June 16, 2011

Wisconsin protesters U-lock their necks to the railing in the senate gallery.

Insane.

122 comments:

Original Mike said...

Leave them there.

Sprezzatura said...

You say potato, I say inane.

But, insane ain't too far off.

Unknown said...

LOL, Mike.

They are running through the whole game book of the left. When do they get to "bombs"?

BJK said...

THIS IS WHAT STUPIDITY LOOKS LIKE!!!

mariner said...

I propose letting them stay there.

Think of it as a modern-day version of the stocks.

traditionalguy said...

OK, is this a Sorority initiation stunt? No body would do that stunt unless some one ordered them do it.

foxtrot said...

Their penance for their stupidity should be to make them listen to Rush Limbaugh while locked to the gallery.

foxtrot said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
William said...

Sorority girls do not self mutilate that much

kent said...

"Wisconsin protesters U-lock their necks to the railing in the senate gallery."

Bring:

1.) eggs
2.) tomatoes
3.) a good pitching arm

Carol_Herman said...

Wait until the gal has to pee.

Or, until the locksmith comes, and uses tools to open the padlock.

Tell me, exactly HOW did these freaks get their U-Locks indoors? Did the gal just shove it between her legs,and then walked kind'a slow?

These freaks will carry in what they can. (Ah. Until they need to use the can.)

So you have this "OPEN" law ... for the public. Who sez you can't lock the bathroom doors?

I think the cops should just stand there and look "befuddled."

Locked to the railings ... the gal can't do all that much damage. Where's the downside to just waiting her out?

How come she's got pierced lips? Somebody should come along and run a chain from her lips to the U-Lock. You know. To prevent "theft."

Kev said...

(the other kev)

Too bad we can't use the Mad Max option here.

ampersand said...

Does anyone still make itching powder?

Fred4Pres said...

Madison protestors are so lame.


Love will find a way, even during a riot.

Ann Althouse said...

I think locking your neck like that is really dangerous. If someone were to suddenly push her or trip or fall over her, it could break her neck.

Sprezzatura said...

kent, that may damage the building.

Why not TP them?

Presumably TPers can roundup some TP.

Sal said...

Seeing people with piercings through their lips makes me want to hear their views on state government.

Hoosier Daddy said...

I swear to God those people are too stupid to breathe.

Quaestor said...

That's a rather dodgy looking white trash skank who has her head locked to the railing. Nothing enhances a woman's womanliness like a rivet through the lip.

rhhardin said...

That's what angle grinders are for.

Fred4Pres said...

What is it with State Capitols and idiot protesters?

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

Professor, I understand your concern and your respect for life. But I think I'm going to borrow a line from Niven & Pournelle's Oath of Fealty: "Think of it as evolution in action."

wv: herplexh. I didn't realize there was an "h" strain; but if there is, I'm sure someone in Walkerville has it.

Quaestor said...

"I swear to God those people are too stupid to breathe."

Unfortunately they aren't too stupid to breed.

Hoosier Daddy said...

You know, of all the pictures you have taken of these patriotic uprisings, I have to ask, are there any black people at all in Madison? How about a Hispanic? I'll settle for a really tanned person just to say you progressive cities actually have some diversity.

Hoosier Daddy said...

I have to say that one lady trooper doesn't look like she likes the smell of a man.

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Fred4Pres said...

Check out the photograph in the link above at 4:36, it is a classic.

Anonymous said...

When they have to pee arrest one at a time.

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

Heh. Looking at this photo of Sen. Erpenbach, I'd love to read his thoughts. Probably unprintable.

virgil xenophon said...

@Ann Althouse/

"...it could break her neck."

And the point is?

deborah said...

Ignore them, they only want attention.

Anonymous said...

I gotta ask Freeman's question: what are they protesting? What do they want? What do they hope to get?

Hoosier Daddy said...

If someone were to suddenly push her or trip or fall over her, it could break her neck.

Well that's why we have the Darwin Awards.

