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We're all a mess of paradoxes. Believing in things we know can't be true. We walk around carrying feelings too complicated and contradictory to express. But when it all becomes too big, and words aren't enough to help get it all out, there's always music.
Post by LoveLuckLaughter on Jun 2, 2011 12:37:06 GMT -5
Exactly. We have given them our intent, and if no agreements are made before that and they refuse to negotiate, the 10th will be the walk-out date.
They have a few PRNs and Part-timers locked into a contract right now that runs through July 2nd. It paid PRNs $5 more an hour and part-timers $10 more an hour to agree to work a full-time schedule in between May 26th-July 2nd. They stated it was due to critical staffing needs. However, it was clearly a ploy to assure that they at least have SOME staffing from seasoned employees in case of a strike. Only a handful of nurses fell for it.
We're all a mess of paradoxes. Believing in things we know can't be true. We walk around carrying feelings too complicated and contradictory to express. But when it all becomes too big, and words aren't enough to help get it all out, there's always music.
The state legislature has begun to debate the budget. (The bill that caused the initial uproar was merely the budget repair bill, which is under judge's permanent injunction prohibiting its implementation until further notice.) Since the first bill is in legal limbo, and Wisconsin must have a budget passed by the end of the month, the actual budget bill is highly controversial. A lot of things that were attempted (and failed) within the budget repair bill are being tried again. I could be slightly wrong about the numbers, but as I understand it 35 people were dragged out of tonight's Joint Finance Committee meeting and two or three were arrested attempting to regain access to the session. I don't know if I've ever seen the #WIunion crowd so divided over tactics as they were over the actions of some of the rabble-rouser ringleaders at tonight's JFC meeting.
One part of this budget that's drawing new controversy is a series of provisions restrictive to smaller craft breweries. I will call it what is is: MillerCoors getting their campaign donation money's worth. Some bars in Madison are starting to pull MillerCoors products (including Leinenkugel's) from their stocks, or at least putting a brown bag over the appropriate taps and refusing to serve them. There's a pro-microbrew protest at the capitol tomorrow. There's probably a Bonnaroo Brooers Festival protest against Leinenkugel's in the works, too
I missed the JFC action tonight because I was at the recall office; I will miss the microbrew rally because I will be at the recall office.
The Republican Party is trying to find candidates to run against Democrats in recall election primaries. This delays the process, extending those campaigns another month. I know there's rumblings of a formerly-registered Republican turned Libertarian entering a Democratic primary in at least one district.
A group of protestors has sought a permit from the city to reinstate Walkerville tent city outside the capitol beginning this Saturday, given the beginning of budget hearings. This time, organizers plan to highlight a different aspect of the negative ramifications of the state budget in progress every day. I will gladly sleep there again.
I'm going to sleep now and get up and do it again. Except for Bonnaroo, I am at the mercy of the cause for roughly the next six weeks. I do miss the sleep and disc golf and drinking smoking and all that... but I don't regret it one bit. The payoff will be worth it. It won't be immediate, it won't be easy, it will get uglier before it gets better, BUT someday...
There's probably a Bonnaroo Brooers Festival protest against Leinenkugel's in the works, too
I'm with you on that one. Granted Leine sucks anyway, but it's principle.
Now for people like me here in New England, how does one advertise a boycott on MillerCoors and Leine since 99.9% of people here have no clue who Scott Walker is - or cares.
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There's probably a Bonnaroo Brooers Festival protest against Leinenkugel's in the works, too
I'm with you on that one. Granted Leine sucks anyway, but it's principle.
Now for people like me here in New England, how does one advertise a boycott on MillerCoors and Leine since 99.9% of people here have no clue who Scott Walker is - or cares.
In New England, I would be calling out Gov. LePage in Maine or perhaps Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown. I wouldn't be surprised to learn they have the same sponsors, anyway.
So, Walkerville tent city is back. This time, it's organized. This time, the state Department of Administration - which controls the square city block that houses the capitol building - will not allow camping on capitol grounds. This time, instead... the Madison city council has granted a permit for Walkerville's return all around the capitol. My boy Phil is a photographer. Here's some of his Walkerville pictures from last night. I will be staying in Walkerville tomorrow night for the second time.
