From the initial reports (and at first glance), it was hard to decipher exactly what the Republican state senators did in Wisconsin last night by somehow voting on Governor Scott Walker's measure to restrict collective bargaining by the public service unions in the state.
On closer inspection it was discovered these senators were able to revise Walker's "original" bill by omitting all of the financial provisions in it which then allowed them to vote without a quorum (which the "original" version required) while the 14 Democrat senators opposed to Walker's "original" version of the bill still remained out of the state.
So it seems Walker, and his gang of 19 Senate Republican "apparatchiks", were able to get their way and with this "maneuver" strip the public service unions from engaging in collective bargaining.
But this was a slick "maneuver" by the Republicans which may have been "technically" legal but seen by many as unethical. It will undoubtedly be seen as an unfair ploy by many as clearly "crossing the line". For if there is one idea that transcends politics in this country it is the idea of "fair play". You may try to sell snake oil as an elixir to an unsuspecting buyer but if he discovers you "pulled a fast one" you and your product are seen as impostors and the game is over.
Now the idea of "fair play" may seem a quaint notion to some particularly in this era of government bailouts to undeserving "banksters" who then dish out outrageous bonuses while the majority of people are still struggling with the effects of the great recession these "banksters" caused, but when there is an actual face to those who initiated underhanded maneuvers ("pulled a fast one" as did Walker and his "gang of 19"), the public has a long memory and retribution is on their mind.
That retribution will undoubtedly be in the form of signed petitions demanding a recall of all these 19 senate autocrats; and in 2012, the drive to recall the tyrannical Walker will surely become a top priority.
For as their want, Republicans are prone to excess. They just can't help themselves. They've become so ideologically pure and rigid in their right wing absolutism being against taxes, government regulations, all abortions, same sex marriage, illegal immigration, "Muslims", Obama and "Obamacare", now their wrath with the public service unions and collective bargaining et al, the "party of no" (which detests ALL government) goes overboard thinking they have a "mandate" when in reality it's just the previous failures of Democrats that sways enough Independents to give the Republicans a chance.
So their "victory" this past November in the House and in many state capitals (which they thought was a "mandate") was really a rejection of Democrats and not anything the Republicans have to offer.
For in the end, the dilemma and the ultimate irony that plagues all Republicans (in Wisconsin and beyond) is this; when you hate all government just what can you offer when you are in charge of that government?
