Monday, Monday

"Rent-a-mobs"?

I have been sitting this morning reading various reports on Palin's appearance at a tea party rally in Madison this past Saturday. You've most likely read some as well. Perhaps I've read some you have not, so I'll post a few links here for you to peruse.

One comment of Palin's that grabbed me was the rent-a-mob comment. Seriously? "Death threats" was another. I must say once again that Andy and I have been in the streets for a large number of protest rallies. To our knowledge and awareness there has never been a rental mob of people in the crowds. There were tea party folks standing on a corner one Saturday with signs calling union members liars and cheats. When asked why they had that on their signs they parroted the conservative party line about union people raking in tons of money and stealing from private workers. Just the same thing you hear over and over.

This has become so polarized. Still I have a difficult time not pointing one finger in Walker's direction (and all the other govs who attended the Rancho Mirage confab put on by the Koch Boys to solidify the agenda for the elections) and drawing some conclusions that the assault on workers, unionized workers, is a well-planned, direct hit on We The People. I know, Palin used that term to describe the tea party. Hey, it's a free country, or at least we'd like to continue believing it is. But We The People are not the money folks, not the Koch relatives, not the corporate CEOs and not the wanna bes.

Seems the tensions rose this past Saturday at the edges of the crowd where the intersection of tea party and union met. This is a tough time for The People. Important, too. Critical as well. We must sift through all the rhetoric and arrive at our own considered stand. Are we for the Common Person, ourselves, or are we willing to cast our lot with the money and hope we get some of the crumbs? Are we ready to support the Creighton's and the poor in order to bring all The People along, as my son's grade school teacher used to say, providing health care and support or are we okay leaving some of us behind? Truly bring them along and not actually leave them behind? Because Palin's speech, no matter how stirring her words were to the folks who turned out to hear her, was essentially written by money. We should know that - drilling in Alaska, working to deep six bills supporting green infrastructure and future design, and, yes, dismantling of unions.

I gained some lift by listening to Bill McKibben this morning as well. He was a speaker at 350.org's recent Power Shift 2011 conference. You might also like to hear Bill fire up the crowd. Though Bill is not speaking directly to the fight for unions, he is most assuredly speaking about The Common People the world over.

http://action.350.org/content_item/powershift-speech

Snow has covered the ground here overnight. It's cold and windy. It's a good day to contemplate what it is that we really believe in and can truly support. Good day to take stock.

http://www.politicususa.com/en/booing-koch-puppet-palin-wisconsin

http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/nation_world/20110417_ap_palinwisgovdoingtherightthingwithunions.html

http://ezkool.com/2011/04/the-wheel-fell-off-the-sarah-palin-bus-in-madison-wisconsin/

There's a few to read. I think today I'm going to take my own suggestion and contemplate my ideas about We The People again, how I stand in peaceful protest, the whole polarized situation and what might be the best way of responding in this time. I'll let you know what bubbles up.

Power To All The Common People!

p.s. Have you seen Fair Game, Naomi Watts' recent movie? If you want to see the story of Valerie Plame and what happened during the Bush administration's shady dealings with regards to the non-existent WMDs and the outing of Plame and the things that resulted from that including the lies to We The People, check it out. Might be a helpful antidote to listening to Sarah Palin.

p.p.s. Just had to drop this in for you. Andy sent me this while I was writing. "Frank Bailey, a former Palin aide, is releasing a book, Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin, a "chilling tell" all book for release May 24, 2011." Hmmmm, me thinks all is not Princess Perfect in Palin Land - but didn't we know that already?