Carol_Herman said...

Nah, Darwin Awards are for next time. When she super-glues her cheek to the rail.

Meanwhile, while she's on display "as is" ... people should be charged money for admission.

Heck, Barnum not only made money from his circus ... Seeing all the people just waiting for the show to start ... He opened another tent with a freak show. It cost you a dime to get in. And, another dime if you wanted to see the egress.

Will there be a follow up showing us the "un-locking?" Is she in control of the key?

What if the police just tazered her until she opens her fists?

Anonymous said...

SuperGlue in the locks and close the place up for the night.

Anonymous said...

Seven Machos said...

I gotta ask Freeman's question: what are they protesting? What do they want? What do they hope to get?


Seven, funny you should ask. I went back to the story to find out and there is no story. These idiots are the story.

kent said...

If someone were to suddenly push her or trip or fall over her, it could break her neck.

"That's a shame."
/Seinfeld

Drew said...

I agree with the "leave them there" comments. Let their own behavior be their punishment.

Of course, they'd probably end up suing the state for their own actions.

AFG said...

Ann - I think your commenters would really like to see this girl get hurt, whereas you were saying the act is insane BECAUSE she could get hurt. This comments section is such a self reinforcing enclave of "anti-left" idiocy. Ann should pull a '65 Newport Folk Fest and totally alienate her commenters during 2012, I'd love to see their reactions.

"Think of it as a modern-day version of the stocks." - and the stocks were a good idea?

"Bring:

1.) eggs
2.) tomatoes
3.) a good pitching arm"

"That's a rather dodgy looking white trash skank who has her head locked to the railing."

""...it could break her neck."

And the point is?"

"What if the police just tazered her until she opens her fists?"

Anonymous said...

AFG -- Perhaps people are simply trying to be funny.

Overly serious people like you should be shot and then your pancreas should be eaten with fava beans.

AllenS said...

You get a nice John Deere tractor, a logging chain, hook it around their ankles, and then pull them off the railing. How hard can this be?

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

They're running on fumes if this is the best they can do. Maybe the first string protesters are vacation.

Anonymous said...

Nothing says teachers are really important and deserve special benefits like doing something really stupid.

- Lyssa

MadisonMan said...

They have thin necks. I don't think I could do that with my u lock.

Anonymous said...

Madison -- Please stop sexting here. You'd think Weiner's story would have been a cautionary tale.

The Dude said...

She is as sane as she is attractive. Smart, too!

And, AFG, if you are so concerned about what is written here, then next time don't lock your neck to the railing. Sheesh!

Rialby said...

She's right at Weiner level.

Curious George said...

Police: "Do you have the key?"
Skanky Protester: "Yes"
Police: "Where?"
Skanky Protester: "There"
Police: "There?"
Skanky Protester: "There"
Police: "You mean "there" there?"
Skanky Protester: "Yes, "there" there"
Police: "Looks like we gonna need an angle grinder"
Other police: "Or a head cold"

kent said...

Overly serious people like you should be shot and then your pancreas should be eaten with fava beans.

We could even skip over the whole pancreas-and-fava-beans part of the evening, and move on to the really fun part of the festivities.

wdnelson93 said...

"I swear to God those people are too stupid to breathe."

Ya know, when it comes to some folks just bless their little hearts.

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

AFG said...

Ann - I think your commenters would really like to see this girl get hurt,

You're a humor-impaired twit, ain't ya?

KCFleming said...

OTTER: Bluto's right. Psychotic... but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons, but that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part!

BLUTO: We're just the guys to do it.

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Maybe the first string protesters are vacation.

As was pointed out a few days ago, the first string protesters were college students and teachers. Most members of both groups have three month summer vacations. Plus the teachers were most likely to protest on days they were getting paid to be in class, and that's not true now.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

If this happened where I work, I would be the guy who'd get called. I'd have that lock off in a minute and a half, if I could stop laughing long enough.

The sites founders. said...

