Optimism from positive news about the Randy Hopper recall campaign helped motivate us today as we drove into the Republican strongholds of Mequon and Thiensville, exurbs immediately north of Milwaukee and wards known to be strongly in support of our own recall target: Alberta Darling. It was brutally cold with horizontal winds off the lake whipping snowflakes into our eyes, a temperature of around 29 degrees, and a hellish windchill. Yet we forged ahead on our quest to gather signatures. The day was a heady contrast of the frigidity of our Wisconsin springtime and the warmth of our rapidly growing community; online, new friendships, and friendly strangers.
The strength of online community merging into physical space, and the amplifying power of Kos in general, really hit home this week. After my last Saturday's diary, in which I mentioned getting kicked off of our chosen spot in Mequon and finding that there was no public space available in the area upon which we could peaceably gather, I received a lovely message from a fellow Kossack. She had read the diary, and happened to manage a facility just a few blocks from our place of exile. The property fronts the busiest road in the area, has a safe and large turn-in for cars, and is privately owned, and she gave us permission to use it as needed! She also threw in a table, a place to warm up, a bathroom, and a few friends eager to sign our rosters. We had a great crew, and gathered about 60 sigs. One man, having read last week's diary, drove all the way from Madison to help us. That is a wonderful combination of dedication, tenacity and inspiration!
At around 2:00, after much of our crew needed to leave, the two of us remaining also left the cold road, full of the warmth of new friendship, and headed to the Thiensville Library in order to join our other splinter group. I hadn't known most of these people before two weeks ago, but after last week we have become fast friends. Last night, my wife and I were invited to a button and sign-making party at one of their houses (a classic Milwaukee bungalow) and found a great gathering of activists, kids, neighbors; eating, laughing, talking politics and strategizing.
Many of these folks were arrayed in front of the library today, waving flags, carrying signs, and gathering lots of signatures. Last night, we had decided that our RECALL DARLING HERE signs needed a flip side that we could show our more visibly rude and aggressive passersby. "MIDDLE CLASS, NOT MIDDLE FINGERS" printed in large block letters nicely did the trick, generally leaving our single and double barreled bird flippers in mute rage. My five favorite anger stories (a new genre, perhaps?) of the day are:
1) An older middle-aged "gentleman" in a black Mercedes SUV stopped at the intersection where my friend Dave was holding a sign. The guy yelled out of his window, "Do you even live in Ozaukee County???" Dave replied, "No, I live in Milwaukee County!" The man, beet red in the face, said "Then you don't fucking belong here you motherfucker!" and Dave, very calmly, said "Actually I do, Sir. I live in District 8, which extends into Milwaukee. You can see it on a map if you don't take my word for it!"
2) A middle age guy at the intersection rolled down his window and said, "You union guys should all Go To HELL!" Dave just turned his sign around, to the "Middle Class, Not Middle Finger" side and didn't say a word. Dave is a pretty big guy, standing 6'4 and looking pretty fit. The man fumed and seemed perplexed and disappointed: "You're not even gonna talk to me?" Dave offered him a Girl Scout Cookie.
3) Another guy yelled at Dave, "You're an Anarchist!!!" I was nearby, holding a large American Flag, and Dave pointed to me and said, "No, I'm not. See: I've got a Flag!" The guy then said, "Well, you sure weren't in the Military!" and squealed his tires when the light changed.
4) A much more calm guy in the passenger seat of a small black sedan rolled down his window and said to me, "You know, I work for a living, and I'm tired of seeing it all given away to lazy beggars who do nothing!" I said, "Well, Sir, I work too." He replied, "Well, I work seventy hours a week!" Paul, who was standing next to me, said "Well, if you'd cut it down to 40, it might help the unemployment levels!"
5) A guy in his 60's, also in a fancy black SUV, rolled the passenger side window down, leaned over his sterling coifed and perfectly maintained wife and said, "Aren't you desecrating our Flag, using it in that way?" I said, "No, Sir, I deeply respect the flag." He was right next to me, and gave me the finger. I said, "Why are you giving me the finger? Is that civil? I'm not giving you the finger!" and he said, "Well, I learned this behavior from you assholes!" I swear that I am not making this up. It just boggles the mind!
I've grown very interested in these moments of friction among my fellow humans. I try to figure out the motivation, and fear, and often the deep and unrecognized privilege that inspires them. But in general, the vibe today was very different than last week. It was more gentle, more open. Strangers brought us coffee, thanked us, drove up and said they'd already signed but appreciated our efforts. Some folks wanted to volunteer. Three different people mentioned that they read about our signing station on Kos, and came down to sign. We gathered around 160 signatures total for the day between our two groups.
Last week, we all felt like we were setting up a tentative outpost in an uninviting frontier. This week, it felt like we had set up a general store in a far friendlier town. Yes, it is a Republican stronghold. But there are a lot of sensible and concerned people there as well, perhaps folks who voted against Walker, or who didn't vote, or who voted for him and now regret it. Folks who have been appalled at Darling's dramatic surge to the right, her sycophantic endorsement of all things Walker. We've broken through a kind of wall, penetrated a membrane and made it permeable. Reasonable citizens are finding common cause, and network theory suggests that every new connected node is also a point of expansion. We are community, and we are not going away.