Wis. Union protest reveals a failure in Media

As a former member of this United States Military nothing bothers me more when one group stands proudly on a platform of doing what they believe is best for the majority when it becomes blatantly clear that they are doing it for other reasons.  Prime example of this is what‘s happening to unions around this nation.  While I do not agree with everything that some unions have done, one thing is quite clear.  Without the ability to stand as one to make keep the workplace safe and to receive an honest pay for an honest day’s work (collective bargaining), workers will be at the mercy of business and have no say in how they are treated.  Business and those that they have rented will take us back to a time where only those with deep pockets determine those without destiny.  This is not what we fight for against foreign enemies.

I was really irked after reading the Associated Press writer Todd Richmond article titled Wis. Assembly passes bill taking away union rights speaking of how poorly the Assembly Democrats protected the voters by allowing Republicans to pass this bill.  There are other adjectives I would use for the lack of planning on behalf of the Democrats than what was used in the article.  The article said that the democrats were sleep deprived while I would say that they were ill-prepared.  "I applaud the Democrats in the Assembly for earnestly debating this bill and urge their counterparts in the state Senate to return to work and do the same," Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, said in a statement issued moments after the vote.  An earnest debate is one thing but to get played like a tiny violin does not constitute earnest to me.

Another major failure in this saga is the failure of media to expose these Republicans who have forgotten that many of their fathers, mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers used the tools given them by unions to achieve a position where their children and grandchildren could now stand up and take those right away.  It is understood that many of these Republicans will not step up and defend their stances to the voters because they themselves do not truly believe in them but media must become relentless in forcing them to answer for that vote.  The public must begin to demand that all who voted to strip the middle class of their voice by made to defend it.  It is quite clear that many will never stand before a journalist who is not afraid to ask the hard questions and soon those like Fox’s Shepard Smith will no longer be viewed as an easy interview.  Mr. Smith will soon be labeled as something of a traitor and avoided as well.   

After the Governor revealed his true stance on the subject, the Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly still followed through and until each is held to account for that vote, there will never be a settled law whether it passes or not.  It’s time for America to start honoring the sacrifice of those who wear the uniform of this nation.  It’s time they take into account that those who have fought and died did so for all Americans to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and it was not done for just the few.  This nation flourishes when all Americans succeed and if they truly care about restoring this country then they need to invest at least as much as those who fight for our freedoms do.