Conservatives use divide and conquer rhetoric in Wisconsin union protests

How Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker divvies up the world:

“We can no longer live in a society where the public employees are the haves and taxpayers who foot the bills are the have-nots,” Mr. Walker, a Republican, said in a speech. “The bottom line is that we are going to look at every legal means we have to try to put that balance more on the side of taxpayers.”

News flash: Public employees are taxpayers.

How the headline writers at the Wall Street Journal divvy up the world:

What's at Stake in Wisconsin's Budget Battle
Who's in charge of our political system—voters or unions?

News flash: Union members are voters.

Notice how it's never "Who's in charge of our political system? Tea Party Express OR citizens?"

This divisive framing about the Wisconsin protest is deliberate, not just a reflection of how conservatives don't understand the difference between sets and subsets. Setting up phony factions in the working and middle classes is the main strategy they use whenever there's a possibility of unification and concerted action not condoned by elites.

Fight it. Document it. Call it out. Every single time.