In an August 18 editorial, The Wall Street Journal took its usual anti-union stance, claiming that because of the passage of Gov. Scott Walker's bill heavily restricting collective bargaining, “the ability of unions to strong-arm their members has already begun to wane.” But the Journal went further, characterizing the Madison state house protests led by labor supporters in response to Walker's bill as “Greek-style.” From The Wall Street Journal:

The Battle of Wisconsin ended with a whimper on Tuesday as two Democrats facing recall elections for their roles in the fight over union reform hung on to their seats. Four of six Republicans up for recall did the same last week. After Greek-style protests in Madison, a judicial election and tens of millions of dollars spent, voters weren't in the mood for revenge after all.

But calling the Madison protests “Greek-style” ignores an important distinction. The Greek protests have often descended into violence, with demonstrators clashing with police and government officials, resulting in hundreds of injuries and several fatalities -- a climate completely different from the peaceful protests in Wisconsin. As the U.K. newspaper The Guardian reported after a recent violent protest:

Fierce fighting erupted outside the Greek parliament on Wednesday as MPs inside voted on the hard-hitting policies demanded by the EU and IMF in exchange for the debt-choked country receiving further aid.

The release of video footage depicting police beating protesters, and in one instance seemingly colluding with rock-throwing extremists before firing off rounds of tear gas, has shocked Greeks.

An estimated 500 civilians were injured in the violence, with many suffering serious respiratory problems after police, firing volleys of teargas, released dangerously high levels of toxic chemicals into the air. The widespread use of the gas was crticised by Amnesty International.

Doctors who set up an emergency hospital said they were attacked by police as they tried to administer aid. In another incident, police were also seen appearing to throw broken bits of masonry at protesters when tear gas supplies dried up.

“I have a complete dossier with two discs of audio visual material and 38 different videos ... which eloquently portray scenes of raw and unprovoked violence by police against peaceful, unarmed citizens,” said Tsipras. "[The videos also contain] scenes that show evidence of the collaboration between police forces and the suspicious hood-wearing thugs." These “thugs” have often been blamed for provoking violence at demonstrations.

But contrary to numerous attempts by the right-wing media to portray the Wisconsin protesters as "violent," objective news sources repeatedly described the Wisconsin protests as “peaceful.” As Reuters reported on February 19:

Supporters of legislation to reduce public employee union bargaining power and benefits in Wisconsin were far outnumbered by opponents on Saturday, as the two sides shouted competing slogans but did not clash.

[...]

Although there had been fears of a fight, the atmosphere was generally peaceful and friendly, with organizers on both sides urging followers to be courteous and police needing to do little but stand by.

And following protests a week later, The New York Times reported that “demonstrators in Madison were loud but peaceful, according to the Madison police.”

The right-wing attempt to falsely portray the union protests as violent has been so desperate that it even reportedly prompted Fox News host Bill O'Reilly to discuss “increasing pro-union violence” in Wisconsin while running “film of a confrontation in California with palm trees swaying in the background.”