Raven, Brer Rabbit, Bugs Bunny, Aunt Nancy, Iktomi, The Three Stooges, Hermes, Whiskey Jack and Coyote.
Those names sound familiar? They are titles for the Sacred Clown, the persona in many different forms who holds a mirror up for us, who teases and prods us to see our foibles for what they are. The Trickster burps and farts in public, sets us up to take a fall, acts in outrageous ways - often sexually explicit. He or she is a thief, a glutton and the most accomplished author of endless lies.
The gift of the Trickster is to demonstrate for us the absurdity of our behaviors, to make fun of those sacred cows we dare not giggle about. Often the Trickster tales give us a refreshing vision of Common People raised up and the wealthy laid low - tables turned for a time to allow the little guy to win. In many traditional cultures the Sacred Clown is an integral part of ceremony. It is his job to be wild and crazy, unruly, disruptive like a naughty school boy who makes everybody laugh. The task of the Trickster, the Coyote is to mock the status quo and while dancing in front of us to offer very serious commentary on the times.
I submit we are in need of more Sacred Clowns, more people who can get out a huge mirror for us so we can see what is happening. We need more Tricksters to make fun of this rampant fundamentalism that is holding our government hostage while August 3rd races towards us. We need Wile E. to get hit by a falling boulder and at the bottom of the ravine to hold out a sign saying - "Oops, I didn't see that coming..."
We are in great need of this energy, risky as it is to call it in, to dance in front of us with outlandish clothes on - suits, ties, heels - and little name tags - Wall Street Excess, WalMart, DeVos, Koch Boys, Wealthy Elite. We need to make fun of that in a serious way and allow the Sacred Clown to show us how much we have become in thrall to this dangerous right wing ideology. We need this Clown more than we have ever needed it to poke us, wake us up, teach us some hard lessons and demonstrate what trickery, narcissism, Christian fundamentalism, cheating and lying, and making off with the country's goods really looks like.
Because I am not positive that we get it yet.
Power To All The Common People!
Wisconsin Needs A Moral Compass
Showing posts with label common people. Show all posts
Showing posts with label common people. Show all posts
Monday, July 25, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Summer on the Desert
Grab your coffee, I've got some bones to pick over on this summer desert. Our hotter than Mars landscape is littered with carcasses: the debt ceiling fiasco, powerful men like Murdoch, the blitherings of Right Wing nut Bachman and this from AlterNet this morning.
"In all, the Republican Party is possessed by a spirit of willful denial: aided and abetted by the right-wing media, Conservatives can bend the world to their wishes; reality is subject to their fantasies; any belief, however specious, is made true because they want it to be so. This is a pathology that extends both to the debt ceiling debate and the broader assault by conservatives on the country’s social safety net. Both are examples of a frightening pseudo religion called Free Market Fundamentalism—a faith based on a set of assumptions that are immune to interrogation, challenge or the collective weight of reality."
Chauncey DeVega is our guide on this archeological dig. He's the author of the above quote. He goes on to enumerate several myths the ultra-conservative Republican party holds as sacred.
1. The first is that this entire debt ceiling issue is nothing more than hot air coming from the Democrats. Not to worry, the rightists say, there's plenty of money and we can just shove this unhappy so-called crisis down the road to the future. It's all about the Dems trying to scare people. Chauncey writes: "a failure to resolve the debt ceiling crisis would be an unprecedented event in American history."
2. Remember this one from Ronnie's day? Supply side economics will cure all. As it turns out all those tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans haven't done much, if anything, to stimulate the economy. More accurately, they've played a role in the current crisis.
3. Oh yes, well this one will be familiar here in Wisconsin: Unions hurt the economy. Chauncey again on the Right's belief: "The way out of the Great Recession is to complete the destruction of the public sector workforce through a final demolition of unionized labor and the elimination of minimum wage laws." When, in fact, minimum wage laws actually stimulate the economy.
4. I heard this one on NPR not too long ago. The "job creators" (meaning the wealthy) are being and would further be punished by increases in taxes. These people and the corporations many of them run have historically paid the lowest taxes in the world! Andy and I pay more in taxes than most corporations! These are the folks who really did benefit from the bailouts, not you and me, the Common People.
5. Now this one just makes my blood boil over on the stove. Any increase in taxes on the wealthy would be "class warfare". Class warfare is happening in exactly the opposite manner of this statement. Like those individuals who cannot withstand the light of day because of their lies and constant behind-the-scenes behaviors but state that they are the ones who are wronged, this definition of class warfare is completely turned around. Do we not think it is clear class warfare to cut all social safety nets from under the Common People?
Chauncey speaks: "Yes, there is a class war in the United States. But it is being waged against the middle and working classes, where for the last 40 years the minimum wage has effectively decreased when controlled for inflation, and earnings have gone down when controlled for inflation—all in an era when highly favorable tax policies have encouraged unprecedented economic growth for the richest Americans."
What does this bode for our country when men like Gov. Walker and others across the country favored of this particular brand of fundamentalist economics refuse to move at all as we draw near to August 3rd? Chauncey ends his article with this.
"the Tea Party GOP has painted itself into a corner in the debt ceiling fight. Frighteningly, they may see no other option but to salt the earth and bring the temple down on the heads of the American people in order to prove the righteousness of their cause."
There will be more bones on the desert this summer I fear. Call, call, call, write and write some more. Email, tell your friends, beat the drums loudly. We The People must stand up and confront this monstrosity.
Power To All The Common People!
"In all, the Republican Party is possessed by a spirit of willful denial: aided and abetted by the right-wing media, Conservatives can bend the world to their wishes; reality is subject to their fantasies; any belief, however specious, is made true because they want it to be so. This is a pathology that extends both to the debt ceiling debate and the broader assault by conservatives on the country’s social safety net. Both are examples of a frightening pseudo religion called Free Market Fundamentalism—a faith based on a set of assumptions that are immune to interrogation, challenge or the collective weight of reality."
Chauncey DeVega is our guide on this archeological dig. He's the author of the above quote. He goes on to enumerate several myths the ultra-conservative Republican party holds as sacred.
1. The first is that this entire debt ceiling issue is nothing more than hot air coming from the Democrats. Not to worry, the rightists say, there's plenty of money and we can just shove this unhappy so-called crisis down the road to the future. It's all about the Dems trying to scare people. Chauncey writes: "a failure to resolve the debt ceiling crisis would be an unprecedented event in American history."
2. Remember this one from Ronnie's day? Supply side economics will cure all. As it turns out all those tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans haven't done much, if anything, to stimulate the economy. More accurately, they've played a role in the current crisis.
3. Oh yes, well this one will be familiar here in Wisconsin: Unions hurt the economy. Chauncey again on the Right's belief: "The way out of the Great Recession is to complete the destruction of the public sector workforce through a final demolition of unionized labor and the elimination of minimum wage laws." When, in fact, minimum wage laws actually stimulate the economy.
4. I heard this one on NPR not too long ago. The "job creators" (meaning the wealthy) are being and would further be punished by increases in taxes. These people and the corporations many of them run have historically paid the lowest taxes in the world! Andy and I pay more in taxes than most corporations! These are the folks who really did benefit from the bailouts, not you and me, the Common People.
