I found myself way south yesterday less than a mile from the capital at a paddlesports expo my son and I attended. During a break for lunch, we thought we'd go grab a burger and go see the protest.
I give our day a perfect /

It was winding down by the time we got there. Jesse Jackson, I'm sure was well into his second helping of a free lunch somewhere.

We did learn a few things about the protesters though. Let's go through them together, shall we?

1: Although 66% of the protesters stuck to the issue, there was that 33% that was not even close to the issue and seemed to be protesting everything from (of course) Fox News, Blackwater, The republican ties to Al Queda and everything else in between.
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2: Changing the "F" to a "Ph" on obscene protest signs doesn't really make it right. Especially when thrust into the hands of eight year olds to carry. We saw enough of this.

3: Protesters 4 blocks away screaming obscenities at passing cars full of families with foul signs and others cheering along doesn't much help their cause.
* They really freak out when you yell "Walker for President!" as you drive by.

4: Union people do not want money going towards helping pay for their benefits. However, they have no problems paying dues to the unions so they can have these to drive around in as billboards.
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And another....
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5: Bongo beats are only good for getting middle aged earthy chicks to get up out of their sleeping bags on the sidewalk and sway back and forth rhythmically.
(I'll spare you all the pic )

6: Nobody we asked, not one, knew who the Koch brothers are, what their first names are, what businesses they own or how it ties in with the whole budget issue thing. However, there were many signs directing seething hatred telling us they are evil and must be stopped(We had to ask this of the  protesters around us, because we didn't know )
Apparently, neither did they. Not one!

7: As long as you are protesting, it's ok to jump up on a veterans memorial even though the signs say no sitting, and trample it.

8: Apparently, it's cool to carry instruments in a loosely formed band to entertain the masses while marching. However, not one note was played. My son (I love this kid more and more each day) said. "Dad, they are in the unions, they are probably on break!"

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9: In the liberal mindset, it is perfectly ok to cause this much damage as long as somebody else is paying for it. This was the most graphic example of people who simply do not care about anything but their own agenda. This was absolutely sickening.
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All four sides were equally as bad, boot sucking mud that was oozing onto the sidewalks. It was about 8 inches deep.
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The grounds are trashed. There are stickers on every sign, post, sidewalk and every other structure that doesn't move for a block in each direction. this will all have to be cleaned up. The grounds are a total loss and will have to be graded and replanted.
Upon leaving, the trash cans were all full and signs were just thrown down in piles near the trash cans.

It was a strange experience. We would have got better and more pics, but we were getting strange looks for not carrying signs and perhaps dressed too nicely while not having mud all over our shoes.

Pretty much typical from the left....

first post and all that...

Got to love the "Please Keep Off The Mud" sign.  

Did they throw trash in the pool, too?

Their brothers in solidarity will be along shortly, unless you are a business that doesn't support unions in Wisconsin, in which case their brothers in solidarity won't be along for a while.

Most of those little signs were already altered to say "Please keep off the mudOUR RIGHTS".

So original.

It sure wasn't quite the civics lesson I had hoped it would be.

We have seen the enemy, and they are lazy, stinking, disrespectful, useless, worthless, hippies.

Protest for the sake of protesting, how quaint.

Those people are shit...

This says it perfectly. That's the feeling we got from one out of three protesters judging by the signs and the antics we witnessed. A lot of signs and things that were being shouted were totally out of context for the issues at hand.

very strange.

Did you keep your pimp hand strong while you were there?

I should have borrowed that sign.

Arfcom always has a "guy on the inside" . I was privileged to be the guy on the inside for this one and get out a few pics. You most certainly will not see the damaged grounds of the capital on the news. You of course, will not see the signs we saw, a few of them mentioning hanging and killing. You will not hear about the families and people not involved screamed at and harassed a few blocks from the protest.

What you will see is the masses focused on one issue. I think what surprised me was the extent of the outright hate for everything and anything in this country from these fine upstanding citizens. It didn't even matter if the issues were made up.

once again, I'll say it. very, very strange.

They were smoking dope in the state house! So, no telling what they did to the pool.

That's a beautiful building they're disgracing.

Thanks for the post.

Boy that sure looks like the  10's of thousands or was it a 100,000 protesters? that the MSM was reporting was marching...  Farging Bastages

one site i was on was clamming over 200,000 that would roughly double the size of Madison



 

The OP and his son alone were probably counted as several thousand

It's almost like they are filming the sequel to the movie "PCU".

Ok...here's the deal on this. The pictures I have do NOT represent the numbers at the height of the protest. However, we were there not too long after as many protesters were heading away from the capital. We went to lunch at the height of the protests and were withing spitting distance of the protest. At any time, we were able to drive within one block of the capital building. No parking, but we could drive right up to the first street around the square. that should be an indicator right there.

If, in fact, there were 100k people, as a person who was right there, I have no clue how those people got in and out so fast. I would have to say that the numbers predicted were way off.
We ate lunch from 2:30-3:00 right by the capital watching the crowd and by 4:00 after driving around a little to feel out the situation were parked and at the capital building at 4pm. There weren't that many people left there.

"Those people" are lower middle class teachers, police, firefighters, highway workers, and their supporters.  There hasn't been a single arrest of a protester for vandalism or violence.  Shut the fuck up if you don't know what you are talking about.

Where is a match when you need one?

With the earthquake in Japan, I havn't heard hardly anything on the protests.  I bet it really pissed them off that the MSM is only giving them a little blip on the news, the rest is Japan.

