[Sixstrings]

Just checked Drudge.. it hit me that most the page is all protests:

18 articles on the Wisconsin protests, 1 on protests spreading to Ohio. Add that to the Egypt articles, Yemen, Algeria, etc., oh and the army is shooting up crowds of protesters in Bahrain.

Egypt in America?

In a time when large and tense demonstrations have become increasingly rare in America, the Wisconsin protests could provide an Egypt-like moment, says Norman Ornstein, a fellow at the nonpartisan American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

"If there's a big tea party demonstration in Madison, we may see a direct clash, just as we had in the streets of Cairo," he says.

One protester's sign at the capitol said, "Impeach Scott Mubarak" – a direct reference to protests that led Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to resign last week.

As it gains momentum, the union protest movement is likely to draw in young social-justice activists, Obama supporters, and even religious groups who fight for the dispossessed, says Bruno.

On the other hand, some conservatives believe Walker's refusal to budge on the collective bargaining issue has opened the way for counterprotests to support the cuts.

Conservative internet firebrand Andrew Breitbart and Atlanta radio show host Herman Cain will headline Saturday's tea party-flavored Wisconsin Freedom Rally. On his radio show Thursday, Fox News commentator Glenn Beck called the Wisconsin union protests "the beginning of the American insurrection."

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) of Utah, who could face a tea party challenge to his seat in 2012, showed that mainstream Republicans, too, may be ready to weigh in.

In response to Mr. Obama's "assault" comment, Senator Hatch said: "The only assault is from a bunch of self-interested government union employees who are putting their interests ahead of the interests of the Wisconsin taxpayers, who have been funding their runaway spending. This is not the way public servants should behave."
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/0218/Wisconsin-protests-why-week-of-rage-matters-to-rest-of-America

Don't want to go too far trying to find a parallel, since of course American protests are historically weaksauce (since Vietnam anyhow). But still some similarities.. CNN acting like State TV, parroting the Republican Party line -- outright rude in their interviews. And like Egypt, Tea Party counter-rallies are set to start and there could potentially be some conflict between the two groups. Let's see.. half their senate is in hiding in another state and Mubarak (oops, I mean the governor) has dispatched state police to track them down.

And the biggest similarity of all.. very large crowds occupying town squares and the capitol building for FOUR DAYS now.

Maybe I'm over-reaching here seeing an analogy, but if Wisconsin doesn't settle down soon then this could turn out to be the largest sustained political protest since Vietnam.

[Fishman]

The difference, November 2010. Wisconsin voted in a vast majority of Republicans. And as Barack Obama said back in 2009 " I won" and "elections have consequences". Guess you missed that part.

[Tyler_JC]

The governor of Wisconsin wants public employees to contribute to their own health and pension plans. Even if all his proposals become law, Wisconsin would still have more generous public employee benefits than most other states (and orders of magnitudes better than anything a worker in the private sector could get).

The state is facing a $3.6 billion deficit. The governor wants to cut public employee benefits to reduce that deficit by $300 million (1/12 of the total).

Is that really so crazy?

Taxpayers are facing higher taxes, stagnate/falling wages, increased health insurance premiums and cuts in public services.

Why shouldn't tax eaters have to cut back a little too?

[Plantagenet]

In 1968 there were numerous anti-war demonstrations in the US and demonstrations and revolutions in other countries around the world.

2011 is looking like 1968.

[mos6507]

This is 1968?

[SpringCreekFarm]

The way I see it, it's about busting the unions and not so much about balancing the budget. Without the unions, the Democratic Party doesn't have much in the way of funding the elections. It is a strategy to undermine the ability of Democrats to get elected. The Republicans have big business funding them, the Democrats have the unions. Without the strength of the unions the working class in America is screwed. It's a conspiracy that is growing across America to cut the taxes of the rich people, rewarding them for shipping the jobs out of the country while putting the burden on the backs of the working class punishing them for keeping the country going all while accusing them of freeloading somehow.

[mos6507]

It's a conspiracy that is growing across America to cut the taxes of the rich people, rewarding them for shipping the jobs out of the country while putting the burden on the backs of the working class punishing them for keeping the country going all while accusing them of freeloading somehow.

Did we not just have the mid-terms? We get the government we deserve. If we're not smart enough to know that we're voting against our own interest, we only have ourselves to blame.

[Outcast_Searcher]

The governor of Wisconsin wants public employees to contribute to their own health and pension plans. Even if all his proposals become law, Wisconsin would still have more generous public employee benefits than most other states (and orders of magnitudes better than anything a worker in the private sector could get).

The state is facing a $3.6 billion deficit. The governor wants to cut public employee benefits to reduce that deficit by $300 million (1/12 of the total).

