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The coming days of protest over Gov. Scott Walker's "effort to break the back of the state's public employee unions."

Isthmus columnist Bill Lueders is trying to figure out how his newspaper should cover the events:

Of course we have to do so, as these are major news events; but my feeling is that these rallies are a colossal waste of everybody's time, and exactly the reaction Gov. Walker hopes to inspire.

There's a Valentine's Day delivery of cutesy messages (?I ? UW: Governor Walker, Don't Break my ??) on Monday, and larger protests on Tuesday and Wednesday. They are expected to draw thousands of people to the state Capitol, for rallies, speeches and words of bitter dissent. And they will give the governor the dramatic and momentary confrontation he craves, to buff up his national image as a formidable dude, one who's willing to stand up to workers who have had it too good for too long....

Protests are exactly what Walker wants, because they can only lead to two outcomes: Either they are peaceful and accomplish nothing; or they turn violent and create a massive backlash against the unions and their members. Either way, Walker wins.

Wow. When did Madison lefties become so cynical about protests?

Full post as published by Althouse on February 14, 2011 (boomark / email).