Emotions ran high as ralliers took to the Lincoln County Courthouse, calling for the recall of Democratic State Senator Jim Holperin, one of the 14 senators who fled the state more than three weeks ago.I'm familiar with Lincoln County, WI. I spent two weeks in Merrill in the summer of 1999 while attending a training class and the Club 64 restaurant was right next to my hotel. One of the targets of union thugs, Church Mutual Insurance, is headquartered in Merrill, so tensions in the area are already high.
Organizers say the rally was originally scheduled at Club 64 in Merrill, but they had to change locations after business owners say they received more than 50 phone calls threatening to destroy their business and cause physical harm if the rally took place.
Protestors both for and against the recall showed up. Even though they initially kept their distance, Holperin supporters engulfed the recall effort, and that's when the situation turned tense.
"They circled around us, and they're bullying us. They have a loud horn and they're trying to intimidate people that would like to come and sign the petition," said Kim Simac, recall leader, "I do think that this is an intimidation ploy."
Simac says protestors even got involved with their petitions.
"We had a lady come up and write profanity and rip some of them right on our table.... so I guess that's what democracy looks like to them."
Other reports indicate that police witnessed the destruction of the petitions, which is a felony in Wisconsin, but didn't do anything about it. If true, that's shameful.
The other memory I have of Lincoln County is the County Fair which was going on while I was there. The guys I was with had little to do in the evening so we went to the fair several times. I've never seen so many strange looking people in my life. Some of them had eyes that were set so far apart they were almost on the sides of their heads. Really odd. Must be a local genetic anomaly.
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3 comments:
Democracy is great if and only if their side wins. Then, it's (union) organized crime.
the tearing up happened before the police arrived the cops are trying to be neutral and professional. the local teachers union and friends needs to remember that tea party people can buy a bullhorn and act like them its just that they have dignity and class.
I'm what has been called a "union thug". I can safely say that 99 out of 100 "union thugs" would object to a recall petition being torn--No matter what side of the issue the recaller was on. There are wackos on two sides of every issue. Please remember you have fellow believers, who are not "lost", on the other side of an issue. Unless you all want to convert to Catholicism, believers will disagree.
Eric
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