How about this: tywrap their hands behind their back, duct tape their mouth and leave 'em for a day or two.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

AFG said...

Ann should pull a '65 Newport Folk Fest and totally alienate her commenters during 2012


I guess you weren't around in 2008.

Brad said...

If "she" can't be a good sport about losing, she won't get a "participation" trophy.

Anonymous said...

If someone were to suddenly push her or trip or fall over her, it could break her neck.

And your point is?

Anonymous said...

It's not over till they're all locked to a railing by their necks.

Anonymous said...

"How about this: tywrap their hands behind their back, duct tape their mouth and leave 'em for a day or two."

You don't really need to do that at all. What you just need to do is to hang some police tape around this dumb bitch and provide police protection and not let anyone anywhere near her while she exercises her First Amendment right to complete her hunger strike.

Anonymous said...

"Ann should pull a '65 Newport Folk Fest and totally alienate her commenters during 2012"

That would be anticlimactic.

We all know that Ann Althouse is a lifelong liberal Democrat - a $170,000 a year public employee who voted for Barack Obama and will always vote for whoever promises the most salary increases locally for college "bloggers."

We pity her, really.

We hope Meade brings her around, but realize she dropped the LSD a long time ago. Fucked up her brain and whatnot. We don't expect much in the way of progress from here on out.

Sigivald said...

One wonders what she thinks she's accomplishing with that?

"I'm doing something stupid, so you have to do what I want so I'll stop"?

Ignore them until they go home to get high, I say.

(If I was mean, I'd suggest going up to them and dripping a little cyanoacrylate in the locks, so they'd have to be cut out.

But I'm not that mean, and in theory that might get someone hurt eventually.

They're stupid, and should suffer for that by gentle public mockery, no more.)

Carol_Herman said...

I just want to know how she bruoght her U-Lock in. Did she wear it like some sort of necklace?

If two protesters put their U-Locks together, before putting them on ... would they then be considered just like dancers? They could go in circles.

The longer this lady stays locked to the rail, the more likely she just has to pee.

I'd offer her coffee. In a cup. With a straw. So she didn't get thirsty. While she "protests."

Maybe, in time she'll just pull her own head out of the U-Lock?

And, ya know what? I'd call the U-Lock company on the phone. And, leave her there until they arrive.

Why act like we would know how to open the lock? Isn't the whole idea of a U-Lock, so that you leave someone else's property alone?

Maybe, this girl, if she sits there long enough, will find someone with a bicycle coming by, asking if their bike can share the space?

edutcher said...

I take it that, if you haven't got anybody to cuddle up with during the long, cold winters in Madison, your brain freezes permanently.

Seems to be the only explanation.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

AFG said...

Ann should pull a '65 Newport Folk Fest and totally alienate her commenters during 2012


I guess you weren't around in 2008.


William Tell never made a shot like that, sir.

Fred4Pres said...

I have done enough stupid things in my life that I do not wish actual physical harm to come to protestors merely doing stupid things like chaining themselves to things. They are only potentially harming themselves.

If they had to wet their pants, I would not be too upset about that.

Peter V. Bella said...

Nothing wrong with mass suicide. Morons deserve to strangle.

SGT Ted said...

Thats what Spoiled Brats look like.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

verly serious people like you should be shot and then your pancreas should be eaten with fava beans.


I think liver goes better with fava beans.

Some people have no sense of humor.

I also agree with just leaving her there until she has to pee or gets leg cramps.

Anonymous said...

'Blogger Tyrone Slothrop said...

If this happened where I work, I would be the guy who'd get called. I'd have that lock off in a minute and a half, if I could stop laughing long enough.'

That's why we need someone to take a key, metal strip, wire, etc. and shove it in the lock and then break it off. The expression on her face would be priceless.

Seeing Red said...

they should have let them stay there.


had an officer babysit w/bolt cutters in case they became distressed.


once they unlocked themselves escort them out.


Then present them w/a bill for services rendered.

