The protesters squatting in the Capitol finally left the building, leaving plenty of damage and filth behind.
From WKOW:
After more than two weeks, the last of the protesters voluntarily walk out of the Capitol.
Protesters are declaring victory in their fight against Governor Scott Walker and his budget repair bill.
Just after 9:00 p.m., about 50 demonstrators walked out, one by one. Those who could not get into the Capitol, waited outside, for their fellow protesters to walk out.
When the time finally came, they greeted them with hugs, high fives and lots of cheers.
Here's video.
Look at them. What do these people do for a living?
They're walking out to cheers. Good grief. These aren't the Chilean miners.
From WISN:
Pro-union protesters who had been camping out at the Wisconsin Capitol for 17 days vacated the building peacefully late Thursday after a judge ordered the building closed at night but ruled the state was wrong to restrict access to the building during the day.
With a group hug, and singing "Solidarity Forever," about 50 protesters grabbed their sleeping bags, pillows and drums and left through two rows of Democratic state lawmakers and others who thanked them for their efforts.
Police confirmed that all of the protesters had departed, and that there had been no arrests.
The peaceful departure came after two hours of back-and-forth exchanges between the police and demonstrators, who demanded to see the court order saying they had to leave.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Chief Susan Riseling read the order to the crowd, eliciting cheers when she read the judge's determination that the state had unconstitutionally restricted the public's access to the building. The Department of Administration, which operates the building, this week began restricting the number of protesters allowed in at any time.
It was the part of the judge's order saying protesters had to leave on Thursday night that caused consternation among the group. Former Attorney General Peggy Lautenschlager, who challenged the state's decision to limit building access, told them, "We won this battle."
But she also told the crowd they needed to leave.
Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs repeatedly urged the crowd to leave peacefully.
"I don't want to see anybody arrested," he said.
Ultimately, the protesters left without incident. At least one of them was still in a Capitol hallway after the others had departed as police scoured the building to look for stragglers.
"We decided we didn't want to stoop to the level of Scotty and his minions. We decided it would be best for our image to leave tonight peacefully and come back tomorrow," said Matt Rowe, 21, of Madison, carrying an armful of blankets after he left the building.
The protesters claim they won.
What did they win?
The judge ruled the public can access the building, but also the protesters were forced to leave.
Where's the victory?
What was the point?
Their behavior was so juvenile - the drumming, the singing, the "let's pretend it's 1970."
For what?
This remark from protester Matt Rowe, 21, is priceless:
"We decided we didn't want to stoop to the level of Scotty and his minions. We decided it would be best for our image to leave tonight peacefully and come back tomorrow."
Concern for their image?
What a joke! They don't have a clue.
Bottom line: No one was arrested. They all left the building.
It seems to me this ended well for Governor Walker.
6 comments:
One of those inside was a friend of mine, a 40-year-old independent truck driver who realizes an attack on the incomes of public unions will translate into a drain on the income of the entire middle class.
There's a fundamental difference in philosophy here about the redistribution of wealth and the government's role.
Do you believe in freeing the marketplace and the individual or do you believe in big government control and its confiscation of the individual's earnings?
1.) Yes, I can see the merits of a strongly progressive tax structure to correct the unfair tendency of the market to accumulate money at the very top. But it might surprise you to know that it wouldn't affect you whatsoever -- my cutoff for "wealthy" as in "tax the wealthy" is in the millions per year. I can conceive of the very talented, the very hard working or the very smart justifying $2M a year. $50M from interest of the trust fund? Not so much.
2.) I, as an individual, cannot compete with the likes of the Kochs. Unions performs the function of aggregating the interests of the middle class so we don't get bowled over by the super wealthy.
3.) My point was not about either of the two things above. It was about economics. Economics recognized by every conservative economist on the planet. Lowering wages in one sector will affect wages, i.e. depress them, in all sectors. Private unions in WI are going to take a hit from this, then non-unionized workers, then workers in other states. And these lower wages represent lower purchasing power, meaning lesser demand, resulting in further layoffs so the factory owners can keep what they already have.
The uber-rich have been confiscating my money for some time now via artificially high prices and artificially low wages, so no, I do not feel an iota of guilt for confiscating it back.
And before you can counter with "who are you to determine the worth of an entrepreneur -- that's that market's job" I would counter-counter with "who are YOU to determine the worth of a teacher, nurse or fireman?"
"Unions performs the function of aggregating the interests of the middle class so we don't get bowled over by the super wealthy."
Not true.
The vast majority of the middle class are not union members.
Unions are the champions of a relative few. The rest of us get bowled over by them.
You didn't read a word I wrote, did you?
Of course, I did.
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