On the news ticker

From the local (very liberal) rag, specifically their up-to-the-minute, breaking-story sidebar, we get the following three headlines, in this order:

Public employees agree to Walker financial demands (um, I think they are confusing the State government with a union-run organization (well, they may have a point, there); the unions have no vote in this fight, except through their representatives, who have run away rather than face losing)

Protesters on both sides begin to gather (this makes a civil (if really noisy) debate between opposing parties sound as if the British and the Revolutionaries are lining up with muskets ready, just waiting for the word to shoot)

300 Guard members return home to Wisconsin (oh, please, responsible journalists have already debunked the claim that Governor Walker said he would turn the National Guard on the protesters (or the missing representatives, who actually deserve it) - this headline on  a story about Guard members returning to Wisconsin after a year in Iraq demeans their sacrifice by using the headline to inflame feelings about the remark the governor never made)


Wisconsin has always felt a little like the poor relative when it comes to national politics, mostly because of the late timing of our primaries making us an non-issue in the selection of presidential candidates.  Well, we certainly reversed that feeling this week.  As I said on facebook yesterday, you know things have moved to farce when Jesse Jackson comes to town. The president's campaign/strongarm group, Organizing for America is "mobilizing on the ground" here, doing DNC dirty work, needing a victory in order to hang on to the union vote for 2012.

One bright spot: Somali pirates capturing four Americans has pushed our troubles out of the top story slot.

Unless, of course, that's where our representatives are hiding out...