5. Now this one just makes my blood boil over on the stove. Any increase in taxes on the wealthy would be "class warfare". Class warfare is happening in exactly the opposite manner of this statement. Like those individuals who cannot withstand the light of day because of their lies and constant behind-the-scenes behaviors but state that they are the ones who are wronged, this definition of class warfare is completely turned around. Do we not think it is clear class warfare to cut all social safety nets from under the Common People?
Chauncey speaks: "Yes, there is a class war in the United States. But it is being waged against the middle and working classes, where for the last 40 years the minimum wage has effectively decreased when controlled for inflation, and earnings have gone down when controlled for inflation—all in an era when highly favorable tax policies have encouraged unprecedented economic growth for the richest Americans."
What does this bode for our country when men like Gov. Walker and others across the country favored of this particular brand of fundamentalist economics refuse to move at all as we draw near to August 3rd? Chauncey ends his article with this.
"the Tea Party GOP has painted itself into a corner in the debt ceiling fight. Frighteningly, they may see no other option but to salt the earth and bring the temple down on the heads of the American people in order to prove the righteousness of their cause."
There will be more bones on the desert this summer I fear. Call, call, call, write and write some more. Email, tell your friends, beat the drums loudly. We The People must stand up and confront this monstrosity.
Power To All The Common People!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Dangerous Times Ahead
Enough goofy business. Hope you liked the Wisconsin Dancing Cowgirls. Now on to bigger and very dangerous things.
I have my headset on and am redialing the White House until I get a breathing person so I can leave a personal comment for the President regarding the debt ceiling crisis and the Republican demands for deep cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. I've written three or four e-letters but I just have to talk to a live human being. If you feel compelled to do the same here's the number to the White House switchboard:
1-202-456-1111
Andy just emailed me that all of Wisconsin legislators - with the exception of Paul Ryan - no surprise there! - and one other, have drafted a petition calling for the protection of Medicare and Medicaid in this state. Perhaps there is some small humanity left in Wisconsin after all. Perhaps the shadow of a moral compass has been cast across the state.
This is big, really big. Even the potential threat to cut deeply in to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security (still a solvent program!) while the wealthy in our country continue to receive bailouts, handouts, obscene bonuses, and tax cuts is class warfare in the extreme. Will the vanishing middle class and the poor bear all the burdens for the corporations and their bloated CEOs, for Wall Street, for those who consider a 6-figure income to be bare bones? It appears that is what is being handed to us Common People. Will we stand for this? Will you stand for this?
What will take us in to the streets? Will this do it? Will something even more drastic make that happen? What riles us to the point that we refuse to accept that we have become just so many wage slaves and begin the revitalization of our own selves as citizens of our country? I'm serious. What will get under our skin enough, happen to enough of our elderly relatives, kill enough jobs, take away enough health care, squash us enough that we stop consuming, stop watching movies, stop eating out, stop wanting more and more and turn our attention and energy to doing something real and constructive? Will it be this threatened loss of support structures?
One of the 14 Senators who fled to Illinois this past late winter to preserve what they could of our rights as workers was Chris Larson. Chris is Wisconsin Senator of District 7. He sends out a newsletter online to those who supported the 14 while they were gone. I am including the link to Chris' newsletter because I think it is important to hear the voices of others than media or Walker-backed-Ryan supporters. In this newsletter Chris takes up the topic of Accountability and Transparency in our state government. He calls Walker's moves "dangerous". I agree.
https://mail.google.com/mail/#inbox/1310ae1191dc3ac4
Although it might seem that talking about Chris and his newsletter is off the topic of Republican-led cuts in social programs, the very support structures of our society, isn't accountability and transparency at the root of much of our discontent? It begs a list of questions I think.
1. Are we holding our representatives and senators and presidents truly accountable on each and every decision? After all isn't that what participative democracy is all about?
2. Do we believe that our government and its decisions is as transparent as it can reasonably be?
3. Is the manner in which debate regarding the most precious of our supports handled with both accountability and transparency? Not to mention all other aspects that touch upon our daily lives, our well being, our natural resources and our wild lands.
4. What would each of us do if we could not answer these questions in a positive, completely honest way?
What do we do if the President and the Dems cave to the Republicans on this and say yes to cuts that will make a mockery out of my previous post on what will they do with Andy's elderly Aunt? What will I do? What will you do? Some thoughts on that...
When I went on a study trip to Mexico the point of that trip was to sensitize a North American to the systemic poverty that faces millions of people in the community of Cuernavaca. Along with 20 other North Americans, I spent two weeks in daily conversation with the abject poor, those living in railroad settlements in cardboard shacks with the printed names of American corporations stamped on the sides. And with men and women who had given their lives over to helping these compensinos. It was a dialogical constant, a daily interface with people who were rising up from extreme and crushing poverty to take control of their lives and build resilient communities. They were taking charge of their own food, their own health care and their own education. It was a liberating environment in which to spend those two weeks and it was very uncomfortable. After all, we 20 were privileged. We wore new clothes and fancy tennis shoes. Still, after the time was nearly up we all felt changed, deeply altered in our thinking and in the way in which we saw the world.
We are perched on the edge, as I have written before, of massive changes not only in our environment as global climate change unhinges our systems but also in our lives as citizens of every country. In the U.S. the changes will be difficult just like they were for those 20 of us in Mexico. We will need to be courageous, determined, vocal and smart. Our treasured Middle Class, the great We the Common People, is going to have to educate ourselves on what a much more local government looks like, how it works and how it responds. It's time for us to roll up our sleeves and get busy making our communities strong and healthy.
Call the President would you? While we begin the process of re-building our own communities in a more Common Way, we need to fight with all our might to preserve what we can for those who are in need.
Power To All The Common People!
I have my headset on and am redialing the White House until I get a breathing person so I can leave a personal comment for the President regarding the debt ceiling crisis and the Republican demands for deep cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. I've written three or four e-letters but I just have to talk to a live human being. If you feel compelled to do the same here's the number to the White House switchboard:
1-202-456-1111
Andy just emailed me that all of Wisconsin legislators - with the exception of Paul Ryan - no surprise there! - and one other, have drafted a petition calling for the protection of Medicare and Medicaid in this state. Perhaps there is some small humanity left in Wisconsin after all. Perhaps the shadow of a moral compass has been cast across the state.
This is big, really big. Even the potential threat to cut deeply in to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security (still a solvent program!) while the wealthy in our country continue to receive bailouts, handouts, obscene bonuses, and tax cuts is class warfare in the extreme. Will the vanishing middle class and the poor bear all the burdens for the corporations and their bloated CEOs, for Wall Street, for those who consider a 6-figure income to be bare bones? It appears that is what is being handed to us Common People. Will we stand for this? Will you stand for this?
What will take us in to the streets? Will this do it? Will something even more drastic make that happen? What riles us to the point that we refuse to accept that we have become just so many wage slaves and begin the revitalization of our own selves as citizens of our country? I'm serious. What will get under our skin enough, happen to enough of our elderly relatives, kill enough jobs, take away enough health care, squash us enough that we stop consuming, stop watching movies, stop eating out, stop wanting more and more and turn our attention and energy to doing something real and constructive? Will it be this threatened loss of support structures?
