March 12, 2011

Signs of exaggeration.

"If Wisconsin surrenders/we'll all hang/Strike now while you still have food on your table."

DSC00569

"Scott Walker hates WI people."

DSC00499

"I never thought I'd miss Nixon."

DSC00495

"Walker Spread Yer SHIT!"

DSC00471

"My new tools"... "Union Power" is a hammer, pounding nails into a coffin labeled "The Republican Party."

DSC00461 - Version 2

At least this one sounds nice: "We are all one union."

DSC00533

But it's the utopians you most need to look out for.

(All photos taken by me, today, in Madison, Wisconsin.)

55 comments:

Lucius said...

Just as a mental exercise: what would the media say if the prevailing metaphor of the Tea Party's indignation were to compare the chief executive to "shit"?

--Is that an apples and oranges thing? Or maybe not so much.

10ksnooker said...

First rule of organizing 2011 --- AstroTurf is out --- They forgot to bring real people, like voters LOL.

David said...

Name calling is a great substitute for substantive argument. Especially if you want to avoid the issue of substance.

The unions and liberals have done a great job of avoiding an issue of substance. Now it's Walker's job to bring popular attention back to these issues.

It won't be easy while surrounded by an incompetent and biased press.

Lucius said...

Or, to avoid distracting issues: if Nancy Pelosi in her glory during the Healthcare debate, had been prominently sloganeered on a Tea Partier's poster as "shit"?

Just once.

Mark said...

Anyone else note in the last photo that unions are using a hammer to pound in screws?

Must be a work rule.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

That lady is fat.

LawGirl said...

Because we all know the only way to ensure you have food on your table and keep your neck out of a noose is to be part of a union and force your fellow workers to give part of their paycheck to fat union bosses and the Democratic Party. Makes perfect sense.

Ann Althouse said...

"Anyone else note in the last photo that unions are using a hammer to pound in screws?"

I noticed it's not the right kind of hammer for nails. Seems to be the kind of hammer you'd use with a chisel to carve stone.

LawGirl said...

Anyone else note in the last photo that unions are using a hammer to pound in screws?

Must be a work rule.


LOL. I thought the same thing. Glad I'm not the only one.

Lincolntf said...

I noticed the hammer/screw thing. I was wondering if there was some "hidden message" there? Probably just a bunch of shitbirds drawing what they think real workers use every day. Sad on more than one level.

EnigmatiCore said...

And yes we work hard, but who's complaining?

LawGirl said...

I noticed it's not the right kind of hammer for nails. Seems to be the kind of hammer you'd use with a chisel to carve stone.

That, too. I can see the union pride coming through on the quality of the signs. Maybe next time they should have them made in a right-to-work state.

Carol_Herman said...

Good for Meade! Great for Free Speech!

I particularly love the sign "I NEVER THOUGHT I'D MISS NIXON!"

And, Meade's camera really has great focus!

Coming here has been a real treat.

Anonymous said...

Hey, can someone out there explain to me this concept of "middle class"? I mean, we're always seeing it- Scott Walker is attacking the middle class, the middle class is disappearing, that sort of thing.

Seems to me that middle class would be anyone who can meet basic needs with a few extras but is not doesn't-have-to-worry-about-the price rich. Which is almost everyone I encounter on a regular basis.

How is the middle class being attacked here?

- Lyssa

Ann Althouse said...

If I had a hammer, a hammer and sickle...

Toad Trend said...

As I've stated before, liberals/lefties are the drama queens in all of this.

In addition, all of this has a very cultish feel to it.

Does anyone else get that vibe?

wv - megive

Megive you a ride?

TosaGuy said...

If I was a republican representing the city of Madison I would be quaking in my boots!

Opps. There aren't any. The nice thing about 80/20 Dem-voting insulated enclaves is that they go a great job of diminishing the voting power of liberals.

retire05 said...

Ya gotta love the AFL-CIO adopting the Socialist Party of American fist, changing it every so slightly by coloring it blue. But alas, I am left with so many questions:

who is organizing this
who is paying for the porta-potties
who is busing people in from other states
what dog in the hunt does Michael Moore-on, Jesse Jackson and Susan Sarandon have
why are the police telling Republican Congressmen not to attend St. Patrick's Day parades without having arrested anyone for violent threats
why did the police allow the Capitol to get so out of control
where did the handcuffs come from

The protesters have shown the dark side of our nation. Hate filled signs, protests, property destruction, disrespect for those who happen to have a different viewpoint, intimidate against businesses and people.

