Weigel

MADISON, Wis. -- I really don't plan on digging in on this, but I'm fascinated by the immediate impression that unions are acting violently, or ready to act violently, as they protest anti-collective bargaining bills. There are indisputable examples of union members getting pissed off during a debate with conservatives and shoving people. To wit:

But my point is that tens of thousands of people have been protesting these bills; there is evidence of two to five people being violent. And there are reports of violence that don't pan out. This Fox headline :

Union Violence in Wisconsin, Arrest Made

Sounds bad. What happened?

Police have hand-cuffed a protester at the state Capitol after he apparently tried to charge into the state Assembly.

There's nothing in there that indicates the guy was a union, is there? In fact, the local version of the story is headlined "police hand-cuff Capitol protester," because that's what happened -- a protester tried to run through security. So why call it "union violence"?