Republican politcians NOT INVITED to the Labor Day March

[TheMercenary]

Some political candidates like to take part in community parades. But some wonder if Labor Day parades in our area will be influenced by a decision in Wausau made by union organizers.

The Wausau group has said elected Republican supporters of Governor Walker's changes to collective bargaining will not be allowed in their parade.

Labor Day is a national holiday in honor of working people. And Fond du Lac's Labor Council plans to honor all working people at its Labor Day parade Monday.

“It's still a parade. It's not a political statement; it's not a partisan event,” said Mary Kunde, council secretary.

Kunde says she doesn't support Republicans who voted against collective bargaining, but she says that doesn't mean they should be banned from the parade. She says she disagrees with those in Wausau who want to exclude Republican politicians. But others say Wausau has the right idea.

“Either you're going to be with us or you're gonna be against us and obviously the vast, vast majority of the Republicans in the house and in the senate were against working families this year,” said Fox Valley Area Labor Council President Mark Westphal.

Westphal says if any Republicans who supported stripping collective bargaining rights wanted to come to the Neenah-Menasha Labor Day parade it puts on, he would consider banning them.

“It's time that we take a firm stand and recognize who our friends are and who our enemies are,” said Westphal.

Republican Representative Dean Kaufert is planning to participate in Neenah-Menasha's Labor Day parade, but he opposed Governor Walker's stance on collective bargaining. Still, he disagrees with what's happening in Wausau, and hopes it won't happen here.

“I probably wouldn't go, if they're gonna do that which I hope would never. There's gotta be an open dialogue,” said Kaufert. “What I see happening in Wausau, I think it's kind of ridiculous.”

But even with a difference in opinion, come Monday in Fond du Lac and Neenah-Menasha, all workers will be welcome in the parades

http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/...parade-dispute

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Why couldn't all blacks just say we don't want any white people to participate in MLK day because they are not black?

If there were a party advocating segregation, I would expect MLK day event organizers to disinvite them.

White people would have to work, all black people get the day off....

Wisconsin Republican politicians still get Labor Day off, if they like; don't worry. They just aren't invited to the photo-op mentioned in the article.

[TheMercenary]

[quote=Happy Monkey;753630]If there were a party advocating segregation, I would expect MLK day event organizers to disinvite them.[quote]According to your formula of preventing a single political party from participation in the parade I would say yes, you have made that perfectly clear that it is ok.

Wisconsin Republican politicians still get Labor Day off, if they like; don't worry. They just aren't invited to the photo-op mentioned in the article.

Sorry, that dog will not hunt (Bill Clit,on)... It is a public event that cannot occur with out tax payer support, police, fireman, EMT's, Traffic, City workers, all paid for on the non-political-non-denominational taxpayer dime....

Maybe all the Republickins should just show up with billie clubs and beat the shit out of the parade participants just for old times, would that make them happy they excluded someone based on political affiliation? I don't think so...

The whole thing just shows how fucked up Demoncrats in WI and the Unions think. I am glad this has made the headlines.... Really.

[classicman]

All the R's can show up, they just won't be riding in the cars waving or eating the cheese or whatever they do in Wisconsin. (levity)

It's their party, ("The parade is organized by 30 local unions.")
they may invite/not invite whomever they want.

[TheMercenary]

The Silence is defining... A typical measure of their resolve...

[BigV]

mercy, you crack me up. you're so confused. did you hear about the stuff that happened this year in wisconsin politics? probably not. you can learn a lot about it in the first link and in the links at that page. here's a summary for you. the republican governor pushed for and got a change in the laws that took away collective bargaining rights for some labor unions, the ones that are most heavily populated by his political opposition. it was a purely political act. this selective abuse of power made the people whose rights he took away angry. lots of those groups are the ones organizing this parade.

oh, right, the parade. it is being organized by some thirty labor unions. not by the republican party. if they want to organize a parade, they sure can. they can invite who they want to invite and not invite those folks they don't want. just like they did at the statehouse this spring.