I want to think that the protesters represent just a small portion of Wisconsin citizens. For if they don't, if they are truely representative of the people of Wisconsin, then Wisconsin has more than just fiscal problems.

LawGirl said...

all of this has a very cultish feel to it.

Does anyone else get that vibe?


Nah. Just because the unions do not know how to ponder without groupthink, just because they insist on acting as a collective, and just because the protestors have clearly taken a long drink at the Kool-Aid trough . . . Why would you say they're acting cultish? *shrug*

Anonymous said...

Ann,

Actually that's a blacksmiths hammer.
But you have to understand these are just poor teachers and don't know a screwdriver from a hammer.

Hagar said...

America is a classless society, and furthermore - everybody belongs to the middle class.


Wv: hospot - not sure how this word divides up.

LawGirl said...

I'm guessing that, once the screws were drawn, they realized that following through on the metaphor by drawing the obvious tool might have negative connotations for them, so decided "screw it, I'll draw the hammer."

Unknown said...

They really think they'll hang or go hungry (not that most of them would be the better for missing a few meals)? If they did, they wouldn't be there. These are people who always take the path of least resistance.

And the guy who says he misses Nixon should live so long. Back then, the Guard, or even Federal troops, would have been called out once the cops showed whose side they were on and the rabble would have been scattered efficiently.

jaed said...

How is the middle class being attacked here?

Union members not only are middle-class - including the bosses, mind you - they represent the entirety of the middle class.

It works the same way as "union members" = "working families". Actual working families who pay net taxes to pay the government employees? They sort of... don't exist. Since they are not union members, they are not part of the group, and therefore are to be disregarded. Outsiders are defined as either "rich fatcats" or as non-existent.

It's your basic tribalism: everything for the group, nothing outside the group. All sympathy to the union, no sympathy for those outside the union.

(VW: minepref. Mine pref is for the workers to throw off their union bosses at last, but I am unlikely to get mine pref.)

Known Unknown said...

Lame repurposing of a Rubbermaid bin lid.

galdosiana said...

Lame repurposing of a Rubbermaid bin lid.

I was thinking I might have been the only one who noticed that! hehehe

Alex said...

yet all the latest polls show 2/3 of Americans are against stripping collective bargaining rights from public sector unions. Republicans are DEAD on this.

Unknown said...

jaed said...

How is the middle class being attacked here?

Union members not only are middle-class - including the bosses, mind you - they represent the entirety of the middle class.


And the small businessman, including all the people who provide a lot of unionistas a living aren't middle class?

All the Mom and Pop operations aren't middle class?

Well, now we know what the Demos mean when they cry for the middle class, don't we?

This is what the Lefties always do - if you don't like the truth, rewrite it to suit your story.

Unknown said...

Mark --

"Anyone else note in the last photo that unions are using a hammer to pound in screws?"

Yes, also look at what kind of hammer it is. Not a nailing hammer, but significant in other ways.

Anonymous said...

I see white people.

The Godfather said...

Anne and Meade, before this all passes into the mists of history, thanks to you for your public service in covering these events. For those of us who weren't there, you have made these events live. This is the new media at its best.

The Dude said...

Typical union/democrat intelligence - a horribly rendered drawing of screws being driven with a hammer.

Forty years ago when I learned carpentry we called a hammer a "Philadelphia screwdriver" as a slam on northeastern y*nkee union type morons who would use a hammer to drive a screw. They are stupid, slovenly, do poor work, overcharge, talk funny and they are usually fat. It's good to see that some stereotypes hold up over time.

Stephanie said...

Alex said...
yet all the latest polls show 2/3 of Americans are against stripping collective bargaining rights from public sector unions. Republicans are DEAD on this.

3/12/11 8:50 PM


Wrong. Once you get into the internals on most of those polls, you find that most agree that there should be some restrictions on collective bargaining privileges. And, that is all that happened with the WI bill.

And, in the latest poll of actual voters, 56% favor what Walker is doing & a whopping 66% of independents agree. Independents swing elections.

Although, I'll admit that I think most polls are bogus and can be skewed any way you want, we'll see where they wind up after the next few weeks. You're probably not going to like it.

LilyBart said...

I've seen the polls go both ways. The results depend on how the question is asked.

vbspurs said...

"We are all one union"?

Why do I think this is some sly allusion to "creating a more perfect union" in the Declaration of Independence.

