Dear Wisconsin Tea Partiers

Bring video cameras. Lots of them. And don’t interact with a “union” protester without at least one camera on you.

Because yesterday, the unions and the other organizations leading the protests were warning their members “not to be provoked” by the Tea Party counterprotesters.

And you know Berg’s Seventh Law:

Berg’s Seventh Law of Liberal Projection – When a Liberal issues a group defamation or assault on conservatives’ ethics, character or respect for liberty, they are at best projecting, and at worst drawing attention away from their own misdeeds.

Or planned misdeeds.

So keep those cameras spinning. Because the media will hang everything that goes wrong on you, and you know it.

Posted

February 19, 2011

Days of Adolescent Rage, Progressive Tyranny, Taxes

Mitch Berg

Tags:

Berg’s 7th Law

Comments

41 responses to “Dear Wisconsin Tea Partiers”

Chuck

February 19, 2011

Reading comments on Wisc news sites…….The left is hinting about provoking conservative activists. Remember what they did to the police in St Paul during the RNC….they try to provoke you, then even if all they get is a 10 second video clip of someone on the right doing something, they will use it to attack the movement.
jpmn

February 19, 2011

Apparantly Doctors are signing sick notices in Mad Town for the protestors.

http://badgerblogger.com/?p=19103

Even when leftists are filmed commiting fraud the MSM won’t notice.
Chuck

February 19, 2011

Did a search for this. Yup. And now their names, addresses, email address and where they work is all over the interent.

James H. Shropshire licensed
Hannah M. Keevil licensed
Bernard F. Micke licensed

Mitch, what causes someone to surround themselves by like-minded people, so they have no clue about the rest of the world? These Doctors thought they could practice medicine on the street outside the state capital, and without an actual examination, write up fraudulent medical letters? Are they honestly that stupid? They didn’t think anyone would care?
Chuck

February 19, 2011

Ha, two of them have ties to the Twin Cities:

One went to Hamline and the UofM, the other did time at HCMC.
Mitch Berg

February 19, 2011

Not sure that a “note from the doctor” is covered by any state regulations. I”m willing to bet it’s not.

I’d love to be wrong on that.
Mitch Berg

February 19, 2011

If I were a Madison government employer, I’d demand to see any record of an office visit for those “doctor’s note”, though.
Kermit

February 19, 2011

There’s no real proof any of the “doctors” actually have a license to practice medicine. I would love an investigation, because if they do, the license should be revoked.
Chuck

February 19, 2011

The rightwingers in Wisc speculate that this is fraud. They are practicing medicine on the street, without doing an actual examination. Without handing out the privacy statement. What if someone really does have an illiness and keels over tonight?

Can UW-Madison accounting professors hand out fake deductions on the street so people can claim them on their taxes?
LearnedFoot

February 20, 2011

In a previous thread, Doggone pooped out the following lie:

“Wisconsin had a modest surplus until they recently went into this current fiscal crisis by giving money they didn’t have and couldn’t afford to corporations as inducements….which look a lot like payoffs for campaign contributions.”

FACTCHECK!

http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/feb/18/rachel-maddow/rachel-maddow-says-wisconsin-track-have-budget-sur/

Look, DG: I actually used a link there so you don’t have to take my word for it. That’s how the pros do it.
Yossarian

February 20, 2011

LearnedFoot, I’m not sure I’d put “blog comment pro” on my resume. That’s one of those distinctions we should all do our best to keep to ourselves.
Terry

February 20, 2011

Mr. Foot, I believe that DG is unteachable.
I came to that conclusion when, after the John Edwards scandal busted wide open, Dog Gone opined that the reason our “unbiased” media had not investigated Edwards’ adultery during the 2008 primary season was because they were trying to spare the feelings of Elizabeth Edwards.
golfdoc50

February 20, 2011

For anyone interested, here http://bit.ly/ianlfI is a link to the relevant bill (AB 11) in the Wisconsin legislature. Don’t worry that the whole bill is 144 pages. The relevant part is a summary at the beginning which explains what will happen if the bill becomes law. I can see why the unions have their undies in a bunch over this. It really defangs their ability to write their own ticket. When I read the portion detailing the expected contribution of state employees to their own retirement and health care plans, I needed an electron microscope to find a violin small enough to play sympathetic music. Boo hoo!
Kermit

February 20, 2011

Mr. Foot, I believe that DG is unteachable.
And she has done wonders. My personal convictions are much stronger after reading the pap/propaganda she has posted. Thanks, Doggie. You are the proof of the conservative argument.
swiftee

February 20, 2011

Let me tell you boys something.

