Protests

I just caught the last pink vestiges of the sunset as I drove home from the gym. Hooray for spring's arrival!

This was a protest soon after Walker's initial budget relief bill was announced. Just a few "slobs" taking time over lunch to exercise our rights as citizens and engage in our democracy.

Inside the Capitol, although I can't recall which day

On a more serious note, for the past month Wisconsinites have been engrossed in Governor Scott Walker’s budget proposals. Some of you may think that this is solely a Cheesehead fight, but it extends beyond our borders. Walker's actions are part of a nationwide, Tea Party-orchestrated effort to dismantle unions and thereby erode the Democratic Party. Scott Fitzgerald even admitted as much after the Republicans' underhanded--and perhaps illegal--passage of the bills this past week. So much for their contention that it was about balancing the budget.

Not only that. At heart, this is about our nation's extreme disparities in wealth. The Koch brothers are a case in point. They pledged $43,000 to Walker's gubernatorial campaign and donate generously to other conservative causes across the country. These two men recently tied for #18 on Forbes' Billionaires List. And what sort of work have they done to earn this wealth? Nada. They inherited it. The Kochs and others like them are attempting to de-fund valuable parts of our society--collective bargaining, education, environmental protections, and reproductive rights, to name a few--while enhancing their own wealth in the process. When Michael Moore spoke in Madison a few weeks ago, he gave us a chilling statistic to contemplate: Today, 400 Americans have more wealth than one-half of all Americans combined.

Most recently, on March 12, roughly 100,000 of us gathered to hear Jim Hightower, Susan Sarandon, Jesse Jackson, Tony Shalhoub, and many others speak against Walker's plans. Fifty-three tractors encircled the Capitol in the Farmer Labor Tractorade to show solidarity for the protest. This largest protest yet--trumping even Madison's anti-Vietnam protests--was inspiring and moving.

 March 5: Michael Moore eloquently speaks about workers' rights and the uneven distribution of wealth

But the best part of this whole movement for me is seeing so many people of different backgrounds united in a common cause. It's not just those crazy Madison hippies or just college students having a party (like Senator Grothman contended). Hell, I stood behind a guy wearing a Pardeeville Curling Club jacket at one protest. I might be wrong, but I'm guessing that he and I disagree on many issues. Nonetheless, we've joined together for the good of the larger cause. It's been awhile since the nation has witnessed a truly populist movement without it being divided by other "social" issues (e.g., abortion or gay marriage). And, in general, it's heartening to see people break out of their apathy.

February 26: Bradley Whitford (in the red jacket with the upraised arm) braves the snow and cold to speak to the crowd

Now we must invest our energies in recall efforts and Kloppenburg's campaign for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Walker and the Republicans want us to forget, but we must persevere. There's just too much at stake.