WI Fight

It breaks my heart to write about this, or even to think about this, because the battle in Madison must be supported -- yet I do not think the good guys can win. Sorry for the expression of defeatism, but I don't think I'm being unrealistic.

The polls are turning against the unions. The majority of Americans (in one admittedly-disputed poll) opposes the very idea of public employee unions. Although the public employee unions are not the reason for the (rather small) Wisconsin deficit, one cannot make that simple fact clear to the brainwashed public.

The comment here sums up matters:

On the Wisconsin matter, forget polls: look at comments section for this editorial in the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Sentinel Journal (http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/116434554.html?page=1 ). The paper is left-leaning but the article is uncharacteristically rough on the unions. Regardless, the comments section is so revealing. Comments in favor of Walker are getting about 75% “thumbs up” rating, while comments in favor of unions are getting around 30% “thumbs up” rating. I think it is instructive since it taps into the anonymous reader; someone who is vested enough in the area to sign up for the site, read it online, then actually comment. While far from scientific, I’d argue it is likely the same voter who will go to the booth and pull the lever in total privacy. Walker is in really good standing with them.

I fear that the Klown is more right than wrong on this one.

The left got a contact high from the Egyptian rebellion, and that euphoria clouded the judgment of many in America. In Wisconsin, we let the teabaggers pick the battleground. The Madison fight is honorable but doomed. We are now reliving Pickett's Charge -- only this time the good guys are under Pickett's command: They have spirit, but they don't have the better position.

Those on Kos and DU who are treating this situation as an opportunity have been (not for the first time) living in a fool's paradise

While Republican Gov. Scott Walker's plan to wipe out collective bargaining rights for most public employees has galvanized Democrats and union members in opposition, the GOP could benefit long-term by crippling a key source of campaign funding and volunteers for Democrats.

"It would be a huge landscape-altering type of action, and it would tilt the scales significantly in favor of the Republicans," said Mike McCabe, director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which has long tracked union involvement in Wisconsin elections. "This is a national push, and it's being simultaneously pushed in a number of states. I think Wisconsin is moving the fastest and most aggressively so far."

The National Education Association, which represents 3.2 million workers, said teachers' collective bargaining rights are also being targeted by proposals in Ohio, Idaho, Indiana and other states.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican, said Monday lawmakers should pass a proposal to bar public employees from negotiating health insurance benefits. In Indiana, a GOP-led House committee debated Monday a right-to-work bill that would prohibit union membership from being a condition of employment.

This situation is tragic. The comment here is worth repeating:

When unions were stronger, prior to the 80's, productivi­ty gains and workers’ wages moved in tandem; yet they've decoupled since then. Looking from 1980 to 2008, nationwide worker productivi­ty grew by 75.0%, while workers’ inflation-­adjusted average wages increased by only 22.6%. If our economy is driven by consumer spending, then how does wage stagnation as a consequenc­e of lower union participat­ion help Wisconsin as a whole?

Do libertarians ever mount a counter argument when confronted with these numbers? Do they ever try to respond when we point out that America was at its most prosperous after FDR and before Reagan? Can they ever understand that libertarianism has been tried, and it always makes people miserable?

The "hide and seek" games played by the WI Democratic state senators will provide perfect fodder for those pundits paid to justify the upcoming GOP shut-down of the federal government. 2011 will not be a repeat of the mid-1990s. Today's population is even stupider, the propaganda is even more pervasive, and the economic situation is much more desperate.

The public has been taught to see anything that is not Hayek-approved libertarian capitalism as Marxism. It's either one or the other. The in-between stuff has vanished from public consideration. Asking the average person to visualize a non-Ayn Randian version of capitalism is like asking the average person to visualize a square triangle or a train that travels in three directions at once. The concept has become too abstract to be held by the human brain.

As a result, America is a nation of turkeys who vote in favor of Thanksgiving.

Lefties have to understand: As much as we may be enthralled by the romantic revolutionary imagery coming in from the Middle East, the groundwork for a successful uprising in this country has not yet been prepared. The far-right has been doing all the necessary prep work, continually, for decades, using the media and a formidable infrastructure of so-called "think tanks."

Lefties, you simply do not have the support. This is not Egypt. This is not the '60s. The only revolution that can succeed in this nation is a fascist revolution.

For a while, the internet allowed liberals to route around the propaganda. Our opponents finally figured out how to combat that situation.

Alas, the rise of the miserable Barack Obama -- a DINO falsely portrayed as a "socialist" -- has made the situation infinitely worse. A McCain presidency would have provided even worse governance -- I think -- but the failure of that adminstration would not have tarnished the Democratic brand.

Now, the only argument left is between those far-rightists who want to turn the entire country into WalMart and those who want to end the American experiment altogether.