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Wisconsin state Senator Glenn Grothman apparently doesn't think much of the protesters spending the night in the capitol building and used the excuse that they're just a bunch of "slobs" trashing the building as the reason why Governor Scott Walker decided to lock them out.

Apparently this is something he's been throwing out there a lot lately as this blog which is devoted to tracking him has taken note of -- What did Glenn Grothman get wrong this week? .

I guess after this greeting he got from the protesters today while trying to enter the capitol building that they were locked out of, he's even less happy with those "slobs". I refuse to link to him, but this video is posted at The Gateway Pundit's site, or as Media Matters calls him, the Dumbest Man on the Internet, under the breathless headline Breaking: Wisconsin GOP Senator Glenn Grothman Mobbed at Wisconsin Capitol. I guess if by "mobbed" you mean followed and having a bunch of people yell "Shame!" at you and then after being talked to by one of the Democratic congressmen and some others, people leaving with chants of "Peaceful protests!".

Tensions are running high right now in Wisconsin, but I didn't see anyone looking like they were going to threaten the Senator. I'm sure he doesn't like being followed or yelled at by a large group of people and I'm quite sure that's an extremely intimidating situation for anyone to find themselves in. That said, it doesn't look like anyone was out to do any physical harm to him either. When you're out to destroy people's livelihoods and they're upset with your for it, sometimes democracy is messy and you're going to end up with pissed off people yelling at you.

It's funny how the right seemed to love this stuff when it was bused in teabaggers screaming at Democratic members of Congress during the health care debate, one of them apparently armed that wingnut and now sadly CNN contributor Dana Loesch defended here, or when there were gun nuts showing up outside an Obama rally in Phoenix with assault rifles, but when one of their own elected officials who catered to them has a group of actual grass roots protesters yelling at him, he's being "mobbed" by some dangerous crowd of "union thugs." Quite the double standard out of these so-called "lovers of democracy" I'd say. Guns and threats of shooting someone and lots of yelling by our side sponsored by the Koch brothers, that's just freedom of speech. For union members who aren't packing heat but just making a lot of noise, not so much.

Transcript below the fold.

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While discussing the protests in Wisconsin today with The United Steelworkers Director Michael Bolton and Wisconsin State Senator Glenn Grothman, Chris Matthews touts former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell as a good pro-labor Democrat. Really? News to me Tweety. He just got hired by an union busting law firm, Ballard, Spahr, Ingersoll, and Rand.

Union busting, alive and well in Pennsylvania :

We also learned from one of our brothers at the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way that Pennsylvania's outgoing governor, Democrat Ed Rendell, is joining a union-busting law firm. Here's the message:

He will be returning to the law firm of Ballard, Spahr, Ingersoll, and Rand. This is the firm that SEPTA gives a huge majority of their outside counsel to.

Philadelphia, with a long, proud history of being a "union town" (AFSCME was founded here) has dealt with these people for many years. When municipal workers and transportation workers try to advance their cause, this firm is the first to be called in to stick it to the unions.

Former DNC Chair Ed Rendell Returns to Management Law Firm:

Ballard Spahr has announced that former Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell is returning as a member of the firm in its Philadelphia office. Governor Rendell is a former Mayor of Philadelphia, City District Attorney and Chair of the Democratic National Committee.

In one of his last acts as governor, Rendell vetoed a bill that enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support and would have made it easier for fire fighters who develop cancer to collect workers' compensation benefits.

Pennsylvania fire fighters struggled for nearly 20 years to win passage of cancer presumption legislation, and this year gained political support in the state legislature. The measure, HB 1231, had passed the Pennsylvania House by a vote of 195-1, and carried a GOP-controlled Senate with only four dissenting votes. Rendell was the only lawmaker left standing in the way of this important measure for Pennsylvania fire fighters. The outgoing governor waited until the very end of the state’s legislative calendar to kill the bill with his veto pen, leaving fire fighters with almost no opportunity to convince legislators to override the veto.

IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger sent a letter to the Democratic National Committee and National Governors Association expressing disappointment and anger at Governor Ed Rendell for vetoing the measure.

"Rendell’s post political career comes as no surprise," says Schaitberger. "For eight years, as governor of the Commonwealth, he shamelessly shilled for the anti-labor law firm, Ballard Spahr. Now, he's getting paid for his efforts.”

And here's the press release from Ballard Spahr: Governor Edward G. Rendell Rejoins Ballard Spahr