Wisc. (Union) Firefighters Not Allowed In State Capitol For Emergency Call

[meegbear]

The un-benevolent ruling regime in Wisconsin got tired of those working people occupying the capitol, so this week the Republican authorities brought in new police officers to enforce the new, made-up occupancy limits. How strict is this enforcement? Firefighters responding to an emergency call in the capitol building weren’t allowed inside, either. Somebody could have died in there, but firefighters are not Republican legislators or Republican staff members, and saving people’s lives seems like a suspiciously pro-union thing for these thug union firefighters to do.

Dave Trainor, a Madison firefighter, said he was part of a crew dispatched to the Capitol on a call that someone was trapped in an elevator. Firefighters were denied access at one of the building’s entrances that is being guarded by police. (...)

"We lost crucial time on a call we didn’t know anything about," he said.

Among protesters at the Capitol have been firefighters in their gear. But Trainor said he did not believe police officers would have mistaken the crew for protesters because they were hauling equipment, carrying radios and had arrived in a firetruck.

The old Trojan fire truck trick! They slip in there under the guise of saving somebody, and the next thing the enemy politicians know, the firefighters are PROTESTING about having their worker rights taken away.

This is going to be interesting when Scott Walker is ironing one of the Koch brothers’ shirts in his office and catches himself on fire.

http://wonkette.com/439804/wisconsin-firefighters

[HereSince1628]

1. Soooo. Was the person or persons in the elevator saved?

Or has the poor bastard died of dehydration???

[KansDem]

2. "...Republican authorities brought in new police officers ..."

What's the word on these new police officers? Are they anti-union and/or pro-Walker?

Why does Walker think they'll do what he and the Koch Bros want them to do?

[DainBramaged]

4. "Private" policeforce, like back in Germany in the 30's yeah remember that...

[inademv]

5. Walker already has a history of this

When he was the a county exec he sacked all of the police and brought in a security contractor. Turned out the guy running the deal had a criminal record so the whole fiasco ended up costing the county and the state a couple mill I believe.

[KansDem]

8. That wasn't the Wackenhut fiasco, was it?

MSNBC did not have a transcript available, but the gist of Rachel Maddow's report is this: When Scott Walker was in charge in Milwaukee, he decided to fire the security guards who worked at the courthouse. Those security guards were public employees represented by unions. He had no grounds to fire them beyond saying that he could, despite opposition by the county Board. When they blocked him, Walker insisted that he could fire them because there was a "budget emergency." All of the union security guards were fired, and Scott Walker replaced them with Wackenhut private security guys.

This is why Wisconsin is so important. Walker got away with it once on a local level. Walker practices classic "Shock Doctrine" politics: Create a crisis, exploit the crisis, and do away with rights ordinary people have had for years. As part of the process, privatize public services so the "market" can make adjustments.

During the height of the health care town hall Tea Party protests, not even a fraction of the numbers in Wisconsin showed up, but to hear the media tell the tale, the Tea Party is the only populist, grass roots movement in the country. Yet 68,000 people showed up over the weekend in Madison. Thousands of others are protesting all around the country. This is where the line in the sand is, and if Walker is forced to back down, other governors will have to do the same eventually.

Fight on, Wisconsin. It's worth it. As for Wackenhut, it would be best if the market forces pushed it straight to hell sooner rather than later.

http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/walker-and-wackenhut-odd-associations

[inademv]

9. Yeah, that's the incident

[jwirr]

7. Blackwater? Ze?

[liberal N proud]

3. So - Scott Momar Walker Gadaffi has made the Capitol his personal Castle

Not allowing the peasants in.

[MisterP]

6. we have to hang this around their necks like they hung that one incident at Altamont around the neck

of Woodstock