One of the 14 Senators who fled to Illinois this past late winter to preserve what they could of our rights as workers was Chris Larson. Chris is Wisconsin Senator of District 7. He sends out a newsletter online to those who supported the 14 while they were gone. I am including the link to Chris' newsletter because I think it is important to hear the voices of others than media or Walker-backed-Ryan supporters. In this newsletter Chris takes up the topic of Accountability and Transparency in our state government. He calls Walker's moves "dangerous". I agree.
https://mail.google.com/mail/#inbox/1310ae1191dc3ac4
Although it might seem that talking about Chris and his newsletter is off the topic of Republican-led cuts in social programs, the very support structures of our society, isn't accountability and transparency at the root of much of our discontent? It begs a list of questions I think.
1. Are we holding our representatives and senators and presidents truly accountable on each and every decision? After all isn't that what participative democracy is all about?
2. Do we believe that our government and its decisions is as transparent as it can reasonably be?
3. Is the manner in which debate regarding the most precious of our supports handled with both accountability and transparency? Not to mention all other aspects that touch upon our daily lives, our well being, our natural resources and our wild lands.
4. What would each of us do if we could not answer these questions in a positive, completely honest way?
What do we do if the President and the Dems cave to the Republicans on this and say yes to cuts that will make a mockery out of my previous post on what will they do with Andy's elderly Aunt? What will I do? What will you do? Some thoughts on that...
When I went on a study trip to Mexico the point of that trip was to sensitize a North American to the systemic poverty that faces millions of people in the community of Cuernavaca. Along with 20 other North Americans, I spent two weeks in daily conversation with the abject poor, those living in railroad settlements in cardboard shacks with the printed names of American corporations stamped on the sides. And with men and women who had given their lives over to helping these compensinos. It was a dialogical constant, a daily interface with people who were rising up from extreme and crushing poverty to take control of their lives and build resilient communities. They were taking charge of their own food, their own health care and their own education. It was a liberating environment in which to spend those two weeks and it was very uncomfortable. After all, we 20 were privileged. We wore new clothes and fancy tennis shoes. Still, after the time was nearly up we all felt changed, deeply altered in our thinking and in the way in which we saw the world.
We are perched on the edge, as I have written before, of massive changes not only in our environment as global climate change unhinges our systems but also in our lives as citizens of every country. In the U.S. the changes will be difficult just like they were for those 20 of us in Mexico. We will need to be courageous, determined, vocal and smart. Our treasured Middle Class, the great We the Common People, is going to have to educate ourselves on what a much more local government looks like, how it works and how it responds. It's time for us to roll up our sleeves and get busy making our communities strong and healthy.
Call the President would you? While we begin the process of re-building our own communities in a more Common Way, we need to fight with all our might to preserve what we can for those who are in need.
Power To All The Common People!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Dear Mr. Walker.......
Open letter to the Governor of Wisconsin from a constituent.
I am writing from a community in southern Wisconsin. We pay attention to things down here just like our brothers and sisters all over the state. We've been paying attention since February 11th when the young folks in Madison decided to support their educators by going in to the streets and shouting about fair play, honest wages, and how angry they were that you were going to take away their teachers collective bargaining rights and the collective bargaining rights of many other public employees. We've been paying attention since thousands of us traveled to Madison to protest your night time flights of fantasy, your under-handed and under-the-table deals and the knowledge of who actually pulls your strings.
We're still paying attention. How do I know this, Mr. Walker? Because I see more and more signs in the windows of homes in the community in which I live, more bumper stickers, more yard signs declaring RECALL WALKER! I have one in my window, too. That is not a surprise to me but my question is, is it a surprise to you? And if it is something of a surprise, why would that be true? Oh, I know, you probably think we're all a bit simple-minded out here in Common Middle Class Land or what will be left of it when you're done. I know, we liberals/progressives are just daft when it comes to finances and budgets and support structures. We can't be depended on to guide the ship of state with a steady hand on the tiller. We'd sail off the edge of the known world with all our silly social programs trailing along behind us. We don't have the backbone to dish out the tough love you and your cohorts do to rein in this out-of-control nearly bankrupt state. Thank goodness you are here to save us!
Anyway, that's what I imagine you are thinking. I might be way off in left field though. You might not be thinking anything of the sort. You might be thinking that concealed carry is just the ticket or that ending collective bargaining is Just In Time political maneuvering ala others of your kind across the U.S. or that Judge Prosser simply has a bit of a temper but otherwise is a peach of a fellow or that Paul Ryan's draconian plans for state and federal support services are nothing but line items in the war on the middle class which was overdue according to you and others of your kind.
That's what I imagine. Because, Mr. Walker, I can't imagine a person who has the best interests of the people of his state at heart doing even one of the things you have done since you have been in office in Wisconsin. Because, Mr. Walker, I think you are in the pocket of the Koch Bros., and who knows who else and they make or break your agenda. Because I think the office of the governor of Wisconsin has been bought by Big Business and you are the Big Business hired gun.
The other day a patient with whom I visited told me she had moved from Wisconsin to Illinois. When I asked her why she told me that Wisconsin is going down the tubes, that it isn't friendly to regular people and that it is becoming a state of governmental outlaws. Are you an outlaw Mr. Walker? Is Scott Fitzgerald an outlaw? Do you work for the Koch Boys, the wealthy ranchers who own everything and everyone and hire people like you to do their dirty work? Is Wisconsin returning to the days of the Wild West?
I can only say beware the pitch forks and torches, Mr. Walker. When the citizens lose so much that they can barely subsist, there may be more marches and more protests. Civil unrest is a mighty thing to be responsible for, Mr. Walker.
I remain in solidarity with the Common People just like me.
Power to All the People!
I am writing from a community in southern Wisconsin. We pay attention to things down here just like our brothers and sisters all over the state. We've been paying attention since February 11th when the young folks in Madison decided to support their educators by going in to the streets and shouting about fair play, honest wages, and how angry they were that you were going to take away their teachers collective bargaining rights and the collective bargaining rights of many other public employees. We've been paying attention since thousands of us traveled to Madison to protest your night time flights of fantasy, your under-handed and under-the-table deals and the knowledge of who actually pulls your strings.
We're still paying attention. How do I know this, Mr. Walker? Because I see more and more signs in the windows of homes in the community in which I live, more bumper stickers, more yard signs declaring RECALL WALKER! I have one in my window, too. That is not a surprise to me but my question is, is it a surprise to you? And if it is something of a surprise, why would that be true? Oh, I know, you probably think we're all a bit simple-minded out here in Common Middle Class Land or what will be left of it when you're done. I know, we liberals/progressives are just daft when it comes to finances and budgets and support structures. We can't be depended on to guide the ship of state with a steady hand on the tiller. We'd sail off the edge of the known world with all our silly social programs trailing along behind us. We don't have the backbone to dish out the tough love you and your cohorts do to rein in this out-of-control nearly bankrupt state. Thank goodness you are here to save us!
