Posted on 07/04/2011 11:11:53 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Racine - A float commemorating firefighters' sacrifices in the terrorist attacks of 9-11 that had been embroiled in political controversy over the last week drew an enthusiastic welcome Monday morning at the Racine Fourth of July parade.
Parade-goers grew silent then stood and applauded as Oak Creek firefighter Matt Gorniak drove the float down Main St. featuring a firefighter erecting an American flag on the smoking remains of the twin towers.
Shouts of "there it is" and "is this the one?" could be heard from the crowd as the float approached to the sound of bagpipes.
"I was in tears," said Janet Exner of Racine, who was wearing a read, white and blue neck scarf.
Few interviewed knew of the controversy surrounding the float, and once they learned it, appeared to set aside any partisan politics for the occasion.
"I'm a state worker. I'm not happy about losing my union," said Tracey Broemser, a state corrections officer. "But you have to put that aside today. People lost their lives there."
Gorniak drew attention after Journal Sentinel columnist Daniel Bice reported that the leaders of the Racine firefighters union were refusing to support the float after Gorniak had taken steps to opt out of membership in the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin.
The reason for the controversy is to hit back at our governor, Scott Walker, and the state's new budget that curtails collective bargaining in WI in order to balance the budget.
The fire fighter who made this float opted out of his union (paying only dues for bargaining on wages) thus engendering the wrath of the union masters. He still pays partial dues, but he is a marked man and the union masters told the union to not support the float.
Funny thing, the fire fighters and the police were both excluded from the new state rules. But, nobody ever accused the unions of being logical. Thugs, yes. Logical thugs, no..
Looks like the Unionistas did not save the job of the Journal's proof reader...
Wisconsin ping
Oh Lord! And these people feed the public their opinions for the day. *sigh*
Regardless, good for this guy for doing the float anyway.
>who was wearing a read, white and blue neck scarf
Looks like the Unionistas did not save the job of the Journal’s proof reader...<
Must be a Harvard grad.
We really need to fix education. It'll be interesting to listen to the talkers tomorrow and what it was really like there today.
He is a Wisconsin story for ya, one the liberals will choke on....
http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/06/union-curbs-rescue-wisconsin-school-district
He = Here*
And this was a huge mistake. Unionistas are for the union first, not the public or public safety. It seems clear that treating police and firefighters unions different than all other public employee unions goes against the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
*
It is impossible to overstate how bitter and ugly the Wisconsin fight has been, and that bitterness and ugliness continues to this day with efforts to recall senators and an unseemly battle inside the state Supreme Court.*
The money quote!
A much more complete account of the above incident published today under the same headline. The firefighters DID boycott the float, but the people loved it. This is a black eye on the Racine firefighters -- I don't care how much the builder of the float wants to brush his opposition under the rug. It's a disgrace.
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The roles of the firefighters on this float were played by members of Gorniak's church's youth group due to the union boycott.
The proof readers corrected the “read, white, and blue” scarf in today’s story.
See #13 for the rest of this story and picture. Wisconsin ping.
There is a video of the procession at the Journal link. It looks like 6 people accompanied this spectacular float and maybe a cop on a bike. This really is a union disgrace.
Where was Vicki and Charlie and all their listeners who pledged to march with this man?
The spectators likes it, though.
I read an article online that the parade committed had a meeting friday, and ruled that only fireman would be allowed to march.
“The Fourth Fest board held an emergency meeting two days before the parade to decide that only uniformed firefighters may walk with the 9/11 tribute float.”
http://www.journaltimes.com/news/local/6be875c4-a670-11e0-9329-001cc4c03286.html
Thanks for posting the link to the story about the emergency meeting. I hadn’t read that.
I can understand their position. They really didn’t need a parade with a thousand supporters in the procession. I’m sure that would have happened. Anyway, our point prevailed! Next battle.....
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