Is this what democracy looks like?

The protesters said it was. It spread from the ground floor to the balconies until the Wisconsin State Capitol dome thundered. Protesters outside marched to its cadence. It has become a cry of solidarity among union supporters in Madison, Wis., as they protest Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal.

“This is what democracy looks like.”

But is it? Democracy in America has always been about compromising and finding middle ground. Out of the extremes comes a result that might not make everyone happy, but will satisfy the majority. Walker isn’t interested in that.

Walker has made it clear from the start that he will not budge. Even when unions agreed to accept Walker’s financial demands in exchange for the preservation of their collective bargaining rights, he refused to entertain that conversation. Walker is not interested in negotiating.

Oh, and by the way, in a prank phone call executed by Buffalo Beast editor Ian Murphy in which Walker believed he was speaking with right-wing billionaire oligarch David Koch — a method of obtaining information that I personally do not condone, but now that it’s out there, what can we do — Walker admitted to the pseduo-Koch that he was considering tricking the 14 Democrats who fled the state into returning for a “talk.” He said that he will not negotiate, reassuring Koch the only reason he would offer to talk with the Democratic lawmakers is to get them back to the Capitol.

“I’ll only do it if all 14 of them will come back and sit down in the state assembly,” Walker said in the phone call. “They can recess it … legally, we believe, once they’ve gone into session, they don’t physically have to be there. If they’re actually in session for that day, and they take a recess, the 19 Senate Republicans could then go into action and they’d have quorum because it’s turned out that way. So we’re double checking that. If you heard I was going to talk to them, that’s the only reason why.”

Tell me, is this what democracy looks like?

Walker doesn’t stop there. Not only does he disregard workers’ rights and the democratic process, he also doesn’t care about international laws and standards.

Convention 98 of the International Labour Organization, a United Nations agency, ensures that public employees have the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Most recently, Convention 98 was invoked in an International Labor Organization decision to call for the repeal of North Carolina General Statute 95-98, the state law that prohibits public employee collective bargaining.

In other words, states’ refusals of collective bargaining rights are in violation of international labor standards.

Is this what democracy looks like?

Walker’s further disregard for law is made evident — again, in the prank call with pseudo-Koch — by his acknowledgment that he “considered” planting agent provocateurs in the peaceful crowd to incite violence among the protesters.

When questioned about that admission in a news conference, Walker said, “There’s all sorts of options out there.”

What kind of democratic governor would consider, even for a moment, provoking violence among nonviolent protesters? Let me remind you, there still have been no arrests related to the protests taking place in Madison.

If his lawlessness isn’t enough to indicate that Walker is not a democratic ruler, how about his willingness to use scare tactics to put the heat on state employees?

“So we’re trying about four or five different angles, so each day we crank up a little bit more pressure,” Walker said to the man he thought was Koch in the prank call. “The other thing is I’ve got layoff notices ready. We put out the at-risk notices. We’ll announce Thursday, and they’ll go out early next week. And we’ll probably get 5,000 to 6,000 state workers will get at-risk notices for layoffs. We might ratchet that up a little bit, you know.”

Refusing to negotiate? Inciting violence? Using layoff notices to “crank up” the pressure?

It all makes Walker nothing more than a poor man’s Vladimir Putin.

And he’s got the upper hand. Despite the fact that recall efforts have commenced, Walker has a year before he can be recalled. Republicans have a majority that makes it impossible for them to lose in the legislature. His goal is to break the unions, and for now, he’s unstoppable.

Walker is not interested in negotiations. And he certainly isn’t interested in democracy.

The only way the people can participate is by marching; and, maybe, if those 14 Democrats stay out of the state long enough to leave Walker with no choice but to table the bill or amend it. The only way the people can participate is by doing everything they can to outlast their bully of a “leader.”

So, is this what democracy looks like?

In many ways, it’s very much like what democracy looked like in Egypt.

This is what democracy looks like when the people are faced with a tyrant.

This is what democracy looks like when there is no other option.