Anyway, that's what I imagine you are thinking. I might be way off in left field though. You might not be thinking anything of the sort. You might be thinking that concealed carry is just the ticket or that ending collective bargaining is Just In Time political maneuvering ala others of your kind across the U.S. or that Judge Prosser simply has a bit of a temper but otherwise is a peach of a fellow or that Paul Ryan's draconian plans for state and federal support services are nothing but line items in the war on the middle class which was overdue according to you and others of your kind.
That's what I imagine. Because, Mr. Walker, I can't imagine a person who has the best interests of the people of his state at heart doing even one of the things you have done since you have been in office in Wisconsin. Because, Mr. Walker, I think you are in the pocket of the Koch Bros., and who knows who else and they make or break your agenda. Because I think the office of the governor of Wisconsin has been bought by Big Business and you are the Big Business hired gun.
The other day a patient with whom I visited told me she had moved from Wisconsin to Illinois. When I asked her why she told me that Wisconsin is going down the tubes, that it isn't friendly to regular people and that it is becoming a state of governmental outlaws. Are you an outlaw Mr. Walker? Is Scott Fitzgerald an outlaw? Do you work for the Koch Boys, the wealthy ranchers who own everything and everyone and hire people like you to do their dirty work? Is Wisconsin returning to the days of the Wild West?
I can only say beware the pitch forks and torches, Mr. Walker. When the citizens lose so much that they can barely subsist, there may be more marches and more protests. Civil unrest is a mighty thing to be responsible for, Mr. Walker.
I remain in solidarity with the Common People just like me.
Power to All the People!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Wisconsin Supreme Court Backs Walker
You've heard no doubt. It was on the national news, scrolling across the bottom of television screens everywhere. The "election" of Judge Prosser sealed the fate of collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin. Judge Sumi's decision was cast aside and the anti-union, anti-middle class voices spoke. The following is from All Headline News online:
On a 4-3 vote, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld on Wednesday the state’s anti-union law. The decision reverses a ruling by a lower court which ordered a permanent injunction against the law. The court said the state legislature did not breach Wisconsin’s constitution in curbing the collective bargaining rights of most state employees. The court decision is a major political victory for Gov. Scott Walker, who supported the bill amid protest by teachers, union members and others who believe the law is an affront on workers’ rights.
If they did not break the open meeting law then what would we call what happened? Many people have many questions!
Visit The Cap Times at www.host.madison.com to read excellent posts on this historical vote. It will, without a doubt, change Wisconsin. According to a Care2 article this morning:
But the decision is not likely to take the pressure of Republicans in the state anytime soon. A new poll released shows Gov. Walker's popularity is at an all-time low with at least half of the state favoring recalling the Governor. That same poll shows Walker losing to either Russ Feingold or Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in a hypothetical future match. Recall efforts against six GOP senators also took a major leap forward as EMILY's List endorsed five candidates in those recall elections. Wisconsin is simply one state in a national strategy of permanently disenfranchising Democratic voters and eradicating decades of gains by the middle-class.
The truth of that last sentence is reverberating in my head this morning as I read these posts. It is and has been a concerted ultra-right-wing agenda operating in destruction mode. For further looks at that read this from Care2.
http://www.care2.com/causes/politics/blog/wisconsin-wants-to-repeal-child-labor-laws-too/
It is impossible to arrive at any other conclusions than money - that has to be the driving force behind these draconian moves to completely dismantle the middle class in America. What else could it be? We don't believe the song and dance about balancing budgets, we know that's horse manure. We don't believe people like Walker-Fitzgerald are compassionate people at heart, that's clearly not the case. I haven't made it to sixty-three years old without knowing some things and one of the things I know is money has a smell to it, a glint to it, a shrill sound to it and things done in money's name have a sneakiness to them. These decisions beings made in Wisconsin, these deals being done in the dark, these calls to the Kochs, the threats and the lies all smell, sound, glitter like lots and lots of money.
Please call your state representative, your senator and let them know you are appalled at this hijacking of Wisconsin. Just like the playground it often takes a group to defeat a bully.
Walker et al are now moving along other fronts. One is to roll back Child Labor Laws. If the word appalling doesn't work here I don't know what does! Another front is the environment. This is from League of Conservation Voters.
Dear Jeanie,
The Wisconsin recall fight is ground zero for the future of sound environmental policy.
The state of Wisconsin has emerged as ground zero for efforts to take back our democracy from corporate special interests. As you’ve probably heard, Tea Party-backed lawmakers, led by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, are pushing one of the most egregious anti-environment agendas in the nation. And if they succeed unchallenged, other states may soon see similar efforts.
The Koch Brothers and their dirty polluter allies are investing millions to keep the Wisconsin State Senate’s anti-environment majority. They invested heavily in Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and other Tea Party governors during the 2010 elections and there are not about to see their investments fall short.
So far, Scott Walker has delivered handsomely for dirty polluters. Walker’s anti-environment attacks include:
Shutting down Wisconsin’s $400 million wind industry
Rejecting $800 million in mass transit funding (absolutely disgraceful when gas is at $4 per gallon)
Providing campaign donors special exemptions to build on Wisconsin’s wetlands
If Scott Walker and the Koch Brothers win this summer it will open the floodgates to unchecked dirty polluter campaign money. If they win in Wisconsin, every sound environmental policy in every state will be under threat. But just as important, Wisconsin LCV is backing a strong slate of pro-environment candidates who will fight for important environmental protections and vital clean energy policies.
Keep your eye on this Common Struggle. It is the struggle of us all!
Power To All The People!
On a 4-3 vote, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld on Wednesday the state’s anti-union law. The decision reverses a ruling by a lower court which ordered a permanent injunction against the law. The court said the state legislature did not breach Wisconsin’s constitution in curbing the collective bargaining rights of most state employees. The court decision is a major political victory for Gov. Scott Walker, who supported the bill amid protest by teachers, union members and others who believe the law is an affront on workers’ rights.
If they did not break the open meeting law then what would we call what happened? Many people have many questions!
Visit The Cap Times at www.host.madison.com to read excellent posts on this historical vote. It will, without a doubt, change Wisconsin. According to a Care2 article this morning:
But the decision is not likely to take the pressure of Republicans in the state anytime soon. A new poll released shows Gov. Walker's popularity is at an all-time low with at least half of the state favoring recalling the Governor. That same poll shows Walker losing to either Russ Feingold or Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in a hypothetical future match. Recall efforts against six GOP senators also took a major leap forward as EMILY's List endorsed five candidates in those recall elections. Wisconsin is simply one state in a national strategy of permanently disenfranchising Democratic voters and eradicating decades of gains by the middle-class.
