The protests in Wisconsin are spreading. Some people might say the protests in Egypt spread to Madison and are now here in Columbus. Either way, I haven't seen a lot of diaries on the subject, so I figured I'd share my personal experience.
I don't have much in the way of pictures, but Progress Ohio and mos1133 have some pretty impressive shots.
To provide a touch of background, our new governor John Kasich is trying to the same sort of budget shenanigans as Walker in Wisconsin. If anything, SB5 (Senate Bill 5) is a bit more brutal, refusing to exclude police or firefighters.
We got out to the state house around noon and there were already hundreds of people out there. I'm told the crowds eventually grew to thousands, but all I can say is that the area around the entrance was packed for the hours we were there.
Several local channels had news crews, although the Fox affiliate's van was strangely around the corner, showing only the thin line of people being passed through security.
It was cold in Columbus today, under 30 degrees and snowing. That didn't seem to dampen anyone's spirits, although it did make the shirtless firefighter with the crossed out five on his chest all the more impressive. Seriously, if there's one picture I wish I could have taken, it's that guy. Hard. Core.
They didn't seem inclined to let anyone into the state house through the front doors, except the occasional confused state worker. A tiny stream went in through a side entrance, but I'm guessing Kasich just didn't want snowy peasant footprints all over his nice shiny state house.
The crowd was awesome and all over the spectrum. The unions were out in force. I know I saw Teamsters , AFL-CIO , USW , UAW , and IBEW out there. Even with that, I'd guess the teachers were a roughly equal contingent, some carrying "Republican Educators Against SB5" signs.
The firefighters and police were smaller in numbers but made a strong appearance, complete with bagpipes and drummers. The drummers kept up most of the time we were there, providing the backbone of many chants.
I can safely say the students weren't being slackers either. They were up there, waving handmade signs and chanting along right with their teachers and the old hands from the unions.
There's something beautiful about a punk kid, complete with mohawk, protesting shoulder to shoulder with a middle-aged Republican teacher and an old Teamster. It's almost enough to melt my cynical heart, even standing out there in the snow.
We apparently mistimed our feet going numb and missed former Governor Strickland's speech in the capital. Word of mouth, though, was that he responded to chants of "Come back Ted" with a message that we need to take the power back for ourselves, not to give it to him.
All-in-all, it was a very enjoyable event and I think the message is getting out, little by little, no matter how much the media wants to ignore us.
And now, awards:
Best Sign:
Pimps: Wall Street
Whores: Ohio Senate
John: Kasich
Best Chant: "This is our house..." LET US IN!
Best Bodypaint: The slashed out five. Not a lot of competition on the bodypaint front, but
damn that makes an impression in sub-freezing weather.
Best Accessory: Those little gel handwarmers you can get. We probably stayed two more hours because everyone could feel their feet.