I would like to thank you kdogg for keeping up with this thread. I too have been lurking here, reading your updates. We've been having our share of problems here in Indiana too. The latest is Daniels cut Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood, which is against federal statute. Indiana is going to lose all federal Medicaid funds (about $4 billion) and cause 1 million residents to lose their healthcare. All because Planned Parenthood provides abortions, none of which were paid for with federal Medicaid money. I'm absolutely dumbfounded that these sorts of things are happening in our country and so few people really care that they are.
This is the YouTube clip promoting our "14 for THE 14" phone bank push this week. We are trying to make 14,000 phone calls in honor of the Wisconsin 14 - the state senators who fled to Illinois in February. They'll be coming into the office all week to meet and greet volunteers as we try to accomplish this, which is approximately twice the number of phone calls we have been making in a week. I make a couple cameos in there, one at the front desk and one tucked away behind the leader of the WI14, Senate Minority (for now ) Leader Mark Miller. I only get to help out today and tomorrow before leaving Wednesday. I don't think I've ever felt this bad about having to miss out on something for Bonnaroo.
This and subsequent posts might be lengthy, so I'm going to throw out some familiar & optional audio/video for now:
Quick Wisconsin recap, as to the best of my knowledge, of what has happened in the past week while most of us were down in Tennessee Bonnarooing. I am restricting myself to one-sentence updates here in presenting what's happened since Tuesday:
All nine recalls were deemed sufficient by the Government Accountability Board, six against Republicans and three against Democrats. Republican staffers & donors are entering the Democratic primaries where incumbent Republicans have challengers, extending the recall campaign period and forcing both challengers & taxpayers alike to spend more money. The resistance learned that the Walker administration established an office specifically dedicated to monitoring social media sites for political/protest organizing information. The office I'm working in hit their goal of 14,000 phone calls for the week on Thursday and made 23k+ calls total. Walkerville continues across the street from the state capitol, and will do so for at least another week. Former Senator Feingold and Madison's Congresswoman, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, paid visits to Walkerville over the weekend. Today, the Wisconsin Supreme Court overruled Judge Sumi's decision determining that the legislature did not act in violation of open meetings laws in passing Walker's original budget repair bill. (Wisconsin elects Supreme Court justices; I feel that judicial impartiality is tainted by the campaign process and choosing justices via means of merit selection.) The state legislature is in "extraordinary session" to consider the actual state budget, which much be passed by the end of the month; extraordinary sessions are exempt from open meetings law and have never been used for a budget as far as state historians can tell.
This is the home that I return to. Fucking fascists.
Bonnaroo was a good weekend, though. On Thursday during my first ice run of camp, I got a call from JHoinTN. She asked if mine was the campsite was the upside-down Wisconsin flag and "Recall Walker" sign in the window. It was, so we were across-the-street neighbors all weekend. I had two or three instances of people tell me they'd sent pizzas to the capitol a few months ago and I didn't realize it. Up until Bonnaroo, I had thought that was only Superbek. Shout-out and thanks to lovelucklaughter and holls, as well as anyone else who hasn't identified themselves as having done so. A lot of you probably saw me in the straw hat with all the political buttons on it, possibly in conjunction with me WI/blue fist "Solidarity" shirt. It got noticed throughout the weekend. I heard from all four corners of the state and beyond. At Matt & Kim, "Fuck Scott Walker!" was yelled in my direction. At the Taco Bus, I met a guy working in one of my sister offices where a recall is taking place. We both know a couple of the same fellow activists back home. In line for the comedy tent, I had a nice chat with a union worker from Iowa who had been following the cause from across the Mississippi. Walking away in the middle of Florence & the Machine's set, I rounded a tree near the stage and a couple ladies in bikinis raised their fists and shouted "Solidarity!" from a good 30-40 feet away. I got closer and one of them shouted "Kevin?!" and started running my way. It was a friend from high school who I don't see too often these days, and there was some hugging and catching up. I tried to meet up with Julia, the new friend I met at Coachella on account of said Solidarity shirt. She was in BFE and it sounded like she wasn't having the best weekend, but we played phone/Twitter tag trying to make it work. Kinda