And repair bill for any damages to the Capitol.

Chip S. said...

The young woman's eloquence moves me profoundly. With a single, silent gesture, she has made me realize the severity of the repression that she and her fellow grad students, teachers, and salt-truck drivers have suffered at the hands of their ruthless overseer, Scott Walker, who has sought relentlessly to yoke them like oxen to the heavy burden of paying 12.6% of the cost of their health-insurance premiums.

I realize now that I've never adequately grasped the enormity of the oppression being visited upon these hapless victims of the illegitimate regime currently trampling the will of the people through their outrageous tactic of majority rule.

damikesc said...

What was their master plan? It seems like it'd be pretty difficult to eat like that. Also, it probably isn't all that comfortable.

And is security at the Capital so lax that crap like huge locks are allowed inside?

Michael K said...

We used to see guys locking themselves to gay bars in Laguna Beach all the time. I mean I'd see them professionally. Not for being locked but for what happened after they got someone to unlock them. These girls might be safer right there. I doubt it would interfere with their social life.

William said...

I would like to encourage these and other protestors to keep up the good work for the cause!

Irony off

Anonymous said...

From the news article:

"they used rigid bike locks to chain themselves"

It's a miracle! A rigid chain! What will these protestors invent next? I hope they filed for a patent.

damikesc said...

AFG: Ann - I think your commenters would really like to see this girl get hurt, whereas you were saying the act is insane BECAUSE she could get hurt. This comments section is such a self reinforcing enclave of "anti-left" idiocy. Ann should pull a '65 Newport Folk Fest and totally alienate her commenters during 2012, I'd love to see their reactions.

Perhaps we are sick of idiots doing incredibly dumb things? If somebody's idiocy gets them crippled, why should I feel a great deal of empathy for them?

Mary Beth said...

If I were planning on doing something that was likely to get me arrested, I would not wear a tank top.

Big Mike said...

How about burning the locks off with oxy-acetylene torches? Should leave a burn mark they can wear with pride the rest of their lives

(Note: Do this after what foxtrot suggested upthread.)

kent said...

If I were planning on doing something that was likely to get me arrested, I would not wear a tank top.

Pray to all that's holy that Michael Moore feels the same way.

Fred4Pres said...

I am surprised not a single comment on the attractive couple kissing in the middle of the Vancouver riots (@4:36)(that is a very iconic photograph), but we go on and on on some unattractive pierced Madison knucklehead. Bleh.

And I showed that idiot protestors are not limited to Madison (see story @4:41)

KCFleming said...

I would have been more impressed if she had put the U-lock through her lip, like all that other metal she has.

Paul Brinkley said...

Just do like they did in Children of the Revolution - set up a table nearby where you cook and eat bacon.

They'll come around.

Michael said...

I think the governor should resign and the offensive bill be rescinded and the rights of unions restored. Every protester should be awarded a full and immediate pension and you should be governed up there in Lilly white Wisconsin by these wonderful patriots. Because for some reason you have come to deserve it.

Jake said...

It's a shame to see these children acting out merely to fill a void in their lives, to be part of something simply to be part of something. It's also funny how these non-conformists so easily conform.

Michael Haz said...

I wonder what her philosophy is, beyond "gimme yer moneys?" Not much more, I'd bet.

kjbe said...

Too bad they didn't have my Master lock cuff-style bike lock. It'd been a lot safer.

ALP said...

Fred4Pres:

Here is your comment! I thought it an amazing photo - the story of getting the image is interesting as well. The story proves an idea I've long held regarding creativity: making a masterpiece is usually a complete accident - its tough to intentionally create a masterpiece.

Lincolntf said...

Stupid, ugly, and decked out like a Schwinn is no way to live.

Unknown said...

This is a practical problem. The young adult endangered herself. Troopers should get a hack saw and remove the appropriate column of the cast iron rail, and then remove the young person to jail, and add an appropriate fine for repair on to her other misdemeanors, etc.

