Drive-Bys

The Wisconsin Democrats have fled to Illinois to escape actually doing the job they were elected to do. I hope they have their stories straight when they have to explain to a lot of their constituents that it was more important to stand on their conscience than to save their jobs:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker warned Tuesday that state employees could start receiving layoff notices as early as next week if a bill eliminating most collective bargaining rights isn’t passed soon.

Walker said in a statement to The Associated Press that the layoffs wouldn’t take effect immediately. He didn’t say which workers would be targeted but he has repeatedly warned that up to 1,500 workers could lose their jobs by July if his proposal isn’t passed.

The Dems will still have jobs and paychecks right up until the next elections, whether they head back home and vote or not. What does it matter to them if a measly 1,500 of their constituents' jobs go down the toilet in the meantime?

Now the Dems in Indiana are playing monkey-see, monkey-do:

Indiana House Democrats took a page from the playbook of their counterparts in Wisconsin on Tuesday, refusing to show up and stalling action on a Republican-backed labor bill.

Most stayed away from the Statehouse completely, and a couple skipped town to neighboring Illinois. Only three of 40 House Democrats were in the chamber when Republican Speaker Brian Bosma tried repeatedly to convene it, leaving the chamber short of the two-thirds needed for a quorum.

And guess where they ran?

Democrat Rep. Charlie Brown of Gary said he... had been driven to Illinois by Rep. Gregory Porter, D-Indianapolis, and didn’t know when they’d return from the Land of Lincoln.

Spare. Me.

I think Richard Roeper is right when he says:

"This is how you deal with an issue? Teachers calling in sick to work, doctors distributing bogus excuses, state senators playing hooky?"

And Roeper's coined a wonderful term to describe the phenomenon:

Think of all the noble stands, all the great marches, all the tremendous gestures made by brave American men and women throughout our history in the name of what they believe in.

In 1775, Patrick Henry stirred the crowd at the Virginia Convention when he declared, “Give me liberty or give me death!”

In the 1830s, journalist William Lloyd Garrison took up the causes of anti-slavery and women’s rights.

In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Ala.

In April of 1963, civil rights leader Martin Luther King wrote his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail.

And in February 2011, Wisconsin “flee-baggers” hopped into their sedans, fled to Rockford and tweeted about it.

Hmmm let’s see. Which one of these is not like the other?

Haaaaaaaaahahaha!

Ahem.

I have just one thing to say to all these noble out-of-staters:

I'd tell 'em all to go to Ohio, instead, but... lookee here:

While Wisconsin remained the main front in the national debate over union rights, similar battles were taking shape in other states. Ohio drew thousands of union protesters Tuesday, prompting officials there to lock the doors to the Statehouse.

Tell me again that the folks we elected didn't get the message. (Well, everyone but the moron we elected here in Illinois... and even he's beginning to get it.)
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I finally found a camp where I could imagine my brother, Sammy, V-Man, The Straight White Wonder, Elisson, El Cap, AD, the Criplets (especially C.D.), Holder (yes, a chick), T1G and a few others (even Harvey) would be right in their element:

Explosives camp: Want to get your kid's attention? Ask him if he wants to go to explosives camp. The Missouri University of Science and Technology Explosives Camp has three weeklong sessions in June, where students (11th- and 12th-graders, 16 and older) learn about things like priming and detonating dynamite, explosives-related careers and, most important, safety. Beavis and Butt-head types need not apply; the application process is serious. Check it out at precollege.mst.edu/explosives.html.

Sweet heavenly Lord, that's a frightening thought.
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And another thing -- What happened to the left’s hand-wringing over a lack of civility in our political discourse?
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It's worth it to join Twitter if only to follow @MayorEmanuel's latest hijinks.

Since September, a Rahm impersonator has lampooned the mayoral campaign on Twitter — a roman a clef in 140-character installments, with a heavy thumb on the "F" key. More than 31,000 "followers" have come to relish the daily romp through the cartoonish world of the mayoral front-runner and his sidekicks Quaxelrod, Hambone and Carl the Intern.

It's a brilliant send-up, but hardly child-friendly.
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The Chopsticks Dining Club sounds marvelous! I'm going to have to find some friends and go. Anyone interested?
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We need followers, dammit.
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"The Subtle Art of Beer Snobbery" is hilarious... but I'd argue that, unlike wine snobs, beer aficianados are actually populists, not snobs.

(Thanks, Kat!)
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