sucks, I had a button I was going to give her. It wasn't until Sunday that I wandered through the "activist alley" portion of Planet Roo and I wish I'd done so sooner. It was more centered on environmental and local causes, but they're still my kind of people. I swung through there on my way to SuperJam, when they were in the beginning stages of shutdown mode. A guy with a clipboard was steering traffic to his booth, noticed the buttons on my hat and wanted to give me thumbs up on what we were doing back here in Wisconsin. I asked what I could do to give his cause a hand, and he directed me to go fill out postcards to Tennessee Senators thanking them for reintroducing environmental legislation. As I was doing that, the nice volunteers at that booth saw my buttons. I also got the thumbs up for what we're doing back home, but the man taking my postcard also told me he had sent pizzas up to the capitol. I had to stick around and talk for a few more minutes; it was more gratifying to thank a complete stranger who had our back than it was to see SuperJam, as great as it was. I walked away from that meeting a bit verklempt. Oh, and I'm not gonna lie... when Arcade Fire closed with "Rebellion (Lies)," I wept. If #WIunion has one anthem, it is that. If we have two, add Mumford & Sons' "The Cave." It was great to see them both performed live over the weekend. Every time I hear either of those songs, in my mind I'm back in the occupied capitol and it chokes me up with both pride and worry.
My absolute favorite moment all weekend? I was with baconus66 in the crowd at Which stage, between settling our beer bet and parting ways. A random parade started heading our way. It's not unusual to have a random parade at Bonnaroo, but this was my favorite one ever. This was a group of people waving signs (in opposition to strip-mining Blair Mountain, site of a labor vs. army standoff in the 1920s) and chanting "This is what democracy looks like!" I smiled nice and big and chanted with them as they walked past.
I have to run to work now, or I'd rant more. Tomorrow's a busy day. It's my first shift back at the recall office, my monthly Democracy Addicts meeting, and then I intend on sleeping in Walkerville. The timing is quite convenient - I already have most of what I need still in the trunk... minus the "in case of tear gas" supplies I purchased today.
I guess I'll be bringing a bit of Bonnaroo up to the capitol square in Madison this week.
I'm reading this NPR article about similar protests in New Jersey. I'm humbled and awed seeing so much Wisconsin imagery a thousand miles away by people undergoing the same hardships.
I don't know what I'd say to them at this point. I threw that same link/sentiment out on Twitter, and I ended it with "Stay strong, Garden State!" I don't know if that's going to do it.
Wisconsin's budget passed yesterday, after an extraordinary session of the legislature. All it needs now is Walker's signature. It doesn't cut spending - that's up about 1.5%. It doesn't lower taxes - those increase by about $70 million and fees by $110 million. Despite all the cuts being made. I could piss and moan plenty about the smaller details... but doesn't what I said already run contrary to adherence to fiscal discipline American leadership sorely lacks as it is?
We narrowly lost that probably-fradulent Supreme Court election in April, and the federal investigations which should have happened never materialized. The Wisconsin Supreme Court, whose majority has been bought with the same money which bought Walker and his allies, hastily - and might I add wrongly - overruled the violation of open meetings law blocking Walker's budget repair bill. This awful budget just passed, and it's pretty much all Robin Hood in reverse to the benefit of campaign contributors. The movement here is a bit dejected, to say the least.
It's hard to feel victorious in the Wisconsin resistance these days. And that's tough... especially seeing people a thousand miles away following your lead. We haven't won. I don't know whether we will win. We did so much right, but there's things we might have done better.
But there are people following our lead, and I don't know if our lead leads to victory.
Yes, we have recalls ahead, and yes, things might look promising there, and yes, I have been busting my ass to help make it happen. I don't know if that will do it... I can only hope. At this point, there's friction between factions and a good bit of wind taken out of our sails. We're down but not out yet, but I hate to think of what might happen if the attempt to flip the state senate fails.
So yeah, I told New Jersey to stay strong... but I don't know what else to tell them. We're trying, but I'm not sure if we're doing it right. Maybe our opposition has put too much energy into the recalls. Maybe there should have been a general strike called. Maybe we should have occupied buildings other than the capitol when it was shut down. Maybe this, that or the other thing... Whatever may be wrong or may be right... they're embarking on a wild ride. They do need to stay strong.
