UPDATE and Announcement: Any kossacks in downtown Madison tomorrow, Saturday March 5, let's meet each other at 1:30 p.m. on the square in front of the UW Credit Union branch, 44 E. Mifflin St. I'll be holding a sign that says "Peace is the Word." Nothing formal. We'll chat, walk around the square, visit the capitol if it's open. See you there! RSVP in comments if you want or just show up.
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Here is a list of protest/rally activities. Not comprehensive, but a good starting point. Lots of stuff just happens. Come on up to Madison!
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THIS JUST ADDED to the WEAC site linked above!
A Step It Up: We Are Wisconsin Rally! is now planned for Noon - 3 p.m. on the King Street side of the State Capitol. Musical guests include Michelle Shocked, Jon Langford and Ryan Bingham. Speakers include:
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin
State Rep. Kelda Helen Roys
Kabzuag Vaj of the community justice advocates at Freedom, Inc.
Leland Pan of the Student Labor Action Coalition
Jim Goodman of Family Farm Defenders
Paul Soglin and David Cieslewicz
Matt Nelson of Color of Change
MCs Patrick Depula with Sarah Ben Manski
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There isn't much to be said about the following. Please follow the link and watch...
Lawmaker Tackled By Police
Democratic state Rep. Nick Milroy (South Range) was tackled by police Thursday evening while he was trying to make it inside the Capitol in Madison.
Then come back for some thoughts on why the Republican Party has completely melted down in Wisconsin.
3 weeks ago, nobody knew who the Koch brothers were. Now the brothers have trouble finding a Wisconsin restaurant that will serve their busload of brainwashed astroturf front-group members.
3 weeks ago, most Wisconsinites trusted their local news reports. Now, they go to a rally, then turn on the news at night and see that the media have distorted events they just witnessed with their own eyes. They see that out of 10,000 people, 4 supported Walker but still got half the air time. They now realize they're being duped.
3 weeks ago, a smarter governor could have picked a few more morsels off the bones of a slowly dying labor movement, but Walker decided to overreach. Now, people are seeking out union members of all kind and thanking them for their work and their courage. I can guarantee you that public employee unions will survive in Wisconsin, even get stronger. And it will be 50 years before anyone tries what Walker tried. They told him not to mess with the teachers, but he tried it anyway and only galvanized the entire state against him.
I saw overhead video of thousands of off-duty and retired New Jersey police and firefighters in Trenton yesterday, marching on their capitol to demand fair treatment. That would not have happened without Walker's major blunder and the Wisconsin response. I truly believe that. Without Wisconsin, that gathering would have been smaller and not mentioned except for perhaps a blurb in a Trenton newspaper.
The pictures last night of the Wisconsin protesters peacefully obeying a court order and evacuating the capitol in Madison have taught 3 generations of Wisconsinites that peaceful, persistent, passionate protest WORKS.
Scott Fitzgerald, the Wisconsin Senate majority leader, signed what are probably unconstitutional orders for the arrest of fellow senators yesterday, yet describes what the Wisconsin 14 are doing as a "constitutional crisis." The hypocrisy is glaring, and people here know it. Everything the 14 and the protestors has done has been legal, even explicitly allowed in the Wisconsin constitution. They have obeyed police and court orders and they have shown respect for the property and employees of the state, especially to law enforcement officers.
The only legal judgment delivered to this point is that Walker's lockdown of the capitol was unconstitutional. The warrants for the senators, the 17-second assembly vote on the repair bill, the withholding of senators’ pay, the sneaking in of Walker supporters for the budget address...all illegal and corrupt – and Wisconsinites know it.
The GOP is severely wounded. Everything they try to pass into law will now be scrutinized and analyzed and if it smells of corporate influence or favoritism, you can bet the citizens will be mobilized against it. There will be numerous recalls of Republican senators soon, they will definitely lose the next governor's race, whenever it occurs, and you can bet this state will vote for Obama again in 2012.
And finally, the four words that will haunt Walker and the GOP for a long, long time:
“We thought about that….”