Phil 314 said...

Mike at 4:26;
That was my first thought. That's what a Dad would have done.

Phil 314 said...

NevBob;
We pity her, really.

I wish you'd stop you this "we" crap. Speak for yourself.

As for your hopes for Meade. I bet he loves his wife beyond any particular political position. But I'll let him speak for yourself.

Now speaking for myself, with each passing thread you become more and more detestable.

Lucius said...

This is a pretty miserably foolish display of "protest"--sufficiently inexplicable to warrant some questions about the mental state of the person(s) doing it, or of those who may have encouraged them.

I'm curious whether this idea sprung from some group meeting or something.

It's scary and foolish.

Personally, I find her more than sufficiently cute (chubby-faced, pierced, nice outfit) to volunteer for her therapy. She needs philosophical intervention, and perhaps a bit more.

A book of Burke, a jug of wine, and thou . . . .

Milwaukee said...

Most pad locks can be locked in the absence of the key. If the U-lock is like my U-lock, it can only be locked with the key present. If the protester swallowed the key I would say give her laxative and wait for the key to come out, and let her find it then.

The facial piercings reveal a great deal. Any bets on what sorts of tats she has?

Lucius said...

@Fred4Pres: Not sure how I feel about the Vancouver riot photograph.

Assuming somebody isn't injured there (and that may not be a well-grounded assumption), it does have a certain visceral strength-- the shock of the contrast between melee and the couple right there on the street.

Maybe if this were Paris in '68, one could find it 'startling' in a context of mad politics and looney free love. Not something we'd advocate for, but it would have a kind of 'iconic' quality of summing up the spirit of something.

Here, I just don't know what it can sum up. Out of context, it feels like a still from a Danny Boyle movie: sort of in-your-face but tawdry. Ugly light, and really not an ideal composition. Would need the protesters and cops arranged more strikingly to really close the deal as 'iconic' for me.

I really do think the Madison protester is a bit swoony. If she were to move to the center, I'd . . . .

Anonymous said...

Fred -- Looks like it was staged. Oh well.

David53 said...

Ha, Ha, for some reason that picture makes me think of Garage...

Toad Trend said...

First post, winner.

End.

Carol_Herman said...

The two self-bolted idiots were "released" after an hour. And, arrested. Too bad there were no follow up pictures of the "un-bolting."

Hopefully, the State Police will begin STOPPING people with crowbars, and U-bolts, and heavy duty armor from entering the Capitol Building.

Maybe, the State Police need a clue book?

Lincolntf said...

If I sent dear little Susie to UW and THAT is what I got back, I'd sue the fuckers.

madAsHell said...

What is it about Never Forget they can never remember??

Toad Trend said...

Stupid is, as stupid does.

Brian Hancock said...

Hope no one steals her bike

Lincolntf said...

10-1 they name the bike path after her.

Chip S. said...

Brian H., Ever since the launch of the bike-sharing program, she's been wondering what to do with her old bike lock.

Lincolntf said...

Guy on Parks and FRec. is chained in the Office, demanding the Twilight novels be included in the towm's time capsule. He makes a far better case than Lugzilla the Locked.

Anonymous said...

Add an extra lock around them and then ignore them. Let them basque in their self importance. Let them soil themselves and sit in their own filth. Then arrest them for disorderly conduct and let them do community service cleaning up our house.

Please tell me that conservatives are going to make use of all of this footage to show what Democrats are like. I suspect the majority of us in WI are quietly biding our time, waiting to stick it to them when it actually counts at the next election.

Anonymous said...

The protesters with no skin in the game are hijacking the union/democrats twisted platform and taking it to a new moronic level.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Were people standing in line to get their pictures taken next to them?

Carol_Herman said...

Glenn Reynolds is finally linking to this story. His link takes you to Professor Jacobson.

The two protesters, a male and a female, were locked on. And, the State Police could not find a key. So, someone had to free them. Either by cutting the lock off. Or opening up the rail posts. Then they were arrested. Along with about a dozen others who were shouting "kill the bill."

