FIGHTING BOB FEST 2011
I saw Bernie Sanders in Madison this afternoon! He spoke for 20 minutes, was interrupted at least 9 times, he had facts, statistics, stories, one joke, (Wisconsin is his 2nd favorite state, and has his 2nd favorite cheddar cheese!) and his passionate insistence that we all must become teachers to the unenlightened, uninvolved, and vast apolitical hoard.
Jim Hightower, from Texas was good, funny, like Molly Ivins, but not quite. John Nichols from the “Nation” magazine, Thom Hartmann, radio head, like a liberal Rush, but Hartmann is very smart and very liberal. I think I like him better than Keith O. Greg Palast, he is a very good investigative reporter, and author.
There were t-shirts for liberal causes; I got one with the silhouette of Wisconsin, a clenched fist, and the word “SOLIDARITY” just above it. Organic cotton from TX, sewn and silkscreened in the USA! Whoopee! But the best part is the colors. Packer Green and Gold! Yeah man! Go Green Bay!
Indignant bumper stickers and pugnacious pins represent many little known causes to people who get their news from MSM. I found a little pin that says “God Favors No Group. Only Religions Do That.”
For lunch choices there was Jamaican chicken and Creole catfish with red beans and rice! And several other Madison area ethnic eateries were there also. No big name food vendors, that was kind of refreshing. The Alliant Center kiosks were open, but I never saw lines, only at the local ethnic stands. Several local coffee vendors were having a busy day.
It was an exciting and fun-filled day. Usually “Fighting Bob Fest is in the county fairgrounds in Chippewa Falls, and mostly out of doors, and noisier, and more fun. I think there were a lot more people this year, not surprising given the events in WI this past year. It’s hard to tell because the Alliant Center is so much bigger than the fairground site, and maybe it just seemed like more people this year.