I've tried to read what you're sayin, I swear I try, but I don't understand you. I read this in a post with your name on it:

Doesn't everyone contribute to the production of labor in some sense, no matter where you fall on the ladder?

and I almost fell off my chair. surely this is a big long typo. everyone contributes? I think maybe your account has been hijacked. your faux outrage is like a comedy skit by one of those comedians whose schtick is being angry, but without all the logic that makes it funny.

I'm really glad this made the headlines too. I'd love to talk sensibly about it. interested?

[TheMercenary]

That is silly talk...

[Griff]

This is really interesting. Obviously, the organizers of any event can choose who can march in it and governments provide security for all kinds of exclusive groups such as the KKK in the interest of good order. The question I have is what or who put the idea in Merc's head that the holiday wasn't about organized labor? Is it a concerted effort to "disremember" or happenstance. This isn't one of those issues where there are competing narratives,.. yet. Make believe history is pretty easy to spread if people want to believe something different.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day
The first Labor Day in the United States was observed on September 5, 1882, by the Central Labor Union of New York[1] It became a federal holiday in 1894, when, following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with the labor movement as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.[2] The September date originally chosen by the CLU of New York and observed by many of the nation's trade unions for the past several years was selected rather than the more widespread International Workers' Day because Cleveland was concerned that observance of the latter would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair, which it had been observed to commemorate.[3] All U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the territories have made it a statutory holiday.

If anti-union GOP lawmakers wanted to march in a pro-union event and I was the organizer. I'd welcome them, every group needs a foil. Unofficially I'd say break out the rotten eggs and fruit.

[DanaC]

I must admit, that this conversation did take a slightly surreal twist.

[Spexxvet]

There are precedents. During the 2004 campaign, non-Bush supporters were ejected from Bush campaign rallies. Catholics preists refused to give communion to politicians who support the right for a woman to choose.

I doubt that Jews would invite Nazis to a holocaust observance, nor would the KKK invite blacks or Jews to one of their celebrations, and I doubt that mercy would invite a muslim or a liberal for a boat ride (unless is was to dump their body).

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

... and I doubt that mercy would invite a muslim or a liberal for a boat ride (unless is was to dump their body).

I may be hopelessly naive, but I do not believe that to be true at all. Pretty much the opposite.
Merc sent me a book I expressed interest in, at his own cost. And I am pretty much as liberal as they come.

When he is generalising, he hates liberals (have no idea about Muslims, I've never got that vibe). But when it comes to person-to-person I honestly believe him to be accepting, generous and hospitable.

My apols if you weren't referring to Merc when you wrote mercy!

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by Sundae

When he is generalising, he hates liberals (have no idea about Muslims, I've never got that vibe). But when it comes to person-to-person I honestly believe him to be accepting, generous and hospitable.

We disagree, then.

[DanaC]

I actually do get a bit of an anti-muslim vibe but also completely agree on the distinction between attitudes to general groups and actual individual interaction.

[Pico and ME]

Although, Mercs contribution in political threads is usually hard to swallow, I do believe he served an important purpose in this one. His outrage moved others to more fully explain and defend the unions position. (And then of course showed how weak his argument is)

[Griff]

Originally Posted by Sundae

I may be hopelessly naive, but I do not believe that to be true at all. Pretty much the opposite.
Merc sent me a book I expressed interest in, at his own cost. And I am pretty much as liberal as they come.

When he is generalising, he hates liberals (have no idea about Muslims, I've never got that vibe). But when it comes to person-to-person I honestly believe him to be accepting, generous and hospitable.

My apols if you weren't referring to Merc when you wrote mercy!

I agree. We all, especially me, have to do a better job of separating our feelings about people from our feelings about their beliefs. Right now American politicians seem to think the opposite and it is doing a hell of a lot of damage. We get people saying they will "take the country back" or demonizing different groups just when the country needs to pull together.