Tuesday, over 2000 union protesters rolled into Springfield, IL, to protest
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, speaking at the Illinois Chamber of
Commerce.
Once again they came to chant and sing, and chant and sing they did. It was
a typical sea of matching t-shirts—a favored strategy of intimidation—along
with their placards of “solidarity” and profane signs. They scattered four
giant inflatable rats throughout the crowd, with a
gargantuan cardboard cut out of Governor Scott Walker standing out, as well.
Presidents of the AFL-CIO, Michael T. Carrigan of Illinois and Phil Neuenfeldt of Wisconsin, got the crowd riled up, along with the help of
Teresa Haley, President of the Springfield NAACP. But Pastor T. Ray McJunkins of the Union Baptist Church and President of the Faith Coalition
for the Common Good and William McNary of USAction stole the show.
McJunkins delivered an energetic address. He closed up metaphorically with
the story of David and Goliath, ultimately declaring:
We are the Davids …
and you may be a big giant, a big goliath, but David had 5 smooth stones
that brought Goliath down … all he had was stones and a sling shot, and
I just wonder out there among us, how many of you came with your sling
today? … Load your slings up today when we leave here, putting a smooth
stone of equal rights at the collective bargaining table and throw it at
Goliath … And Goliath will come down, Scott Walker we send you back
to Wisconsin as David did Goliath, we cut your head off and go back into
town, singing a new song!
In addition to McJunkins' suggestion to behead Scott Walker,
William McNary delivered the keynote speech. McNary is a longtime
ally of the Communist Party U.S.A. and President Obama. McNary is the
President of USAction, a self proclaimed “aggressive progressive” and
a frequent speaker at left-wing Union events in Illinois and around the
Midwest, including the Communist Party U.S.A.’s 2005 annual convention.
McNary lit up the crowd as he warned the unions to be prepared, “they are
gonna call us names now … they are gonna say we are engaging in class
warfare … they say this as they lower our wages and cut our benefits, we're
engaging in class warfare, they say this as they lay off workers and send
jobs over seas, we’re engaging in class warfare … They got the nerve that
we’re engaging in welfare[sic]? But I got a message for ‘em, the bully Scott
Walker and all the bully governors across this country. We didn’t ask for
this fight, we didn’t pick this fight, but if it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight
you gonna get. Knuckle up! Knuckle up! Knuckle up!” he shouted to the roaring crowd.
Oddly enough, you would think Illinois union members may be more
inclined to ask Scott Walker to come to Illinois and bring some of his
policies with him. As AFP Illinois points out, “Wisconsin taxpayers still
pay much more for health care benefits per state employee. WI taxpayers
pay $13,972 per employee for health care, while Illinoisans pay $11,149 per
employee,” and “Wisconsin's reforms prevented the layoff of thousands
of government workers, while here in IL, Gov. Quinn is on track to lay off
hundreds of government workers.” But thoughts like those don’t cross these
unionists’ minds, and when they do, they are simply dismissed as lies.
Nothing beats a Tuesday morning in the sleepy state capitol of Illinois better than a “non-violent” group of unionists, collectivists and agitators
expressing their grievances “peacefully.”