The Battle of Michigan and Legacy of Clodius vs.Milo

Did you feel that?

The American Republic is shaking again.  Those who proceeded to protest in Wisconsin are taking the same tacks in Michigan (9% Unemployment).  Those tacks echo the ending of the Roman Republic. 

The Battle of Michigan starts with a tale of the Mob Rule as the Roman Republic was unraveling.

Here is a (fictionalized) story of Titus Annius Milo and the death of Clodius Pulcher.  In other words, where the Mobs of Michigan will end:

On memeorandum, the Left were upset and the Right was shocked at the attacks against the Democratic process.

First watch this video:

The video above shows what Milo and Clodius was trying to achieve. 

Travel backwards if you want to understand the Now:

"...By testing the opportunities of street violence to the very limits, Clodius blazed a trail that others were preparing to follow. In December 58 [BCE] Clodius' term of office came to an end. Among the new tribunes was a gruff and brutal Pompeian. Titus Annius Milo. Encouraged by his patron, Milo formally indicted Clodius for employing violence, an open and shut case if there ever was one.  Clodius, by appealing to his brother Appius, who was Praetor that year, managed to have the charge suppressed, and ordered his gangs to ransack Milo's house in revenge.

"But the new Tribune, backed by the infinite sources of Pompey, and aware he was dead meat unless he met violence with violence...He [Milo] began to recruit gangs of his own, not, as Clodius had done by bribing amateurs from the slums, but by importing well-armed well-trained heavies from Pompey's estates and buying up gladiators to steel their ranks.

"At a stroke, Clodius' monopoly on street violence ended, a challenge to which the former Tribune rose with...gusto. The gang warfare escalated daily. Soon, it became so brutal that all Government Institutions in the Forum, including the Law Courts, had to be suspended. Day after day, across the public places of Rome, the tides of anarchy ebbed and flowed."
-- Tom Holland, Rubicon, pp. 244-45

Welcome to the slow birth of the First Triumvirate.  

What is causing all this madness?

Michigan, in trying to fight to get manufacturing going again (When is the 2013 Pontiac Firebird coming off the line? Oh, there is no Pontiac Trans Am anymore! Game, set, match, not in the Unions favor.) wanted to make their state "Right to Work," 

What is "Right to Work?"

Right-to-work laws are state laws that prohibit both the closed and union shop. A right to work law secures the right of employees to decide for themselves whether or not to join or financially support a union. However,employees who work in the railway or airline industries are not protected by a right to work law, and employees who work on a federal enclave may not be.
...
If you resign from membership, you may not be able to participate in union elections or meetings, vote in collective bargaining ratification elections, or participate in other "internal" union activities. If you resign, you cannot be disciplined by the union for any post-resignation conduct. 


If you resign from union membership, you are still fully covered by the collective bargaining agreement that was negotiated between your employer and the union, and the union remains obligated to represent you. Any benefits that are provided to you by your employer pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement (e.g., wages, seniority, vacations, pension, health insurance)will not be affected by your resignation. However, the union may exclude you from some "members-only" benefits. Although you may resign from union membership at anytime, you may be limited to a specific "window period"before you are able to end any automatic dues deductions.

(h/t US Legal Dictionary)


Was Right to Work passed in the dead of night? 
Was it done by Executive or Judicial Fiat?

No, it was done in the light of day, passed by the two branches of the State House and signed by the Governor.  Last I checked, Elected Officials, not Union leaders, represent "the people," 

Rather then going about and Lobbying the Legislature, the Unions bussed in protesters and caused havoc and violence. 

Who is doing the people's work again?

My question: When Democrats lose votes in the State Houses, they have been resorting to violence.  Is President Obama allowing the rise of a new Milo and Clodius in America?

On this Past Ides of March, the Wisconsin Riots Shudder through the Republic

If I could live in any time in history, it would be the from the Death of the Gracci's to Augustus' rise in Ancient Rome.  One of my cool (and beautiful) friends in the Goth scene is knowledgeable and she enjoys studying Ancient Egypt. I think that's why we get along so well :} 

Since we are just past the Ides of March, let us see how a Republic slowly dies:

However, I don't need a TARDIS to see history repeat. 

