The Birth of Hope

 

last week, first-time father Chris Reeder returned to the Solidarity Sing Along he has led every weekday for nearly a year. He’d been absent for two weeks, ever since his new son, August, was born. We carried on with our noon singing without Chris, but we missed him—and we were eager to congratulate him. A cheer went up on Friday when he appeared on the street and joined over a hundred of us on the snowy Capitol steps.

Reunited for an hour, we celebrated August’s birth with a shower gift from all of us, hundreds of cupcakes, some hot cider, and a lullaby for a baby boy. We were beaming as we sang through tears. To be honest, crazy as it may sound,we feel like August’s extended family of aunts, uncles and grandparents.

The birth of “our” Sing Along baby is a sign of hope. We’ll watch him grow and keep watch over the kind of world he and children all over the world will grow in.

This is what we sang, with the usual assortment of visitors—that day from Egypt and Germany and Minnesota—joining in:

“August's Lullaby”

Go to sleep now little August, While the grown-ups sing and cry. You won't hear guitars or drumming Until a few more weeks go by.

We'll be singing when you get here, 'Cause Scott Walker's got to go. Today you're in the nice warm indoors But soon you'll join us in the snow.

We know Scott Walker causes trouble. He causes trouble everywhere. But when you toddle in the Cap'tol, He won't be the Gov'nor there.

We know Wisconsin has some problems, But they aren't here to stay. We'll recall Walker and his cronies Well before your first birthday.

So go to sleep now little August, Then later give our songs a try But if you can't sleep just try humming That's our August's lullaby.

Lyrics by Jim Murray

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vn_0WtigJt0

This Uprising of Mine, It’s My Valentine

I took this picture on February 14 just as UW-Madison students and teachers marched into the Capitol with a stack of Valentines. They joined the Solidarity Sing Along in a rousing chorus of “This Uprising of Mine, It’s My Valentine” to the tune of This Little Light of Mine. The day was a very significant anniversary, as Jill Hopke, doctoral student at UW-Madison, explains:

“A year ago the system of social trust in Wisconsin began to come unraveled. Today marks the one-year anniversary of Gov. Walker’s announcement of the Budget Repair Bill, now Wisconsin Act 10, effectively ending 50 years of public sector collective bargaining rights.

I believed a year ago that we would “kill the bill.” I believed if we made our voices heard, we could appeal to reason on the part of lawmakers. If we spoke about the hardships this bill would cause around the state for families, for students, for ordinary Wisconsinites that go to work everyday with faith in the system, our government would listen to us.

But more than that, I had faith in the democratic process. I had faith in a fair democratic system in which we could appeal to a deeper sense of justice. This is what had broken down in our state over the course of the past year. This is what John Rawls, in outlining the idea of “justice as fairness,” writes is the “idea of society as a fair system of social cooperation,” meaning on a most basic level that in a pluralist political system individuals may not agree with the outcome of any given decision, but they can trust the process by which decisions are made is fair, that democratic institutions uphold what we can agree on as “democracy.” That means playing by the rules, not bending them to suit a national right-wing political agenda. That means having a truly independent judiciary system to check the power of the legislative and executive branches of government. It means not making it harder for those who are more likely to disagree with you to vote.

There are moments when one cannot be silent. We did not know how many people would join us on February 14, 2011, as we delivered valentines to Gov. Walker, or how many people would come to the Joint Committee on Finance public hearing on February 15, 2011. But we spoke out . . .

February 2011, was not a time when we could be neutral, nor is now. What we value as a state, and as a nation, is at stake. Those of us that value access to education, dignity in the workplace and a social system that guarantees basic services for the neediest amongst us must continue to speak out.

What we sparked a year ago is beyond anything I would have imagined experiencing my lifetime. I am hopeful that over the course of the next year we can rise above the rancor and work together to move Wisconsin forward.”

Read Jill’s whole article at Remembering as We Move Wisconsin Forward 

 (Spread the word. Help your friends be informed please SHARE this post on Facebook by using the link below.)

Walkergate

One year after the historic Wisconsin uprising began, one million signatures to recall Governor Scott Walker are being reviewed. At the same time, a corruption investigation we’ve dubbed Walkergate is underway. Our governor has shown a consistent contempt for the rule of law—who knows whether Wisconsin voters or other forces of justice will have the first chance to remove him from power?

Every day it seems we learn of a new development in this investigation. To keep abreast, since the story is complicated and far-reaching and the media will not give you the latest news, visit http://www.walkerinvestigation.com  Here’s a short summary of the John Doe probe that has implicated current Walker aides and associates who also worked for him while Walker was Milwaukee County Executive.

Timothy Russell, his deputy chief of staff at the time, has been charged with embezzling money from a veterans’ event he ran from the county executive's office. Kelly Rindfleisch, also a former deputy chief of staff, was charged with four counts of felony misconduct in office for doing campaign fundraising on county time. Aide Darlene Wink has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting campaign funds.