I hate making posts in this thread on such down notes. I think it's time for a special feelgood story I have been remiss in sharing thus far.
As you may recall, the Cheddar Revolution began on February 14th. One of the earliest actions taken was students delivering pro-UW Valentine's Day cards to state legislators in the capitol, even before the occupation began. Sometime around the onset of the occupation of the capitol, I don't remember which date specifically, a heart-shaped balloon was released and made its way up inside the rotunda dome. This picture was taken Thursday. The heart balloon has been there for four months now. It is incredible to have such an uplifting symbol from the occupation ever-present in the capitol. I hope it never comes down.
Kdogg, I admire you so much for your dedication to a cause that you believe in. America needs more of you, who are willing to stand up for their beliefs and fight for what is right.
I'm glad that I got to meet you this year at the Brunch. You honestly exude an energy that permeates the air around you. In your political environment i would guess that it is magnified. keep up the good work
So the Red Sox are playing the Brewers this weekend. Quite a handful of Brewers fans on hand at Fenway. A few times I was running around with my one man "Recall Walker" chant, and similar screamings which I can't remember.
So um... not sure that'll do anything. But I tried to help.
Thanks for all the kind words. I'll respond to those in this post, then probably be back shortly with another one.
As far as determination... I can't define where it was, but there was definitely a point where - at least for a lot of us out here - where one becomes too invested to turn back. I can tell you some stories of determination. There's Russell... he was one of the earliest people in phone banking with us, and one of the most reliable. I knew him by his name on the sign-up sheet alone. When I was working on constituent correspondence as an intern in Sen. Feingold's office, he wrote in about issues. Every. Single. Day. There was Matt who went on the hunger strike early in the protests... "damn, three days?" turned into "damn, a week?" into "holy shit, this guy hasn't eaten for a month!" He wasn't satisfied to eat until Judge Sumi put an injunction on the budget repair bill in violation of open meetings law. I could definitely go on, but it's getting late and there is more to write.
As far as this aura, I don't know whether that was necessarily just me... You can't deny that there's just something about being on the farm to put a spring in your step, too. I don't know if I ever had the best people skills, per se. The smaller the group, the better. I can get a PhD to change their vote one-on-one over the phone on a better day. Training groups of people to make the same kind of calls has me working with groups, and I still have my snafus there. It's something I'm working on and getting better at now more than ever.
The Brewers are never too good in interleague play, it seems. Shame. I'm glad to hear that you did something. I appreciate it if none of them do, but I'm kind of surprised that wouldn't catch on in such a blue part of the country with so many Brewers fans around. On a personal note, I think the hardest part of all the boycotting I'm doing is not attending Brewers games at Miller Park. Especially since it's a foregone conclusion that this is Prince Fielder's last year with the Brew Crew.
And that state supreme court opinion... yeah, those were some heavy-duty legal accusations being thrown around from Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson - and rightly so. Supreme Court Justice is an elected official in this state, which introduces that element of quid pro quo with their campaign donors. I'm glad to see that link includes mention of recalling justices. I think those should happen sooner rather than later, but I don't hear too many people calling for it just yet. I know we're busy with nine senate recalls at the moment. There might be fatigue doing three rounds of recalls in a row, but I'm hoping that certain among our justices wind up recalled alongside Scott Walker. It's later than I'd personally suggest, but it'd be better than never.
The state budget passed both houses of the legislature. It is currently in the hands of Walker, who has the power of line-item veto. There is one particular issue which just might be getting enough pushback to receive a veto: the craft brewery provisions. The small brewers are organizing to get people to contact Walker about vetoing that particular provision, and a bipartisan group of state legislators has published a letter urging Walker to veto that provision. This provision isn't as must-have to state Republicans as the union-busting and drastic cuts, so there's a chance that something bad in this budget could be prevented. It's not the most pressing issue, yes. However, in this state, going after our beloved microbreweries rubs both sides of the aisle the wrong way.
