Well, I'm not sure I really participated in it. I was present for it. That might be a better way to put it. Scott participated. I was present.
It kind of happened by accident. I don't know if you have been watching the news or not, but Wisconsin has been getting some national press lately due to a budget bill proposed by our new idiot of a Republican governor, Scott Walker. This clown has put forth a bill that would strip unions of their collective bargaining rights for all benefits other than salary. No collective bargaining for insurance benefits. No collective bargaining for pension. A whole host of professions would be affected. Teachers unions have been at the forefront. For the past 2 days, so many teachers have called in sick that classes in Madison schools (and some other school districts in the state) have been cancelled. Word is that classes tomorrow will be cancelled as well.
Granted, Wisconsin has a huge budget deficit that needs to be filled and, as Governor, Scott Walker has to deal with that. Going after unions though? Yikes.
Union issues are touchy for me. On one hand, within my company/industry, union organizing is highly, highly, highly discouraged/frowned upon and considered detrimental to the work that we do. On the other hand, my husband is a die-hard union man; a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers. My Dad is a retired union man; Teamsters. My Mom is currently in a union within the public schools. My brother is even in a union; the FOP.
But, back to how I accidentally ended up at the protest. Scott and I went to a new spot for an early dinner. We went to a joint called the Avenue Bar. It's close to downtown. As we were leaving, Scott said he wanted to drive downtown to see the protesters that we had been hearing about on the news. As we got close to downtown, Scott said he wanted to park and walk up to the Capitol building, which we did.
As we were walking from the parking ramp towards the Capitol, Scott found a sign someone had left laying against a building, so he picked it up and carried it. This is the sign he picked up.
Next picture is Scott with his sign and the Capitol building in the background.
There were a lot of people downtown. I heard on the news tonight that there were 20,000 people outside the Capitol building.
In the picture below, you can see a couple guys approaching the Capitol in their Green Bay Packers jerseys and one guy (front, right, somewhat hidden by the tree branches) has his cheesehead hat on. Ahh... Wisconsin.
Inside, people were beating drums and I heard a couple cow bells. People were chanting: "KILL THE BILL...KILL THE BILL....KILL THE BILL". They also chanted, "HEY, HEY.... HO, HO....SCOTT WALKER'S GOT TO GO."
When we were outside, we saw the guy below in the red sweatshirt and black sweat pants walking around the Capitol, pushing his little kids in a stroller, yelling at the top of his lungs, "LEAVE MY KIDS ALONE."
Next photos are some of the signs we saw at the protest. The first one is pretty basic.
This guy's sign was quite a bit more sophisticated. And funny. Funny in a troubling, satirical kind of way.
Here is a close up of the sign: Scott Walker's face on evil Mini Me's body.
A couple more signs. There were so many.
The next picture didn't turn out very good. The sign reads: I removed a dictator in Iraq only to find one when I got home.
If they were giving out prizes, the guy below might have won for the most original.
There were people of all ages protesting. The girl holding the sign below was probably in her early teens.
This might have been one of the youngest protesters at the rally. She was right up in the mix inside the Capitol building. She even has on a hippy knit cap. So cute. So young. So political.
More signs. The ones below were inside the Capitol. The one immediately below: What's disgusting? Union busting.
Another good one.
We saw the sign below outside. It's one of my favorites. Protest like an Egyptian.
Our jackass clown of a Republican Governor in Wisconsin doesn't have a college degree. Of course, the teacher's union members and supporters are all over that. The picture below isn't good, so I'll interpret the sign. It reads: Walker- Pretend you went to college- drop out.
Another sign taking a dig at Walker.
One of the comments Scott Walker has made is that he wants the tax-payers voices to be heard too, in addition to the protesters. What? The protesters aren't tax-payers?? The girl in the picture above has a sign that speaks to that.
When Scott and I were in the Capitol, the place erupted in cheers over the signs below, showing solidarity with Wisconsin from New York and North Carolina.
Outside there were speakers set up. Music was piping through. I heard the song "Power to the People". Perfect for a political rally.
There was a lot of media coverage there. I noticed earlier tonight that the story out of Madison was on the front page of the CNN website.
The latest tonight is that the Democratic leaders have left the state so that law enforcement can't force them to respond to the call to come to the Capitol. Without the Democrats, there aren't enough representatives for a vote on the bill to occur, which stalls it indefinitely. The Democratic leaders are camped out at a hotel in Illinois tonight.
The political protest is Madison at its best. It's Madison being what Madison is: Political. Liberal. Active. It was interesting to be a part of/witness to the protest. The solidarity of people coming together for a common cause is an amazingly powerful experience.
1 comment:
Way to go Scott and Jules! Stick it to the man!
I don't know exactly why I said that, except I grew up thinking political protesting is way cool.
Here in Ohio we're having the same collective bargaining issue - Senate Bill 5. I don't know what to think of it. My daughter is a school teacher; I know people need protected. On the other hand, the benefits state employees have here in Ohio greatly exceed those I get in the private sector and are at the taypayers expense. Is that reasonable? Again, I don't know.
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