Honestly, I don't even know where to begin. I just got back from my third straight weekend in Madison and it was absolutely unbelievable. And when I say unbelievable, I mean UN-BELIEVABLE.
The first weekend I went, the crowd was estimated at around 100k. The second weekend, I was a little bummed because the crowd was smaller and I thought, "Well, here we go, it's dying out." Now, keep in mind, the crowd that weekend was estimated at 30,000-50,000...oh, boo hoo, only fifty thousand people? But still.
Anyway, I didn't know what to expect this weekend--but all I can say is WHOA. I don't care what the "estimates" say, because there had to be at least 150,000 people in the streets of Madison. The 2009 estimated POPULATION of Madison is 235,626. Pretty amazing. I'll share a ton of pics + video + thoughts + my now-permanent connection to Mad-town below the fold. I also got to hang for a bit with Kossack Goldfish which was cool too.
I do believe a sleeping beast has been awakened.
I know it's a lot of content, but I wanted to document what I saw. I really hope you enjoy it. I worked pretty hard on this diary and I hope you like it--if you do, please leave a comment, share with your labor friends and/or your local, whatever! I think it's important for others to see the actual faces of "the mob." --thank you! Now let's go!
LUNCH BREAK UPDATE: Rec list, thank you so much! Trying to do my little part to bring some Madtown to those who couldn't be there, and to those who were but just want to re-live it a little. It's really something else. Now, I hate to do it but I figure it's better to put it out there than not--I have really loved going up there the last three weeks, and as long as stuff is actively going on, I'm happy to continue to do so and to report back. Thing is [insert blatantly shameless solicitation] I'm kind of a poor fixed-income student here in Chicago on an internship. Each trip costs between $80-$160 depending on if I have to stay in a room somewhere or if I can find a place, and how cheap I can eat. I usually Megabus it. If you wanted to help contribute anything for me to go up there to help offset the costs and to continue to do this each weekend, please send me a message--if you want to see some WI other than Madison, for example to take a more rural trip to recall offices, or who knows what, let me know and I'd be happy to give it my best shot too. If not no worries. [/blatant shameless solicitation]. THANK YOU!
We left for Madison on Friday morning. I'll let this sign speak for itself to kick things off:
We were greeted with this headline: "Signed, sealed, but undelivered":
You've probably seen this one already, but just in case, it's quite great:
This was pretty cool...a wooden Wisconsin with a bucket full of string that you can tie to the others:
There was a strong police presence, but I'm not going to include a lot of those pics--just a couple for the record:
Shame, indeed.
I really loved seeing the different signs people come up with. I like thinking about them each initially going out and grabbing some posterboard and some markers and then sitting down and thinking about what they want to write, and busting it out.
Seriously...
Love it, love it, love them
There was the silly, and the serious. "Ralph Walker" eating paste and saying "I'm a Guvner!" and then something we all should remember...
I don't know which Gooper's office this is, but it only takes a little bit of tape to tell the truth:
We made our way inside, and were able to walk right in, albeit the massive security check. It's still weird even though I've gone through it multiple times. Many Ds prominently displayed their support, which was nice to see. It's great to finally see some Dems with guts:
Mad, mad props man, mad props...
Hellllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, nurse! Thank you...
Pretty much...
The rotunda was strangely quiet and I was a little disheartened. I was wondering where everyone was, until I heard loud chants. I made my way to them and found that almost everyone inside was outside of Walker's office, where he was doing his presser on signing the crappy bill. But before we go there, and to help set the tone, let's pop back outside for one of my favorite signs of the trip...
Well, my friend, ask and you shall receive. I have to admit, this video gives me chills. I don't believe in heaven, but if one exists, I'd like to think that the folks in this video are looking down on us and smiling. Let's continue to make 'em proud. Thanks to whoever put it together...
Back inside, how about right outside of Walker's door?
Message to the opposition: Solidarity. It's something that no matter how hard you try to break, we'll always have, and you never will, and will never experience or understand. It's really that simple.
This sign is a little hard to read, but it's awesome. Viva la revolucion de queso!
Hey hey! Ho Ho! Scott Walker has got to go!
Shame!
What's disgusting? Union busting!
WE'RE STILL HERE.
This one says it all...
Phew. After we made our way outside, we took a little jaunt down State Street...
It was a beautiful thing to see all of the signs of support from the local shops...
Even the Ugly Dolls got in on the action. "Recall pretty dolls!"
I took some inspiration from this one. More on that later...
HEY SARAH!
True dat.
And, you'll never believe it! I got a picture of the Fitzgerald brothers and their pal Scott Walker!! Ok, maybe not, but it's certainly close enough:
Moving on...
I'm not going to argue whether or not a General Strike is or isn't a good idea (although personally I think it is) but there were signs all over the place:
As I'm sure you're aware, Saturday was TRACTORCADE. All I kept hearing in my head as "SATURDAY SATURDAY SATURDAY! MADISON WISCONSIN! WITNESS THE FURY OF THE TRACTORS! FREE ADMISSION!" (You know, in that radio announcer voice.)....
Yes, let's!
So, unfortunately I didn't get the shot, but you can kind of see this little kid in the lower left--he was absolutely beaming. Imagine how cool that must have been for what, a 5 year old??
Another great thing was that for all the protesting, there was also a lot of ACTION.
People with clipboards and specific names, hunting for signatures...
There were at least half a dozen of these tents setup around the Cap where people could sign petitions as well as take them out to get signatures, and each one constantly had a group of people around it and a line...
More protest and signs and stuff...
I thought this one was appropriate with the sun peeking out from behind the clouds--odds are that this whole thing will go to the WI Supreme Court. At the moment, it's a conservative court by a 3-4 margin. If we can elect Joanne Kloppenburg on April 5, that will flip the court to 4-3. Please help her if you can!
I think these might be my favorites...hello Anonymous!
I hope we shall crush… in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations
This bill is bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s!
SOLD
WE ARE EVERYWHERE
From Mr. PATCO himself...
More video...
More hey heys
A crowd shot
When Susan Sarandon came out...
The Raging Grannies...
Back to the pics...
Jesse!
Awesome...
The Mooninites!
We will survive, hey hey!
Finally, a truthful use of those four words...
Once a protest, now a movement. Most definitely.
So, I have only seen ONE pro-Walker person each of the times I have been to Madison. And typically what happens is that they walk around and get ignored. I saw one walking down the street and he made the unfortunate mistake of running into this guy..."Hey, look, it's one of my guys! Hey buddy! You must be a fellow millionaire!"
...
And last but not least, this is how I ended this week's trip. Just something that had to be done, and I'm thrilled with it...
IIIIIIIII love it!
In closing...
That number certainly can't be accurate. They said it was 100k two weeks ago, and this was WAAAAAYYYYY more people. Maybe a Wisconsinite cane attest...
SOLIDARITY!