Hyperbole Grips The Liberal Media

Hyperventilation and hysteria are hallmarks of the liberal media whenever discussing conservatives, the Tea Party, Christians, Republicans, and anything to the right of Karl Marx (or Barack Obama). So when I saw the New York Times story which looked as if they might have discovered bad folks outside of mainstream America, I made the mistake of reading it. Well, I was half right.

The Times has been taking pretty much the same view as the general public of the revolt in Tunisia (and Libya) and the brutal government leaders. I shoulda seen it coming. Was the story about dead dissidents lying in the streets? Was it about a madman turning his troops loose on protesters and ordering mass murder? Was it about an insane ex-colonel who declared that he would fight off any attempts at democratic reform to his last drop of blood? (Oh, wait, that's Libya) Well, sort of, but that was the "hook" to bring you to the real story.

You see, the governor and Republican legislators in Wisconsin decided that in order to make serious headway in fending off the state's bankruptcy, it had to raise the employee contributions to health care and retirement of the state's public employees. One way of doing that was to severely limit public employee collective bargaining privileges (collective bargaining for public employees is not a right). The public employees took to the streets in protest, led by the teachers union. Pretty soon it had all the danger and excitement and risk of death or serious injury as a college football game.

All of which caused Michael Cooper and Katharine Seelye to write a Times headline article which included the question "Is Wisconsin the Tunisia of collective bargaining rights?" Within hours, the question was being repeated by David Gregory (Mr. Helen Thomas) at NBC and Bob Schieffer (the valium valedictorian) at CBS. The ABC talking heads were still making their beds in their White House bedroom, so they were running a little behind.

So I started searching for pertinent information and evidence. The first thing I looked for was at least one picture of Gov. Scott Walker wearing his Ozymandias King of Kings robes, a la Gaddafi. No luck. Then I looked for pictures of the capital police dragging off protesters and beating them half to death. No luck there, either. Also missing were pictures of the tanks, troops, flamethrowers, rocket propelled grenades and good old-fashioned machine guns mowing down the protesters.

What I did find was multiple protest signs referring to the governor as Hitler and the very civil pictures of the governor in the crosshairs. But there's another thing I didn't find--the Democratic legislators who vowed to fight for Wisconsin workers rights (that's because they're hiding out in Illinois). Finding themselves on the losing end of a recent election, and knowing that they would be outvoted if they stuck around, the Fleebaggers (God I wish I had coined that name) picked up their marbles and headed for the state border.

So being the great intellectual that I am, I decided to analyze that headline. The democratic uprising that brought about the governor's election and the presence of a Republican majority in the legislature was conducted by the people of Wisconsin. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that makes the protesters the forces of reaction and entrenched anti-democratic forces. So much for that parallel.

There are unconfirmed but reasonable reports that the protesters, with assistance from the Service Employees International Union, were pushing counter-protesters around. But there is not a single report of police brutality, troops advancing on the capital, or even marshals going out to collect the missing Fleebaggers. Not a shot fired, not a protester injured. The duly-elected governor and legislature have not interfered in any way with the right of the public employees to protest. The only thugs committing mayhem in Madison are the union goons. The only troops involved are the cadres sent by the Teachers Unions, the SEIU, Obama's Organizing for America, and other reactionary forces attempting to thwart the will of the people. So much for that parallel as well.

Well, there's one last possibility, and that's flouting the will of the people by ignoring state law and the state constitution. Surely, the governor and the Republican legislators did that, right? Well, no. But there was considerable law-breaking and contract breaching going on--all by the reactionary protesters. First of all, the teachers involved themselves in nothing short of a wildcat strike, forbidden by their contract. Oh, yes, they called it a "sickout," and a "work stoppage," but since those are also forbidden by the contract and state law, so what?

Then there's the matter of union public school teachers calling in, too sick to work, but not too sick to march around in freezing weather with signs calling the governor Hosni Mubarak, Scrooge, and yes, Hitler. And how about those doctors, folks? Doctors who write medical excuses, en masse, for people they've never examined and don't even know. Considering the shouting and caterwauling going on, I assume none of them were diagnosed with laryngitis. Each state law is different, but in Wisconsin, any teacher (or any other public employee) who collects pay under false pretenses is guilty of wage fraud, a crime, not just a breach of contract. So the governor and the Republican legislators are acting lawfully and constitutionally, and the protesters are not. That takes care of the final parallel.

Now I admit I may not have the credentials or the sophistication of a New York Times writer or a network talking-head, but I just don't see how, in any way, Wisconsin is the Tunisia of collective bargaining. In fact, I see much more of a parallel with thirteen colonies which were fed up with rule by the elite, inequality of treatment, and the utter arrogance of incompetent, overpaid government employees. In Wisconsin, the people rebelled, the government obeyed their wishes, and only the forces of reaction stand in the way of success. Except, of course, for the Democratic legislators who are shaking uncontrollably while hiding under the bed at the Best Western hotel in Champaign, Illinois, home of professor and Obama confidante William Ayers.

I will give The Times credit for one thing though. In the matter of Libya, it has called out Moammar Gaddafi (or however the hell we're spelling it this week) by name. That's more than our waffle-eating waffler President or his Secretary of State have had the guts to do as of this writing.