In August of 410 AD the Western Roman Empire closed for business with the arrival of the Visigoths. The invasion of Rome was a leader named Alaric, and he and his army had been hired out to protect the northern edge of the empire. When Alaric did not get the promotion within the Roman Army that he sought, he made war on Rome herself. Like other barbarians tribes, Alaric and his Goths were hired guns with whom Rome cut deals to do her dirty work and then refused to make good on the deals.
Rome had become, too large, too far-flung and had too many enemies with which to contend to maintain its borders. And so it promised the barbarians a raft of goodies, including lands and citizenship in exchange for knife and sword work. By the time Alaric marched through the gates, the Empire was a shambles of poverty, strife and government mismanagement. During the following century, other barbarian tribes would pick over the bones of the former empire, but one could place the date of the death of Rome on the day Alaric and his disgruntled Goths rampaged through the city streets.
The problem with outsourcing your problems to thugs and barbarians is just that: They are thugs and barbarians, and if you give them a taste of the spoils or make them extravagant promises, they will expect you to deliver, and if not you will feel the wrath you had hoped they would vent on your enemies.
The Democrats have used union money and union activism and have sent unions to harass and in some cases even physically assault those with dissenting views. You may remember a man selling Gadsden flags who was attacked by union workers. Or this particular gem when a union protestor hurled obscenities at a 14 year-old girl at a Tea Party Rally in Wisconsin in 2011. (Warning: Strong Language)
And now the Mayor of Chicago has his hands full.
The smart campaign might have released something like Romney’s statement that Chicago teachers are turning their backs on students, and how disappointed he is. That of course would be and in fact was set upon by the MSM as Republicans trying to make political hay out of the strike. But we knew they would do that anyway.
Or maybe the Romney-Ryan Camp could have released something pithy and homespun like “Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.” It would have had the same effects except the MSM spin would have included a line about Republicans calling teachers dogs.
