a report of 2 buses of cops near doty st entrance
http://uppitywis.org/blogarticle/live-coverage-madison
live feed
http://qik.com/Brandzel
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by seemslikeadream » Sun Feb 27, 2011 7:07 pm
by seemslikeadream » Sun Feb 27, 2011 8:29 pm
by Jeff » Sun Feb 27, 2011 11:54 pm
UPDATE: Police Won't Boot Protesters from Wis. Capitol
UPDATE: Despite an attempt to close the capitol building, hundreds of protesters will remain overnight.
Sunday, February 27, 2011 --- 9:45 p.m.
by Tim Elliott
twitter @Thetimreport
Protests are still going strong downtown, despite an effort to shut the capitol down on Sunday.
At 4 o'clock authorities announced the capitol was closed.
But most people stayed put and the police took no action.
Technically, the capitol building closed at 4 pm on Sunday but you wouldn't know that if you were inside. There are still hundreds of protesters making sure their voices are heard. At 4 o'clock, a voice came over the PA system letting people know that the building would be closing. However not many people left, police aren't forcing people to leave and protesters are actually allowed to spend the night.
The 4 pm deadline to get out of the capitol came and went.
“We're standing up for worker's rights,” said Peter Rickman.
But these protesters didn't leave
“I think that this is a major victory,” said Gloria Hays.
...
by NeonLX » Mon Feb 28, 2011 10:30 am
Even a Madison police officer took a big chance, not knowing what his actions might mean for his career.
"I can't answer that for sure, and I know we have extremely ethical leadership," said Madison police officer Brian Austin. "I've been very proud of the statements my department, my chief, and my mayor has made and I'm very confident they are on the right side of this."
Earlier, hundreds of others did leave, although not necessarily happily.
by seemslikeadream » Mon Feb 28, 2011 7:03 pm
Walker Welding Capitol Windows NOW to Keep Workers from Passing Food to Those Inside
by Tula Connell, Feb 28, 2011
This from AFL-CIO Political Communications Director Eddie Vale who’s on the ground in Madison, Wis.
As we speak, Gov. Scott Walker & the Senate R’s are literally having the windows of the capital welded shut to keep people from passing food into the building to the people inside.
Our attorneys are collecting affidavits from the people who witnessed this, along with people who have been illegally denied access to a public, government, building.
We will be filing for a TRO [temporary restraining order] to open the Capitol.
It is a sad for democracy when Governor Walker and his R Senate allies are locking the people of Wisconsin out of their own state capitol.
Capitol Police Blocking Access to Building in Madison
By: David Dayen Monday February 28, 2011 8:00 am
Just got an alert from the Capitol City Leadership Committee (which is what the protesters who held the building last night have taken to calling themselves). The Capitol Police were supposed to open the building to the public at 8am. Two hours later they are still not letting anyone into the building. It’s particularly cold out in Madison today, with big crowds outside trying to enter. The media relations person for the CCLC, Thomas Bird, told me that one lady, who has been coming to the Capitol from the beginning, has colon cancer, and it took a long time for them to finally persuade the police to get her in.
Crowds outside the Capitol are chanting “Let them in!” as the police block the entrances.
The Department of Administration released new rules this morning about building access:
• Visitors to the Capitol will enter at the King Street entrance.
• A handicapped entrance will be available at the Martin Luther King, Jr. entrance.
• Visitors will be admitted to meet with legislators and other officials who work in the building, to attend committee hearings and to observe the state Assembly and state Senate if they are in session.
• Capitol Police will be stationed at the King Street entrance and can assist members of the public who do not have an appointment, but who wish to see their legislators or meet with others in the building.
• Protestors will be allowed into the building, but crowd size will be adjusted to accommodate the cleaning crews, the preparation for the Tuesday’s joint legislative session and the number of protestors who remained in the building overnight.
• Items that created safety or fire hazards and were removed from the building beginning on Friday will not be allowed back in.
• Police will continue the practice that began on Saturday of disallowing items including sleeping bags, blankets and animals (other than service animals) into the building.
• Members of the media will enter the Capitol at the West Washington entrance.
