February 25, 2011

Weary Wisconsin Democrats surprised by late-night vote, rush at the Republicans "pumping their fists and shouting 'Shame!' and 'Cowards!'"

AP reports:
With the Senate immobilized, Assembly Republicans decided to act and convened the chamber Tuesday morning.

Democrats launched a filibuster, throwing out dozens of amendments and delivering rambling speeches. Each time Republicans tried to speed up the proceedings, Democrats rose from their seats and wailed that the GOP was stifling them.

Debate had gone on for 60 hours and 15 Democrats were still waiting to speak when the vote started around 1 a.m. Friday. Speaker Pro Tem Bill Kramer, R-Waukesha, opened the roll and closed it within seconds.

Democrats looked around, bewildered. Only 13 of the 38 Democratic members managed to vote in time.
Republicans immediately marched out of the chamber in single file. The Democrats rushed at them, pumping their fists and shouting "Shame!" and "Cowards!"

The Republicans walked past them without responding.
The Democrats were playing games and the Republicans decided to play one of their own. It's not pretty. I'd like to see video of that rushing, shouting, and fist-pumping action. That seems to cross over into something approaching a physical threat.

IN THE COMMENTS: 2 commenters — Liz and Jana — come up with the video right away:

205 comments:

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Revenant said...

People act like unions are an automatic "good". Like salvation through Jesus Christ or something.

Now you know what actual insistence on salvation through Jesus Christ sounds like to atheists. :)

test said...

"Robert R. said...

"Fewer people in the union = less power the union has over a local municipality and/or school district, which means taxpayer money is saved with lower salaries and benefits for union employees."

Or it could make precisely zero difference. There's no guarantee of any savings for a variety of reasons, including the fact that there are direct comparisons with the private sector for many state employees, nurses, highway workers, technical staff, and you have to be competitive."

So to summarize Robert R.'s new position: the Wisconsin government employee unions are worthless and provide no value, therefore it's completely unreasonable to think they're a net negative.

Dude1394 said...

Goodness the demcorats have such a brownshirt air to them...with their uniforms on.

ken in tx said...

When my son went to work for a grocery store in Mississippi, he was told he had to join the Teamsters Union. He asked why since Mississippi is a Right-to-Work state. The manager told him because he did not want to have his tires slashed or the store vandalized. My uncle was a non-union long-hall trucker. He carried a pistol. On one occasion, he exchanged fire with Teamsters who shot at him from their rig as he was changing a tire beside the road. Unions contain a dangerous criminal element.

BTW, my dad was a life-long United Paper Workers member. The union was instrumental in closing his mill. As a result, my dad was laid-off and lost his pension.

Bay Area Guy said...

Shouting "shame" is sophomoric. These are grown adults, elected officials, serving in a representative body of a sovereign state, Wisconsin. Debate and then vote. It's very simple. Indeed, have a heated debate, if necessary. Try to persuade others why the proposed bill is good or bad for the general public. This isn't complicated. This isn't hard. Are Democrats like this in every state? It is pathetic. It's like they don't understand that, Yes, sometimes, you lose a vote. It happens to Republicans too! Losing votes is part of politics, part of democracy, part of the history of our Republic. These Dems are utterly clueless and unserious.

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