The Wisconsin legislators should not return to Wisconsin.

[kentuck]

So long as this guy is Governor. Who in the hell does he think he is? Sending state troopers to force Democrats to vote on something so hideous as this bill.

I hope there is a fund to help these state senators stay away. They have no other alternative because this Governor is tyrannical and does not believe in compromise of any sort. He should be removed from office as soon as possible.

The exiled legislators should feel no compunction about returning to such a destructive situation. They are protecting all of America from these goons.

Let us help them. Do not fall for the deception of this Governor. He deceived the voters of Wisconsin. he cannot be trusted. He needs to leave the office.

[Skip_In_Boulder]

1. Nope, they should stay where they are and continue to fillabuster.

[murielm99]

2. Unfortunately, the legislature has the power to

send the Sergeant at arms to round up legislators. I think the troopers, who are angry and unionized, may just be going through the motions, and not working that hard to find anyone.

The missing state senators are doing this on their own dime. So far, they have refused to accept any of the money raised for them.

I agree that they should not return. This walker dude has awakened a sleeping giant.

[veganlush]

3. what worries me is

there's always one who will crack, or who'll realize he can get the power and spotlight, a Lieberman type among the dems who will come back..i hope not but human nature dictates that there's always one....

[murielm99]

4. Maybe not, after what Walker said on the phone call

yesterday. He gave away his whole game plan to dupe them into coming back.

I, too, hope they stand firm.

[Skip_In_Boulder]

5. Which is what happened in Texas

Making it imperative that they are all supported and they all stick together.

[Abq_Sarah]

6. Oh, for crying out loud

Who does he think he is? He's the guy the majority of people elected. I'm not from Wisconsin so I don't know why in the hell he was elected but people, including the legislators, need to deal with the reality of the situation. Wisconsin Democrats need to show they are willing to fight and work within the system. Refusing to participate and running away is a response I would expect from teabaggers, not responsible adults.

[Karia]

7. Haven't been following the news much Abq_Sarah?

They ARE being as responsible, as was Abe Lincoln when he faced a similar situation. Had the WI 14 stayed, the WI state senate would have had a quorum and they would have pushed the bill through as it was. The Republicans made it very clear that they would not negotiate. Working from out-of-state is the Democratic senators' ONLY option for fighting and working within the system.

[Abq_Sarah]

9. We have a system of government

There is no provision in that system for running away.

If the repubs pulled this stunt to shut down an elected government, everyone here would be screaming from the rooftops and demanding that the wayward senators be arrested and hauled to the floor of the senate. Is representative government only acceptable when we're in charge? When we support these actions we forever lose the right to bitch about repubs filibustering within the system. We lose the moral high ground to call them out.

[kentuck]

8. The people of Wisconsin did not vote for this.

Just because he was able to deceive the majority of voters does not give him a right to run roughshod over the rest of the state.

There is such a thing as leading with the consent of the governed. When that wall is breached, as it has been with this Governor, they have no choice but to fight back in whatever way they can.

[Abq_Sarah]

10. The consent of the governed

Is withdrawn at the ballot box.

That's the reality of our system. You don't get to overthrow your democratically elected government at a whim which is a good thing because if I recall correctly, there were a lot of people and still are a lot of people who were fucking furious on both sides over the health care bill.

[kentuck]

11. You are wrong...

the consent of the governed is not withdrawn at the ballot box. There are rules and a certain degree of legitimacy that must be maintained with the status quo. We cannot elect a President and have him say that he is doing away with the First Amendment or the Second Amendment. That would not be tolerated, no matter how big of a landslide he may have won in the last election...

[murielm99]

12. Thank you for your intelligent posts on this matter,

kentuck.

I was a Watergate junkie. I still am, come to think of it. But we felt so helpless and hopeless for much of that time.

Nixon won his election. But a little over two years after the break-in, Nixon had to resign.

The rule of law applied then, and it applies now. We can't give up on this.

[ItNerd4life]

13. So the motto is: When the going gets tough, go AWOL?

Imagine the scorn DUers would have given to Republicans if they had done this at the federal level because of the ass whooping they
got in 2008.

You don't run away.

[kentuck]

14. What do you think would have been a similar action...?

Democrats could have done to Repubs that was of similar magnitude? Maybe outlaw the 2nd Amendment? What would Repubs have done if their only recourse was to leave town to keep the Democrats from doing away with much of the 2nd Amendment??