As you can see, they are really cracking down on access, and particularly what can be brought into the building. They have tried to make it very uncomfortable for people to stay, forcing them to sleep on jackets or the bare floor. They have restricted medical supplies and slowed the supply of food. But according to the CCLC, they are going well beyond these rules and basically blocking access to the building. And this comes after the police told protesters that they would be allowed back in at 8am.
Blocking access to the Capitol building is illegal under the Wisconsin state Constitution:
Article I, §4 – ANNOT.
The legislature cannot prohibit an individual from entering the capitol or its grounds. 59 Atty. Gen. 8.
Article I, §4
Right to assemble and petition. Section 4. The right of the people peaceably to assemble, to consult for the common good, and to petition the government, or any department thereof, shall never be abridged.
This is all tied to the joint legislative session on the budget on Tuesday. Governor Walker really doesn’t want to have to deliver the budget in a building under occupation. I think initially he planned to move locations, but that would not have been legal under Wisconsin state law. So instead of mass arrests and the negative publicity that would have went with it, Walker is going for the slow squeeze.
Local union leaders and the ACLU are working on the issue as we speak. More when I get it…
by brainpanhandler » Tue Mar 01, 2011 12:40 pm
norton wrote:Madison is a GREAT city
Luther Blissett wrote:Shepherd Smith going off-script on Fox News:
neon wrote:At least one off-duty Madison police officer camped overnight in the "closed" Capitol building
by brainpanhandler » Tue Mar 01, 2011 12:56 pm
by psynapz » Tue Mar 01, 2011 2:15 pm
bph wrote:I spoke with a first cousin of Walker last week that sees him a few times a year at family gatherings... dumb as a box of rocks apparently.
by justdrew » Tue Mar 01, 2011 2:19 pm
brainpanhandler wrote:Postcard from a New American Progressive Movement: The Wisconsin Strategy
By: David Dayen Tuesday March 1, 2011 7:10 am
Thomas M. Bird was a mild-mannered graduate student from Oshkosh, voting Democratic but paying only slight attention to politics, before Scott Walker announced his budget repair bill. He didn’t make it over to the Capitol in Madison until February 17, four days into the protests. Within a couple weeks, he was a ranking member of the Capitol City Leadership Committee, an umbrella organization made up of the different groups performing tasks in the building – the megaphone people, the Teaching Assistants’ Association, the volunteer marshalls, the information station coalition, the medical station volunteers, and the Wisconsin Workers Solidarity Sit-In. Bird participated in meetings coordinated under their own democratic rules. “The group meets regularly and we ensure that each meeting has an even number of people. Any business is put to a democratic vote. If there is a tie, there are 3 rounds of debate and then the motion is tabled. The Wisconsin Republicans could probably learn a
thing or two from us.” This is a protest, Wisconsin-style.
As Gov. Scott Walker cracks down on the activists inside the Capitol Rotunda on the day he releases his 2011-2013 budget, he will be unable to quash the spirit of people like Thomas M. Bird, whose life will never be the same. “I believe that the progressive movement and the labor unions are the only political force left in this country capable of standing up for the brave, hard working Americans who have seen their voice drowned out by the influence of corporate campaign donations… The Democratic representatives of the state of Wisconsin have converted me from being a cynic into being an activist. It is the greatest honor of my life that I have been a part of this fight, and I will do everything that I possibly can do continue it.”
What may not be clear from outside of Wisconsin is the level to which the grassroots protesters and the Democratic members of the Wisconsin legislature have become one throughout this struggle. Not just the “Fab 14″ group of Senators who still reside in Illinois, denying the Republicans a quorum and stalling the budget repair bill that would strip most collective bargaining rights from public employees. But the Democrats in the State Assembly have become activists themselves. They are readily identifiable in the orange “Assembly Democrats: Fighting for Working Families” shirts they’ve been wearing for two weeks. They help negotiate access to the building and use their resources to get in people and supplies. They hold public hearings through the night to force the Capitol to stay open. They spent 63 hours on the Assembly floor stretching out debate on the bill, forcing the local media to report on what it contained. One Assembly Democrat had reconstructive surgery for skin cancer last Tuesday, and was back on the floor Wednesday for debate. She was in the Capitol Sunday night, with a bandage on her face, as the protesters readied themselves to be arrested. “This is civil disobedience at its finest,” she told me.
