No more maybe

The odds are pretty good that by the end of the day today union members in Wisconsin who work for the state will no longer have the ability to collectively bargain for their rights. The odds are that by the end of the day Scott Walker, Governor and douchebag extraordinaire, will have the authority to fire anyone who goes on strike in Wisconsin. While the collective bargaining agreement applies to everyone but firefighters and police, the firing one applies to everyone. By the end of today, Wisconsin will have politically dragged itself back to the 1920s.

I have been saying for weeks now that maybe it is time for a general strike. Well the time for maybe is over. It is time for a general strike. Not just in Wisconsin, but everywhere in this country. Because what just happened in Wisconsin is being attempted in 26 other states. This isn't a major victory for their side - it's the first shot in what they see as a battle to move worker's rights back 100 years. Hell, there's a state legislator in Missouri who is trying to repeal the child labor laws in that state.

The website Crooks and Liars has done some real heavy lifting on the topic of what this bill includes, and some of it is staggering and hasn't made the news yet. Take a look.

Now the procedure used by the Wisconsin legislature was a bit of political sleight of hand and I actually don't have a problem with that. The question of whether or not it was legal I honestly have no clue. If it was then cool - somebody knows how the system works and used it. If not, then it should be challenged in court. My real problem with this is that after claiming for weeks that this was needed to save the fiscal situation in the state it was suddenly decided that it wasn't fiscal after all and passed through a different methodology. Not only did it expose that these fuckers were lying about it for all this time, but it also showed that this is nothing more than showing that they can step on the rights of the workers who helped build them up in the first place. I half expect these to see people dressed in tails, top hats, and monocles.

I personally find it offensive the whole concept that unions and regulations are a stranglehold on business. The argument is that other nations don't put the same burdens on business (well, actually many do, but let's run with the argument) and as a result we can't compete. They just want to level the playing field. Bullshit. it's like saying that we shouldn't have to play by the rules because the other guy isn't. Well isn't part of the whole spirit of what makes us Americans the fact that if we play by the rules we will still win, even when no one else does? Or has every single Disney movie since 1938 lied to us?

I find it insulting that there is a prevalent belief that we simply aren't good enough or ingenious enough to work and thrive with a system that is designed to keep power in check, safety in play, and prosperity within reach. If you think we can't do it without destroying the rights of people who want to get there, then you're the bully. In the Disney movie you're the bad guy. You're in the role they used to reserve for Ray Milland. I don't believe America has this problem in reality for an instant, but the fact that these people do and are setting policy like they believe it is downright un-American. It's against everything that the spirit of this nation stands for.

They keep talking about class warfare waged by the likes of Michael Moore, but the reality of the situation is that the class war was declared by the Republicant party, and they used live ammo. They fired the first shot, and declared war on the rest of us. Thing is, our political leadership who opposes this is being all-too quiet nationally. Where is the President Obama who said he would stand with strikers put in this position? Where did that strong leader go?

Well, if they want a return to the 1920s, I say we give it to them. I say we fix this ourselves. We don't want communism - a simple return to honest capitalism will suffice. They want a war, then bring it on motherfucker. I'm not asking anymore - I'm telling you. STRIKE! All of us, strike! Put these assholes back in their place.

Or the nation is dead.

Cheap shots:

Governor Russ Feindold?

The only Muslim in the U.S. Congress is a better man than Peter King.

In the meanwhile, let's say, hypothetically, that the man holding the hearing is a terrorist organization.

Fuck them. Let them fail.

Come along, Pond.

Are you fucking kidding me?

Someone please tase the Defense Counsel in this case. He's asking for it.

You people are fucking monsters.

Maybe it says something about the level of shit you expunge.

Without a thought in her little blonde head.

And because I love you, Pete Seeger