As IF Times

link Al Gore: Scott Walker is ‘extreme,’ divisive – Patrick Gavin – POLITICO.com.

One of the biggest hits of the TV season surrounds the blood feud between two bitterly opposing factions.  As it happens, “The Hatfields vs The McCoys” is a good guess, but the better answer is the political right vs the political left in the U.S..  There is no dramatization or fictional story more compelling than the political feud occurring now between an obviously divided American public, at least according to the popular media.

Increasingly, the rhetoric and animosity has escalated to levels of derangement as partisans of the left increasingly show just how nakedly unhinged they really are.  The recent landmark recall elections in Wisconsin will be seen years from now as a pivotal moment in American history.  Unable to convince others of their tenuous positions and claims through laughable maneuvers and tactics over the past 2 years, the union backed left lost a landslide vote over entitlements, not to Scott Walker and the right as has been characterized, but to the long suffering taxpayers.

Some may remember back in 2011, the novel tactic of Wisconsin lawmakers running off and hiding in the next state to avoid voting on a motion they were sure to lose.  This is the equivalent of a 3 year old covering their eyes in order to have a bad thing go bye-bye.  Some may recognize the technique of aggregating union support nationwide for their cause as the equivalent of “everyone else is doing it”.  Finally, we get to the aftermath of the recall vote where a woman actually slaps the losing contestant, Tom Barrett over conceding an obvious loss.  Given the recent stories of cannibalism in the news, Barrett is lucky she didn’t bite him.

Amusingly, the high cretin of hyperbole, Al-the-world-is-ending-Gore chimes in with his thoughts on the issue, as if he and the facts were intimate friends.   If the left is going to make a credible case for anything,  they’ll at least have to get new spokespeople for their causes.  They can’t have Bill Clinton preach about integrity; they can’t have Michael Moore babble about the oppressed, they can’t have Nancy Pelosi cry crocodile tears about poverty and they can’t have Al Gore speak about…well… anything.

In a time when the harsh wave of reality is sweeping all nation states worldwide with respect to untenable debts and related entitlements, there are still those who cling to fantasy world views of what they deserve.  Upon reflection, perhaps this is not so much deranged as it is infantile.   The name calling, the petulant behaviour, the faux demonstrations.  As the grown-ups always say, ‘it’s all fun until someone loses an eye’.

link Wisconsin unions threaten to boycott businesses that dont display their signs | Philip Klein | Beltway Confidential | Washington Examiner.

Observing the antics of the public sector unions in Wisconsin has gone from amusing to sublime.  A little over a month ago, the new incoming governor of that state, Scott Walker,  embarked on a necessary program to rescue that state’s dire financial condition.  The state was over 3 billion dollars short of funds and drastic action was needed to stem the red ink.  At the behest of the voting public, who put Walker in office specifically to address  the fiscal malaise, he proposed cutting back the power and influence of public sector unions in the wage bargaining process.

What resulted was the comical abdication of duty of  the Democratic members of their legislature who en masse fled the state to avoid voting on the contentious bill as if they were 4 year olds avoiding cough medicine.  They became a group mug shot on milk cartons in the Midwest.  Shame and ridicule did not bring them back to do their jobs, but the threat of legally compelling them to return,  did.  Consequently, they were forced to participate in the voting process and predictably, they lost.  The curtailing of public union powers was enacted, at least by vote.

The rescission of public union rights drew condemnation from the usual and expected entitlement groupies; organized labor, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, the delusional Michael Moore and of course, the President himself.  From the bleating and wailing eminating from these champions of the people, you would think Walker was trying to impose modern slavery upon oppressed and unwashed factory workers.  In fact, one of the key proposals by Walker was that public sector unions be compelled to contribute as much to their pension funds as anyone else in the private sector.   Was there no reasoning with this man?   What next, make teachers work 6 hour days?

Unhappy with the legally enacted legislation that neutered the public unions’ longtime extravagances, the most recent union tactic is the default reversion to thuggery.  Ah back to union roots.   As the article describes, non supporters of the union position will be ostracized as far as business patronage.  Apart from the obviously  juvenile tantrum this type of extortion represents, the tactic makes no sense in real life.  The biggest effect will be of creating very obvious divisions within their own community.  It’s pretty hard to depict this in any other way than as selfish and puerile pouting.

It’ll be amusing to see how long this campaign lasts.   It’ll be fun to have them try to buy milk and cheese that is sourced only from non-union cows.  This  is no small issue if you’ve ever seen a resident of Wisconsin.  Will they make their own bread instead of frequenting non union bakeries?  Will all restaurants go out of business because of lack of union patronage?  Will they give up their likely non union gardeners?  Obviously shopping at Wal Mart is out because that’s a non union operation.  In a very short time, it’ll be obvious that what they propose is the equivalent of holding their breath until they get their way.  I think the public will wait them out.  It’ll become obvious that the people they seek to distance themselves from are the ones that pay their wages through taxes.  At the very least, the unions should change their description from serving the public, to doing the public.