If you ever start to have second thoughts about your conservative convictions, attend a union protest.

These people are the greediest, most self serving, and in many cases the most ignorant motherfuckers you will ever meet.

Not that I needed the refresher, but my tour of the WI capital has forever solidified my utter disdain for union members, leftists, Democrats, Progressives, whatever these wastes of human flesh call themselves.

I printed off copies of the Milwaukee and Madison public high school grad rates (as bad as ours) and stuffed it into the face of every union scumbag that approached me. I showered the WEAC (Wisconsin teachers union) booth with them.

As Mitch can attest, I actually care about the disaster our public schools have become. It hurts to read the accounts of failure year after year; it’s not a matter of money to me, it’s disregard for the lives of the kids they are entrusted with.

I think my face had to have mirrored my inner rage, because every time one of those scumbags reached out to grab the sign I carried (last years grad rates accompanied with “Union Proud?”, a glare and simple “Go ahead and touch it; please” stayed their grasping fingers.

There were doctors out there writing absence excuses for anyone that wanted one. No examination, no questions other than “what’s your name”? Every one of them should lose their license to practice.

These people are nothing but animated lumps of shit, and I’m honest enough to say it out loud.
Terry

February 20, 2011

These people are the greediest, most self serving, and in many cases the most ignorant motherfuckers you will ever meet.

Their leadership is crooked. They aren’t even workers, for God’s sake. Lawyers like Andy Stern would do anything to avoid making their living on a factory floor. Minnesota’s DFL is not run by farmers or workers, it’s run by lawyers.
One more scam to pick the pockets of the working people of the United States.
malcolmania

February 20, 2011

Folks, you’re engaging in behavior that runs counter to your normal reasoned, thoughtful, and intelligent opinion! The union discussion is far too complex to break down to “These people are the greediest, most self serving, and in many cases the most ignorant motherfuckers you will ever meet.” I am a Teamster Steward, and a conservative, and I can assure you that I am neither greedy, nor self serving, nor ignorant. (The gutteral slur you used was unneccesary, as I’m sure your “mother” would tell you!)

While it is true that the situation in Madison has shown the uglier face of unions, let’s not forget that not every Teacher’s Union member in Wisconsin called in “sick” to attend the protests… indeed, a majority went about the business of teaching, doing the jobs they are paid to do. As well, let’s not forget that part of this argument concerns the fundamental right of free association, guarenteed by the constitution. Whether union contracts have become too “retirement heavy”, is a legitimate discussion to have, but remember that those contracts were agreed to by public officials, and people based their retirement plans on those signed contracts.
Having been both a mid-level manager and a steward, I can assure you that I have witnessed abusive behavior on both ends of the labor spectrum. To foist all the responibility for our economic woes upon the unions is a convenient but lazy argument, at best. An open discussion, without resorting to vulgarities and insulting slurs, would be far more productive.
Terry

February 20, 2011

Gee, Malcomania, I based my retirement on the promise of SS when I turned 65. They took that away in ’89. Retiring at 66 & 4 mos. will cost me almost 30 thousand bucks. Maybe you union boys will kick in some bucks and make up the difference? You are asking me to fund your very generous retirement package, aren’t you?
And the public employee unions in WI will discipline their members for calling in sick when they are perfectly healthy, won’t they?
Another union stooge. Kiss my ass, Malcmania.
Terry

February 20, 2011

Teamsters looking for a bailout with public money:
http://www.nlpc.org/stories/2010/08/27/casey-pomeroy-bill-would-bail-out-pbgc-union-pensions

Teamsters believe in solidarity — they are solidarity against the taxpayer!
malcolmania

February 20, 2011

Terry, I have a 401K , and no hope of a Social Security Check (despite years of contributions) just like most other workers. I agree that retirement packages for public union members have become burdensome for cities and states, in large part because public officials failed to account for the large number of retirees in recent and coming years. My point was that this argument brings out in my fellow conservatives the same degree of vitriol and unprovoked vulgarity that they accuse the protesters (many of whom are “hired guns”) of engaging in. You only helped solidify my argument. I can assure you, I am not just “Another union stooge”. As far as your invitation is concerned, you can mark the spot, because you’ve shown yourself to be “all ass”!
Terry

February 20, 2011

Malcolmania, The teachers in WI are engaging in an illegal strike, encouraged by their leadership and a minority of elected politicians who are trying to curry their favor. The striking workers should be fired.
Self respecting workers don’t call in sick when they are healthy. If they are that upset, they can quit and find other work.
They get no sympathy from me and they should get no sympathy from you, Malcolmania.
swiftee

February 20, 2011

Mal, you say most teachers were at work, and that may well be true.