The illegal campaign-at-work set-up was located just a few steps from Walker’s office. We know that those arrested so far used a secret email router and laptops brought from home to conduct campaign business while on the clock for Milwaukee county. An email from Scott Walker shows that he knew what they were up to. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm has asked that Walker meet with prosecutors in the near future, and Walker has hired two high power criminal lawyers to represent him. We have a LOT of questions for Governor Walker ourselves.

How are Andrew Jensen, the realty mogul, and Reince Preibus, then Republican Party of Wisconsin chairman and now head of the Republican National Committee involved?

Why were so many files and computers missing from the Milwaukee County Courthouse when Walker left to become governor?

What about Cindy Archer? What did they find in the things investigators took when they raided her Madison home, including a computer hard drive?

Please share the information in this post (use the Facebook share link below) so that your friends know that Scott Walker is very involved in this scandal despite his spin on things, which is "I've offered to come in and talk to the DA to lend my help to the investigation." Bye Bye, Governor Walker. Soon, we hope.

(To contact Rick Nass, the illustrator who created this button, send him a message at rnass@charter.com with BYE BYE as the subject line)

One Year Into This

 

On February 11, 2011, I remember exactly where I was when I heard Governor Walker announce that his budget repair bill would remove collective bargaining rights from public employees, that they might be “a little upset” so he had placed the National Guard on alert. I remember thinking “The National Guard!? This is hasty—something doesn’t seem right”.

Within four days, I had become a protester for the first time in my life—and then, an activist. When hundreds of thousands of people protested at the Capitol for many weeks, I thought certainly our GOP governor and legislature would reconsider their actions. They did not budge then and have not budged since. They thought that we would go away after a few weeks, but we have not budged either. Instead we’ve learned to stand up for ourselves.

It’s been a long year.

Because they continued to pursue their extreme agenda against the will of many Wisconsin citizens, unprecedented recalls of legislators have gone forward this year. Nine this summer. And six currently, including Governor Walker, face recall. It would have been easier to do nothing, but how could we remain complacent?

It’s the perseverence, energy, courage and sacrifice of tens of thousands of ordinary citizens that we will honor at this one year anniversary of the Wisconsin uprising. We’ll come together to remember and reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re going as a state. Forward!

To check for events this week and next visit http://wisconsinwave.org/event-list

An Injury to One is an Injury to All

 

On January 25, while Governor Scott Walker’s State of the State address was greeted with thunderous applause inside the Capitol, I was with this crowd gathered outside at his doorstep. We were voicing our opposition to a mining bill that the Assembly voted on the next day. Bill AB 426 was written by mining interests—no legislator sponsored the bill. It guts environmental protections and fast tracks Wisconsin's mining permit process to clear the way for Gogebic Taconite to open an iron mine in north-central Wisconsin.

And the bill violates international treaty law. The night was filled with the drums and chanting of Native American tribes who were not even consulted about the permanent damage to their land and water if the mine goes forward. We stood with the tribes in solidarity, just as we have joined with teachers, nurses, firefighters and farmers this past year, carrying signs that say "An Injury to One is an Injury to All".

Bill AB 426 was passed by the Assembly along party lines, although it is hoped that the Senate will stop its progress. The fact remains that the Walker administration has changed our state beyond recognition. Wisconsin has long had a universally respected bi-partisan tradition of protecting the environment for the good of all.

A huge RECALL banner inside the Capitol reminded guests to the State of the State address that over 1 million Wisconsinites have signed a petition to recall Walker—we’re all hoping it was his last annual address from that office. As the governor's speech began, the noise of the protesters outside his door was deafening.

My wildest dreams

 

I dreamed of collecting one million signatures to recall Governor Scott Walker. That thought kept me going strong until the last day of the 60-day signature-gathering period. When I heard the amazing news of our achievement, I had to pinch myself. How often do our wildest dreams come true?

Someone asked me today if I had any other wild dreams. I guess I do have another. It’s this: that Progressivism would be reborn in its birthplace, Wisconsin. Fighting Bob La Follette has been called "arguably the most important and recognized leader of the opposition to the growing dominance of corporations over the government”, and his bust in the Capitol rotunda reminds us daily of that fact. On the day the recall signature count was announced, I thought I saw a smile on his face as he watched us celebrate. His words in 1897 are true again today:

“So multifarious have become corporate affairs, so many concessions and privileges have been accorded them by legislation—so many more are sought by further legislation—that their specially retained representatives are either elected to office, directly in their interests, or maintained in a perpetual lobby to serve them. Hence it is that the corporation does not limit its operations to the legitimate conduct of its business. Human nature everywhere is selfish, and with the vast power which consolidated capital can wield, with the impossibility of fixing any personal or moral responsibility for corporate acts, its commands are heard and obeyed in the capitals of the state and nation.”

When legislatures will boldly repudiate their constituents and violate the pledges of their platforms, then indeed have the servants become the masters, and the people ceased to be sovereign—gone the government of equal rights and equal responsibilities, lost the jewel of constitutional liberty.

Do not look to such lawmakers to restrain corporations within proper limits. Do not look to such lawmakers to equalize the burden of taxation. Do not look to such lawmakers to lift politics out of the ways of darkness.”

