middle class. It's very much the environment of the 1930's which saw many upheavals, labor disputes, marches and demonstrations and the rise of topical songs.

Wisconsin has shown signs of becoming a police state with representative of State government being ejected from their offices by a "palace guard".

What happens on Monday will be interesting, the people being allowed into the people's house.

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 10:40 PM

So Bill, are you saying that the government needs to be regulated by unions, because they aren't good at regulating themselves...maybe don't care about worker's lives?..nor follow laws of safety and working conditions?

GfS

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: LadyJean
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 10:58 PM

To Mr. Snickerdoodle McSchnoodlestein

Dear Sir,

I recently referred to Governor Walker of Wisconsin as an S.O.B.

Knowing that you are the genuine son of a B and a pedigreed B, I wish to appologize.

It is true that you chew shoes, eat underwear, chase cats, mangle poultry and, occasionally, urinate on the floor. But you are still a much better individual than governor Walker.

So, please accept my appologies for attempting to insult him with a term that describes you. The next time I think of calling someone an S.O.B., I will call him a Wisconsin Republican instead.

If you should bite Governor Walker, or any of the Wisconsin State Legislature, or the Kochs brothers, or any of the staff of Fox News, I will be happy to swear that you were out behind my sister's house dismembering a guinea fowl when the incident occurred.

Though I would advise against it. There's a strong possiblility of food poisoning.

                                  Jean

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Bill D
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 11:16 PM

"...are you saying that the government needs to be regulated by unions, because they aren't good at regulating themselves."

GfS,,,did I say that? No... I did NOT say that. That is a gross exaggeration of what I said & meant. Why would anyone even suggest that "...the government needs to be regulated by unions..."??
   I said that unions need to be **available** (note emphasis) if government fails to act decently...to represent staff workers when regulating gets out of hand. It does NOT mean (before you ask and accuse me of saying so) that unions must always get everything their way. It means that there needs to be a formal means of negotiation beyond just 'filing a complaint'...which, without an open, public process, often just means being ignored and/or disciplined. That is why there have been so many incidents of 'whistle blowers' being hung out to dry.

Is that enough to clarify what I said?

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Bill D
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 11:18 PM

FYI...almost ANY time someone begins a rejoinder with "are you saying" or "so you're saying that...", it is generally NOT what they are saying....

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Bobert
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 11:22 PM

Unions = Working class

Anti-unions = Boss hog or his ignorant shills

Ain't no middle ground...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 11:37 PM

The Nettobot Sawzaw posted another big chunk of cut and paste of pointless stuff designed to distract the discussion and clog the thread.The Nettobot Sawzaw posted another big chunk of cut and paste of pointless stuff designed to distract the discussion and clog the thread. The Nettobot Sawzaw posted another big chunk of cut and paste of pointless stuff designed to distract the discussion and clog the thread.The Nettobot Sawzaw posted another big chunk of cut and paste of pointless stuff designed to distract the discussion and clog the thread.The Nettobot Sawzaw posted another big chunk of cut and paste of pointless stuff designed to distract the discussion and clog the thread.The Nettobot Sawzaw posted another big chunk of cut and paste of pointless stuff designed to distract the discussion and clog the thread.The Nettobot Sawzaw posted another big chunk of cut and paste of pointless stuff designed to distract the discussion and clog the thread.The Nettobot Sawzaw posted another big chunk of cut and paste of pointless stuff designed to distract the discussion and clog the thread.The Nettobot Sawzaw posted another big chunk of cut and paste of pointless stuff designed to distract the discussion and clog the thread.The Nettobot Sawzaw posted another big chunk of cut and paste of pointless stuff designed to distract the discussion and clog the thread.

Hety Look Ma! I can do that too!

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 06 Mar 11 - 12:07 AM

Bill, I was not inferring ANYTHING..I was just asking, because your previous post, left it unclear, being as we know, that, to corporations its the bottom line profit that they are after, sometimes, at the expense of the worker's safety, etc. etc...and they usually like to shell out as little as possible..but with the government, that usually isn't their prime concern, so I was asking you 'Why?' was it necessary, if all the laws regarding fairness, benefits etc. etc. come down from the government..Maybe it would have better to ask one of those who actually worked for the government, the same question..because they would know better, than others, who are not speaking from first hand experience. EBarnacle says he went from Government employee to having his own business..apparently he might comment..or anyone else out there..Was the government job run efficiently???..and/or fairly??
No malice in my prior post, Bill.
Inquiring minds want to know,

GfS

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 06 Mar 11 - 05:34 AM

‎"Right now, this afternoon, just 400 Americans, 400, have more weatlh than HALF of ALL Americans combined!!.." - Michael Moore

The rest of his great speech is right here....