“Our Democrats, often disappointing, have delinked from the compromises of the Democratic party, and linked in to the opinions of the progressive grassroots,” said John Nichols, writer for the Madison Capital Times and The Nation and unofficial mayor of Madison. He was speaking to “The People’s Legislature,” at a Crowne Plaza conference room on the east side of the city. A group called Fighting Bob, named after the legendary progressive leader Bob LaFollette and organized by the popular reformer and former US Senate candidate Ed Garvey, was meeting to discuss their next move to respond to the assault on public workers taken up by Walker. Nichols said proudly, “We have in a sense retaken the Democratic Party in this state,” and the People’s Legislature wanted to make good on that. Over the course of a day-long meeting, they plotted out a multi-pronged strategy that also has echoes of the kind of medium-term and long-term fights that the grassroots in the Capitol Rotunda will wage.
Everyone is focused on the near-term goal of stopping the budget repair bill, and that may happen. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, which endorsed Scott Walker on its editorial pages, now routinely criticizes him and today came out against the bill. Walker’s ramping up of out-of-state-funded TV ads shows his nervousness over whether his allies, the Senate Republicans, will waver and eventually lack the numbers to pass the bill. Charles Koch himself, and not a Buffalo-based blogger, actually placed an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal to announce support, which only extends the focus on that crank call, one which may led to a host of legal trouble for Walker. So the possibility exists that this gets stopped. But even if it doesn’t, Wisconsin’s grassroots, growing by the day, and buttressed by a completely responsive Democratic Party which protesters and activists will now crawl across glass for, have a plan. It goes like this:
• Legal Claims Against the Bill: Milwaukee’s city attorney came out today and declared that the budget repair bill is unconstitutional:
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s state budget repair bill would be unconstitutional because it would violate the constitutional “home rule” that protects cities and villages from interference in local pensions by the state, according to a legal opinion issued today by Milwaukee City Attorney Grant Langley.
In a letter to Milwaukee Alderman Joseph Dudzik, Langley stated, “… in our judgment, the courts would find the statue unconstitutional on three grounds: first, that it unconstitutionally interferes with and intrudes upon the city’s home-rule authority over its pension plan; second, that given certain vested rights or benefits that have accrued to employees currently in the plan, the statute would constitute an unconstitutional impairment of contract rights under the state and federal constitutions; and third, given these same vested rights or benefits, the proposed statute would violate the due process clauses of the state and federal constitutions because it would abrogate the terms and conditions of the Global Pension Settlement …”
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (who lost to Walker in the gubernatorial race) has already asked Walker to seek a legal opinion from the state Attorney General on the topic. These aren’t the only legal questions about the bill. AFSCME has filed an unfair labor practice claim against Walker for refusing to negotiate while under a collective bargaining agreement. There is still a lingering sense that the Assembly vote was illegal. Democrats are still looking at all footage of the vote, to see if their suspicions are correct that Republicans leaned over and voted by electronic device in place of their missing colleagues. “The most important thing over the next two weeks,” Nichols told the People’s Legislature, “Is to maintain the rule of law and the rules of the Senate. We can’t let them roll over process.” The point is that lawyers plan to sue the state the moment Governor Walker signs any budget repair bill that includes the stripping of collective bargaining rights. “I believe there are enough good judges left in this state to get injunctions and slow this down.”
• Legal Claims Against Walker: The phone call from “David Koch” features a number of statements from the Governor that could violate ethics, labor and election laws, according to Peg Lautenschlager, the state’s former Democratic Attorney General. There are campaign finance questions regarding Walker’s acceptance of an offer to come to California after he “crushes the bastards.” There’s the infamous answer “we thought about that” to the question of why Walker isn’t using planted thugs to disrupt the protests. There’s the admission that Walker is trying to break public employee unions like Reagan broke PATCO, and how layoffs in particular would be used in that fight. All of these things have questionable legality, and I believe the claims will be filed.
• General strike. Capital Times picks up on the fact that the South Central Wisconsin Labor Federation has endorsed the notion of a general strike. That’s basically all they can do; the federation has no authority to call a strike. But after March 13, state public employee unions will be operating without a contract. At that point, all bets are off. And workers throughout Madison, though barred by Taft-Hartley requirements from joining strikes, may do so anyway. If the bill passes, chances are there will be at least some portion of Wisconsin that will go on a general strike for some amount of time. There’s a very large piece of construction paper in the Capitol with thousands of names of people who signed their support for a strike.