The truth of that last sentence is reverberating in my head this morning as I read these posts. It is and has been a concerted ultra-right-wing agenda operating in destruction mode. For further looks at that read this from Care2.
http://www.care2.com/causes/politics/blog/wisconsin-wants-to-repeal-child-labor-laws-too/
It is impossible to arrive at any other conclusions than money - that has to be the driving force behind these draconian moves to completely dismantle the middle class in America. What else could it be? We don't believe the song and dance about balancing budgets, we know that's horse manure. We don't believe people like Walker-Fitzgerald are compassionate people at heart, that's clearly not the case. I haven't made it to sixty-three years old without knowing some things and one of the things I know is money has a smell to it, a glint to it, a shrill sound to it and things done in money's name have a sneakiness to them. These decisions beings made in Wisconsin, these deals being done in the dark, these calls to the Kochs, the threats and the lies all smell, sound, glitter like lots and lots of money.
Please call your state representative, your senator and let them know you are appalled at this hijacking of Wisconsin. Just like the playground it often takes a group to defeat a bully.
Walker et al are now moving along other fronts. One is to roll back Child Labor Laws. If the word appalling doesn't work here I don't know what does! Another front is the environment. This is from League of Conservation Voters.
Dear Jeanie,
The Wisconsin recall fight is ground zero for the future of sound environmental policy.
The state of Wisconsin has emerged as ground zero for efforts to take back our democracy from corporate special interests. As you’ve probably heard, Tea Party-backed lawmakers, led by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, are pushing one of the most egregious anti-environment agendas in the nation. And if they succeed unchallenged, other states may soon see similar efforts.
The Koch Brothers and their dirty polluter allies are investing millions to keep the Wisconsin State Senate’s anti-environment majority. They invested heavily in Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and other Tea Party governors during the 2010 elections and there are not about to see their investments fall short.
So far, Scott Walker has delivered handsomely for dirty polluters. Walker’s anti-environment attacks include:
Shutting down Wisconsin’s $400 million wind industry
Rejecting $800 million in mass transit funding (absolutely disgraceful when gas is at $4 per gallon)
Providing campaign donors special exemptions to build on Wisconsin’s wetlands
If Scott Walker and the Koch Brothers win this summer it will open the floodgates to unchecked dirty polluter campaign money. If they win in Wisconsin, every sound environmental policy in every state will be under threat. But just as important, Wisconsin LCV is backing a strong slate of pro-environment candidates who will fight for important environmental protections and vital clean energy policies.
Keep your eye on this Common Struggle. It is the struggle of us all!
Power To All The People!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Times of Change
I finished the book Nefertiti. Though it is difficult to know all the details of a life lived so far in the past the author did a good job of investigating Nefertiti's life as far as anyone can know. She was a woman of courage and also of intense ego. However, she became Queen of Egypt at fifteen years old and began having children soon after. We might say these days when children in our society remain children far in to their teens, "What would a teenager know about ruling a country?!" She was the second wife of Amunhotep IV who also was in his teens when he became Emperor of Egypt and together they had six daughters, built the vast city of Amarna and presided over troubled times when their decisions brought down the revered priests of Amun and raised up a sun disk priesthood. Nefertiti and Amunhotep had the faces of themselves and their family carved and painted on every surface in the city and spared no expense to continually remind the common people who the supreme rulers were.
I suppose, not surprisingly, this extravagance in both physical wealth and in what seems to have been a level of moral bankruptcy, ended in a horrific time that changed Amarna forever. Amunhotep refused to deal with uprisings and instead made a deal with the Hittites, a long-time enemy of the Egyptians. When these people were invited to Amarna for another grand feast and celebration of Nefertiti and Amunhotep's reign, they also brought the plague with them. The city was beset with death. Amunhotep never understood what had happened and Nefertiti tried her best to return Egypt to her former glory following his death. That was not to happen in her lifetime, not entirely.
All stories like Nefertiti are cautionary tales because they are stories about us - about human beings in their time and with all their attendant problems and joys. We read about them making decisions, choosing, leaving, having and raising children, being petty, jealous, swept away by love, angry or just tending their garden wishing for a peaceful life. They were no different than you and me. They are cautionary tales because of just that - we are like them!
Nefertiti and Amunhotep were young people who became powerful beyond their wisdom, even though as we know that doesn't always mean things will go well. They forgot the common people and only gave them thought when they wished to know the common people worshiped them. The emperor and his queen wanted to be seen by the people every minute of their lives and they wanted to live beyond eternity. Their care for and belief in the common people of their time was thin, it was not built upon an understanding that the people who fell at their feet had lives that also mattered. When the plague came to Amarna the common people suffered by the thousands. Still, Nefertiti and Amunhotep thought only of themselves and of who would ascend the throne if they perished.
History gives us myriad examples of Power Gone Wrong, of concentrated power in the hands of people whose egos are far too large. We've seen this in our own country and perhaps we are seeing versions of that in the current time. Power, money, prestige and the desire for more. Those are addictions that warp our abilities for compassion and truth.
May we the common people see with clarity in this time of change. Who has the best interest of all at heart, who is telling the truth and who is maneuvering for advantage. These lessons and cautions did not slip in to the sands of time at the feet of the Sphinx, they are ever present in human interactions.
Power To All The Common People!
I suppose, not surprisingly, this extravagance in both physical wealth and in what seems to have been a level of moral bankruptcy, ended in a horrific time that changed Amarna forever. Amunhotep refused to deal with uprisings and instead made a deal with the Hittites, a long-time enemy of the Egyptians. When these people were invited to Amarna for another grand feast and celebration of Nefertiti and Amunhotep's reign, they also brought the plague with them. The city was beset with death. Amunhotep never understood what had happened and Nefertiti tried her best to return Egypt to her former glory following his death. That was not to happen in her lifetime, not entirely.
All stories like Nefertiti are cautionary tales because they are stories about us - about human beings in their time and with all their attendant problems and joys. We read about them making decisions, choosing, leaving, having and raising children, being petty, jealous, swept away by love, angry or just tending their garden wishing for a peaceful life. They were no different than you and me. They are cautionary tales because of just that - we are like them!
Nefertiti and Amunhotep were young people who became powerful beyond their wisdom, even though as we know that doesn't always mean things will go well. They forgot the common people and only gave them thought when they wished to know the common people worshiped them. The emperor and his queen wanted to be seen by the people every minute of their lives and they wanted to live beyond eternity. Their care for and belief in the common people of their time was thin, it was not built upon an understanding that the people who fell at their feet had lives that also mattered. When the plague came to Amarna the common people suffered by the thousands. Still, Nefertiti and Amunhotep thought only of themselves and of who would ascend the throne if they perished.
History gives us myriad examples of Power Gone Wrong, of concentrated power in the hands of people whose egos are far too large. We've seen this in our own country and perhaps we are seeing versions of that in the current time. Power, money, prestige and the desire for more. Those are addictions that warp our abilities for compassion and truth.
May we the common people see with clarity in this time of change. Who has the best interest of all at heart, who is telling the truth and who is maneuvering for advantage. These lessons and cautions did not slip in to the sands of time at the feet of the Sphinx, they are ever present in human interactions.
Power To All The Common People!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
All Those "Discovered" Votes Smell
Hi Jeanie:
I’m sure you have all seen the alarming news: Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus, a long-time Republican operative, has magically uncovered over 14,000 votes two days after the election and turning it in favor of her former boss, David Prosser.
