Well, so much for that "new civility" talk.We now know that when "Progressives" win an election, they throw a party.And when they lose an election, they throw a tantrum.
This past Wednesday night, the Wisconsin Senate used a perfectly legal legislative maneuver to finally pass the bill that reins in public workers' union contracts without the need for a quorum.Democrats are complaining that it was passed without debate, which is odd, considering they had two weeks to debate it, and instead, they ran away to Illinois.
Immediately after the vote, protesters streamed into the Capitol building, in violation of a judge's order, and reportedly chained some doors shut and ripped others off their hinges.The next day, they tried to physically block Republicans from the lower house from coming to work.The FBI is even tracking down death threats made against the governor and GOP Assembly members.The protesters finally had to be dragged out of the Capitol by police, so the Assembly could vote.The bill passed.Unions are calling for general strikes and more unrest, while wealthy anti-capitalist Michael Moore did his best Bugs Bunny impression and declared, "This is war!"
You know, it's ironic that when this first started, one of the most popular signs among the protesters read, "This is what democracy looks like."No, democracy looks like the people's elected representatives defying death threats to cast a vote.Their reaction to democracy was what anarchy looks like.
Thank You Melvin Bledsoe
Rep. Peter King has begun his hearings into terrorist groups' attempts to radicalize and recruit Americans to launch homegrown attacks.Unfortunately, what should be a rational and obvious step in protecting the safety of all of us is being colored by emotion and claims of anti-Muslim bigotry.Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee accused Republicans of trampling the Constitution and boosting al-Qaeda recruitment.And Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson urged everyone to be very careful in choosing their words, to make sure we don't make our enemies hate us even more.You know, there's a running joke among comedians that if anything you don't like happens, then the terrorists have won.But it's gone beyond a joke.Terrorists want to frighten us into giving up our freedoms, including freedom of speech.If we're so terrified of what the terrorists might do if we call them terrorists, then the terrorists really have won.
Probably the wisest thing said at the hearings came from Melvin Bledsoe.His son was enticed into a radical Islam movement, isolated from his family, and ended up going on a deadly shooting spree at an Army recruitment station right in my hometown of Little Rock.Mr. Bledsoe said, "We're talking about stepping on their toes, and they're talking about stamping us out.Why don't people take their blinders off?"