Here is how I see what happened:

November 2010: Gov. Scott Walker and a majority of Republicans win in WI State Assembly and State Senate

Feb 14, 2011:  A Budget Repair Bill proposed by Gov. Walker shutting off collected bargaining from State Level Employee Unions goes through the Statehouse

Feb 2011 - Mar 2011: The Minority State Senate Democrats ("The Fleebagger 14")  run from WI to IL instead of voting on the measure.  Riots ensue in the WI State Capitol; Teachers and kids, Union members from other states harass State lawmakers and issue death threats.

Mar 9 - 10, 2011: The WI Senate GOP members separate the funding out of the Bill and vote on ending Collective Bargaining for Unions; The next day, the State Assembly follows suit.  Governor Walker signs the bill passed by the State Legislature.

Now during the protests, the Mob kept chanting, "This is what Democracy looks like!" 

Um, no it doesn't. 

Democracy occurred in the Election and the Legislators who voted, not in the mob who took over the State Capitol.

As I have said many times before, History repeats in American Political life, but what does not repeat is how Democrats and their allies cannot handle being on the losing side.

How many times have the Democrats whinged about Election 2000 Overtime?
How many times did the GOP complain about disparities in Election 1960?

Now, where does history repeat here?

During the 90's the Clinton Administration went after the cigarette companies.  Did they do it for the health reasons? NO  Did they propose that cigarette smoking is bad, but let business' choose their own path? NO (Just in case anyone thought that Democrats cared about peoples "Freedom,"  Another myth bites the dust)

It was all about how the cigarette companies funded the National  GOP.  Now, after Election 2010 where Democrats lost seats statewide in Wisconsin and nationally in Congress, to see History repeat (again over funding) is funny and scary as hell.

The Mob rule was one of the signs of the Republic Falling (at least a decade before Caesar's assassination).  And I quote Rubicon, by Tom Holland:

"Of course, Clodius being Clodius, he could not resist seeing just how far the intimidation could be pushed. In August [59 BC], as Pompey was crossing the Forum to attend a meeting of the Senate, a clattering of stone on metal rang out from the Temple of Castor. One of Clodius' slaves reportedly dropped a dagger. Pompey, believing his life to be in danger, at once retreated from the Forum and barricaded behind his front door.  Clodius' gangs pursued him and set up camp outside.  The Tribune [Clodius] threatened to do to Pompey what he had already done to Cicero: seize his mansion, level it and build a temple to Liberty in its place.  Pompey, unlike Cicero, did not bolt and run, but he found himself blockaded, unable to leave his house -- a staggering reversal for the greatest man in the Republic....For Clodius...it was an intoxicating, scarcely believable moment of triumph.  Champion of the aristocracy, patron of the slums, he appeared to be the master of Rome,"

-- Rubicon, Tom Holland, Pg. 244

In America, Political Power comes from the Provinces.  As a provincial myself, I understand this.  The Tea party started out protesting the spending in local hometowns, and then get down to electing candidates to Congress for the last election.

The last time Democrats ran across State lines was in Texas against voting for Re-districting.  The next cycle, the Democrats LOST. 

Why?  In America, you stand and fight for your beliefs, not use a loophole to cause trouble. The GOP was legitimate in using it's loophole after the Democrats absconded for almost a month.  Goose and gander, Valley people, pot and kettle too.

These protests are the beginning of the end of the American Republic.

Follow me down to "What if?" territory:



Imagine in 2013, President Palin and a majority Republican Congress follow the same route the WI Republicans take.  Will the AFL-CIO, SEIU and AFSCME destroy the Capitol and the White House to prove a point?

Hell, Lefty protesters already go to the homes of those they Hate!  What's the next level?



Or as I have been asking: What is the protesters endgame?  Is it to destroy the concept of voting or is it to exterminate any opposition to any Leftist (not Liberal) view?



My question: Who is the modern Democratic Party Clodius?


UPDATE 8:50PM PST: Welcome Instapundit readers! Please make yourselves at home in the Valley.  This weekend I will be reporting (and voting) at the CAGOP Convention in Sacramento.  Remember: Power lies within the provinces!