• State Supreme Court. On April 5, there’s a race for a state Supreme Court seat between an incumbent Republican, David Prosser, and the Democrat, JoAnn Kloppenberg. Supreme Court races in Wisconsin are actual elections. They feature TV commercials and debates and retail politics. And the Democrats are both energized and ready. “This will be a national level battle, a proxy Presidential race,” said Nichols, who thinks that $10 million will be spent on it between both sides. Prosser has said publicly that he would coordinate his rulings in alliance with Republican ideology. He’s part of a 4-3 Republican advantage on the state Supreme Court. This would shift the balance of power there and provide a major setback for Walker and the Republicans. Organizing has begun and is intense inside the Capitol and throughout the state.
• Legislative seats. The same day as that April 5 special election, there are primaries for three state Assembly races, vacated by three Republicans who joined Walker’s cabinet. While at least two of the three are seen as strong Republican seats, progressives in Wisconsin plan to contest all three. “If this (protest) means anything, it means that the rules of where we compete have to be thrown out,” Nichols insisted. “We fight for every inch of Wisconsin!”
• Recalls. There will absolutely be recall elections for many of the “Republican 8″ state Senators who can be recalled immediately. The organizing for this has already begun; a Democratic strategist in the state found the Republican 8 vulnerable to recall because of the heightened passions around the issue. This will also happen on the Democratic side; a group from Utah has already begun that process. You will see many recall elections in the coming year, putting the closely divided state Senate up for grabs in Wisconsin. Recall elections are basically do-over elections in the state, with primaries and general ballots. “The recall is the progressive gift to the citizens of this state,” Nichols said to the People’s Legislature. “It was established for this moment… we have a duty to recall those legislators who failed us, and defend those who stood with us.”
One particular recall battle stands out, and progressives may take it on first. Sen. Alberta Darling is the co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee, which reported out the budget repair bill. She represents a North Shore suburban Milwaukee district, which is heavily Jewish and fairly Democratic. It’s the kind of seat many Democrats lost in 2010. In 2011 in Wisconsin, there’s already a candidate lined up for the recall, former Assemblyman Sheldon Wasserman. “This will be a critical contest,” said Nichols. “There’s our referendum.”
And then there’s the possible recall of Gov. Walker, which could not begin until January 2012. Whether progressives take it up could depend on whether they win these fights prior to it. They have a very deliberate strategy to build momentum at every step of the way. They are fighting for workers’ rights on a host of fronts. And they have a Democratic Party behind them. This is a new synchronicity between the party apparatus and the grassroots, and it’s starting to spread. Perhaps more remarkable than the Wisconsin battle is the one happening in Indiana. State House Democrats walked out there in protest of a bill that would have crushed private employee unions. The Republicans pulled back on that. But Democrats REMAINED out of the district, and vowed to stay put until an education bill that would set up a voucher system was scotched. Indiana Democrats are not exactly known as fighting progressives; in some cases they may be to the right of Wisconsin Republicans. But they have responded to their grassroots and are standing by them.
Ultimately, that’s how this new American progressive movement will move forward. The activists and the politicians, the protesters and the reformers, the signature-gatherers and the people fighting in the streets, the unions and the college students, all must unite on a series of goals dedicated to the rights of the worker to have a good job and a house and a reasonable way of life for themselves. People power, basic fundamental rights and justice. These are the tenets of the movement. “The question shall arise in your day: which shall rule, wealth or man,” said Edward Ryan, the Chief Justice of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, in an address to the law school in Madison in 1873. “Which shall lead, money or intellect; who shall fill public stations — educated and patriotic free men or the feudal serfs of corporate capital?”
http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/03/01/ ... -strategy/
by seemslikeadream » Wed Mar 02, 2011 10:42 am
Protests surge as Wisconsin Capitol lockdown extends to downtown Madison
Kristian Knutsen on Tuesday 03/01/2011 8:32 pm
Assembled demonstrators cheered and chantied as loudly as they could, in hopes of making their presence heard inside.
