Wednesday, May 16, 2012

The song the Dropkick Murphys don't want WI unionbusters to play



Job-killer Scott Walker isn't the only anti-worker, anti-middle-class politician getting recalled in Wisconsin on June 5. Four of his cronies in the state Senate are also being challenged. One of those cronies is the Senate Majority Leader, Scott Fitzgerald, who pushed through Walker's union-busting bill last year in violation of the state's Open Meetings Law.

Fitzgerald's brother Jeff is equally odious. He's the brain-dead Speaker of the House. We'll let Blogging Blue explain why he's brain dead:
...the Republican Party of Wisconsin held their convention Green Bay, Wisconsin this weekend. During the RPW Convention, former State Rep. and Speaker of the State Assembly Jeff Fitzgerald took the stage to speak, and as Fitzgerald took to the stage he did so using the song “Shipping Up To Boston” by the Dropkick Murphys. 
Lost on Fitzgerald (who strikes me as more of a Perry Cuomo or Barry Manilow fan) and apparently his staff was the fact that the Dropkick Murphys are staunch supporters of labor unions and were strong supporters of the folks who protested the assault on public employee unions by Gov. Walker and Republicans like Jeff Fitzgerald.

The Dropkick Murphys, who actually wrote and recorded a song in support of the Wisconsin protests, were not pleased. They posted a message on their Facebook page:
...The stupidity and irony of this is laughable. A Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senate candidate – and crony of anti-Union Governor Scott Walker – using a Dropkick Murphys song as an intro is like a white supremacist coming out to gangsta rap! 
Fitzgerald: if you and your staff can’t even figure out your music you might wanna give up on the politics!!!!! 
We stand beside our Union and Labor brothers and sisters and their families in Wisconsin and all over the U.S!
–DKM
All of you Dropkick Murphy fans may be interested to know they're appearing with the Boston Pops on "Red Sox Night" on May 24 (we suspect one or two of our brothers and sisters from Local 25 may just be in attendance).