Akin to war

The action by the Legislature of Wisconsin on March 9 will live in infamy. References by the press to a “nuclear option” reminded me of a quote attributed to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto just after the bombing of Pearl Harbor: “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

We are now at WAR. To labor, this action can be seen as nothing less than the equivalent of Dec. 7, 1941. I hope working people throughout every state mobilize to extract the most precious possession of these would-be tyrants. Not their lives, their jobs!

If we do not act now to reverse this action, we may as well resolve ourselves to a continuing deterioration until we drop to the survival level of those we fight to improve in other countries. I also remember the saying, “If we don’t learn from our past we are condemned to relive it.” What’s next? Will Gov. Scott Walker order National Guard troops to fire on protesters? Are we destined to relive those days as well? For the first time in my life I am truly embarrassed to be an American.

Richard M. Prete

Chattaroy