Constituent Service

Leading up to, then following the March 1 budget speech, Scott Walker's team had police limiting access to the Wisconsin Capitol Building.

The move contravened the state's Constitution, which requires the building to be open to the public.

And it was a move to reign in the reasonableness of the law enforcement agencies that have maintained the public's right to be in the building over the last weeks.

As Walker's actions have become more extreme, the County Sheriff has gone on record saying the State police had to take over, because "I refused to put my deputy sheriffs in a position to be palace guards."

Frustrated at constituents not being admitted to the building, Democrats moved desks outdoors, and hung a banner: "Assembly Democrats Are Open for Business."

John Nichols, on what drove them to it:

A judge has ordered the governor and his aides to open the Capitol.

... the governor and his aides have failed to comply with the order. Instead, they have restricted access so severely that, in the words of former Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager, they make a mockery of the state's tradition of open and accessible government.

"Opening the Capitol to the public does not mean letting one person in every three hours, as then restricting the movements of that one person once she is inside," explains Lautenschlager. "The governor and his aides are not respecting the judge's order; they are in contempt of it."

While this was happening, Walker's team was admitting their constituents.

That's going by what Nichols said on the Thom Hartmann show yesterday: the public was being admitted no more than one per hour, but the building was "swarming with lobbyists."

Perhaps they were from the bunch described here: ringers sneaked into the building to applaud the Tuesday night budget speech—

Nearly without exception, the west gallery was all men in black suits and, when the governor said something meaningful, they all rose and applauded, and they did it with verve and volume. I'm not saying these guys were not from Wisconsin, but if you know Wisconsin, you know for a fact that even for most businessmen, black suits are not part of the wardrobe. In general, the only time one will see a large gathering of Wisconsin men in black suits is at a funeral, or, apparently at a Governor Walker budget address.

There are so many fascinating aspects to the story.It's clear that Wisconsin expects open government, and that many citizens have re-thought voting for Walker, now that they've seen his Banana Republicanism in action.

Wisconsin elected officials can be subject to recall after one year in office. That gives Walker about ten months, but the campaign to start recalling his allies has begun.

And of the big picture—the real struggle ahead and the real hope—a wonderful piece by John Nichols: The Spirit of Wisconsin.

In Ohio, the course of events and possible remedies are very different, but a state referendum is likely to be the next move unions and Democrats make against the class warfare being waged by their governor and Republican majority legislature.

"The Spirit Of Democracy Is Abroad In The Land"

Photographer Christopher Guess:

"the people's house" feels as much like a university student union as the government's legislative home.

Guess posts about the key organizing role played by the UW-Madison Teachers Assistant Association:

In Wisconsin, teacher assistants carry the same labor rights as state employees. The TAA has played a critical role in the organization of the protests running bus shuttles, doing food distribution, coordinating with police to prevent removal of signs and posters, organizing petitions, etc. Although they just lost their 24/7 access to this conference room where members where working and sleeping, they remain the "central brain" of the protest activity.

More Guess photos, in another post here.

That sculpture above commemorates the man; it's easy to imagine how palpably the spirit of "Fighting Bob" La Follette is felt at the Capitol these days.

Seventh-generation Wisconsin John Nichols observes—

This has happened before, of course. More than a century ago, Robert M. La Follette battled for the governorship in election after election until, finally, he beat the corrupt Republican machine and ushered in an era of progressive reform that redefined our politics for generations.

Just as La Follette had to fight the robber barons and their political stooges, so today's progressives are battling out-of-state corporate interests (including Koch Industries) and their local appendage, Scott Walker.

The fight will not end immediately, or easily. The "money power" -- as La Follette referred to it -- is arrayed to advance Walker’s legislative and political agenda. But the people power is on the march, as was seen last Saturday when a crowd that numbered well in excess of 100,000 protested in Madison, and tens of thousands of additional Wisconsinites went to their city, village and town squares to demand that the governor and the Legislature serve the people of Wisconsin as opposed to billionaire campaign contributors like David Koch.

As the progressives defeated the Scott Walkers and Paul Ryans of their day, La Follette declared that "the spirit of democracy is abroad in the land." But the great governor and senator warned against thinking that one election victory or one policy battle success would be transformational. "We are slow to realize that democracy is a life; and involves continual struggle," explained La Follette. "It is only as those of every generation who love democracy resist with all their might the encroachments of its enemies that the ideals of representative government can even be nearly approximated."

Meanwhile, in another part of the world Nicole Tung takes portraits of people standing up to a dictator.

Bloodshed is not over; yet, there's this—

Benghazi, Saturday, February 26: I was walking out of the main square where Friday prayers and protests take place — it's in front of the courthouse in Benghazi where the revolution effectively started. This guy couldn't have been older than 22 and he was leaning out of the sunroof of a car in this costume yelling and shaking his fists, imitating Qaddafi. Everyone who walked past laughed out loud. It was pretty extraordinary that this kind of mocking could take place so openly, and everyone could feel the lighter spirit and a weight being lifted.

