So, Scott Walker thinks unions want him dead. He doesn't mean politically dead, but buried next to Jimmy Hoffa dead. (I make that reference because modern anti-union sentiment is chained directly to his exploits...never mind he's been dead for 36 years, but I digress.) I was shocked. Shocked, I say, at such a statement. Dead? Really? How can someone say such a thing? Dead? That's what it takes to play the victim these days? Face it, right wingers love to play the victim, hence all the bullshit "liberal media" nonsense*, the war on Christmas nonsense, and all the other ways they create imaginary attacks to vociferously defend themselves against it and decry their own poor pitiful state...
Oh, God, why do I fall for these things. Every time. Ring a bell; salivate.
I feel foolish getting worked up over the death threat stuff for any number of reasons. First, he's definitely alluding to the death threats he and other Republicans received during the height of the protests here in Madison. It caused a lot of fervor for the red team to rally around him (nothing like feeling like you have to protect something to bring out the wallets & claws after all). But, see, the Democrats received them, too. Teachers received them. Shit, a local DJ who was vocal at the protests received one. Death threats, sadly, are common for public figures. I have no proof, but I'm willing to bet that damn near every elected official has received a death threat, or some other veiled threat against their person that could be interpreted as a death threat. I bet a great number of public figures receive threats. Shit, I bet Julia Roberts had a death threat from somebody. And she's America's Sweetheart for Pete's sake.
Anyway, these things are frightening and they're common. Like spiders. They're a reliable source of scare tactic material (like spiders). They are rightfully troubling, but my god, move on. It's a spider. You've seen that before. Be a man and squish it.
Secondly, I shouldn't be upset that this makes him appear cowardly, paranoid and weird. What's he worried about, exactly? A naked and greasy Richard Trumka leaping out from his closet and squish him with a mallet? But Walker does look like a coward here. That's what I want, right? Some sniveling thing that doesn't stand a chance to be elected? Well, yeah, I like that un-elected part, but it really bugs me that this ploy works. Just the idea that him saying this fired up enough people to send him a 10 dollar check to help protect him or some shit truly pisses me off. It's sad to me that there exists buffoons like that and it makes me sad that there are people who work directly for him that know to suggest such a tactic.
Thirdly, how much more divisive can you get. This sets up this recall election as not a question of democracy, or rights or anything, but as honest-to-god life and death. Recalling Walker comes out of a desire to kill, apparently, so recalling him is the equivalent of murder? What? Why would you ever do that? As if it's not bad enough around here with the division between sides, with damn near everybody radicalized to the left and right you frame this situation as life and death, making people want to fight harder to defend their dear leader**. And not fight as in going out making phone calls or knocking on doors, but maybe more underhanded things, more vicious things. That's not what we need. That's not moving the state forward.
Lastly, it continues this line of rhetoric from the right that aggravates me. Ultimately, I want to understand their point of view. It's not mine, but I'm not so cocky as to think that I'm absolutely right, so I want to understand their thinking. But every time I encounter a right wing defense of Walker, it never fails to come off as demeaning or belittling to my side of the argument. Liberals this, or Democrats that. For fuck's sake, man, just present your points without being a dick, or shouting, or being a shouting dick, then I'd at least listen, but I can't sit through the hate because it makes me feel foolish for listening. Like, for example, the latest fashion in Walker defense is to call collective bargaining isn't a right, but it's an "expensive entitlement."^ What exactly does he mean? I have no idea. But "entitlement" is a buzzword people don't like, and nobody likes "expensive" unless someone is giving you something expensive for no additional cost. So, to further explain this line of thought, he worries about unions killing him, or goes off about "union bosses from DC". Right. The line of logic appears to be, "I don't like this. You shouldn't like it. They're pricks and they like it. Therefore, I'm right." No explanation, no definition. My relative prickness has nothing at all with your rightness. Just convince you're right on your own merit, how about that? Is there an argument there that can be presented without bashing what I believe in, or is it integral to your point? I must be diminished so not that you're right, but that you appear less wrong than me. It's gotten to the point where I have a very hard time listening anymore because of it, and that depresses the hell out of me, too. I want to know what they think and understand, but I wind up blanketing myself in my version of the news and the events because, man, at least I'm not being assaulted or made to feel foolish when reading them, though it solidifies my radicalization. And that's a damn shame.^^
And all of that is what he wants, so here I am, salivating over the death threat in precisely the way my side should be as prescribed, and his side is all worked up, carving Bible verses into their concealed weapons, everybody more ready for battle than understanding.
Recall Walker, Recall Kleefisch, Viva Wisco.
Footnotes:
*Liberal media?, quick, right now, go to your television and find me a "liberal" viewpoint...quick!...bonus points if you can do this on a Sunday morning and no points if you have Current TV. I'll wait. No, Comedy Central does not count. And MSNBC only kind of counts, and especially isn't when Scarborough is on (and they are GE after all, so they're liberal in that we'll never talk too much about the evils of fracking kind of way) Anyway, got one yet? Now, hurry, find the right wing opinion. Much easier wasn't it. To whine about this bias, still, is just so damn silly. I mean, today on the actual and admittedly liberal radio station here in Madison - the tenth circle of liberalism mind you - there was a pro-Scott Walker radio ad. Tell me again about this overt liberal media?
**I mean this honestly. There is an autocratic/dictatorial streak in these "small government" people that worries me.
^You know what else is an expensive entitlement? Voting. It's something we all expect to have and it costs a lot to do. So maybe we should get right of that, too? In fact, aren't all rights expensive entitlements? Right to free speech, assembly, bear arms, all of them result in great expenses and we are entitled to them. I get the feeling that whenever this "collective bargaining" isn't a right thing comes along it's only said by people who don't understand where rights come from.
^^I am fully aware of my name calling and how it plays directly into my complaint about the rhetoric, but considering I'm selling no initiatives, advancing no causes, or really trying to convince anyone of anything with this post, I feel okay about doing it.
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