Michael Moore in Madison 5th March 2011.

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: josepp
Date: 06 Mar 11 - 12:33 PM

You get what you vote for,

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: DougR
Date: 06 Mar 11 - 01:13 PM

Bobert's convinced that Gov. Walker will come out of this thing holding the short end of the stick. Also that the Republicans have no hope in 2012.

We'll see.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Stringsinger
Date: 06 Mar 11 - 05:12 PM

"So Bill, are you saying that the government needs to be regulated by unions, because they aren't good at regulating themselves...maybe don't care about worker's lives?..nor follow laws of safety and working conditions?"

At the present time, government needs to be regulated by people who are doing their job, not being sabotaged by corporate interests such as oil companies. Bush saw to it that
the government regulators weren't able to do their jobs. Weakened regulations by corporate interests mean the lack of laws of safety and working conditions.

Rethuglicans want to destroy the laws for safety and working conditions so that their
political financiers can get what they pay for, bigger profits at worker's expense.

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: DougR
Date: 07 Mar 11 - 12:29 AM

Last time I checked, Dictators are not elected.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 07 Mar 11 - 02:35 AM

"Last time I checked, Dictators are not elected."

Checking Historical Records say they have been.
(I have played the Godmin's Law card!)

:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 07 Mar 11 - 03:05 AM

Governments controlled by capitalist interests need to be regulated , because they aren't good at regulating themselves, don't care about worker's lives, nor do they follow laws of safety and working conditions, nor do they care about about raiding and raping the earth and leaving future generations impoverished and poisoned.

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Jack Campin
Date: 07 Mar 11 - 03:49 AM

There's some good stuff on Anne Feeney's latest newsletter about this, with several songs.

-- begin quote --

My friends here in the Bahamas were stunned to learn that Scott Walker actually had a substantial budget surplus when he took office. Wisconsin's "economic crisis" is the direct result of a bunch of corporate tax breaks that Walker passed on to his biggest contributors after winning the governorship.

They've banned musical instruments from the Capitol in Madison. There have been some lively cultural moments in Madison.. Here are a few of my favorites:

http://vimeo.com/search/videos/search:lou%20peter%20berryman%20/97fb8bdc

The link above is to Two Traditional Songs tweaked and performed by Lou and Peter Berryman

and sung with thousands of gallant protesters at Madison's Capitol rally, Feb. 18, 2011. I've added the words below in case you can't make them all out in the video...

BRING BACK WISCONSIN TO ME To My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean (traditional)

Wisconsin whose motto was "Forward"
Was populist as it could be
But now the new motto is "Backward"
Oh bring back Wisconsin to me

CHORUS: Bring back, bring back
Oh bring back Wisconsin to me, to me
Bring back, bring back
Oh bring back Wisconsin to me

Tho we may be"God's frozen people"
We bask in the warmth of our plea
Don't bury my rights in a snowbank
Oh bring back Wisconsin to me (CHORUS)

They're trying to stifle our voices
They're trying to keep us derailed
They'll find it's not easy to do tho
McCarthy once tried and he failed (CHORUS)

-----------------------------------

WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED (traditional), with new verses for today's rally

CHORUS: We shall not, we shall not be moved (x2)
Just like a tree that's planted by the water
We shall not be moved

We'll keep this rally rolling, we shall not be moved
Altho we could be bowling, We shall not be moved.

Just like a tree that's planted by the water
We shall not be moved.

For the teachers who have taught us,
For the folks who drive the school bus, We shall not be moved...

We are teens and tweens and geezers
Like a deer tick in the tweezers, We shall not be moved...

Until things get much better
Like a two ton block of cheddar, We shall not be moved...


and Peter Yarrow sang my song at a rally on February 26th....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Cvr7s1awuk


Chicago songwriter Kristin Lems penned this fine song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZy5o-18co4

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Greg F.
Date: 07 Mar 11 - 09:44 AM

Checking Historical Records say they have been.

Jaysus, there you go again confusing Douggie with facts. For shame.

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Stringsinger
Date: 07 Mar 11 - 05:19 PM

DougR, dictators sneak past the public and sometimes are elected by election fraud such
as Karzai in Afghanistan. Walker never mentioned shutting down collective bargaining
in his election speeches. If he had, he would have never been elected.

Was there election fraud? Yes, if you omit such a dastardly act as busting unions as part of a campaign pledge.

Walker may win the battle but will surely lose the war.

"Walker is a deceiver, he should be removed.
Walker is a deceiver, he should be removed.
Just like the garbage floating on the water,
He should be removed."

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: josepp
Date: 07 Mar 11 - 10:33 PM

///Last time I checked, Dictators are not elected.