When the Capitol lockdown started Monday morning, following a successful gambit by protesters to remain ensconced inside the Rotunda the previous night, it was all but certain that the limits on access to the building would seep outside its walls Tuesday. Demonstrations have been building these last two weeks towards Gov. Scott Walker's budget address this afternoon, which would unveil a whole new set of cuts spreading the pain of austerity far beyond public employees.
Though a temporary restraining order required the Department of Administration to unlock Capitol doors and open access to the public Tuesday, the state did not alter its rules to get in, claiming that they met legal standards. The matter wound up in court by afternoon, continuing long enough to prevent public access inside the building in advance of Walker's speech, the unstated goal of these policies in the first place.
Amidst the legal dispute, crowds of people gathered outside the King Street entrance to the building all day long, queuing and clustering in an attempt to gain entrance. As their numbers grew through the afternoon, so too did the enormous law enforcement operation in place at and around the Capitol.
Around mid-afternoon, a set of concrete traffic barriers was unloaded at the top of West Washington Ave. and set in place at the driveway leading up to the Capitol. More barriers, the standard orange-and-white reflective type, were placed to divert traffic from the Square, as they have been now since the large protests started on Valentine's Day.
One block to the west, an orange mesh snow fence was placed at the top of the steps leading from State Street to the Capitol, blocking off access to most of the plaza outside the building's doors. A line of uniformed officers, mostly state troopers and sheriff's deputies from out-state departments, stood in a line inside this barricade, serving as a human deterrent to access. This type of barrier, rarely seen in protests on the Square, was last used a week ago Saturday to separate the small group of pro-Walker counter-protesters from the massively larger demonstrations surrounding it, and before that, to perform the same function at a neo-Nazi gathering held on Capitol grounds in August 2006.
Two stories above the State Street doors, the curtains to the Assembly chambers where the governor delivered his address were completely drawn. That didn't stop the thousands of assembled demonstrators from cheering and chanting as loudly as they could, in hopes of making their presence heard inside. The "Shame! Shame! Shame!" and "Whose House? Our House!" chants were ubiquitous throughout, and as the speech drew to a close, the crowd joined in chorus to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner," echoing a similar rendition of the national anthem at the colossal rally this past Saturday.
Over at the King Street entrance to the Capitol, a phalanx of officers from various departments stood guard in front of the doors, replacing the velvet ropes that have been in place the last two days. A crowd numbering merely in the hundreds was gathered here, likewise chanting and cheering.
The Capitol entrances at North and South Hamilton streets were relatively quiet. Only a handful of officers stood guard at the former, with protesters simply passing to and fro. At the latter, a few people were handing out neon Post-It notes for demonstrators to leave a symbolic message attached to the door, Martin Luther-style. By the end of the speech, all three doors were plastered with notes, a second layer of paper taking shape atop them.
A picket line, several score strong, made its way alon the Square's inner sidewalk during the speech, while others riding bikes equipped with speakers and other noisemakers made the same counterclockwise circuit, adding to the cacophony of disgust echoing around all four corners.
Meanwhile, rumors have been flying around for more than a day about the presence of tunnels leading east from the Capitol to the Risser Justice Center and the state office building at 1 W. Wilson St. The former is used regularly by Capitol staff, and the concern uttered by protesters addressed whether or not it might be used to provide a discreet and unencumbered access to the speech for Walker supporters to pack the gallery. (This was later denied by a spokesperson for the governor.)
Before the speech, downtown Madison alder Byron Eagon stopped by the P2 level of the parking garage at the Risser building, witnessed dozens of law enforcement officers present, and snapped a photo of a few guarding a tunnel entrance.
Stopping by the Risser building shortly before the speech, I encountered a trio of plainclothes agents with the Division of Criminal Investigation in the Wisconsin Department of Justice, guarding a door to a space they claimed was a storm shelter. Unlike the generally relaxed and personable law enforcement officers on duty during the last two-plus weeks of protests, their attitude was adversarial, with one attempting to seize my Capitol press pass and suggesting I could be a "terrorist," before trying to dismiss the remark as a joke.
More agents were guarding the Doty Street entrance to the building's parking garage, along with several other law enforcement officers in suits. Stationed around the building for hours, these agents were from the Milwaukee bureau. While they are usually tasked with investigating a whole slew of serious crimes, from homicide and arson to drug trafficking and government corruption, as confirmed by one of the officers present, today they spent their time in a role dismissed as "palace guards" by Dane County Sheriff David Mahoney. A Department of Justice spokesperson confirmed that DCI agents were part of the police operations in Madison today.
