Well now Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin is in real trouble. The editor of the Buffalo Beast or whatever gave him a prank call where he pretended to be David Koch. I don’t know how Walker fell for the scam but he did. Governor Walker has refused to take calls from Democrats or Union members but a rich guy gets right through and them talk amicably for twenty minutes. Both men used the term “bastards” a lot. It was proposed that David Koch hire outside agitators to cause chaos in the crowds. The governor responds “I thought about that but I think it would backfire because the people of Wisconsin would turn against me and declare it was time to negotiate. It was also proposed that the Democratic senators be invited back to the state “to talk” and the Governor would be happy to “talk” with them, but not to negotiate. In the mean time the legislature would be convened and technically those democrats would constitute a quarum being back in the State. Then the nineteen republicans could get on with their business. Apparently the governor of Indiana eliminated the right to collective bargaining with state employees with the stroke of a pen in 2005. Now that governor wants to eliminate private unions too, and to turn Indiana into a “right to work” state, like Alabama. So really we’ve got two mad dictators to deal with- - one in Wisconsin and the other in Libya. President Obama has spoken up on behalf of the state workers but does not want to do more such as visit the state because he appears a political backlash and losing his “neutral” supporters. What the state employees are complaining about is that they voluntarily agreed to “deferred compensation” or whatever Mom talks about, and so have paid in their money. States make deals with employees to pay them less money now to improve their balance sheet, on the condition that they will receive benefits later that they’ve paid into. Governor Walker demands a renegotiation, and the state employees are going along with that. But Governor Walker wants to break the union so he will be a hero to his tea party supporters. It’s the tea party right that has hired all of these outside protestors. For this reason I think President Obama should become more directly involved to kind of even up the balance of things.

President Quadafy is holding on to power in Libya by bombing his people back to the stone age (which is probably a short trip) But not military officers and the captain of a battleship have refused to fire on their own people, and various cabinent ministers have defected. So Quadafy is now hiring outside mercenaries from Sudan and Chad or whatever. Meanwhile the Glen Beck right seems to be against all democratic uprisings these days. I see why they backed Mubarek but why are they so suddenly fond of Quadafy? If you will remember Quadafy bombed a Munich disco where US servicemen go and so Reagan bombed Quadafy’s personal residence. Quadafy responded by taking down the Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerby, Scotland in December of 1988. It would seem as if Quadafy got the better of that exchange in hostilities. Reagan referred to Quadafy as the mad dog of the mideast but George W regards Quadafy as his good buddy now they have worked out oil interests. People like Larry Elder don’t believe in war to further the cause of liberty or humanitarian concerns, such as genocide in Bosmia in the nineties- - the only time Larry Elder approves of going to war is to insure that the oil keeps flowing through those pipelines. People refer to Quadafy as a “quirky” kind of guy. They won’t say that he’s an insane despot along the lines of Kim Jung Ill. It would seem as this point that Quadafy’s days are numbered. Our President says “the world will be taking decisive steps soon” such as trade sanctions. I think that shall we say, “stronger measures are called for”. I think Quadafy knows what the world will let him get away with. I’ve heard that eastern Libya is in the hands of the rebels now. One individual around here, who surprised me by his remark, said “You know, don’t you, that all these mideast protests are being orchestrated by Al Qaeda”. No I didn’t, and that’s because they aren’t. They are motivated by young college educated and professional people. I think the President is losing a political opportunity if he doesn’t get out front on this issue and show some real leadership, like he hasn’t on so many other things. Some have said that the people of the mideast weren’t perswaded by our bombs, but because of the President’s speech in Cairo in 2009. I don’t know about that because it’s a speech I wouldn’t have made because he said so many things were America’s fault. That’s not my idea of inspiring leadership. Why not rather declare that because America is a morally good and just nation that for that reason alone we cannot keep silent on this issue.