They, by their choice to serve their students rather than the union have proved themselves worthy of the title “Teaching Professional”. It is they that will benefit the most when the Gov. pries that slimy blue-collar trade labor union off their profession.

If you do, in fact, serve as a union steward, and your motivation for doing so is anything other than undermining the union, you are no kind of conservative I’d recognize.

BTW, I’m completely capable of bantering as eruditely as anyone…sometimes though, nothing serves quite so succinctly, nor is as perfectly descriptive as “motherfuckers”, and never so much as when speaking of people that would gladly perform the act if it benefited them financially.

All of the people I met in Madison yesterday that were there supporting government unions fit the bill to a “T”.
Terry

February 20, 2011

“Workers”? These teachers have college degrees. I spent some time in a college where teaching degrees were handed out. Part of their curriculum was learning to play musical chairs, for God’s sake.
malcolmania

February 20, 2011

Or, as put so eloquently by one Homer Simpson… “If you don’t like your job, you don’t go on strike! You go in everyday and do it half-assed… Now, that’s the american way!”
Terry, I’m inclined to accept your premise, based on the hinkey things that are going on with faked doctors notes, etc.
Swiftee, your judgement of me is wrong. My job as a steward is to make certain that management adheres to their end of a contract signed by our employers. I disagree with the Teamsters on any number of issues, but I also know that a contract is often the best way to keep anyone honest. My capital is my labor, and the best way for my capital to be rewarded, in many cases, is through collective bagaining. I am not interested in being rewarded for playing political games that serve to endear me to the managers that are positioned between me and the entrepeneurs who started this company, I simply want to do my job in a professional manner, providing my company’s customers with the best possible service.
So, as I said, I think the whole union thing is more complex than many of my conservative friends would suggest, and is an “easy A” when discussing who effed the whole thing up. I’m just here to play devil’s advocate (or devil’s union steward!), and say that unions aren’t always the bogey-man! Oh, yeah… and I’m promoting civility, too! Have a great day!
malcolmania

February 20, 2011

P.S.: There’s many more “right thinking” union members out there who just want a fair shake… and this sort of discourse tends to force them leftward!
swiftee

February 20, 2011

“My capital is my labor, and the best way for my capital to be rewarded, in many cases, is through collective bagaining.”

Only if you are A) Incompetent; B) Lazy; C) Lack self-esteem or D)Any combination thereof

People that are good at what they do, do not sign employment contract with more than two names on them; themselves and the contractee. I cannot think of a worse situation than to have one of my sons show me a union card; I would see it as complete failure.
malcolmania

February 20, 2011

Swiftee, having been, as previously stated, both a manager and a union steward with my current company, I can assure you that I have seen aggregious behavior on both sides. I am neither incompetent nor lazy, and my self-esteem is fully intact, having not been raised in the geneneration of “participation ribbons”.
swiftee

February 20, 2011

Swiftee, having been, as previously stated, both a manager and a union steward with my current company

Wait a minute. You said you are a steward now. That would mean you went from management to widget driller…but incompetence or laziness played no part….so, are you just stupid?
Chuck

February 20, 2011

Swiftee says “If you ever start to have second thoughts about your conservative convictions, attend a union protest.”

Chuck says yes. I sympathize with our public school teachers, and then I see the protests in Madison. I also used to read the WEAC mailings to my family, including the one telling their members not to work very hard because the raise they got isn’t as big as they wanted.
Chuck

February 20, 2011

malco…..I worked for a company that hired non-union construction once. It turned out to be the worst decsion they ever made. The work they did was horrible. They then worked with the crafts and got the real deal on future projects. Union construction worked harder, faster, and flawlessly.

Having said that, what is it about union leadership that makes them retarded? Please read a AFSCME newsletter, and then come back and we will discuss. Oh, and Walker is not Hitler, no matter how many signs union teachers make that say that.
swiftee

February 20, 2011

Chuck, although I don’t see any difference between the mentality, I do not rail against private sector unions (much). Unlike government workers, if union construction workers do no perform, they get canned. And if their labor and work rules become too unwieldy, we are free to hire someone else.

