And so it goes....

I've been home from work for the past two days nursing my aching sciatic nerve back to some reasonable facsimile of health again. In the meantime, I've had lots of time to watch what's happening at our state capitol.

What's happening is...well...more of the same. Governor Scott Walker has dug his heels in and is not making any attempt at a resolution. The Democratic senators are still in hiding in Illinois. They're doing their best to keep working via phone and internet but they're holding strong and standing their ground. I,for one, am very proud of them.

Last night, the Gov gave a press conference alluding to the fact that he is ready (almost giddily eager) to start laying off state workers and other public workers. Again, like killing off one hostage at a time until he gets what he wants. Jerk...

The Democratic members of the state assembly did their level best to deter a vote. They stayed up for days and offered debate. But a vote was taken and, as expected since our current state government is overwhelmingly Republican, it passed. Still, they did their best. Even walked out to the Gov's office at one point, demanding to speak to him, but to no avail. He wouldn't let them. Jerk...

Daily, for the past two weeks, thousands of people have been peacefully marching on Madison. Today, the Gov wants to shut down the capitol making is impossible for the protesters to get inside. Police and firefighters are begging him to allow the protesters in for as long as this take. He's not listening. Jerk...

Today, a large group of protesters from Disability Rights WI have converged in Madison wanting to speak to the Gov. There is a portion of this bill that will directly effect those people with disabilities who receive Medicaid insurance coverage. If passed, this bill will change their lives by limiting the already limited health and mental health services they can receive. This bill has a far reaching scope that will negatively impact both the middle and lower economic classes. Oh, by the way, the Gov wouldn't meet with the disabled protesters either. JERK!

This bill is not just about the budget.
This bill is not just about the unions.
This bill is not just about giving those who have more.
This bill is about one JERK being the poster boy for a Republican movement to cut the Democrats off at the knees. Its about calling it a "financial" crisis - pointing at those who have been able get a little bit more than others - and crying "Unfair!" without really coming up with any good solution. Taking away pensions, collective bargaining and whatnot doesn't make it fair. It makes us all settle for poverty standards. "If I can't have it, neither can you!" seems to the battle cry. What I can't understand is why those people aren't screaming at our government saying, "WE'RE THE RICHEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD! FIGURE OUT A WAY WE CAN ALL HAVE SOME!!" We let our government off so easy. There should be no poverty in the US. There should be no child having his only decent meal at school. Parents should earn enough to feed their kids. People shouldn't have to settle for whatever doctor takes their insurance, if at all. People should have choice. Other countries have done this. Why can't we?

As long as there are JERKS like Scott Walker around, we will never have anything fair in Wisconsin.

Mutual regard...

I used to use the word respect a lot. You know, in terms of we "should respect one another". But I realize that respect is something that is to be earned and not just expected. So now, I use the term "mutual regard". This is what I mean...

When I was a kid my mother taught me the Golden Rule - treat others as you would want them to treat you. Being raised Catholic, she gave me that lesson with a healthy dose of Christian thinking which, in her world, defined the rule completely. Now I don't really believe all that I learned in 12 years of Catholic school or even what my mother would have be believe but I do believe that stopping to think about how we treat others is a valuable lesson. That's mutual regard...without the Papal influence.

I've come across instances at work where personalities clash and people, though adults, do the most childish things to one another. I've seen grown up purposely do things that they know would hurt or upset someone else just because they are feeling insecure or maybe superior at the moment. That's when I have to get involved. As the supervisor one of my many job responsibilities is to make the work place as tolerable as possible. I believe in fairness but fairness does not always mean equal and that's sometimes a very hard lesson to learn. But the one lesson I always insist on is treating each other with mutual regard. Taking a step back, time to breathe and THINK before reacting to someone isn't easy. It's difficult to teach if a person has never had to take on their own personal moral responsibility. But it is a skill that is teachable over time.

If we all treated each other with mutual regard in our daily lives, this might be a better place overall. Don't you agree?