Look For The Union Label

One thing about left-wing causes is how everybody feels like they have to get in their two cents' worth of self-righteousness. Check out Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney on why he pulled his deputies from guard duty at the Wisconsin State Capitol Building (h/t Legal Insurrection):

Frustrated by a lack of explanation for the clamping down of access to the Capitol building, Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney said his deputies yesterday were pulled from a duty to keep people from entering the Capitol.

"Over the last two days we have placed those law enforcement officers in the position of being palace guards," Mahoney said.

Mahoney said an entire day went by yesterday before the Department of Administration offered a reason for locking doors to the building. The public has only been allowed into the Capitol through the King Street entrance since yesterday.

Mahoney said his officers have been at the Capitol to ensure public safety and for people on both sides to have freedom of speech and Assembly, not to restrict those rights. He said he's "never been prouder than these past two weeks" of his officers.

Mahoney said he believes law enforcement and public safety is being jeopardized by the restrictions.

"I am confident having talked with our staff on the Capitol grounds that we still have a peaceful demonstration. But it's crucial that individuals have a voice and access to their lawmakers," Mahoney said.

The deputies had been told that the doors would be open at 8 a.m. yesterday, but that didn't happen and the officers didn't find out why until the afternoon, Mahoney said.

"When asked to stand guard at the doors that duty was turned over to the Wisconsin State Patrol because our deputies would not stand and be palace guards," Mahoney said. "I refused to put deputy sheriffs in a position to be palace guards."

"Palace Guards?" Your job isn't protecting Scott "Mubarakitler" Walker. Your job is to simply protect the Capitol and the safety of the people in and around it. People may not want to hear this, but the state has a right, indeed a duty, to protect its dignity on behalf of all Wisconsinites. Right now the Capitol Building is being occupied by people whose connection to the Wisconsin labor dispute is unclear. They aren't teachers (they went back to work days ago). They don't seem like union members, unless there is a drum circle local that I'm not aware of.

Just to give you a flavor for the sort of behavior Sheriff Palace Guard is enabling, here's an on-scene report from Republican State Senator Glenn Grothman, who saw the protesters up close and personal when they surrounded him and made some threatening noises before realizing a camera was filming them.

“We’re trying to keep people out of the Capital because the building is becoming a pig sty. People are staying over night, the building smells. We used to have nice tours for children, all that’s being shut down by a bunch of slobs taking up the building. We can no longer continue to have all these slobs in the building. It would be embarrassing to me to take my child through that building today. These people are not nurses, police, and firefighters, they are college students and hangers-on who are having a fun party. The people who are staying over night are largely making a mess of our Capital. Why are we keeping people out? Because we do not want to have so many people there overnight defacing our beautiful Capital. A very small percentage are police, and firefighters, and nurses. I think if you would interview all the people who are making a ruckus, the vast majority are either college T.A.s, college students, and hanger’s-on… Or unemployed people just looking for someplace to hang out.

We don't need palace guards. We just need some authority.