By Craig Andresen on March 9, 2011
The long and drawn out fight in Wisconsin over public sector union bargaining came to a swift and sudden this evening as WI republicans and Governor Walker separated the bargaining part of the bill from the finance section. The senate quickly voted 18-1 and collective bargaining in WI came to an end!
The 14 run away democrat senators were nowhere to be found. The move came one day after those missing 14 turned down an offer from the Governor to make some concessions. Not only did they turn it down flat, they were quite dismissive of the effort calling it simply out of the question, unhelpful and not serious.
Somewhere in a hotel in Illinois, there is no joy in Mudville tonight.
According to the AP, “The lone Democrat present on the conference committee, Rep. Tony Barca, shouted that the surprise meeting was a violation of the state’s open meetings law but Republicans voted over his objections. The Senate then convened within minutes and passed it without discussion or debate.
Spectators in the gallery screamed “You are cowards.”
Ahhh…cowards. In MY opinion, since those who were present did NOT run and hide…THEY are not the “cowards”
The tactics used by those 14 missing in action democrat senators are equal in my mind to staying in the locker room at the start of the second half and still claiming their team is playing…and winning…the game.
Now, the question hangs like a while flag on a stick; Will the REAL cowards return to Madison to deal with the financial portion of their state’s woes…or will they elect to drown their sorrows in the hotel bar till the dairy cows come home?
Still…we wait.
UPDATE: MSNBC tonight had the story on O’Donnell’s show. HOLY COW!!!
LAWRENCE O’DONNELL, MSNBC HOST: Senator Larson (D-Wis), as soon as you heard about this plan, you actually started driving back to Wisconsin right away?
STATE SEN. LARSON (D-WIS.): I did. I was trying to see if there was something we could do, anything, in order to try and stop this, but it was pretty obvious they didn’t want to have anything to do with that. They didn’t want the Democrats there. We thought we were talking, we thought we were having good discussions, we thought we were on our way to having a compromise that would preserve workers’ rights, remove some of the bad things from this Trojan Horse bill and get something through that the people of Wisconsin could agree with and find a compromise with. That seemed to have been an affront. It seemed to have been a trick again on their part. If they wanted us back, they could have had us back. This was something where they intentionally deceived us.
ARE YOU KIDDING???
Just a couple of quotes out of that bit of transcript.
1) “They didn’t want the Democrats there.” Oh…REALLY? You have had 3 weeks to find your way back to Madison and you wouldn’t have even had to break the speed limit to get there. You were asked to be there. You were ORDERED to be there. NOW…when they, after 3 WEEKS…move on without you…NOW you try to pin the fact that YOU and ALL 13 other democrat senators were absent on the republicans? YOU RAN AWAY AND INTO HIDING IN ANOTHER STATE!!!!
2) “If they wanted us back, they could have had us back.” Ummm…IF YOU WANTED TO BE THERE YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER LEFT!!!
3) “This was something where they intentionally deceived us.” Ya never saw it coming while you were hiding under a rock did ya?
This in MY opinion is typical liberal behavior. Never take responsibility for your OWN actions when there is someone else you can blame.
2nd UPDATE:
As darkness fell on Madison Wisconsin, in the wake of an historic vote to strip collective bargaining from public sector unions and with 13 of 14 democrat senators still missing, in hiding in Illinois, protesters have again set siege on the capitol. 
Reports now of door to the capitol being locked from the inside…handcuffed shut. Angry protesters outside demanding to be let in. Some door scuffed shut, others open. Michael Moore declaring war has begun.
Capitol police in Madison are scarce, if there at all. Those police are, after all, part of a public sector union.
Protesters chanting shame, fascism, running about inside the capitol where over a 2 week period they have already done some 71/2 million dollars in damage.
They, the protesters are, of course, blaming Governor Walker, the Tea Party, any reporter not from a mainstream news source and just about anybody they can think of except themselves and the party which choose to represent them from hiding while not showing up for work.
Who again ARE these protesters? The ones who brought signs advocating gang rape of Tea Party women. The ones who wanted the Governor of Wisconsin dead. The ones who compared the Governor to Mussolini and Hitler, who roughed up reporters, women,and anyone who did not agree with them. Who are those protesters who are now, on the night of the vote, using handcuffs to lock the doors of the capitol from the inside creating a massive safety hazard?
They are public sector unionists and their supporters. Teachers, who are entrusted to educate children. Cops who are entrusted with the safety of citizens. Doctors writing fraudulent sick notes who are entrusted with your health. Need I continue?
They are animals, thugs, goons, socialists and communists. Liberal elected officials are standing with them or…running away to avoid their duties. In spirit, even the runners are standing with the previously mentioned.
You are with whom you stand.