I sometimes hire union electricians to work my projects. But the companies I do business with know I have a budget to maintain and schedule to honor; and I don’t take any crap. For the most part, I haven’t had much trouble with them.

Government unions, on the other hand, are an abomination to common sense. They should be outlawed as they once were.
Chuck

February 20, 2011

Swiftee, I used to drink beer at the labor temple in Duluth. You don’t want to get on the wrong side of these guys/gals. Ask the head of Pepsi in Duluth when the union thugs murdered the family dog. But they do work harder and more skilled than non-union. Not even close. And what is really cool…many of the union guys woud come to work stoned, and still do great work.

Tomorrow will be good. From Badger Blogger:

“Republicans have announced that the legislature will be in session tomorrow, as normal.

For non-fiscal bills, a quorum of 17 members is required, there are 19 Republicans ready to get to work.

Let’s hope that they are ready to take on items such as Concealed Carry, Voter ID or some of the other items that need to be passed.”

So basically, while the Democrats hang out in Illinois, the Republicans can pass almost any non-spending bill they want. Then can rename the Capital to “Scott Walker’s house”.
malcolmania

February 20, 2011

Swiftee, are you suggesting that I am ignorant? If so, you just spent three hours going verbally toe-to-toe with a dullard, yet gained no mental ground! Making you…?
My choices were made for good reason, and incompentence, nor laziness played any role. Thank you for your concern, but should we meet someday, and you use the same disrespectful tone in person as you’ve used here, I shall choose a more aggressive way of showing my displeasure with your lack of grace.
Terry

February 20, 2011

In WI the citizens have very specific obligations to the members of the teachers’ union, according to Malcolmania.
The teachers, however, have no obligation to the citizens at all. They don’t have to teach their children. WI public schools are the usual hotbed of mediocrity. From what I can see the teachers don’t even have to go into work.
Gotta love them gubmint jobs!
swiftee

February 20, 2011

Mal, I’d hardly call that going toe-to-toe, but if it makes you happy…

As to the rest, anyone that knows me will tell you what you see is what you get. I’m not the kind to speaks his mind behind a keyboard and cower in public. I always feel free to say what I think.

As to your promise, well I’ve heard that before, plenty of times in fact.
Kermit

February 20, 2011

My 2 cents worth: I have experience with the Teamsters (local 1125 Honeywell). They were the most worthless, lazy people I have encountered in my professional career. If someone is a “steward’ of these clods, I have no respect for them.
Public employee unions should be abolished. The Democrat senators in Wisconsin should all be voted out of office. They are not just a disgrace, they are an insult to every man and woman who has fought for this country. I would sooner spit on them than engage in a dialog.
malcolmania

February 21, 2011

Now there’s an idea we can all agree on. The Hideaway Gang have shown themselves to be petulant and childish, not to mention cowardly. BTW, I support Govenor Walker’s plan and abhor the rent-a-mob “protest” going on in Wisconsin right now. Just hate to see good people smeared with too large a brushstroke!
Kermit

February 21, 2011

It’s a big country. We have big problems. We need a big brush.
justplainangry

February 21, 2011

Just hate to see good people smeared with too large a brushstroke!

6% Private sector union participation, and 40% in the gubmint. Rule of vast majority applies? No? Are there exceptions? Of course! But they only prove the rule.

Oh, and mmaniac, not once in your civil posts on this thread did you condemn union actions at Madison. Let me double check… Nope. Your “abhorence” does not cut it.
bubbasan

February 21, 2011

Regarding union thug tactics; look at Malcolmania’s comments promising a vigourous response to other commenters here.

Well said, Malcolm–it is a corrupt culture in the Teamsters, isn’t it?
Leslie Hittner

February 22, 2011

The “teachers are underpaid meme” is being uncovered in Wisconsin. This meme is viral in our teacher education programs at colleges and universities accross the country and has successfully spread throughout the profession for tens of years. The meme has also infected many parents who have children “in the system.” In most [all?] communities, teachers make competitive wages – often higher than their counterparts in not-for-profit human service agencies in the same community. And they do it with fewer working days in a year…

The “teachers are underpaid” meme will not stand up to close scrutiny. Hence the irrational response from the teacher unions.
Kermit

February 22, 2011

Leslie, you are starting to sound reasonable. Good show.