Is that really so crazy?

Taxpayers are facing higher taxes, stagnate/falling wages, increased health insurance premiums and cuts in public services.

Why shouldn't tax eaters have to cut back a little too?

+1

You're exactly right. In fact we ALL need to cut back, more than a little.

If we could actually get that done AND get some assurance that the big spenders wouldn't go berserk the first revenue they can get their hands on, then maybe we could get some compromise on raising taxes (how about consumption taxes on things like gasoline instead of punishing people for being productive for a change)?

Since almost all voters will whine and scream about almost ANY program being cut -- it will never happen though -- at least not enough to put a MEANINGFUL dent in the problem before we have a really bad event like a major bond crisis.

Once that happens, it will be REALLY tough if not infeasible to balance the budget.

[gollum]

It's a conspiracy that is growing across America to cut the taxes of the rich people, rewarding them for shipping the jobs out of the country while putting the burden on the backs of the working class punishing them for keeping the country going all while accusing them of freeloading somehow.

Did we not just have the mid-terms? We get the government we deserve. If we're not smart enough to know that we're voting against our own interest, we only have ourselves to blame.

You're both quite right, the rich are destroying the middle class, and the middle class is falling right in to line.

[Novus]

How about Egypt in London? Did we forget already the riots that swept through London just 11 weeks ago. These crowds were bigger and much more angry. They actually attacked Prince Charles and Camilla's Rolls Royce Limo breaking the window and splattering them with paint. They set fire to the statue of Lord Palmerston. After that police started arresting the trouble makers and dispersed the crowds.



Bottom line is in Western Society when push comes to shove the protesters always fold and give up which in the end only makes TPTB stronger. It would be better if they didn't protest at all if they aren't actually willing to follow through. IE: get beat with clubs, sprayed with tear gas, and spend time in jail like the civil rights movement leaders had to in the 50s and 60s.

[Cid_Yama]

Gollum, you are sort of right.

Yes the American people voted in these a**holes, that are working to take EVERYTHING away from them.

But it is not totally their fault.

These same a**holes, cut all funding for education from K through post graduate since about 1980.

These recent generations have been robbed of the ability to determine their own best interests and are now easily manipulated into working AGAINST their own best interests.

I am encouraged by the protests in Wisconsin. It means all is not lost. It means the recent generations have not all been reduced to mindless slugs, doing the bidding of those who would return them to peasantry.

[Sixstrings]

The way I see it, it's about busting the unions and not so much about balancing the budget. Without the unions, the Democratic Party doesn't have much in the way of funding the elections. It is a strategy to undermine the ability of Democrats to get elected. The Republicans have big business funding them, the Democrats have the unions. Without the strength of the unions the working class in America is screwed. It's a conspiracy that is growing across America to cut the taxes of the rich people, rewarding them for shipping the jobs out of the country while putting the burden on the backs of the working class punishing them for keeping the country going all while accusing them of freeloading somehow.

Well said, I agree with all that.

[Puddnhead]

One big difference between the Wisconsin protests and the ones in Egypt is that the protests in Wisconsin still operate within the bounds of the legal system. Even the parliamentary tactic that the Democrats used to shut down the legislature was a legal tactic. The protestors in Wisconsin are also basically opposing a particular law, whereas the protestors in Egypt were opposing the government itself. Perhaps things will escalate, but for now we just have a reform movement in Wisconsin rather than a revolution.

[PrestonSturges]

We are in the middle of "The Billionaire Coup" where a few senile dingbats, who mostly inherited their money (Koch, Scaife, Coors, Forbes etc) effectively seize control and start setting up western states as their own little private North Koreas.

In a historical time frame it is a blip, but it promises a lot of needless misery for the rest of us as the fossil fuel era winds down.

I was checking out the Oath Keepers today - not much going on there. These guys talk about resisting the coming socialist tyranny, which means they spend a lot of time fantasizing about killing their neighbors. Given that Beck has pretty much claimed that unions are a bunch of secret Muslim jihadists, I'm wondering how many tea baggers out there really are like the folks in Ohio who cheered the shooting at Kent State. I'm sure there are still wingnuts out there that would rejoice at the deaths of their neighbors.

[nobodypanic]

The governor of Wisconsin wants public employees to contribute to their own health and pension plans. Even if all his proposals become law, Wisconsin would still have more generous public employee benefits than most other states (and orders of magnitudes better than anything a worker in the private sector could get).

The state is facing a $3.6 billion deficit. The governor wants to cut public employee benefits to reduce that deficit by $300 million (1/12 of the total).

Is that really so crazy?

Taxpayers are facing higher taxes, stagnate/falling wages, increased health insurance premiums and cuts in public services.