Wisconsin deserves answers while this election remains undeclared. Add your name to a letter calling for an immediate and thorough investigation by Attorney General JB Van Hollen’s Wisconsin Election Integrity Task Force -- and to ensure it is a bipartisan effort that he include Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm, who has worked closely with the task force.
Remember that under the demands of the conservative noise machine, law enforcement in Wisconsin has spent untold amounts of our tax dollars to investigate so-called voter fraud since 2004, turning up less than three dozen improperly-cast votes out of six million votes. With over 14,000 ballots in question and the integrity of our entire electoral process under threat, a full and complete investigation of Nickolaus, her computer and her files must commence immediately.
The facts are still coming out about the mysteriously-discovered votes in Waukesha, but here is what we know so far:
* Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus worked for Republican Assembly Caucus under the leadership of David Prosser
* Nickolaus dismissed an independent audit commissioned over concerns there are massive security threats in the system she maintains. Nickolaus maintains a secret system for keeping public voting data and laughed off the audit, drawing criticism from the Waukesha County Board Chair
* Nickolaus was one of two database experts for Assembly Republicans, spending 13 years becoming one of the state’s leading partisan experts on manipulating voter data.
Attorney General Van Hollen has made investigating and prosecuting so-called voter fraud and protecting the integrity of our elections one of his top priorities, and the Wisconsin Election Integrity Task Force is uniquely equipped to conduct a thorough, bipartisan investigation into the contested Waukesha vote numbers.
That letter was in my inbox a couple days ago. I can't add much to that except that the whole look-we've-found-these-surprise-votes thing stunk like a dead skunk in the middle of the road. It is going to take some real, dedicated effort to pull the curtain away from the men who lurk behind pulling levers.
But I am continually wondering what it is the tea party/ultra-conservatives have against the Common People? Jealousy - they want to keep all their money (and yours too!). Control - they want to keep all their money (and yours too!) Fear - they fear loss of perceived status, fear being taken advantage of by the common people. Those are three I can think of because I have heard those spoken. Many of the people speaking like this are common people themselves which makes it all the more crazy making, as my therapist used to say.
Rallies in Madison yesterday were well attended. The People have not gone home nor have their voices been silenced. Quite the opposite, the charge to remove Repubs from office continues as well as the effort to make Scott Walker a one-term guv. As a friend of mine used to phrase it when she had a difficult thing to say - "We wish we were sorry about that but we aren't!" We aren't sorry at all - you, Mr. Walker, have so divided the state, so twisted things, so damaged trust that you just need to go. Hopefully we will have counted all the votes and looked into the shameful bogus discovery of votes for your guy and laid that bare so that we can have some dancing in the streets when you leave. It will be a grand day!
Btw, keep your eye on Paul Ryan. As I mentioned yesterday, he's the mouthpiece behind the move to gut Medicare in the House. He's going to press this one to the max. It is his Precious! Send him an email and let him know you don't think much of his plan. You can write to him at:
Washington, DC office
1233 Longworth HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3031
Fax: (202) 225-3393
Janesville office
20 South Main Street, Suite 10
Janesville, WI 53545
Toll-Free: 1-888-909-RYAN (7926)
Phone: (608) 752-4050
Fax: (608) 752-4711
Kenosha office
5455 Sheridan Road, Suite 125
Kenosha, WI 53140
Phone: (262) 654-1901
Fax: (262) 654-2156
Racine office
216 6th Street
Racine, WI 53403
Phone: (262) 637-0510
Fax: (262) 637-5689
These folks need to know that, out here in Common Person Land, we pay attention to everything and that we make input when we feel something isn't right. Paul needs to hear from The People in Wisconsin as Walker and Fitzgerald and now Prosser need to hear from us.
Power To All The People!
I’m sure you have all seen the alarming news: Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus, a long-time Republican operative, has magically uncovered over 14,000 votes two days after the election and turning it in favor of her former boss, David Prosser.
Wisconsin deserves answers while this election remains undeclared. Add your name to a letter calling for an immediate and thorough investigation by Attorney General JB Van Hollen’s Wisconsin Election Integrity Task Force -- and to ensure it is a bipartisan effort that he include Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm, who has worked closely with the task force.
Remember that under the demands of the conservative noise machine, law enforcement in Wisconsin has spent untold amounts of our tax dollars to investigate so-called voter fraud since 2004, turning up less than three dozen improperly-cast votes out of six million votes. With over 14,000 ballots in question and the integrity of our entire electoral process under threat, a full and complete investigation of Nickolaus, her computer and her files must commence immediately.
The facts are still coming out about the mysteriously-discovered votes in Waukesha, but here is what we know so far:
* Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus worked for Republican Assembly Caucus under the leadership of David Prosser
* Nickolaus dismissed an independent audit commissioned over concerns there are massive security threats in the system she maintains. Nickolaus maintains a secret system for keeping public voting data and laughed off the audit, drawing criticism from the Waukesha County Board Chair
* Nickolaus was one of two database experts for Assembly Republicans, spending 13 years becoming one of the state’s leading partisan experts on manipulating voter data.
Attorney General Van Hollen has made investigating and prosecuting so-called voter fraud and protecting the integrity of our elections one of his top priorities, and the Wisconsin Election Integrity Task Force is uniquely equipped to conduct a thorough, bipartisan investigation into the contested Waukesha vote numbers.
That letter was in my inbox a couple days ago. I can't add much to that except that the whole look-we've-found-these-surprise-votes thing stunk like a dead skunk in the middle of the road. It is going to take some real, dedicated effort to pull the curtain away from the men who lurk behind pulling levers.
But I am continually wondering what it is the tea party/ultra-conservatives have against the Common People? Jealousy - they want to keep all their money (and yours too!). Control - they want to keep all their money (and yours too!) Fear - they fear loss of perceived status, fear being taken advantage of by the common people. Those are three I can think of because I have heard those spoken. Many of the people speaking like this are common people themselves which makes it all the more crazy making, as my therapist used to say.
Rallies in Madison yesterday were well attended. The People have not gone home nor have their voices been silenced. Quite the opposite, the charge to remove Repubs from office continues as well as the effort to make Scott Walker a one-term guv. As a friend of mine used to phrase it when she had a difficult thing to say - "We wish we were sorry about that but we aren't!" We aren't sorry at all - you, Mr. Walker, have so divided the state, so twisted things, so damaged trust that you just need to go. Hopefully we will have counted all the votes and looked into the shameful bogus discovery of votes for your guy and laid that bare so that we can have some dancing in the streets when you leave. It will be a grand day!
Btw, keep your eye on Paul Ryan. As I mentioned yesterday, he's the mouthpiece behind the move to gut Medicare in the House. He's going to press this one to the max. It is his Precious! Send him an email and let him know you don't think much of his plan. You can write to him at:
Washington, DC office
1233 Longworth HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3031
Fax: (202) 225-3393
Janesville office
20 South Main Street, Suite 10
Janesville, WI 53545
Toll-Free: 1-888-909-RYAN (7926)
Phone: (608) 752-4050
Fax: (608) 752-4711
Kenosha office
5455 Sheridan Road, Suite 125
Kenosha, WI 53140
Phone: (262) 654-1901
Fax: (262) 654-2156
Racine office
216 6th Street
Racine, WI 53403
Phone: (262) 637-0510
Fax: (262) 637-5689
These folks need to know that, out here in Common Person Land, we pay attention to everything and that we make input when we feel something isn't right. Paul needs to hear from The People in Wisconsin as Walker and Fitzgerald and now Prosser need to hear from us.
