Stateside, a lot of the coverage of the London riots has been filtered through one major question: could it happen here? Today on The Five, the hosts dedicated a whole segment to this question, comparing the riots to situations like the “flash mob” problem in Philadelphia. However, in the segment before that, Greg Gutfeld made another comparison, likening the riots to protests last Spring in Wisconsin. To many this might seem like just a bit of a stretch. And Gutfeld isn’t the only conservative media figure taking that stance.

In 2005, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger launched a broad, unprecedented attack on union members. He proposed a series of ballot initiatives that would strip teacher job security, upend their pay structures, eliminate the use of union dues for political campaigns, and gut pensions that went to public safety officers killed in the line of duty.

And the labor movement rose up and beat him silly. Californians rejected every one of Schwarzenegger’s proposals.

Why is this story relevant today? Because NYT contributor Natasha Vargas-Cooper has decided that the reason people care about Wisconsin is because of the manly firefighters.

We all know that, before he entered the White House, Barack Obama spent some time as a community organizer. But what is that? Sure, it sounds nice and friendly but the truth is much more dangerous. Today on his radio show, Rush Limbaugh explained what community organizing is actually all about (“intimidation, bullying”) and warned that, the more defeats the Democrats see, the more “organizing” we’ll be subjected to!

Rev. Jesse Jackson has arrived on the scene in Wisconsin and told Megyn Kelly today that “we need a better deal for the American worker.” He also warned there would be an escalation of the protests as a result of the bill passed by Wisconsin Republicans. Kelly questioned why the answer isn’t to vote out Republicans next time rather than continue to protest now, but Jackson insisted that the injustice was too great to ignore.

Last night, the Wisconsin Republicans passed the anti-union portions of the controversial bill from Gov. Scott Walker. Protesters then rushed to reoccupy the Capital building. At first, state troopers attempted to keep them out. However, they eventually relented and the doors were open. An amazing video captured the situation as the protesters flood into the building and they and police try hard not to lose themselves in the tense moment.

Looks like the Democratic senators’ move to leave Wisconsin in order to block a vote on the state’s controversial union bill has backfired. As their presence was needed solely because the bill was fiscal in nature according to the state’s constitution, Republicans took all the fiscal material out of the bill and split it in two. The anti-union provisions that did not affect the state’s budget just passed the Senate with only Republican support.

Since the beginning of the standoff in Wisconsin, Republicans and conservatives have predictably cast the “Wisconsin 14″ as “cowardly” shirkers who “aren’t doing their jobs,” or have “retreated.” This is to be expected, but what’s really been hard to watch has been Democrats sitting silently by, or even going along with them. That’s why it was so great to see Rachel Maddow destroy this line of reasoning on Tuesday night’s The Rachel Maddow Show, when her “new best friend” Michael Steele trotted it out like a labradoodle at Westminster.

Hey have you heard about the current upheaval going on in the state capitol of Wisconsin? Turns out that the protesters angry at Governor Scott Walker‘s efforts to limit collective bargaining efforts by some state unions have done significant damage to the Capitol Building. If you’ve been watching Fox News, you’d know that it could cost as much as $7.5 million to repair the damage! Except as Jon Stewart pointed out tonight, its actually $350,000. Wait, what?

On Laura Ingraham‘s radio show, Wisconsin State Representative Republican Michelle Litjens discussed the threat she received from her Democratic colleague Representative Gordon Hintz, where he told her she was “f—ing dead” after her vote supporting Governor Walker’s budget plan. Hintz has already apologized for what he described as an “outburst” and Litjens has accepted the apology.

This past weekend Fox News’s Mike Tobin found himself amidst a crowd of angry protesters while filing a live report outside the Wisconsin State Capital building. As has happened before, the predominantly anti-Fox News crowd quickly interrupted the report and according to Tobin, turned violent, as he exclaimed “a guy just hit me.” But a new angle of the alleged assault has been published by an individual eager to demonstrate that Tobin may have overstated the scale of the “battery” he endured.