Fighting Bob would tell us to keep up the good fight in Wisconsin. He’d tell us to be an example to the nation. Our wildest dreams can come true!

Tomorrow We Celebrate!

 

Tomorrow Julie Wells, the Janesville grandmother and factory worker who triggered the Walker recall, will be smiling. She and volunteers from Wisconsin’s 72 counties will deliver many boxes of signed petitions to the Government Accountability Board at 212 E. Washington Ave. in Madison. The GAB is expecting to receive a total of almost 2 million signatures for the multiple recalls against Walker, Lt. Gov. Kleefisch, and four Republican state Senators. (Won’t it be fun to watch them unload those boxes from a truck dubbed the “Forward Flyer”?)

Tomorrow night we’ll celebrate what the people of Wisconsin have accomplished by working together with joyful determination and shared purpose. Of course, a lot of labor lies ahead. Our next step is to launch a massive voter registration/education drive so that thousands of voters currently disenfranchised by the GOP photo ID bill will be able to make their voices heard in the recall elections later this year. At the same time we’ll campaign for the Progressive candidates who will step Forward to run in (hopefully) six recall elections. Next we’ll go door to door to talk with our fellow citizens, making sure they get out and vote when the time comes. We’ll fight for the truth, which will be muddied by attack commercials funded by massive amounts of money pouring into our state from rightwing PACs.

We look forward to a really big celebration after the election, because we hope to accomplish something truly historic. We hope to take back our Senate and the Governorship—and our state.

What a ride this has been! And what good friends we have made. Celebrate our achievements so far. And lend a hand in the work ahead as we struggle for the soul of Wisconsin. You won’t be sorry.

January 17 (unless otherwise noted) Celebration Locations: APPLETON 6 - 9 p.m. 612 West College Avenue, Appleton ASHLAND 6 - 8 p.m. 316 West Main Street, Ashland BEAVER DAM 6 - 8 p.m. 116 Monroe Street, Beaver Dam EAU CLAIRE [Held on Sat., Jan 14 4 - 6 p.m 2233 Birch Street, Eau Claire FOND DU LAC 6 - 8 p.m. 21 N Portland Street, Fond du Lac KENOSHA 7 - 9 p.m. 5535 6th Ave, Kenosha MADISON (EAST) 6 - 8 p.m. 330 East Wilson St, Madison MADISON (WEST) 6:30 - 8:30pm 6602 Normandy Lane, Madison MANITOWOC 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. 1207 Washington Street, Manitowoc MILWAUKEE (NORTH) 4 - 7 p.m. 6807 N. Green Bay Ave, Milwaukee MILWAUKEE (SOUTH)
Time: 6 - 8 p.m. 1027 S. 5th St, Milwaukee MINERAL POINT [Held on Thu., Jan 12] 4 - 6 p.m. 420 Commerce St, Mineral Point OSHKOSH 8 - 10 p.m. 480 N Main St, Oshkosh PLATTEVILLE 5:13 - 7:13 p.m. 255 McGregor Plazza, Platteville PORTAGE 5 - 7 p.m. 216 W Wisconsin St, Portage RACINE 5 - 8 p.m. Racine Labor Center, 2100 Layard Avenue, Racine RHINELANDER [Held on Sat., Jan 14] 10am-2pm 29 W Davenport St, Rhinelander SHEBOYGAN 6 - 9 p.m. 5425 Superior Ave, Sheboygan STEVENS POINT [Held on Thu., Jan 12] 5 - 7 p.m. 2220 Division Street, Stevens Point WAUKESHA 6 - 8 p.m. 312 W Broadway, Waukesha WAUSAU 5:30 - 7 p.m. 4404 Stewart Ave, Wausau WEST ALLIS 6 - 8 p.m. 1370 S 74th St., West Allis

They Said It Couldn’t Be Done

 

wisconsin is so close to recalling Senator Scott Fitzgerald, the bullying Senate majority leader of Fitzwalkerstan fame. Yet a successful recall of Fitz in his solidly red district was considered such a long shot that the Democratic party initially refused to get involved in the recall campaign started by Lori Compas of Fort Atkinson.

Thanks to Lori’s willingness to tackle a seemingly impossible task, and the hard work of hundreds of volunteers, more than 12,000 valid recall signatures had been collected as of January 2. Fitz will face a recall election if his opponents get 16,742 names turned in by January 17.

"None of Walker's controversial policies would be in effect today if he didn't have a buddy in the Legislature pushing it through," says Lori. "No matter where you stand on the issues, you need to see that we live in a society that has rules, and you need to follow the rules. He (Fitzgerald) simply hasn't been doing that.

We have till the coming weekend to collect enough signatures to recall Fitzgerald. Join me in helping Lori recall Fitz this week!

Here’s how: 1. Write a letter to the editor about Senator’s Fitzgerald’s policies. Keep in mind that some Republicans who support Governor Walker do want to recall Fitz. 2. Sign up for a shift to help collect signatures http://tinyurl.com/7tfhy5e 3. Find out more-or download a petition to sign yourself- at http://recallfitz.com/