Eve funnier if those not familiar with Madison look at satellite maps of the capital and see it's located between two lakes with relatively little room for all the people claimed at the protests. Furthermore, the only way in because of the lakes are from the north and south. I was at the Alliance Energy center to the south and had no problems with traffic. We came in from the north after skirting the John Nolan expressway.

We were unimpeded at all times.

And people who agree with that statement ^ are idiotic, crooks, and I may suggest some serious mental help for them.

It's one thing to take away pensions for future jobs.

It's plain wrong and a criminal act to take away the pensions of people who chose lesser paying jobs to better serve the community in light of the benefit of a pension.

"Those people" all believe they have a right to dip their hands into the pockets of others.

And there are no arrests because the fine, upstanding police officers of Madison refuse to enforce the law because they 100% support this Marxist uprising.

That bit about shutting the fuck up if you don't know what you're talking about?  Might want to replay it and take heed of your own wisdom.

Fuck unions, fuck union members, and fuck union supporters.

Where does the money come from?

Those pension "promises", made decades ago by politicians long retired or dead... who should be making good on them?  Why should I pay more in taxes because someone else promised you something a long time ago that they knew you would never get, but they didn't care because they were never going to be on the hook?

If unions think it's so criminal and wrong to "take away pensions", then they should be more than happy to pay more to support that system.

Name calling much?



The imoral act was making the promises to those people that were unsustainable.





 

I don't know how much more evidence of vandalism and defacing public property I could stand yesterday. The fact that something so blatant was allowed is proof of why public service unions are a bad idea. Couple this with the death threats where the person was identified and nothing was done because the police thought that the person "was not a threat", and it becomes not just a volatile situation but a situation where vested interests are easily laid out for all to see..

It's an absolute disgrace, especially the trampled mud in the center of the raised veteran's memorial.

My best wishes to you folks in Wi. to keep the union commies, and yes they are commies, from gaining back control.

We will be seeing the same here in Mi. very soon i am afraid.

They haven't been lesser paying jobs for many years.

That is just as disingenuous as saying there were arrests for violence or vandalism. There have been nine arrests, but the police have not released details. Follow your own advice next time

See: here, here as well.

BURN!!!

I don't understand how they can be for large government yet trash the public spaces provided to us by and maintained by the government!?

I guarantee you "those people" make a better living than I do in the private sector. I perform for my job. Enough so that I can suck up the costs of  the portion of my own health care benefits and still make a living. All this BS talk about a war against working WI families is bullshit. Nobody is at war with me.

The only people at war with me are those that have had it too good for too long demanding I step back, shut the fuck up and pay more to provide everything and anything the unions ask for without questions through their collective bargaining.
Where were the union people all the rest of these years lobbying for me? I've been paying my taxes giving them those guaranteed raises for years. I've been supporting (through taxes) the unions that lay down the work rules to guarantee them jobs no matter how good or how bad they perform those jobs.
Why were they not concerned about the middle class guy who pays his taxes to provide the health care and retirement for them before? I it because all of the sudden they might have to take up some of the slack?
Where's the compassionate compromise I hear so much about?

Somebody here said it best last week. "Solidarity you want? Welcome to the rest of us."

There you go guy.

Found him



 

Hmm... I had you on my ignore list, and I can't remember why.

Seems I chose wisely.

Job security?

Maybe you can explain the boot sucking mud where grass used to be? Maybe, since you live in WI, you can go down there and survey the damage for yourself?

Yeah....get back to us on that. Or maybe don't bother since you are on the ignore list of many already.

and what union do you belong to?

there are numerous reports of BROKEN WINDOWS, BROKEN LOCKS, VANDALISM, and of course the damage to the granite inside the capitol.

get your facts straight... union scum.

someone is in a union

fuck every single one of them. collective bargaining is NOT a "right".

i dont give a shit who they are, including COPS, FIREFIGHTERS, and all the others little groups you mentioned, they are blood sucking, free american air wasting dirty douchebag liberals who can GO TO HELL.

Fuck Communism and fuck Communists.

Hey eddie,
Private sector unions organize against the owners of businesses.  Public sector unions organize to extract more money from taxpayers.
Don't be surprised when said taxpayers discover the racket established between the Democrat Party and public sector unions that they are rightly pissed off.
Now you will have to save for your own retirement like the rest of us.  Boo hoo.  You're not fighting for rights, you are fighting for rackets.



 

From out of state.   Have you been up there talking to people who are protesting?   I saw a lot of people from out of state there.  Even watching the live feeds most people say they are from Il, and MN.

sorry.  union does not = "middle class"
let alone PUBLIC union
btw, this guy seems to know what unions are all about:





 
 

Union thugs are well known for various acts of violence, intimidation, and property damage.  I have no doubt that there have

been such events in WI recently and will be more.



Union = scum.  



I truly regret having joined a union back in 1998.   It wasn't like I actually got a single benefit out of it in any way, after all.



When I needed help I got lip service.  LOW GRADE lip service.   My co-workers were a varied bunch.  Frankly, some of them

(union members with a lot of seniority) were as useless as tits on a warthog.   They'd have been GONE long time ago, fired

for stupidity or laziness or both,  if it weren't for that fucking union and that fucking contract.   It rewards the employee

for just being there, and penalizes the employer simply because it CAN.



I'll NEVER join a union again...not even if the law compels me to.  





CJ

Are we beginning to see why the early 20th century response to the unions was dished out at the end of a billy club or machine gun when it got to the breaking point?


Of course that can go too far as well.

Strikebusters, FTW.  Federalization FTMFW.

Self-employment and minding your own business, FTGDCSMFW!!!