Sale Not Yet Final

Photo: Cap Times

Police allowed a group of protesters to sleep in the capitol building last night, despite an earlier plan to clear the building completely.

More on what, beyond just screwing workers, the Republican game is about.

So much going on, that's of such importance and that our media will not report.

As if Wisconsin weren't enough to ignore: here are some people acting in a manner really unacceptable to the owners and their media employees.

"Welfare Queens" + Overreach = Tipping Point?

The Noise Machine has been busy setting things up, with the "public employees are welfare queens" campaign.

The Right has the advantage of thirty years of de-industrialization and gutting of employee rights in the private sector, leaving public employees as the last large group of the unionized.

Still, those unions have been so weakened that in Wisconsin they had conceded to Walker's fiscal demands, while trying to just retain basic bargaining rights.

Today the Capitol Building in Madison is closing for maintenance, after yesterday's biggest rally to date.

Wisconsin's labor traditions are too ingrained, and an impressively sustained organizing effort has kept demonstrations going (and growing), in the last two weeks.

And, until the other team staged their improper vote, the public was in the building on official business: to testify on the bill's impacts at the hearings still being held by the Democratic members of the Assembly.

Democrats who have insisted on representing the people who elected them.

As have the fourteen Senators who continue to stay out of state, despite all threats from Walker.

It's as much about privatizing government functions to the profit of the Kochs, et. al., as it is about destroying labor rights and rolling back any chance of middle-class pay in this country. And in the bargain, destroying education for the masses is always a plus for the owners.

As Republicans in test states were suddenly ramming through bills against Welfare Queens, forces on another front were at work in more places. They were busy in multiple states—and coordinating with the DC House of Tea—to wage war against Whores; that is, war on the health of all reproductive-age women.

We're so far beyond what a normal country would put up with, but given where these states' GOPlutocrats are taking their "mandate": for the non-brain dead segment of the public, will this be a tipping point?

And can it start to reverse thirty years of radicalism: Reaganism gone wild and made Bipartisan; no credible news reaching the average audience; no accountability for the worst of crimes, from those of Bush/Cheney/Rove/et.al., to a Wall Street "not in jail."

Spotting The Outside Agitators

Hint: they aren't here—
Photo: AP/Andy Manis

On behalf of law enforcement agencies, the City of Madison thanked the demonstrators: for their peacefulness and for showing

... how democracy can flourish even amongst those who passionately disagree. discourse and discussion was - at times - loud and heated. That was to be expected... the goal of law enforcement has been to provide a safe environment for democracy to take place.

When Walker's allies directed capitol police to start removing camping gear on the 25th (Friday night), others differed—to the point where—

Police union official urges officers to sleep among protestors, keep Capitol open.

Nor are the outside agitators this group of disabled people who, panicked at the likelihood of being sacrificed to Walker's "Budget Repair," occupied the state GOP headquarters for a couple of hours.

The tens of thousands who came to Madison have expressed themselves publicly; behind the scenes orchestration is the M.O. of the true outside agitators.

Joshua Holland explains how Walker created a budget crisis from a projected surplus, and then—

He used a law cooked up by a right-wing advocacy group called the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC likes to fly beneath the radar, but I described the organization in a 2005 article as "the connective tissue that links state legislators with right-wing think tanks, leading anti-tax activists and corporate money." Similar laws are on the table in Ohio and Indiana.

Adele Stan describes how Rupert Murdoch and David Koch Collude Against Wisconsin Workers.

As for "thugs" at the scene: how about the members of the GOPolitburo who staged this?

"Under cover of darkness, in a practice that Scott Walker denounced while he was campaigning for governor, the Republicans of the Wisconsin Assembly... Upending seven decades of labor peace and putting Wisconsin up for sale to the likes of their Koch Brothers masters, they voted to sanction the most divisive piece of legislation in our state's history."

His Master's Voice

Photo: Center for Media and Democracy live reporting

He may not be speaking with unions or Democrats, but a certain governor sure was eager to talk to one caller.

And the call made him a trifle overexcited:

WALKER: ...I ...came home from the Super Bowl where the Packers won, that Monday night, I had all my cabinet over to the residence for dinner. Talked about what we were going to do, how we were going to do it, we had already kind of doped plans up, but it was kind of a last hurrah, before we dropped the bomb and I stood up and I pulled out a, a picture of Ronald Reagan and I said you know this may seem a little melodramatic but 30 years ago Ronald Reagan whose 100th birthday we just celebrated the day before um had one of the most defining moments of his political career, not just his presidency, when he fired the air traffic controllers and uh I said to me that moment was more important than just for labor relations and or even the federal budget, that was the first crack in the Berlin Wall and the fall of Communism because from that point forward the soviets and the communists knew that Ronald Regan wasn't a pushover and uh, I said this may not have as broad a world implications but in Wisconsin's history—little did I know how big it would be nationally, in Wisconsin’s history, I said, this is our moment, this is our time to change the course of history and this is why it's so important that they were all there. I had a cabinet meeting this morning and I reminded them of that. I said for those who thought I was being melodramatic, you now know it was purely putting it in the right context.

