In the Middle East, they'd've all been shot by now

Monica Davey and A.G. Sulzberger have an article in The New York Times about the situation in Wisconsin:

In a capital city overrun for much of the past week by union supporters, state employees, and students— all objecting to the Republican governor’s plan to cut collective bargaining rights and benefits for public workers— a new element has been introduced: opposition to the opposition.
ll around the Capitol square, tens of thousands of union supporters chanted, as they have for days: Kill the bill! Kill the bill! In one corner, a far smaller contingent of demonstrators, many of whom described themselves as Tea Party members, chanted: Pass the bill! Pass the bill!
The two groups sometimes mixed together (at one point, a Don’t Tread on Me flag poked out from a sea of union signs) in what became a continuous parade around the square.

Initially, lawmakers and others here seemed worried about how the events might play out, and scores of officers were on hand, along with barricades, temporary fences, and even police snipers.
One legislator had deemed the scene “dangerous”, but police officials said there were no serious problems as the day went on. The obvious tensions seemed to be playing out with only an occasional exchange of angry words, hand gestures, and spittle.
“You don’t care about this country! Shame on you, you’re selfish,” one supporter of Governor Scott Walker’s proposal told union supporters, wagging his finger as he spoke. Moments later, a union supporter addressed the other side: “What’s wrong with you people?”
If anything, union presence at the Capitol seemed to be larger than it had been all week. The protests have become something of a galvanizing point for Democrats, in Wisconsin and beyond, after demoralizing defeats in last year’s elections.
The demonstrations have been more organized than organic, with some of the Democratic Party’s top strategists in Madison and Washington helping to assemble giant crowds. Labor unions, along with the Democratic National Committee and the White House, see this moment as an opportunity to begin rallying troops for the next election.
Despite their smaller numbers, supporters of the bill said they were pleased, at last, to be present. They had grown tired, they said, of watching the union protests mount each day with no response.
“We’re not here to argue or anything, just to support our governor and his decision,” said Olivia Peach, 20, a Tea Party supporter who drove two hours to reach Madison. They gathered on a corner to hear speeches from local Tea Party leaders and others like Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, who is better known as Joe the Plumber. One of the counterdemonstration’s organizers read a statement from former Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska: “Union brothers and sisters, this is the wrong fight at the wrong time.”
At times, the two sides seemed to talk past each other. The governor’s supporters said state workers needed to accept increases in their pension and health care costs, just as other Americans have.
Many in the union crowd said they were willing to accept the proposed cuts, and labor leaders have expressed willingness to do so as well, but would not agree to the bill’s broader provisions. Those measures would prohibit unions from bargaining over issues other than wages, stop them from having dues deducted from state paycheck,s and require them to hold annual elections to stay in existence.
“It’s been an intentional framing of the issue so that it’s hard for people to hear each other,” said Barb Sullivan, a fourth-grade teacher who said she was willing to accept what would amount to less money in her pocket.
For the moment, a standoff prevailed in Madison, which has been transformed into a battleground for a national debate over public workers and union rights. Mr. Walker had hoped to have the bill passed in time for a budget presentation next week. But Democratic state senators, a minority, have refused to come to the Capitol, blocking a vote from taking place. Republican senators waited in frustration, Democratic senators showed no inclination to return and Mr. Walker put off the release of his budget proposal, with no end to the battle in sight.