Now Scott Fitzgerald Poisons Canada

Last night in an attempt to avoid the news in Wisconsin, I was listening to Canadian Broadcasting Company's As It Happens on the local WPR station. However, even in Canada, Scott Fitzgerald, majority leader of the WI Senate was more than happy to explain to those lovely, too polite Canadians what he thought was happening in our fair state.

The interviewer asked about Walker's "considering hiring outside demonstrators to disrupt the protests."

Here is what our majority leader said:

"I haven't heard the phone call but I do know that Governor Walker and I have spoken about those agitators -- really though, it was in relationship to the AFL-CIO sending in agitators last Saturday when we had massive crowds to try and pick fights. There were some great security concerns about what were the private sector unions -- what was there goal on last Saturday? Was it to actually have a situation where the crowd became a security risk? No and that's a big concern of ours, the amount [sic] of people being bussed in from out of state and both from the private sector unions and the public sector unions. Just yesterday literally hundreds of protestors from Los Angeles who flew in to the Dane County airport just to come and protest around the capitol. Obviously Wisconsin is the tip of the spear on this debate and as a result of that the major labor unions are starting to weigh in and we're worried about some of the tactics that might be available to them."

 

I have a number of issues with Mr. Fitzgerald's comments:

1. He hasn't listened to the phone call? REALLY? What rock is he living under? AND if my boss was caught doing something shady, I would definitely want to know what he did so I could wash my hands of his filth.
   
2. I didn't notice the AFL-CIO as an official presence in the crowd at the demonstrations on Saturday (there was a speaker there) which is not to say that they weren't there in the crowd. What I saw were mostly local private and public union members, leaders and UW-Madison students. There was a presence from the Tea Party, many of whom were from out of state, and a smattering of Teamsters, teachers and rank & file union members from Illinois marching about. None of the out-of-staters on the union side seemed super-organized. Most had home-made signs.
   
3. There were 68,000 protesters and no arrests February 19, the day to which Mr. Fitzgerald is referring . Clearly Mr. Fitzgerald's fears were unfounded. The Madison police chief was so impressed by the good behavior that day that he wrote a letter of thanks to the protesters.
   
4. Mr. Fitzgerald was worried about union protesters from Los Angeles but he was not worried about the Tea Party protesters from New York and Virginia who were in Madison last Saturday. Why would outside union protestors be any more likely to be violent or unruly than Tea Party protestors?
   
5. What "tactics" is Mr. Fitzgerald referring to? The "thug" tactics that Fox News and Mr. Limbaugh have been espousing? Show me the thug tactics done by unions in Madison – They don't exist.
   

Mr. Fitzgerald should be ashamed of himself for being uninformed, turning the governor's own thug tactics back around on the peaceful union protestors and making the super-nice Canadians think United States union members are a bunch of violent, sneaky criminals.