Cheers,
Victoria

vbspurs said...

Oh, and about the "Never thought I'd miss Nixon":

Anyone else flabbergasted he didn't reference Shrub?

wv: unmort (French undead zombies)

Steveo said...

I looked carefully at each of the photo's you have up on flicker. I noticed one thing in all of them. There were NO minorities.

Who's racist?

As my whimsy leads me.. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
As my whimsy leads me.. said...

Where are the farmers? I thought a lot of farmers with tractors were supposed to show up.

Toy

Paco Wové said...

"There were NO minorities.

Who's racist?"


This is the upper Midwest, the whitest part of the whole North American continent. So it's not surprising there are no visible minorities. So the 'racism' thing is kind of silly.

However, the gov. worker unions' actions clearly show that it was a mistake to let them exist in the first place.

BJM said...

Protesters who live in Madison really should think this through.

My hometown of 30,000 suffered though a long Teamster strike in the 50's. The community was divided. Businesses were targeted if they were perceived to be against the union. Small businesses who had no skin in the game couldn't get supplies or deliver goods and were forced to close, families were bankrupted. Memories are long, the schism in the community exists to this day.

Peter V. Bella said...

Where are the effigies of the president?

Peter V. Bella said...

No minorities? I could have 200 Black anti-union protesters there tomorrow.

Blacks in Chicago hate public employee and other unions.

Sprezzatura said...

Would it kill Althouse to post non-derogatory images and information about these protests?

Some of us are far, far away, so it'd be nice to have a fuller picture. Althouse has said that she feels obligated to cover this situation because it's in her backyard. And, she frequently whines about the lamestream media's bias and incompleteness.

So, why can't she lead by example? Instead, she's even more biased and intentionally incomplete than the lamestream media could hope to be.

The meadia seems like fraud.

Fen said...

Although, I'll admit that I think most polls are bogus and can be skewed any way you want

In these types of instances, I never trust any polling that involves the MSM.

Their MO is that of a cheating ref who mostly makes fair calls throughout the game, but knows there will be that *one* play he can flag to change the outcome of the game.

This is that one play.

Fen said...

Some of us are far, far away, so it'd be nice to have a fuller picture.

Buy a newspaper. If you want the Pravda version of events, its easy to find out there.

rhhardin said...

Ann Coulter ought to be put in charge of signs.

"It is more dangerous to be a farmer, fisherman, steelworker or pilot than a cop or fireman."

"Tobacco companies: trying to help the working people retain good jobs in America."

rhhardin said...

Ann Coulter ought to be put in charge of signs.

"It is more dangerous to be a farmer, fisherman, steelworker or pilot than a cop or fireman."

"Tobacco companies: trying to help the working people retain good jobs in America."

Aridog said...

"Some of us are far, far away, so it'd be nice to have a fuller picture."

Here's a fuller picture for you ... this new bluster democracy you're watching represents just 11.9 % of US wage and salary workers.

That percentage seem representative of the whole to anyone?

Phil 314 said...

If Wisconsin surrenders...

He knows the phrases and sentiments he wants to say but he just couldn't string them together in a coherent manner. (But the original quote is a good one.)

Scott Walker hates Wi people

I've never heard him speak against dwarfs or nintendo players.

I Never thought I'd miss Nixon

Great "juxtapositional irony" since the next sign alludes to work injury. And under what administration was OSHA created?

Walker, spread your SHIT

In due time, in due time.

We are all union

Now admit it, your kid made that. I mean the crepe flowers!

VanderDouchen said...

This post needs the excrement tag.

Union scatology is interesting. Why do I keep getting a mental image of these folks finger painting whenever I see them mention poop?

WV: defles
defles might be coming back to Wisconsin.

R.L. Hunter said...

If you look closely you will see they aren't screws but nails with names(presumably of republicans) written over them.

That said Ann and everyone else is right that it's the wrong hammer for nails.

I just find it funny that a law professor knows more about tools than someone that is supposedly of the working class.

Drew said...

The Unions as a hammer, pounding Republican citizens into the grave . . . is that an image they want?

Yes.

N X Handley said...

Signs are a welcome reminder of freedom of speech, in poor taste though some of them may be. A majority of Wisconsin voters object to this new bill. The Republicans will be removed from office in the next election cycle or before that through recalls. 100,000 people came from all over the state. That, my friends, is plenty enough to change an election. Don't forget it.

Unknown said...

Yes guys you need it. I am supporting you.

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