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.
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Transcript below the fold.
GROTHMAN: Well, we’re trying to keep some people out of the building because right now the building is becoming a pig sty. People are staying overnight, the building smells. We used to have nice little groups of fourth grade children walking through the building. There was something called the Senate Scholar programs that would track us around. All of that is being shut down by a bunch of slobs taking up the building. We can no longer continue to have all of these slobs in the building.
O’DONNELL: Well Senator some of these slobs in the building are elementary school students who may be learning something more interesting or valuable or real about government that’s going on there, don’t you think?
GROTHMAN: No. It would be embarrassing to me to take my child to that building today.
O’DONNELL: Cory Mason, you get the last word with us.
MASON: I’ve had my kids here the last couple weeks. I am proud to see them witness this great moment in democracy. And these slobs that you’re referring to are police officers and nurses and firefighters and people who care for the state.
GROTHMAN: No they’re not.
MASON: And you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Yes they are! Come in and look. Come on in and talk to them.
GROTHMAN: I do talk to them all the time. The people who are inside the building are college students who are having a fun party. That’s largely who’s in the building overnight. And if you get up early Cory and talk to who’s in the building at 7am, you will find it is largely college students and hangers-on having a party in the state capitol.
O’DONNELL: Senator Grothman, before we go I just want to get one clarification from you about the crowds. Are you saying that all of the protesters there are slobs?
GROTHMAN: No of course not. But the people who are staying overnight are largely making a mess of our capitol and that’s what we were addressing. Why are we keeping people out of the building? Because we do not want to have so many people there overnight defacing our beautiful capitol.
MASON: Nobody’s defacing anything. They’re participating in a democracy.
O’DONNELL: But you would agree with Cory Mason that many of the protesters are in fact police officers, firefighters, other state workers, who you would never call slobs.
GROTHMAN: A very small percentage. I think if you would interview all the people who are creating a ruckus the vast majority who are here today are not police officers or nurses. They are either college T.A.’s, college students or hangers-on or unemployed people who are just looking for somewhere to hang out.