Power To All The People!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
The People Speak!
Unbelievable! JoAnne Kloppenburg has apparently edged out Prosser! I can't believe it but I can - so many people have responded to the anti-human agenda of the Tea Party Repubs in Wisconsin. Expected turnout Tuesday was 20% - an awful percentage that speaks directly to apathy. But The People surprised everyone at 33%. Good for us! Most certainly Prosser will ask for a recount but the truth is in - The People are saying they are awakening to What Democracy Looks Like! It doesn't look like a standing supreme court judge who calls a supreme court chief justice a bitch. It doesn't look like officials who are funded by corporate interests. It looks like some serious recalls as the months progress.
Here are some articles I found today you might also enjoy reading.
On the wonderful feelings og Kloppenburg's victory.
http://www.care2.com/causes/politics/blog/kloppenburg-wins-wisconsin-court-seat-recount-likely/#comment-1909518
Walker handing out favors? No, really?
https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&view=bsp&ver=ohhl4rw8mbn4
Today I rode the city bus to an appointment and again in the afternoon I took the bus to another city to meet Andy for an appointment. On that longer ride I was with a full bus of The Common People. I had one of those moments when something becomes crystal clear. I knew Scott Walker, Scott Fitzgerald and the Koch Boys don't give a damn about the common people. Not any of us in the bus today. They don't care about our health concerns or some of our jobless states or our kids. They don't care about whether or not we thrive or barely survive. They don't care about our elders, their health or the paltry amount they live. They care about power and money. They care about the fame and the flattering words written about them. I knew that was the truth.
Well, this is what I have to say - we're coming for you Scott, we're coming for all you Tea Party conservatives. Just be on notice that we're coming. Recall is the word in Wisconsin. You can count on it!
Here are some articles I found today you might also enjoy reading.
On the wonderful feelings og Kloppenburg's victory.
http://www.care2.com/causes/politics/blog/kloppenburg-wins-wisconsin-court-seat-recount-likely/#comment-1909518
Walker handing out favors? No, really?
https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&view=bsp&ver=ohhl4rw8mbn4
Today I rode the city bus to an appointment and again in the afternoon I took the bus to another city to meet Andy for an appointment. On that longer ride I was with a full bus of The Common People. I had one of those moments when something becomes crystal clear. I knew Scott Walker, Scott Fitzgerald and the Koch Boys don't give a damn about the common people. Not any of us in the bus today. They don't care about our health concerns or some of our jobless states or our kids. They don't care about whether or not we thrive or barely survive. They don't care about our elders, their health or the paltry amount they live. They care about power and money. They care about the fame and the flattering words written about them. I knew that was the truth.
Well, this is what I have to say - we're coming for you Scott, we're coming for all you Tea Party conservatives. Just be on notice that we're coming. Recall is the word in Wisconsin. You can count on it!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
The Loons Are Migrating
The view out the expanse of glass is lake, moderate in size, tree-lined. Our cabin is situated on a bluff and today the winds are curling the waters as dark clouds gather mid-morning. I was peeking through binoculars earlier before the sun had fled and saw birds riding the waves, their white bodies flashing in the rising east light. They looked to be some mid-west version of a gull but when I checked my bird book I found they were loons. Common loons.
It is late March here near the Mississippi River. Andy and I are away with ourselves for seven days, a personal retreat to restore sanity. We are somewhere in north western Illinois, the same state that has become infamous as the safe haven for Democratic legislators under siege. Seemed like a good place to come although we didn't know in December what was ahead for Senators or common people when we made our own get-away plans.
The Common Loon is a migrating bird who, now in spring, has left the Gulf coast and Mexico to head north to Hayward, Wisconsin. And other points north. The loon's name comes from the Swedish word 'lom' meaning "lame", for the difficult and awkward manner in which it walks on land. Somehow I wished I didn't know that but it is odd how these days I see more things that remind me of how common the world is and, in its commonness, is magical. May I say this as well? Like all of life - like We The People - common, beautiful, magical. This year will continue to be a wild ride for the common people.
We have been here less than twenty-four hours. I've slowed down a bit but I can feel a humming inside that will lessen the longer we are here. Tonight is Earth Hour. It won't be difficult to turn off the lights here for an hour. I hope to gain a few insights on things personally in the light and the dark, do some thinking about this immense challenge to the ground support structure of our democracy and read/eat/sleep.
Meanwhile, I want to look at those exquisitely painted common loons who have blessed us with a stop at this lake on their grand spring migration.
Power To All The People! (and all the common life with which we live)
It is late March here near the Mississippi River. Andy and I are away with ourselves for seven days, a personal retreat to restore sanity. We are somewhere in north western Illinois, the same state that has become infamous as the safe haven for Democratic legislators under siege. Seemed like a good place to come although we didn't know in December what was ahead for Senators or common people when we made our own get-away plans.
The Common Loon is a migrating bird who, now in spring, has left the Gulf coast and Mexico to head north to Hayward, Wisconsin. And other points north. The loon's name comes from the Swedish word 'lom' meaning "lame", for the difficult and awkward manner in which it walks on land. Somehow I wished I didn't know that but it is odd how these days I see more things that remind me of how common the world is and, in its commonness, is magical. May I say this as well? Like all of life - like We The People - common, beautiful, magical. This year will continue to be a wild ride for the common people.
We have been here less than twenty-four hours. I've slowed down a bit but I can feel a humming inside that will lessen the longer we are here. Tonight is Earth Hour. It won't be difficult to turn off the lights here for an hour. I hope to gain a few insights on things personally in the light and the dark, do some thinking about this immense challenge to the ground support structure of our democracy and read/eat/sleep.
Meanwhile, I want to look at those exquisitely painted common loons who have blessed us with a stop at this lake on their grand spring migration.
Power To All The People! (and all the common life with which we live)
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Walker Started Something
The struggle continues in Wisconsin. This morning these items appeared in my inbox.
1. Walker emails show that even more severe steps were being considered to force the fourteen Democratic senators to return, i.e. taking away their office computers, denying one year of retirement benefits,etc.
2. Dane Co. reports that it would collect less child support under Walker's budget.
3. The State DNR is requesting Walker roll back the weakening of rules managing the release of phosphorus into lakes that is in his draconian budget.
However the following also appeared the other day. Anyone in Wisconsin might consider this a must attend event. Gather a group and go! It is sponsored by Wisconsin Wave of Liberty Tree. Sign up for their updates. After reading a brief copy of their effort, you may sign up at www.WisconsinPeoplesAssembly.org. So here's the details:
They have their house. It's time we built our own house. It's time for the . . .
WISCONSIN PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY
Downtown Campus of Madison Area Technical College
The evening of Saturday, April 9th . . .