Oh, and Wisconsin is no longer going to be among the few states holding out on enacting a concealed carry law. This is particularly worrisome, and not just in a general sense to me. Around the beginning of the month, a man from the center of the state was thwarted in a plan of opening fire in Madison's clinic which provides abortions. That doesn't necessarily reflect poorly on the bill, as he was going to do that before it was debated, but it still isn't comforting... which brings me to my next point.
In the capitol in Madison, every day at noon, there is a Solidarity Sing-A-Long. There are many restrictions on capitol entry/behavior and what it entails - the building finally reopens per court order to Jan. 28th rules on Monday (hopefully) - but it is definitely okay for protesters to gather and sing. They are in their fifteenth week of doing so. My shifts at the office usually start at 12:30, and there are a handful of volunteers who arrive to help us immediately afterward. A lot of this contingency overlaps with the group calling themselves Raging Grannies, whom I think are awesome. Walker supporters introduced violence into today's Solidarity Sing-A-Long. A group of a three men, led by former Republican state senator David Zien (who is wheelchair-bound recovering from an accident earlier this year) accosted the Solidarity Singers. Zien got into the middle of a circular group and wheeled in circles, trying to get the group to disperse by attempting to run over toes. His accomplices carried with them a Gadsden flag (you know it: "Don't Tread On Me" w/ snake on yellow background) and were coming up to protesters and hanging their flag over protester signs. The guy who moved their flag off his sign was immediately put into a headlock and punched in the face, breaking a tooth. I believe three citations were issued, two to the men with the Gadsden flag and another to a Solidarity Singer who intervened on behalf of the victim.
I think it should be obvious why I'm not necessarily comfortable with concealed carry in the state. I'm starting to think I might have to take advantage of this once it goes into effect, even though I've never owned a firearm in my life.
I went out drinking in Milwaukee last night. While browsing Twitter, I saw meeting information for a group called Drinking Liberally. There were only ten or twelve people there, as it was in direct competition with a fundraiser/canvassing for Rep. Sandy Pasch, who is challenging Sen. Alberta Darling in one of the recall elections. They said when I showed up "Great, we finally get someone from around Madison the month we don't have fifty people here." Hosting was one of the more prominent bloggers in the state; there was a judge in attendance; I was the youngest one there; I got a lot of questions related to being a recall intern; it was exclusively male with one exception. Assembly representative JoCasta Zamarripa, who represents that district, paid a visit. She's a freshman, and man... what a first session to have as a legislator. We swapped tales of our night in the capitol the night the initial budget repair bill vote took place, and it was interesting to hear her observations from the floor compared to what I had seen from up in the gallery. There's a similar group in Madison that meets certain Wednesdays, and I'll be attending that after my time in the office today.
Readers, I have a favor to ask of y'all. Things get heavy here and I can't always bring the breadth and/or depth to parts of this that I'd like. I try to cover all the bases on what's currently going on, but haven't always had time to address every subject I've wanted to - or go as in-depth on ones I've brought up briefly. I have so many half-rants floating around in my head that I haven't gotten around to. I had a fourteen-hour drive home from Bonnaroo, just me and my mind most of the time, and I did a lot of thinking about various aspects on the general topic of what's going on here in Wisconsin. I'm going to throw some of them out there, and if there's something of particular interest speak up. And, as always, if there's something you want to ask or comment on, be my guest.
A few tips of icebergs I've been kicking around: Cheddar Revolution Playlist (I've been meaning to make a more music-intensive post here for some time but I've been slacking.) Wisconsin brought the Republicans into this world, and we can take them out too (The birthplace of the Republican Party and the birthplace of yours truly lie within the very same Congressional district) Looking Ahead the next 9-12 Months (it's going to get uglier before it gets better, and there's going to be a lot going on) Recall Roundup (I spend so much time working for these candidates, I could perhaps stand to discuss them a bit more) Around the Office (I think I've just scratched the surface of what the place looks like, what goes on there, and who's doing it) #TheRevolutionWillBeTweeted (Fairly obvious; all this got me hooked on Twitter.) "Let's sit, let's talk, politics go so good with beer" (As I said, my social calendar regularly includes the kind of meetups I mentioned above) What happens after Walker gets recalled? What do I want from this in the long run?