Following the speech, a group of protesters wielding red vuvuzelas distributed by DJ Nick Nice parked themselves by the garage entrance, buzzing their horns jubilantly at the passing rush-hour traffic and receiving a chorus of honking in response.
Back at the Capitol, the scene after the speech was energetic but overtly frustrated. At the State Street plaza, members of the crowd rolled up the snow fence and started pounding on the doors, demanding to be let inside the building. Shortly thereafter, the crowd stated streaming towards the King Street entrance, where demonstrators have typically gathered in the evening.
On their way around the building, hundreds approached the Capitol entrances facing Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. On the lower level, dozens stood and chanted in front of the locked doors, behind which stood troopers and deputies watching the scene. One protester stopped by the window to an office in the south wing, pleading for help from the Democratic staffer inside. The crowd was even larger atop the stairs to the upper entrance, chanting "Our House!" and "Let Us In!" as a cluster of helmeted firefighters led the way right in front of the doors, drawing even more cheers from the demonstrators.
More made their way to the King Street doors, where an impromptu rally commenced. A bullhorn was produced, and speeches condemning Walker and his new budget followed, as did yet another round of chants and cheers, now with a hoarse edge, but still brimming with energy.
Now hours after the speech ended, the protests at the Capitol continue, with crowds still gathered in front of the King Street doors. On Monday night, people seeking to show solidarity with those protesters remaining inside the Capitol, and perhaps give themselves a chance at access inside the building today (no such luck), established a winter camp on the pavement of the plaza, unrolling sleeping bags and layering blankets against the cold night. Their name for the bivouac: Walkerville, a reference to the Hoovervilles established early in the Great Depression, and a shot at the governor's policies of transferring the burden of austerity as far down the ranks of wealth and power as imaginable (for now, at least).
Talk is already under way online for the camp-out to continue tonight as this phase of protests winds down, with another round to begin Wednesday. While Walker unveiled his budget before a cocooned audience overwhelmingly dominated by supporters, its program of education cuts, state aid slashes, investor welfare, and more is now out there, ready to catch the attention of voters statewide, union and non-union alike. Those who have demonstrated in Madison these last two weeks are now hoping it will spark a whole new round of outrage.
by Bruce Dazzling » Wed Mar 02, 2011 1:29 pm
The Liberal Media Strikes Again
by William Rivers Pitt | March 2, 2011 - 11:12am
— from Truthout
If I hear one more person talk about the "liberal media" in America, I will probably vomit on them. It was a stupid and ridiculous thing to say last week - take a long look at which mega-corporations own which news networks, and you won't find a "liberal" entity anywhere on the list - but the events in Wisconsin have further underscored the absurdity of the statement.
It started in Madison when Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker tried to erase the long and excellent legacy of collective bargaining in his state, and thousands of union and public-sector workers rose up righteous to stop him. Fourteen Democrats from the state senate lit out to destinations unknown in order to deny Walker and his congressional GOP allies a quorum. Tens upon tens of thousands of people poured into the capitol to shout down Walker's ham-fisted power play, braving freezing winds and snowstorms to do so. Each day, the protests grew; one evening, firefighters marched to the capitol to the peal of bagpipes in a show of support. This past Saturday, supporters of the Wisconsin protest staged rallies in all fifty states to stand with workers in Madison.
On Sunday, Governor Walker ordered the Wisconsin capitol building to be cleared of protesters and locked down. As the deadline for clearing the building drew near, live-feed broadcasts from inside the building were cut off. Police poured into the building...and refused to clear the protesters in the name of union solidarity. The deadline came and went, and finally the word came down: the protesters could stay. The building erupted in thunderous cheers, and the action to stop Walker's power play continued for another day...until Walker abruptly locked down the capitol building on Monday:
About 60 demonstrators who had slept in the statehouse overnight remained inside as of noon Monday, and they banged drums, sang and danced in the rotunda. They had access to restrooms and, given the dwindling size of the group, appeared to have a decent supply of food. There was no indication that the police were preparing to arrest or eject them, and several said in interviews that they had no intention of leaving.
