After the Presidential Election of 2004, I wrote a piece for Bark River Ramblings on The Hebron Herald, called The President’s New Clothes… Of course, there have been a number of similar comparisons since that time, comparing a number of out-of-touch political figures with the delusional, naked Emperor.
Back in 2004, basically, you had an appointed President, who won re-election by 30% vs. 29% over John Kerry. And the largest voting block in that election was the non-voters at 40%. Yet George Bush claimed he had earned political capital in that election and he intended to spend it… Ah yes, and we all know how well that turned out.
So, 2010: enter Governor Scott Walter in the State of Wisconsin, who with
his posse have run the Democratic rascals out office and, some are reporting and others reveling in the claim that they turned a “Blue” state “Red”. Actually, like the majority of states, Wisconsin remains a Purple state. But that’s too complicated for sound bites, bumper stickers, and tweeters.
Apparently, Mr. Walker has the same tailor as George Bush and the Emperor. Only 49.7% of the Wisconsin voting age population voted in the 2010 election. So, once again the largest voting block is the non-voters—only this time they were not only the largest voting block, they were the majority. So, while Walker got more votes than anyone, he only got 26% of the VAP vote.
So, he DOES NOT speak for the majority of the people of Wisconsin. Especially when he says things like “These protesters will not drown out the voices of the Taxpayers of Wisconsin.” Ummm… Governor….these protesters ARE THE TAXPAYERS OF WISCONSIN! So you, Sir–with whatever political capital you think you’ve gained– should spend it on a new tailor.
I don’t know how this will all play out… so far the demonstrations have been peaceful. But this weekend the folks who like to carry loaded weapons to political rallies are about to be bussed in from other states to launch their counter protest.
I sincerely pray that everyone’s better angels will prevail. I pray that Scott Walker will accept the concessions that State Union workers are prepared to make for health care and pension benefits. And that he’ll realize that he doesn’t have a mandate to strip ANY union workers of their right to collective bargaining.
I pray that any non-union working class people who think it’s okay to try and abolish unions… go back and read your history, about why unions were needed in the first place. And remember that you can’t always trust that Corporate America will do the right thing by their workers or the consumers of their products.
Most importantly, I pray that the 50% of the voting age population of Wisconsin that stayed home in November of 2010 wake up and realize that with those kind of numbers, we have the government here we deserve. And I pray next time we can do better.
The Park Bench 