DougR////

Hitler wasn't elected? I beg to differ.

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 07 Mar 11 - 11:21 PM

Differ all you want - you are ignorant of History, but that's pretty typical for Yanks - whether you are a US citizen or not.... have I got to cut and paste heaps of text again?

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 07 Mar 11 - 11:55 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler%27s_rise_to_power

QUOTE
Hitler's rise to power in Germany began (at least formally)[1] in September 1919 when Hitler joined the political party that was[2] known as the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (abbreviated as DAP, and later commonly referred to as the Nazi Party).
...
Hitler's "rise" can be considered to have ended in March 1933, after the Reichstag adopted the Enabling Act of 1933 in that month; President Paul von Hindenburg had already appointed Hitler as Chancellor on January 30, 1933 after a series of parliamentary elections and associated backstairs intrigues. The Enabling Actâ€"when used ruthlessly and with authorityâ€"virtually assured that Hitler could thereafter constitutionally exercise dictatorial power without legal objection.
UNQUOTE


Further down the page - more detail.

"Seizure of control (1931â€"1933)"

I dare say Joe may decide to prune this, but I have pruned it already ...

"... Street fights and beer hall battles resulting in deaths occurred throughout February and April 1932, all against the backdrop of Adolf Hitler’s competition in the presidential election. ... Hermann Göring, as speaker of the Reichstag, asked the Papen government to prosecute shooters. Laws were then passed which made political violence a capital crime. In the first round on 13 March, Hitler had polled over 11 million votes but was still behind Hindenburg. The second and final round took place on 10 April: Hitler (36.8% 13,418,547) lost out to Paul von Hindenburg (53.0% 19,359,983) whilst KPD candidate Thälmann gained a meagre percentage of the vote (10.2% 3,706,759).

...

At the end of July, the Nazi party gained almost 14,000,000 votes, securing 230 seats in the Reichstag. Energised by the incredible results, Hitler asked to be made Chancellor. Papen offered the position of Vice Chancellor but Hitler refused.

Hermann Göring, in his position of Reichstag president, asked that decisive measures be taken by the government over the spate in murders of national socialists. On 9 August, amendments were made to the Reichstrafgesetzbuch statute on 'acts of political violence', increasing the penalty to 'lifetime imprisonment, 20 years hard labour or death'. Special courts were announced to try such offences. When in power less than half a year later, Hitler would use this legislation against his opponents with devastating effect.

The law was applied almost immediately but did not bring the perpetrators behind the recent massacres to trial as expected. Instead, five SA men who were alleged to have murdered a KPD member in Potempa (Upper Silesia) were tried. Adolf Hitler appeared at the trial as a defence witness, but on 22 August the five were convicted and sentenced to death. On appeal, this sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in early September. They would serve just over four months before Hitler freed all imprisoned Nazis in a 1933 amnesty.

The Nazi party lost 34 seats in the November 1932 election but remained the Reichstag's largest party. The most shocking move of the early election campaign was to send the SA to support a Rotfront action against the transport agency and in support of a strike.

After Chancellor Papen left office, he secretly told Hitler that he still held considerable sway with President Hindenburg and that he would make Hitler chancellor as long as he, Papen, could be the vice chancellor. On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of a coalition government of the NSDAP-DNVP Party. The SA and SS led torchlight parades throughout Berlin. In the coalition government, three members of the cabinet were Nazis: Hitler, Wilhelm Frick (Minister of the Interior) and Hermann Göring (Minister Without Portfolio).

With Germans who opposed Nazism failing to unite against it, Hitler soon moved to consolidate absolute power."

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: LadyJean
Date: 08 Mar 11 - 12:46 AM

I'm surprised no one else has thought of this:

    Tune "On Wisconsin"

On Wisconsin! On Wisconsin! Badgers lead the way!

Working folk stand side by side to make a better day!

On Wisconsin! On Wisconsin! Cheeseheads show us how!

Bring the Tea Party down. Ride the bums out of town!

Stand for freedom now!

I'm sure someone else can do better, if they care to try.

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Ron Davies
Date: 06 Apr 11 - 10:46 PM

I think the title of the thread is a bit of purple prose.

Walker may wish he were a dictator--even that is questionable.   But it seems that with John Paul Jones--was it he?--- Wisconsin progressives can say:   "I have not yet begun to fight."   Not only has the enforcement of Walker's new law been stayed by a judge, but now the Walker team has taken it on the chin in what is seen as a proxy battle:    the latest results in the election for state Supreme Court indicate that the conservative has been beaten--and beaten by a woman who only got about 35% in the first round of voting.

There will definitely be a recount--her margin is only a few hundred votes.