As I watched last night’s Oscar Awards telecast, I was on the lookout for any politically-themed acceptance speeches, so I perked up a little bit when I heard Inception sound-mixing Oscar winner Gary Rizzo thank his “union” crew, thinking the reference might portend a deluge of support from the rest of the Oscaratti™. Alas, it [...]

President Barack Obama’s response to labor protests in Wisconsin hasn’t been forceful enough for many political leaders in his party, but what’s likely the most scathing critique the president’s received for his actions (or lack thereof) came earlier today via MSNBC’s Cenk Uygur. Uygur lambasted Obama for not showing more solidarity with the workers – even though back when he was running for president, he vowed he would.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker continues to answer for the embarrassing ordeal of being the victim of a prank call. Although he didn’t want to be distracted by it any further, Greta Van Susteren last night interviewed Walker and wanted him to respond to a few of the troubling comments he made during the call.

Shepard Smith‘s conversation today with commentator Juan Williams would likely surprise loyal viewers of both Fox News and MSNBC. Shep’s repeated assertion that there is no longer a budget crisis in Wisconsin and that the battle in the state is all about politics and union-busting was most shocking because that’s the exact argument many of the commentators have made, and continue to be suggesting.

Ed Schultz took to the streets last night to interview the protesters outside Fox News who were making Glenn Beck unhappy. The protesters were certainly not violent, but sure did have some fighting words aimed at Fox like claiming “Fox and the Tea Party are one and the same” and alleging Fox is “anti-patriotic and anti-American.”

The nation is closely eyeing the loud Wisconsin union protests that have pitted workers against the state’s Republican governor, Scott Walker– or, as Jon Stewart described him tonight, the “pleasant, casually-dressed man” out to turn the unions into merely “a bunch of people wearing identical t-shirts.” On tonight’s Daily Show, Stewart tried and failed to see Walker’s side of the story, but was far more outraged with comparisons to the Egyptian revolts or 9/11, especially when there’s always Charlie Sheen.

The turmoil in Wisconsin is beginning to serve as a media bias litmus test as coverage continues, and today Bill O’Reilly welcomed Mary Katharine Ham and Juan Williams to look back on reporting so far. They took a look at the drastic rift between Fox News’ concern for the legality of doctors handing out sick forms and CNN’s description of them “helping out” and, unsurprisingly, the trio were all upset with CNN’s coverage.

While protests have become the latest global media trend, it is with those closest to home, in Wisconsin, that they have the most wiggle room in their coverage (and spin). Mediaite Political Editor and White House Correspondent Tommy Christopher visited S.E. Cupp on her new program today to evaluate media bias in the Wisconsin story, from MSNBC’s budget analysis to Fox News’ claims doctors are giving protesters a likely illegal hand.

In a conversation with John Bussey, assistant managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, Fox’s Shepard Smith made it clear he is no fan of comparisons between the uprising in Egypt and the protests that have centered on the statehouse in Wisconsin. “That’s not an equation we should be making around here. People died over [...]

The Morning Joe crew showed clips of offensive signs being carried by Wisconsin union protesters and wondered about the media’s double standard when covering this protest as compared to a Tea Party rally. With some signs comparing the Wisconsin governor to Hitler, Joe Scarborough believed when such signs appear at a Tea Party rally, the mainstream media highlights them, but for this union protest nobody is talking about them.

Sometimes, watching Ed Schultz in front of a crowd shouting about politics, one can’t help wonder if he is the reincarnated spirit of some controversial figure of the French Revolution. Schultz has been having a field day with the Wisconsin union protests, reporting live on the scene as a mass of hundreds behind him approve of every word he says. The more vulgar, the louder the crowd– Schultz’s most popular being a demand to Rush Limbaugh to go “wrap your fat ass in the flag.”

These out-of-left-field (politically as well as figuratively) labor protests in Wisconsin have brought out the weird in cable news. Glenn Beck retreated to his studio to study the rise of the Antichrist; Rachel Maddow retreated to hers to warn viewers of the shocking truth that people may hold different beliefs on the matter. Meanwhile, her colleague Ed Schultz grabbed the first flight over to revel with the union protesters and, amid cheers and chants, interview an old familiar face on the situation– Jesse Jackson.