At our daily singing protest in or near the Wisconsin Capitol building, we are accustomed to having visitors take our pictures or shoot video of us. We’ve become something of a tourist attraction. Most of the visitors are sympathetic to our cause but a few are not. If that is freedom’s price, we don’t mind. We sing in a public space and having our images recorded is just part of the deal.
A couple of unusually bizarre dudes showed up the past couple days, though, capturing video and trying to goad the singers with their off-the-wall commentary. Can anybody here identify these guys?
I will refer to this guy later as "the cameraman."
This guy wore an LA Dodgers cap yesterday. I'll refer to him as the Dodger fan.
Recognize these guys? I don't, but I'd love to find out who they are and who they work for. Even if you don't know them, follow me past the mangled circus peanut for a strange tale about some very strange men.
Our daily protest reached a milestone on Wednesday: our 300th Sing-Along! We had lots of company in addition to the dudes pictured above. We started our event outside because a wedding was going on inside. We don’t disturb weddings, school band concerts, or any other event that has a permit, because we’re nice people. We were invited into the rotunda shortly after the wedding, though. The happy couple joined us in a song or two, accepted one of our heart balloons, and kissed each other as we cheered them. They even requested a song. It was a fabulous Solidarity Forever wedding.
Shortly after the bride and groom left, we had a group of school children and the Democratic State Senator they were visiting observe us from the second level railing, where I was also stationed. A few kids clapped along and joined us in a chorus or two. We'd had another Senator join us for a couple songs earlier.
I usually sing in the main circle on the ground floor, but yesterday from the second level I could see an Amish family waiting in one of the alcoves just off the main floor. Someone offered them copies of our songbooks, which they took. A couple of the young women quietly joined us in song from where they stood.
I just have to stop here and say – when you get the Amish to join your political protest, you know you’re on the right side of history.
And then there were those two odd fellows. They filmed quietly for a while and did a few interviews with Sing Along participants. Dodger fan then decided to do a strange, jerky dance through the center of the circle during one of the songs, a dance that included what looked like a tomahawk chop. Having just recently stood with (and drummed and sung with) members of the Bad River Band of Chippewa in opposition to a mining bill, a few of us were wondering if the offensive tomahawk chop was intentional. It was obvious these guys were up to something.
Later, Dodger fan asked to speak to the group. We obliged. (Actually, there is nothing we could have done to stop him. It’s a free country, right? We could have sung over him, I guess, but we listened politely. We’re nice people.)
He began by saying that he was glad to join with us in opposition to Scott Walker even though Walker turned a 3 billion dollar deficit into a 4 billion dollar surplus (a total fabrication that even the liar-in-chief himself, Scott Walker, doesn't claim.) I guess that was Dodger fan's clever attempt to trick us into applauding or something, but instead we politely corrected him. “Using Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, we still have the same 3 billion dollar deficit,” someone said matter-of-factly. A lot of eyes were rolling by this time.
“Oh,” said the Dodger fan, then he started a rant about how we needed to be more like Europe with their “fat pensions” and such. “Europe! Europe!” he started chanting. A few folks joined him, but I think they were yelling “You’re up,” as in let’s move on, sing some more, and let these goofballs do whatever it is they do.
According to people who spoke to them yesterday, the strangers were rather secretive about who they were or why they were there. Someone said they told one person they worked for Glenn Beck.
We thought they might make another appearance, today, and they did. Today’s Sing Along was outside. They pulled up in a black SUV, and the cameraman got out and started to record us. A few of us took a break from singing and started to record him. We took pictures of their car and license plate. I took a picture of the Dodger fan, sans hat, sitting in the driver’s seat. We invited him to come out and sing with us. He decided to stay in the car.
I walked over to the cameraman and asked him (politely) who he worked for. He ignored me. I asked him again. And again. And again. Finally, he responded by saying they were from New York.
Apparently that was supposed to impress us, or imply something besides its literal meaning, but us polite hicks were too dumb to get it.
“Who do you work for?” I asked again. “A television network? A TV show?”
“A guy.” A few people near me chuckled. The cameraman was getting nervous, though I don’t know why. I look like an accountant and I’m about as threatening as a Hostess Ho Ho.
“Does the guy have a name?” I asked.
“Emmie,” he muttered after a long pause.
“Emmie? You work for a guy named Emmie?” Maybe he meant he was working for an Emmy award. (That would shoot down the Glenn Beck theory.) Yesterday I was thinking maybe they were agents of Breitbart, but I think Breitbart's minions either vaporized instantly or were sucked into hell at the same moment Breitbart’s heart exploded like a Hostess Cherry Pie dropped from the observation deck of the Empire State Building (…that’s in New York.)
May he rest in peace.
The cameraman moved to another spot on the sidewalk, recorded a bit more footage, called somebody on his cell phone (I assume the Dodger fan in the SUV), then returned to the car. They pulled out after some traffic went by, but not before a few Singers rushed over and gave them one more invitation to come out and sing with us. Politely.
So, does anyone recognize these guys? Here's one more look at cameraman...