Dear Wisconsin,
I know, I know -- it's been a while since you heard from me. I made some donations a while back, when things up that were at their most heated, and since then I've been a little quiet. I have to admit, it's been a tough, belt-tightening summer for me -- and probably for a lot of people. The heat's been grueling just about everywhere, and it seems like the only ones who can keep fighting the tough fight are those who can afford air conditioning. I myself feel depleted, spent, discouraged -- for reasons I probably don't have to go into. But there's good news, too. In about a week, all you Wisconsinites can change the story completely. The truth is, the results of the election up there aren't just going to echo throughout Wisconsin, and they won't just echo around the United States, either -- rather, whatever happens next week is going to be a message that the American people send to the entire world. The message will be this: do Americans simply stand by as corporations walk all over their rights? Is it still possible for Americans to stand up for the principles that gave birth to this nation, and made it great? Or is the American experiment basically over and done with?
We'll find out next week.
Wisconsin: please show us the way home...
It's been a tough year for me vis a vie maintaining my faith in politics. Or, maybe I should say that it's been an up-and-down year. Because even though it's been hard for me to watch as things have played out recently -- no one's more disheartened than I am about how things ended up with the debt ceiling battle -- I can also remember those images of all you Wisconsinites out there braving the cold to stand up for your rights. I felt bolstered by those images -- reassured as to why I'm a progressive and a democrat. Don't get me wrong...I'm still here, I'm still going to donate again as soon as I finish this letter, and earlier today I signed up, for the first time, for a recurring donation to Obama's reelection campaign. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I'm feeling myself slip a bit. It feels like the bad guys are winning. I know that the adults in the room have had to make some tough choices, but those tough choices tamp down emotional will and momentum, and the risk is that tough choices quash hopes and passions. That's not good.
Maybe it's different for you all at this moment. Right now, it's hard for the rest of us to see how we can make a significant change that will make an immediate difference. An internet credit card donation just isn't like voting for something you believe in. But you can do it right now. The truth is, Wisconsin has always been at the front of this battle. It might be easy to suggest that Wisconsin is some kind of elite fighting unit -- the Delta Force of union rights -- but that doesn't quite fit for me. Because the most moving images I remember from a few months back are not the brawny firefighters and policemen who bravely joined the protestors. Rather, it's all the ordinary Wisconsinites, from elbow-patch professor types to middle-aged factory workers, who inspired me most. Ordinary people proving that that just by showing up you can fire a shot heard 'round the world. Union kids, college students, elementary school teachers -- all marching together and becoming a force that corporation, no billionaire, no zany politician, can resist.
That's a moving thought, but it's also a memory right now. Even if I can muster the courage to help a little bit from where I sit, I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm scared. It's not just that we need a political win. It's that we need to be reminded that you can fight city hall -- that you must fight city hall. No one has ever been as good at it as Wisconsin.
It's not just a message I need, or that disgruntled democrats need -- it's a message that can service the whole world, at precisely that moment when the world, too, has come alive with the idea that tyranny can be resisted, that rights are worth fighting for.
I may not need to say it, but don't slow down, Wisconsin. Don't believe any poll that tells you you've already got this won. And reject, too, unequivocally, any suggestion that your fight, regardless of the result, will not resonate far beyond your home -- it already has.
Good luck next week,
J.C. Hallman