Wisconsin State Assemblyman Peter Barca, Democrat, is quoted by CBS News (without any sense of irony or correction) as saying that state Republicans “trampled on democracy though throughout the day and really throughout this past week.”

What happened was the duly elected state assemblymen, representing what they perceive to be the public will, presented a bill to push back the public sector unions. The bill was debated, refined, and alternate proposals were reviewed, discussed, and ultimately rejected. The final bill language was reviewed, and voted upon. A clear majority vote passed the bill. From here, it will move to the state Senate, who will repeat the process. In the likely event the bill is passed by a clear majority, the final language will move to the Governor (unless the Senate modified its language substantially, in which case the Assembly may ask to review it). The Governor may then sign the bill into law, or he may veto it.

This is how Assemblyman Barca defines an undemocratic process. In his apparent world view, a group that represents only 15 percent of the voting population decides how much taxpayers should simply give them, and this becomes law without any say so. Any objections are handled by angry intimidation, harrassment, and screaming.

The Czar does not wish to live in Rep. Barca’s world. It sounds perfectly horrible, doesn’t it?

Curiously, Mr. Barca is right about one thing—and the Democrats would be wise to remember it. He sayeth unto us: “We’re going to keep up the battle, and if he does win this battle I think don’t think he’ll win the war.”

The part he’s right about, that the Left should remember, is that this is not the end of the world. Republicans lost big in 2006 and 2008, and rather than resorting to sabotaging the process or assaulting people or simply running to Illinois to avoid responsibility, they re-organized and won even bigger in 2010. The Left should do the same.

If they can. Odds are they won’t. But not because democracy got trampled, but because it works.

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.