I also have one more Bonnaroo encounter I forgot to mention in my earlier posts of run-ins at the festival I want to bring up before I forget. I paid LLL & SFA's campsite a visit on Sunday night before leaving Bonnaroo. On my way back to camp, I was sent off by the two of them, fists in the air saying "Forward!" LLL was wearing a "Nurses do it better" shirt and had a cape on at the time, which made it all the better.
I will say I am generally in favor of concealed carry laws and feel not enough people on the left fully use them to their advantage. I am not in favor of general escalation, but if protestors started openly carrying sidearms to Republican rallies like happens now I have a feeling it might make people think just a little bit more.
I will say I am generally in favor of concealed carry laws and feel not enough people on the left fully use them to their advantage. I am not in favor of general escalation, but if protestors started openly carrying sidearms to Republican rallies like happens now I have a feeling it might make people think just a little bit more.
I went to a Democracy Addicts meetup again last night, not the official monthly meeting but a west side gathering. The official ones I've been to, some of them occupy half of the space in the establishment. This one had attendance in the low twenties from what I saw; I came an hour-plus after the official starting time, but I was one of the half-dozen or so that were there until close.
This came up later in the night, when our numbers had dwindled. Concealed carry came up and we were discussing it, mostly in terms of how/why that particular law could/should be better - particularly given that we could have observed the best practices of the forty-some (48?) other states that currently have concealed carry laws.
A brief lull in the conversation came up, and I asked who among the 6-8 people there actually owned a gun. One of the regulars at these things happens to be the first guy I met from my Twitter addiction back while we were in the capitol. He said yes, and he was the only one... and when I asked how many he said "Nineteen." (To be fair, he grew up Up North and his father was a cop.) He made the suggestion that once the law goes into effect, we should be filling the firearm safety courses with protesters. Actually, someone had first mentioned that we should fill the first classroom with "angry black people" and see what kind of reaction that got.
I know I'd be willing to go with a blue fist on my shirt.
I will say I am generally in favor of concealed carry laws and feel not enough people on the left fully use them to their advantage. I am not in favor of general escalation, but if protestors started openly carrying sidearms to Republican rallies like happens now I have a feeling it might make people think just a little bit more.
I went to a Democracy Addicts meetup again last night, not the official monthly meeting but a west side gathering. The official ones I've been to, some of them occupy half of the space in the establishment. This one had attendance in the low twenties from what I saw; I came an hour-plus after the official starting time, but I was one of the half-dozen or so that were there until close.
This came up later in the night, when our numbers had dwindled. Concealed carry came up and we were discussing it, mostly in terms of how/why that particular law could/should be better - particularly given that we could have observed the best practices of the forty-some (48?) other states that currently have concealed carry laws.
A brief lull in the conversation came up, and I asked who among the 6-8 people there actually owned a gun. One of the regulars at these things happens to be the first guy I met from my Twitter addiction back while we were in the capitol. He said yes, and he was the only one... and when I asked how many he said "Nineteen." (To be fair, he grew up Up North and his father was a cop.) He made the suggestion that once the law goes into effect, we should be filling the firearm safety courses with protesters. Actually, someone had first mentioned that we should fill the first classroom with "angry black people" and see what kind of reaction that got.
I know I'd be willing to go with a blue fist on my shirt.
Carrying is carrying, and honestly right now it is a big form of political expression, personally it makes me uneasy that for the most part the right owns it.
Personally I have no faith in a government-appointed/elected/hired individual properly assessing who has the responsibility/sensibility/intelligence to determine who should carry a firearm into public. I know that tends to say that I don't trust cops either but I think we've all encountered some that shouldn't be carrying.
Personally I have no faith in a government-appointed/elected/hired individual properly assessing who has the responsibility/sensibility/intelligence to determine who should carry a firearm into public. I know that tends to say that I don't trust cops either but I think we've all encountered some that shouldn't be carrying.
So who decides? Or do you think no one should carry? In Tn it is different than a lot of other states there is merely a carry permit concealed or not. I do not have a problem with it within reason, it is just the right wing and especially the teabaggers have decided to carry openly at rallies as a form of political expression. They kind of have a point imo and it certainly confuses them if the opposition is doing so as well.
I do actually agree with the premise of if guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns.
