1984 Redux: "Public Safety" Unions

Orwell's quip--that 'some are more equal than others'--was not fiction.  Never was, never will be.

The "public safety" unions will make double-damn sure you know it, too, even if it requires a little lying and deception to make it so.

Gov. Scott Walker stirred things up Monday with talk about extending the state ban on public sector union rights to police and firefighters, before downplaying the idea Tuesday.

...At a public event in Milwaukee on Monday, Walker said he would consider expanding the law, and that police and fire workers may now be willing to forgo union rights taken from other government workers — collective bargaining, paycheck dues withdrawals and arbitration to settle disputes with management....

Here's where the fun starts:

...Leaders of two police unions said their members wouldn’t accept any such change, and they believe the governor knows that.

“He understands that there is an absolute difference between public safety and general employees in this regard,” said Milwaukee Police Association president Mike Crivello.

Crivello said he cautioned officers who called him Tuesday not to jump to conclusions. Walker knows public safety workers face personal danger on the job, and that the union has allowed them to advocate effectively for weaponry and equipment that makes them safer, Crivello said....

That was three-card monte in pixels.

You see, "union advocacy" and the militarization of the cop-shop are totally unrelated.  The cops can "advocate" (i.e., demand) "weaponry and equipment" without Crivello and his bush-league rabble-rouser WPPA yappydog Palmer.  If the citizens of a given community think the cops need military-grade weapons and protective equipment, they'll cough up the money.

That's what Crivello and Palmer fear, by the way.  They represent cops, not the 101st Airborne.  Some citizens have reservations about flash-bang grenades, full-auto AR's, and armored cars for their cops.