He does on with his gloating; too bad the guy he was yakking to wasn't really "David Koch."

It's hilarious—and as serious as it gets, with Walker speaking so freely of conspiracy against unions and elected officials.

Yes: he is a Republican, so there very well may be no consequences. But his conspiring—and his being owned by Koch—are plain for all to see.

As is his overwrought ambition about where he expects David's dough to take him—

WALKER: We've been on all the national shows, we were on Hannity last night, I did Good Morning America, the Today Show and all that sort of stuff was on Morning Joe this morning, we've done Greta, we're going to keep getting our message out. Mark Levine last night and I've got to tell you, the response from around the country has been phenomenal I had Brian the governor in Nevada call me last night, he said he was out in the Lincoln day circuit the last two weekends and he was kidding me, he's new as well as me, he said "Scott don't come to Nevada 'cus I'm afraid you'll beat me running for Governor." That's all they wanna talk is what are you doing to help in the governor in Wisconsin. Next I talked to Kasich every day, you know John's got to stand firm in Ohio. I think we can do the same thing with Rick Scott in Florida, I think Snyder if he got a little more support could probably do that in Michigan. We start going down the list, you know, there’s a lot of us new governors that got elected to do something, big.

KOCH: You're the first domino.

WALKER: Yep. This is our moment.

The national media may cast events according to the usual story lines: greedy teachers are a trouble-making mob (so unlike patriotic tea partiers, or Libyans demonstrating against nutjob Gadaffi); tacky Democrats left the state because they are rude and unBipartisan.

But all news is local, and events are happening in a state that still has some decent local journalism, judging from what I've seen in the last week or so.

And Madison in particular has well-established independent news outlets, the oldest being The Progressive ("peace and social justice since 1909").

The Capitol Times is at the scene, along with the Center for Media and Democracy ( live reporting here).

Laura Flanders did this program from Madison, with guests including local journalists John Nichols (of The Cap Times and The Nation) and Matthew Rothschild (The Progressive).

After this, you have to wonder about Walker's future national usefulness to the real David Koch. Fake David gave the public a glimpse of how the real one operates, which Koch expects to do in all the privacy his money can buy.

From the start of the showdown, it was obvious that Walker had visions of staging a quick conquest of his own PATCO, followed by rapid ascent to venues larger than Wisconsin.

If Koch remains invested in Walker's career, he can certainly buy an unlimited amount of marketing. But will he want to put money into selling this clown beyond a remorseful Wisconsin?

At the end of the Mother Jones interview, Ian Murphy says he was shocked by how easy it was to get through to Walker.

The governor's intelligence is truly questionable: so puffed up by instant fame and a vision of Scott Reagan Walker as to think a Koch is eager to ring up one of the servants.

Standing Up To A Bully

... into the spirit of his role [Hitler] in
"You Can't Do Business With Hitler"
is Abrasha Robofsky...
Office of War Information radio play, c. 1942.
Photographer: Howard Liberman
Library of Congress FSA/OWI archive

And you can't do business with Republicans.

Though it sure is impressive to see Democrats with the spine to emulate a Republican, by crossing state lines to prevent a quorum.

Indiana Dems followed that lead, as the Republicans spread their war on workers to more states.

In trying to keep up with events during insanely busy work days, I've been relying on audio—even if comes through one ear, while the other listens to someone on the phone.

In the midst of all this, there was a point in the last few days when I heard a Wisconsin ReThug [state legislator?] say something like, collective bargaining for public employees "isn't historic: it was only passed in the '70s..."

As if it hadn't taken centuries for workers to get that far, in the face of the money and power always arrayed against them.

And as if that post-New Deal/pre-Reagan middle-class was just a foolish experiment.

Which is exactly what their team has always believed.

The Kochs have come this far in buying themselves state governments; they are ready to bring on the feudalism, once and for all.

And they want all that's coming to them.

The Wisconsin legislature may not be able to pass budget measures without a quorum, but can take up other bills.

John Nichols said it on the Thom Hartmann show today, and here are quotes from proposed legislation; the Wisconsin locals I've been hearing interviewed expect the Koch-owned legislature to quickly sell off public assets to the boss, at no-bid prices.

Privatized government owned by these plutocrats and unfettered by regard for environmental or labor standards: it's what they invest in.

Plutocrats are the same the world over, even if the specific situations they exploit may vary.

A dictator in one place may be out to maintain his family's dynasty by paying mercenaries to slaughter peaceful protestors.

Here in the land of the free, the Kochs' and other wealth can freely (if stealthily) buy media, politicians, and bamboozled tea partiers.

There's no one to take a stand against them, their servants, and their astroturf, other than the real grassroots.

Photo: Center for Media and Democracy