And the headlines will be breathless. Rick Santorum hit the trifecta last night winning all three states and setting himself up as the chief conservative challenger to Mitt Romney. Which is like being the first raccoon to cross the Interstate before the semi barrels by going 80 mph, good buddy.
Never mind that no delegates were at stake in any of the states. It’s all symbolic for the conservatives as they attempt to pull Romney so far to the right that he’ll have to lean just to stand up straight.
In the end, it won’t matter. Mitt will be the nominee, but he’ll be damaged and forced to say even more things that he doesn’t believe in order to mollify the conservatives. The Democrats are trying hard to give him an issue over religious groups forced to cover birth control. I would say this was a winning issue, but somehow, Mitch McConnell lecturing the country about religion and the pill is probably the best thing to happen to reproductive rights in a long time.
That sound you just heard? It’s just Tim Pawlenty baying at the moon. Move along citizens.
It’s a painting that was placed in the Wisconsin Governor’s mansion for a reason – to remind the leaders, whoever he or she might be, of their obligation to the homeless and the poor people of the state. Scott Walker, the Republican governor who recently tried to enact a bill to dismantle collective bargaining rights of the Wisconsin public worker, had the painting removed.
The painting called, Wishes in the Wind, was done by Wisconsin artist David Lenz. It depicts three children – one African-American, one Hispanic and one Caucasian – playing with bubble wands on a Milwaukee street. Lenz explained that he carefully chose the characters in the piece because of the importance of their life stories. The African-American girl was featured in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in an article done about homelessness. She and her mother spent three months at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. The Caucasian boy’s father was killed by a drunk driver in 2009 and the Hispanic girl is a member of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee.
Governor Walker’s decision to remove the painting sent a strong message to Lenz. He said
“The homeless, central city children and victims of drunk drivers normally do not have a voice in politics, this painting was an opportunity for future governors to look these three children in the eye, and I hope, contemplate how their public policies might affect them and other children like them.”
I guess that was a conversation Governor Walker did not want to have.”
And in a direct reference to Scott Walker’s proposed budget cuts in state’s funding for Milwaukee schools services, Lenz said, “This seems symbolic, you would think we could all agree on the need to support the hopes and dreams of children.”
Walker’s excuse for removing the painting? In a press released, this explanation was given;
In recognition of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, Governor Scott Walker and First Lady Tonette Walker are pleased to announce the addition of Civil War themed artwork and artifacts to decorate the interior of Wisconsin’s Executive Residence.
The painting Wishes in the Wind, which was previously on display in the Drawing Room, is on loan to the Central Library in Milwaukee where 560,000 visitors each year will see it, learn about its significance and continue the discussion about providing hope and optimism for the least privileged in our society. By comparison, the Executive Residence hosts approximately 15,000 visitors each year.
Early Friday morning, after three days of a Democratic filibusterer, Wisconsin State Assembly voted and passed the bill stripping union public workers of their collective bargaining rights. The bill still has to be approved in the state’s Senate, where Senate Democrats have been missing in action for over a week now.
State Assembly Democrats are not happy with how the vote was held. According to reporting from Huffington Post, many Democratic members did not even know the vote was being called. The report states;
After more than 60 hours in which Democrats threw out dozens of amendments and delivered rambling speeches, Republicans halted debate early Friday. In a matter of seconds, they had approved the bill. Only a few Democrats realized what was going on and managed to vote before the roll was closed.
The Democrats rose from their seats and rushed at the Republicans shouting, “Shame!” as the Republicans exited the chamber.
“I’m incensed. I’m shocked,” said Rep. John Richards, D-Milwaukee. “What a terrible, terrible day for Wisconsin.”
Republicans refused to speak to reporters, though Majority Leader Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, did issue a written statement.
“The vote we took wasn’t the easy thing to do, but it was the right thing to do,” Suder said.
We are witnessing the dismantling of the constitutionally protected first amendment for Wisconsin public employees, where simply having their union representative sit at a negotiating table and speak on their behalf is slowly being taken away.
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