But even coming close to unseating a sitting judge--much less actually doing it--is a real shock to the Walker forces.

She has said that when judging all cases, including the Walker law, she will base decisions on the facts and the law. But the Walker law, especially the way it was rammed through--and only published on a website--offers plenty of room for objection.    And it appeared that the conservative judge she may well upset would have voted that the law was OK.

We'll see what happens now. But it ain't over by a long shot.

And that's not even including the possible recall votes of various legislators.

Interestingly, state law calls for Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson to appoint the state judge who would hear the case if the loser of a recount in a statewide election goes to court over the outcome.

Even more interestingly, the conservative (Prosser) who would likely be asking for the recount called Abrahamson privately a "total bitch".

It appears Mudcatters are not the only ones who get into trouble by using intemperate language on opponents.


Of course there is also the possibility that the supreme court election may be pursued Walker law may be pursued--by either side--to the US Court of Appeals.

So it's going to be a long story.

And though Walker himself cannot be recalled yet, that time is also coming.

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Ron Davies
Date: 06 Apr 11 - 10:51 PM

"supreme court election may be pursued--by either side"

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: EBarnacle
Date: 06 Apr 11 - 11:30 PM

Several items: Walker's supporter in the Wisconsin Supreme Court seems to have lost a narrow election. Votes are being recounted.

Ohio's governor appears much more dangerous because he has not created as high a profile as Walker.

GfS, Was the institution where I worked run efficiently? Yes. The work was done efficiently, as defined by the fact that my teaching hospital had an international reputation for quality. Everyone was encouraged to move up the career ladder. The ratio between the highest salaried employee and the lowest salaried employee was approximately 10. All of the employees who chose to be unionized were [about 90%]. No one discriminated against those who were not and they got the exact same representation as the unionized employees. The big difference between the two is that at the end of the fiscal year the non unionized employees get back a small check for the things which the unions did which were not directly related to representation. Those who wished to contribute to political action did so. The union itself did not.

Having said all of that, the relationship between employee and employer was and is adversarial. Their interests and needs differ.

A couple of days ago, I was at the coffee shop I usually patronize. One of the employees did not look right. I asked her whether she was OK. She said no, that she was actually slightly feverish and had a cough. I asked her why she was at work. Her answer: She not only did not get paid for days when she called in sick but stood the chance of losing her job for being absent. Another employee standing nearby commented that she did not believe in unions. She did not realize that the abuse just mentioned was a direct response to the fact that the work site was not unionized. These workers get no respect and no benefits, only abuse. They also do not get paid vacations or retirement plans.

I was in a discussion today of contracting out versus unionized/civil service employment. My point in the discussion was that when a service is contracted out salaries, especially supervisory salaries, are no longer controlled. Often this results in high paid supervisors and oppressed workers who often do not stay on the job very long. Of course, when there is high turnover a lot of the workers are paid entry level salaries and have no chance to move to higher levels...but that keeps costs down.

By the way, Napoleon Bonaparte was elected First Consul [and, I believe, Emperor] by the political system of his day.

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: EBarnacle
Date: 07 Apr 11 - 12:16 AM

Incidently, when a worker has no choice except to come to work when they are sick, not only is it a labor/management issue and, thus, a potential union issue, but it is also a public health issue.

How many of you out there would want to be served by Typhoid Mary? [If you do not know who Typhoid Mary was, look her up on Google or Wikipedia.]

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 07 Apr 11 - 12:36 PM

Plenty of "Dictators" have been elected. I am pretty sure that DougR would consider Hugo Chavez a dictator, because GW Bush and Fox News have said that he is. Chavez has been repeatedly elected with an independently verified 3/4's of the vote. Its not how one gains power that makes one a dictator. It is what one does when one gains it. Mubarak and Saddam Houssein were repeatedly "elected with large majorities. While George W Bush was first "elected" by a miscounted minority and appointed by the Supreme Court before the Florida Votes could be properly counted.

While I love the USA and am happy to live here, that result and the Democratic Party response to it has been a great disappointment. American principles are something to believe in. I wish our "leaders" had more faith and trust in them and I wish they would fight harder to uphold them as they are sworn to do.

Subject: RE: BS: Wisconsin: Walker is a dictator
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Apr 11 - 01:42 PM

Admin

I need help attaching the threads regarding Unions attacked and all the Wisconsin threads.



I once was a union maid
who never was afraid
of goons and creeps
and company finks
and all the guns they hired to fire



Chorus:
oh you can't scare me
I'm stickin to the union
I'm stickin to the union
I'm stickin to the union

oh you can't scare me
I'm stickin to the union
I'm stickin to the union
till the day I die