. . . through the evening of Sunday, April 10th . . .
Spend Sunday, April 10th, and the previous Saturday evening, in Madison with hundreds if not thousands of other Wisconsinites as we convene the first in a series of meetings of the Wisconsin People’s Assembly. By participating in the Assembly, you will have the opportunity to meet, learn from, and build lasting personal connections with Wisconsinites coming from all trades, communities, and backgrounds. Together, we will create the kind of solidarity and strategies required to overcome the corporate takeover of our state, reverse the damage that has already been done, and win reforms that strengthen Wisconsin's democracy for future generations to come.
This first Wisconsin People's Assembly will focus on three common themes:
* Building a Popular Movement -- that overcomes segregation and discrimination and unites all of us in common cause.
* Direct Action Campaigning -- in order to achieve the will of the people when the official government closes its doors to us.
* Winning Democracy -- by strengthening local democracy, expanding participation, democratizing elections, and amending our constitution.
The Wisconsin People’s Assembly is convened by the Wisconsin Wave, a popular mobilization of workers, students, farmers, small business owners, the unemployed, retirees and others against corporatization and austerity, and for democracy and shared prosperity.
Sounds exciting doesn't it? As a friend of mine said, "Walker doesn't know what he started!" So true but it's unfortunate that we didn't believe this was coming before Walker was elected. I guess the common feeling now that we, as a whole, were asleep is most likely accurate else why would we have stayed home and watched this happen? Walker did not sweep in to Wisconsin's Capitol with a mandate. Far from it. He received little over half of the votes cast by considerably less than half of the voters in Wisconsin. One of the truisms Andy reminds me of is so basic it should serve as politics 101 in America. Democrats represent the vast majority of the voting public - we could call those the common people. Republicans, generally speaking, represent the business side of the population and fewer voters. So, in a tight election, if the Dems stay home, who wins? Yup, the Repubs. When the voters turn out, as we did in the last national election, we end up with a Democratic president. It's fairly simple considering polls and whether or not you actually believe there's any difference between the two parties. But, just for the sake of simple, it works to see it that way. Working people, common people, vote Democratic.
Walker is certainly providing a lightening rod around which people and events are gathering. And perhaps the loss of Russ Feingold as senator will allow him to be even more effective now as a progressive leader from the grassroots. The tea party agenda is becoming more and more clear to more and more people as it moves through state after state. We'll need people like Russ but we will need all of us as well! The news from Michigan is startling. http://www.care2.com/causes/politics/blog/hostile-takeover-threat-spurs-concessions-from-michigan-unions/
As Walker's hostile government, which is now being referred to as - Fitzwalkerstan - seeks to cut funds for recycling, roll back protections for the lakes and rivers of Wisconsin, this is also happening: http://www.care2.com/causes/environment/blog/water-is-our-life-source-opposing-the-transport-of-nuclear-waste/
Last, this morning, from an online article - "Judge Sumi is right; it's not a minor detail." (reference the decision she made last week regarding Wisconsin's open meeting law and the ensuing right wing hoopla.) I hope for more challenges to Walker's power grab.
"Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies, everyone goes...." See you in Madison on April 9-10!
Power To All The People!
1. Walker emails show that even more severe steps were being considered to force the fourteen Democratic senators to return, i.e. taking away their office computers, denying one year of retirement benefits,etc.
2. Dane Co. reports that it would collect less child support under Walker's budget.
3. The State DNR is requesting Walker roll back the weakening of rules managing the release of phosphorus into lakes that is in his draconian budget.
However the following also appeared the other day. Anyone in Wisconsin might consider this a must attend event. Gather a group and go! It is sponsored by Wisconsin Wave of Liberty Tree. Sign up for their updates. After reading a brief copy of their effort, you may sign up at www.WisconsinPeoplesAssembly.org. So here's the details:
They have their house. It's time we built our own house. It's time for the . . .
WISCONSIN PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY
Downtown Campus of Madison Area Technical College
The evening of Saturday, April 9th . . .
. . . through the evening of Sunday, April 10th . . .
Spend Sunday, April 10th, and the previous Saturday evening, in Madison with hundreds if not thousands of other Wisconsinites as we convene the first in a series of meetings of the Wisconsin People’s Assembly. By participating in the Assembly, you will have the opportunity to meet, learn from, and build lasting personal connections with Wisconsinites coming from all trades, communities, and backgrounds. Together, we will create the kind of solidarity and strategies required to overcome the corporate takeover of our state, reverse the damage that has already been done, and win reforms that strengthen Wisconsin's democracy for future generations to come.
This first Wisconsin People's Assembly will focus on three common themes:
* Building a Popular Movement -- that overcomes segregation and discrimination and unites all of us in common cause.
* Direct Action Campaigning -- in order to achieve the will of the people when the official government closes its doors to us.
* Winning Democracy -- by strengthening local democracy, expanding participation, democratizing elections, and amending our constitution.
The Wisconsin People’s Assembly is convened by the Wisconsin Wave, a popular mobilization of workers, students, farmers, small business owners, the unemployed, retirees and others against corporatization and austerity, and for democracy and shared prosperity.
Sounds exciting doesn't it? As a friend of mine said, "Walker doesn't know what he started!" So true but it's unfortunate that we didn't believe this was coming before Walker was elected. I guess the common feeling now that we, as a whole, were asleep is most likely accurate else why would we have stayed home and watched this happen? Walker did not sweep in to Wisconsin's Capitol with a mandate. Far from it. He received little over half of the votes cast by considerably less than half of the voters in Wisconsin. One of the truisms Andy reminds me of is so basic it should serve as politics 101 in America. Democrats represent the vast majority of the voting public - we could call those the common people. Republicans, generally speaking, represent the business side of the population and fewer voters. So, in a tight election, if the Dems stay home, who wins? Yup, the Repubs. When the voters turn out, as we did in the last national election, we end up with a Democratic president. It's fairly simple considering polls and whether or not you actually believe there's any difference between the two parties. But, just for the sake of simple, it works to see it that way. Working people, common people, vote Democratic.
Walker is certainly providing a lightening rod around which people and events are gathering. And perhaps the loss of Russ Feingold as senator will allow him to be even more effective now as a progressive leader from the grassroots. The tea party agenda is becoming more and more clear to more and more people as it moves through state after state. We'll need people like Russ but we will need all of us as well! The news from Michigan is startling. http://www.care2.com/causes/politics/blog/hostile-takeover-threat-spurs-concessions-from-michigan-unions/
As Walker's hostile government, which is now being referred to as - Fitzwalkerstan - seeks to cut funds for recycling, roll back protections for the lakes and rivers of Wisconsin, this is also happening: http://www.care2.com/causes/environment/blog/water-is-our-life-source-opposing-the-transport-of-nuclear-waste/
Last, this morning, from an online article - "Judge Sumi is right; it's not a minor detail." (reference the decision she made last week regarding Wisconsin's open meeting law and the ensuing right wing hoopla.) I hope for more challenges to Walker's power grab.
"Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies, everyone goes...." See you in Madison on April 9-10!
Power To All The People!
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