Professor Jacobson said there was a better solution: "They could have shut the lights off. And, closed the building. Leaving those two protesters there."

Maybe, next time, if this "act" is repeated?

Hopefully, someone within the police department, of higher rank than just the guys who are there, is expressing some concern on how the U-bolts got inside?

Perhaps, they belonged to a staff worker? You know. Like the signs that used to be spread out on the Capitol Rotunda's floor. And, stored in Hulsey's office.

I wonder if the media will pursue this story? I mean, you can't be arrested, without having to supply authorities with your legal name, and address, no? And, wouldn't that then be information available to your usually dull reporter? If tasked, could they find the police station?

abby said...

Why is security allowing large metal objects into the capitol? One of these Mensa candidates is going to bring in a gun.

Marty said...

I agree with all the commenters who urged letting her stay there. After all, having libs in stocks is somehow an appropriate outcome!

Methadras said...

Finally Ann, you acknowledge that leftards and their ideology are insane. This is a great day for your blog.

george said...

All kidding aside, how is this supposed to change anything? That is underpants gnome logic.

1: Lock neck to Capitol.
2: ?
3: Teacher's Union wins!

BTW Althouse, you might be getting a few refugees. Ace is engaging in his monthly scourging of the commentariat over at his place. The ones he chases off plus the ones he offends in the process will land somewhere. I love Ace but he is getting a little... eccentric.

You know you have hit the big time when you start being embarrassed by the people who read your stuff... and you have enough of them you can afford to run them off. Not sure why blog owners always end up going off the rails. Must be a tougher business than it looks.

Titus said...

What about the dyke cop looking on?

You know she wants to pierce that protestors clit (if it isn't already).

Speaking of that, a pierced clit-like or not?

I have done a couple of guys with Prince Albert's and I found it interesting. I liked to pull on it.

Chip S. said...

george, My take on Ace's "purge" announcement was that he described a sort of "Gresham's Law" of commenting (bad comments drive out good), which forced him to wield the banhammer. I immediately thought of how remarkable it was that this blog seemed to be spared that problem.

Except for the mysterious Mary.

Lucius said...

@Titus: I think the pierced clit has become passe-- apparently there is some hazard of real nerve damage by piercing the clit proper.

Thus the ever-popular clit hood piercing has become the de facto ornament where the clitoris is concerned.

I'm fine with it. But really what I'm seeing on the protester is enough.

wv: "methot" Meth is not hot. Pierced lip, yes.

Mark said...

"Someone will save me from my madness!"

When the Left realizes this is a falsifiable statement, it will be too late.

Anonymous said...

Were the pair members of the People's Front of Judea, the Judean People's Front, the Judean Popular People's Front, the Campaign for a Free Galilee, or the Popular Front of Judea?

wdnelson93 said...

You've all got it WRONG! Maligning the misunderstood young lady as a leftist Protester, I must stand you all corrected. This beacon of democracy, of fair play...yes even going so far as to selflessly demonstrate so graphically to all who would understand, the necessary and proper method of enforcing a QUORUM in the Wisconsin State Senate.

Mark Harrison said...

Here's a serious question: What would the legal ramifications be if the police just left her locked up to her own devices?

Temujin said...

Madisonians just keep getting smaller and smaller. Soon, no one in the country will even be able to see or hear them.

It's probably been said already, but what a perfect illustration of the liberal mind.

My old union friends from the "old days" must be turning in their graves by now. What a disgrace this bunch has become. Nationally.

Kirk Parker said...

abby,

It's completely legal to bring firearms into Washington State government buildings (excepting only courts), and people can and do wear holstered, loaded handguns into the Capitol, legislative offices and chambers, and even the Governer's office.

Guess what happens when they do?

.

.

.

.

.

Nothing.

I certainly hope you're not suggesting that the gun owners of Wisconsin are of a less responsible nature than ours?

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