Coffee Klatsch

Friday, at work, someone asked me if I had heard the latest on Scott Walker, our infamous governor. "I'm worried", I said. We both laughed and then she told me what she had heard. You won't be surprised, it's more of the same. Privatization. Here's what the State board wrote the end of April on this issue. Scroll down on the right to a gray box; inside the last item is The State Board wants changes in several items.....

http://vfwofwi.com/

This is Support The Troops? What shame.

Seems Walker may be back in Washington again if he accepts Darrell Issa's invite. Issa is all about currying favor with corporate money, especially the Koch Boys.

"House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa invited Wisconsin Gov. Walker to testify to the committee about fixing state and municipal budgets. It was an interesting choice of witness. Walker has, in recent weeks, become a walking symbol of exactly the way Americans don't want to solve government budget crises. He caused a national uproar when he proposed taking away the collective bargaining rights of public workers...and then snuck his union-busting bill through the state legislature in the middle of the night."

This was PFAW's Marge Baker writing about Walker's deep ties to the Koch Boys. Read her entire article on the Huffpost.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marge-baker/issas-budget-hearings-bro_b_849905.html

All this money to buy our elections, in the latest incarnation as the Citizens United decision, twirls my gray matter. So, I went to Stephen Colbert to help me sort some of this out and he just happened to be interviewing Russ Feingold. Take a look.

http://www.progressivesunited.org/action/colbertvideo?utm_source=sp3901421&utm_medium=e&sc=sp3901421

All humor aside, which we desperately need right now, Feingold's effort to raise money - in the legal manner - may be one strong hope for the coming elections because I can't imagine what kind of money The Donald has to spend to elect himself. And speaking of that, did you see President Obama at the White House Correspondents Dinner? If you haven't it is in the interest of your health, your funny bone, to see the President in action. Watch the long version but first just take a few seconds and make yourself happy today by watching this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bqEn8AXzJ4

So obviously I am in need, myself, of some chuckles. I have to admire Obama for addressing, with humor, some of the most ridiculous non-issues out there. His slam dunk on Trump may possibly stop this insanity that Trump would consider a run next year. All things are possible.

And many things look pretty awful. This article on Care2 is brief but chilling.

http://www.care2.com/causes/education/blog/tea-party-running-for-school-board/

This Monday morning I am thinking about the President's announcement last late evening that Osama Bin Laden is dead. Over a decade ago we all watched in horror as something unimaginable happened to the people of New York and to us. Many years before that Ollie North, during the Iran Contra hearings, let Bin Laden's name slip as he testified. Again, during Bill Clinton's time in office, Bin Laden's name surfaced. You may have the same feeling I do. Good, good this is over. But this will change very little in terms of why people choose terrorism to address their anger and what about the wars still raging and why did we spend so much blood going after Saddam Hussein? The answer to those questions lies in the shadows of corporate greed and our own addiction to oil, our mainline drug of choice.

Once again, I remember a scene from Ghost Busters. The guys are standing on top of Dana Barret's building. The woman from another dimension has just told them to choose the form of the 'Traveler'. Everyone is to empty their heads of all thoughts so the Traveler cannot take form but Dan Akroyd thinks of something - the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and sure enough the big guy appears. We can't know what form the Traveler will take - is he Donald Trump? Is it Sarah Palin? Or is it something we see every day and don't recognize? Something so common place and accepted and ordinary that it would pass us without causing alarm?

I'm going to get another cup of coffee, write some letters, do some reading and have a great day. We have lots of clear thinking to do and much organizing.

Power To All The People!