Wisconsin's Recall Casualty: State's Students

The hate-filled, gutter fight over Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's political future left a string of casualties in the wake of a bitter recall election.  Public sector unions tried to bully elected officials and failed.  Teachers exploited students and forfeited their credibility. Democrats shamelessly smeared the governor with raunchy sexual allegations and were shunned by their own president.

Despite unprecedented baseless attacks on a sitting governor, Walker emerged victorious.  But in the end Wisconsin's public school students were the real losers.  They were treated to a civics lesson of what happens in a democracy when vengeful union officials decide their interests come before fiscal responsibility.  

This was not a recall about malfeasance in office.  Public sector unions were ruffled after Governor Walker led a legislative battle to make changes in the pensions, benefits and bargaining rights of teachers and other state employees as part of a crusade to reduce Wisconsin's bloated budget deficit.

Like spoiled brats the unions stamped their feet in outrage.  How dare the people's elected representatives tell them what to do!  To show their disgust, they occupied the Wisconsin legislature's chambers in Madison and trashed the place and left it looking like a bus station rest room.

This sickening display of utter disrespect by union thugs was hailed in the media as a show of strength in the face of a power-hungry legislature.  Nothing could have been further from the truth.  It was a petulant, abhorrent misuse of union muscle which many voters never forgot.

The main culprit in this vendetta of mayhem was the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the bargaining agent for the state's 98,000 teachers and support personnel.  On its website, the council describes its role as a "strong voice for its members and for the 885,000 children" in public schools.

What a joke!

The council's "advocacy" for children included such abuses as exploitation of minors, fraud and a blatant disregard for professional ethics.

During the nasty campaign, the union called a massive sickout, which cost taxpayers about $6 million.  Teachers used faked notes from doctors to justify their absence from school.  When teachers act like truants, what message do they send to their students?

News reporters uncovered how one teacher organized a bogus "field trip" to the state Capitol to demonstrate against the governor. In Madison, high school students were "recruited" by teachers to participate in protest marches.  When teachers use students as pawns for union purposes, what does it say about their priorities?

The Milwaukee teachers union's chief coordinated an effort to stuff political materials into the backpacks of students, including kindergartners, to take home to their parents.  The unwitting children were nothing more than union mules.  When teachers take advantage of their students for political reasons, what does it say about their respect for them?

The recall campaign tactics were so malodorous that the stench reached all the way to the White House.  President Obama, an avowed public sector union advocate, refused to spend what precious little political capital he has to even make a public appearance in Wisconsin.  It was a political not moral choice for Obama, who recognized the recall effort had denigrated into cesspool politics with no winners.  

The mainstream talking heads and keyboarding print drones spun the election results in a manner which suggested the governor had merely "survived" the recall.  He did more than "survive." Walker defeated his Democrat opponent by a wider margin than when the same two gubernatorial campaigners faced-off in 2010.

The truth is the citizens of Wisconsin turned out in record numbers to send a message to the union's sore losers who campaigned to oust the governor for purely spiteful reasons.   Voters are fed up with elephantine budgets and swollen deficits. They want reform of public sector union perks that are out of line with private industry benefits.

Wisconsin's recall vote represents a teachable moment for President Obama and his Democratic Party allies.  A new day has dawned in America.  Voters yearn for courageous politicians who will stand against powerful union interests determined to bankrupt states with their outlandish demands.

Are you listening President Obama?