The events that have been unfolding in Wisconsin, culminating in this past weekend's national displays of support and capitol showdown, stand tall among the most remarkable popular uprisings in modern American history. Millions around the country have been energized, especially in states where similar anti-union legislation is pending. In Wisconsin, the people continue to peacefully own the streets, and without a quorum in the senate, Walker can only bluster and bluff.
Big story, right? Huge, in fact. No comparable event has taken place in America for decades, and the outcome of this showdown is likely to determine the fate of worker's rights all across the country. Unions are working hand in hand with public employees, liberals, progressives and regular folks to fight an egregious wrong, and thanks to social media, bloggers, citizen journalists and organizations like Truthout, the movement is catching fire from sea to shining sea.
So, of course, the so-called liberal "news" media has taken a complete pass on covering these events. The sun came up on Monday morning to find every TV "news" network, as well as every newspaper outside of Madison, covering the Oscars wall to wall with nary a mention of the political action taking place in Wisconsin. The Russian media is covering the story with more alacrity than their American counterparts. Were it not for the alternative/online news media, the protests in Wisconsin would be taking place in a virtual information blackout.
Take a moment, please, and cast your mind back a year or so.
Remember the first stirrings of what came to be termed as the "Tea Party" uprising? Never mind that it was created by powerful conservative corporate entities like the Koch Brothers. Never mind that the "Tea Party" was nothing more or less than the GOP base with a new coat of paint. Never mind that virtually everything they were yelling about was based on lies and deliberate misinformation. Never mind that most of them really didn't know what they were talking about, and couldn't spell to save their lives.
Three blivets wreathed in American flags and automatic weapons could stand on a streetcorner with signs reading "Keep Your Damn Government Hands Off My Medicare," and they would find themselves surrounded by camera crews from CNN, MSNBC and, of course, Fox News. But put 50,000 people a day out on the streets of Madison, put tens of thousands more on the streets in every state in the union, and those same news cameras are suddenly too busy covering the Oscars and Lindsey Lohan's ongoing crime spree to make an effort at coverage.
Hm.
I wonder why this is? We have a huge story in the making here, rife with old and new politics that cuts across virtually every segment of American life - blue collar workers, unions, protests, Tea Party governors, fleeing Democratic senators, teachers, budget issues, new media, old media, and the power of simple shoe leather - and yet those who represent the protesters in Wisconsin had to fight like wolverines to get just one of their representatives onto the Sunday political talk shows. Just one. As far as the American "news" media is concerned, Wisconsin simply doesn't exist.
Know what I think?
I think they're scared.
I think the corporations behind the "news" media are conservatives down to their DNA, but understanding that is a matter of simple logic and observation. They made the "Tea Party" into a legitimate political phenomenon by dint of total-saturation coverage. But now, they are trying to disappear the Wisconsin protests by ignoring them entirely. Is it because they don't like the idea of workers having the right to collectively bargain? Definitely. Is it because this national action scares the ever-lovin' crap out of them?
I think absolutely yes.
Keep it up Wisconsin. Keep it up, alternative media. Keep it up, America.
They are scared down to their corporate-owned socks, and as this movement grows, it will be impossible to ignore.
by 23 » Sat Mar 05, 2011 11:27 pm
by Maddy » Sun Mar 06, 2011 10:54 am
Michael Moore began by reading his statement called America is not broke, “America is not broke. Contrary to what those in power would like you to believe so that you’ll give up your pension, cut your wages and settle for the life your great grandparents had. America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It’s just that it is not in your hands.”
He then called the great conservative redistribution of America’s wealth a heist, “It has been transferred in the greatest heist in American history from the workers and consumers to the banks and portfolios of the uber-rich. Right now this afternoon just 400 Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans combined. Let me say that again, and please someone in the mainstream media, just repeat this fact once. We’re not greedy. We’ll be happy to hear it just once. 400 obscenely wealthy individuals, 400 little Mubaraks, most of whom benefited in some way from the multi-trillion dollar taxpayer bailout of 2008 now have more cash, stock, and property than the assets of 155 million Americans combined.”
by 2012 Countdown » Sun Mar 06, 2011 6:38 pm
by 2012 Countdown » Sun Mar 06, 2011 6:41 pm
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