Why shouldn't tax eaters have to cut back a little too?

uh no. he wants to destroy their ability to organize and bargain collectively. everything you just posted has nothing to do with that bit of union busting.

and as far as that attempt goes:

Article 23, section 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as signed by the US december 10, 1948 in the General Assembly of the United Nations:

4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

any attempt, therefore, to abridge, deny, or remove such rights are a violation of the human rights of the workers involved.

governor walker and his ilk are nothing more than international criminals who should be dragged into the hague and put on trial.

[gollum]

Gollum, you are sort of right.

Yes the American people voted in these a**holes, that are working to take EVERYTHING away from them.

But it is not totally their fault.

These same a**holes, cut all funding for education from K through post graduate since about 1980.

These recent generations have been robbed of the ability to determine their own best interests and are now easily manipulated into working AGAINST their own best interests.

I am encouraged by the protests in Wisconsin. It means all is not lost. It means the recent generations have not all been reduced to mindless slugs, doing the bidding of those who would return them to peasantry.

I'm not sure an ill educated population benefits either party particularly, unions came in to their golden age in this country when literacy rates were much lower. I also watched as Bill Clinton pushed a largely left wing agenda fairly successfully with slogans like "for the children" or some such drivel. The masses in this country for whatever reason seem unable to separate the horse from the horse shit when it comes to politics. Instead of debating real issues we obsess over gay marriage, gun control, and Obama bowing to the Saudi king.

[SpringCreekFarm]

I get the feeling that working class Republican supporters are beholden to the GOP largely because of their religious and moral values (God, guns, abortion). This keeps them tuned to right-wing media which keeps them confused and in the dark so that well greased corporatist finger .......can take advantage of them. The right-wing media then blames all the ills on the 'socialist' Democrats and presto....brainwashing successfully accomplished. The working class Republican supporters see the GOP as the political philosphy that makes common sense.

It's easy to write the electorate off as stupid but I'd say they were duped by propoganda from the right. It really is as simple as that, in my opinion.

I'd bet there are a lot of people in that crowd in Wisconsin that voted GOP in the mid-term election and are now regretting it.

[gollum]

I get the feeling that working class Republican supporters are beholden to the GOP largely because of their religious and moral values (God, guns, abortion). This keeps them tuned to right-wing media which keeps them confused and in the dark so that well greased corporatist finger .......can take advantage of them. The right-wing media then blames all the ills on the 'socialist' Democrats and presto....brainwashing successfully accomplished. The working class Republican supporters see the GOP as the political philosphy that makes common sense.

It's easy to write the electorate off as stupid but I'd say they were duped by propoganda from the right. It really is as simple as that, in my opinion.

I'd bet there are a lot of people in that crowd in Wisconsin that voted GOP in the mid-term election and are now regretting it.

I agree, but people need to look at their perception VS reality. For example I'm a huge proponent of gun rights and I find almost no gun control acceptable (including bans and regulations on assault weapons and machine guns), but the reality on the ground is that Obama has made absolutely no move what so ever to tighten gun laws. However if you talk to gun owners they are convinced the socialist gun grabbing democrats are going to be beating down the door any minute. Same for abortion, there has been no significant change in abortion laws one way or the other in a generation. However the perception among the middle class is that Obama is some sort of Robert Mugabe, ready to throw the middle class from their homes, take their guns, and force mass abortions when the reality is the republican establishment is doing absolutely everything they can to break unions and the middle class and return the economic pyramid to where it was a hundred years ago.

[PrestonSturges]

The question is, will the Kochs follow the Mein Kampf script of rolling out brown shirts like Mubarack's thugs? That would not be the Tea Party, who are old and flabby, it would be ringers in the form of private security, prison guards on their day off, moonlighting cops from out of state.....

I'm sure there are right wingers fantasizing about another Greensboro Massacre, but in that case the police were actively conspiring with the KKK to expose protesters to attack by Klan gunmen.

[gollum]

The question is, will the Kochs follow the Mein Kampf script of rolling out brown shirts like Mubarack's thugs? That would not be the Tea Party, who are old and flabby, it would be ringers in the form of private security, prison guards on their day off, moonlighting cops from out of state.....

I'm sure there are right wingers fantasizing about another Greensboro Massacre, but in that case the police were actively conspiring with the KKK to expose protesters to attack by Klan gunmen.

I believe the middle class in this country is slowly waking up to the bullshit, that's an awful lot of people in the streets. If TPTB were to ever try to subdue them with either the national guard, or private security thugs all shit will break loose. We are the most well armed society on the planet, those people marching are not some bead carrying hippies they are also hunters, sportsmen, and military veterans. The government would do well to remember that.