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Wash. Times Compares WI Labor Protests To "A Spoiled Brat's Temper Tantrum"

February 22, 2011 6:00 am ET by Media Matters staff

In a February 21 editorial, The Washington Times wrote that "Wisconsin's labor protests have been likened to the Middle East uprisings, but they have more the flavor of a spoiled brat's temper tantrum." The Times added, "It is as if labor activists have adopted the motto, 'Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.'"

From the Times editorial:

Wisconsin's labor protests have been likened to the Middle East uprisings, but they have more the flavor of a spoiled brat's temper tantrum. It is as if labor activists have adopted the motto, "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good."

Public-sector unions in the Badger State certainly have a right to stand up for issues that matter to them, but the antics in Madison - orchestrated by President Obama's political machine and Democratic National Committee - go far beyond reasonable political activism.

The demonstrators behave as if their actions carried no consequences. Teachers fail to report to work by pretending to be unwell, using students as props for their political theater. Doctors, or those pretending to be such, violate their professional oaths by passing out letters with a bogus diagnosis enabling the "sick" to carry signs calling for violence against Gov. Scott Walker. Democratic state senators hold the legislative process hostage by fleeing the state. It is no wonder that, according to one poll, Mr. Walker has more support than his opponents.

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    • Author by 1st Republic 14th Star (February 22, 2011 6:10 am ET)
      8  
      So, to sum up: Glenn Beck or the Tea Party get a few thousand people to show up at a "protest" and the "liberal" media trumpet that it's a good thing that these 22 trillion concerned citizens have taken to the streets to yell "I want my country back!"

      If hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets to protest the Iraq war or the unilateral attempt of a state governor who thinks he's a dictator to take away the rights of workers, that gets almost no attention from the "liberal" media and the little attention it does get is almost uniformly negative.

      This is what happens when we let corporations have the same rights as individuals, and when the government allows almost all of the outlets to be owned by only a few of the rich, connected, and powerful.
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    • Author by wookie (February 22, 2011 8:52 am ET)
      4  
      Why would the free marketeers care if unions are greedy? Actually, I know. So should we say that tax protesters are like spoiled brats who don't play well with others?
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    • Author by magnolialover (February 22, 2011 10:01 am ET)
      4  
      Funny thing is, the protests here are actually about something, the removal of their collective bargaining rights. Unlike the tea party protests which were, basically, about not liking the new President.

      Those were temper tantrums (hey, our guy didn't get elected, we PROTEST, which is fine, but let's not act like it's some higher calling).
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