December 16, 1773 - despite unbelievable odds, poopoo-ed by all so-called experts, $5 Millions from King George, lies, cheating, threats, Boston patriots refuse to accept the iron first of British control over their lives.
August 9, 2011 - despite unbelievable odds, poopoo-ed by all so-called experts, $50 Millions from Koch & Co, lies, cheating, threats, Wisconsin patriots refuse to accept the iron first of Bankers' control over their lives.
COINCIDENCE? I think NOT!
"Give me Liberty, or give me death."
-- Patrick Henry
"We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."
-- Ben Franklin
From the Church of Ineffable Stupidity:
As my recently deceased Golden Retriever, Oberon, once said, "What FOOLS these mortals be." Just two short months ago, we suffered what some called an embarrassing defeat, while those who bothered to see it all in context, realized what a huge victory it was.
The day after our huge victory, I looked around dKos, expecting celebrations, or at least some high fives, or no less than a few mid level fours. What did I find? Depression, anger, exhaustion, grumbling, and worse.
Little did some usually smart people realize that
a. Recall elections are almost impossible to win.
b. Historically, even if you get on a recall ballot, the incumbent almost always wins.
c. WE EFFING KICKED ASS in Wisconsin, and sent a message that was heard around the entire country.
d. Wisconsin taught the rest of the country that getting off your ass, standing up for what is right, and standing up against what (and who) is wrong, actually works. But the key is STANDING UP.
Just like fertile seeds sown in a rich field of loam, soil, water, and sun, the idea that we can and should stand up suddenly took root and began to blossom.
To all those nay-sayers, disbelievers, depressed and disappointed folks here, I say this: Take a deep breath. And another. Slower. And again. Close your eyes and listen to these words. Oh, wait, that won't work. OK, open your eyes, and listen to the following:
What happened in Wisconsin on August 9, 2011 was a huge victory for all of America, not just as a great result for a very tough recall election, but because of the ideas it planted across the country. What is happening in New York, Chicago, LA, and 100 other cities is in great part due to the hard work, the sweat, the toil, the ideas, and the dreams that came together in Wisconsin just two short months ago. Despite arrests, harassment, abuse, and the studied, deliberate, almost ludicrous corporate blackout on factual media coverage, the protests are steady, growing, and ever more a magnet for unions, nurses, doctors, unemployed, students, activists, police, fire, and other service providers, and thousands more.
We really are the 99%ers. We can control our destiny. We can throw out those who bought into the corporate and banker mentality, seeking their blessing, seeking their bribes, seeking them, and serving them, instead of representing our best interests. These protests are proving that each and every day. We can get the attention of Democrats in office, reminding them that money truly does not buy happiness, nor does it guarantee their re-election. We can even set meetings with the White House, even though that is an even harder block to break into, educate and convince.
It will not be easy. As any Wisconsin person will tell you (I only provided calls, pizzas, and money from Illinois) it was no easy task to accomplish as much as they did. But it was that very effort that made the victory so telling, so bold, so welcome.
Just look at the powers that were allied against Wisconsin. Koch & Co, with their $50 MILLIONS in money. Every TV and cable station. thousands of folks imported to disrupt, lie, confuse, and stop that movement. It was a huge action, which ran into a huge, well funded Reaction. And despite it all, we won.
We face the same forces today, only on a larger scale. The Media, corporate owned, is going its best to ignore us, and if that fails, to blame us or paint us as something to be ignored. They have hidden agents, trying to stir up trouble, trying to create problems so the rest of us would be arrested or at least discredited. They have police forces attacking, arresting, and stalling or stopping us at every corner. Hell, one NY bank paid $4.6 MILLION to the NYPD just to increase its security before these protests began.
They have tear gas, Mace, plastic fencing, armor, and really big guns. All we have is the power of ideas and the truth.
Guess who will ultimately win. It will be no contest.