Listening to the Ed Schultz' radio show on WCPT, Chicago, as I do everyday, todays' broadcast, had special written all over it, from the get-go. John 'Maven of Madison' Nichols, was co hosting the show with Ed, and they had only an hour, before they needed to leave, and prepare for last nights' Ed show, live from Madison.
Nichols did most of the talking, and he had lots to say. He recalled the recall, of Grey Davis of California, said that statistically, the successful recall signatures, collected then, represented 7% of the electorate. And according to the numbers, he was privy to, the signatures collected, by the people of Wisconsin, represented a whopping 23% of the Wisconsin electorate. Even the even tempered Nichols, gushed over this number, and this historic achievement.
He went on to tell Ed, that there were armed guards, guarding the recall signatures against possible, Republican dirty tricks. He asked Ed,
'Do you know who they are?'
"No.'
He told us and Ed, that these were prison guards, whose union was under attack, as all the other unions are, in Scott Walkers', Fitzwalkerstan. That these union members, who had not necessarily voted Democratic, took the day off, and were standing, on guard, armed, protecting the signatures.
Nichols went on to tell the singular, determined story, of Lori Compas. (sp. h/t gilesgoatboy :-) ) He reminded us, that the original recall was planned for 3 Republican Senators and the Republican governor. Lori Compas decided, Fitzgerald, the Senate Majority leader, needed to be recalled also. So she started a campaign, her own single person, from her kitchen table, grass roots, we the people campaign, to gather the 16,000 signatures needed.
After a commercial break, Nichols, with some emotion, announced that 'we were making a little history here, live and on the air'. At 11:45 cst, Nichols announced, that Lori Compas, had delivered 20,000 signatures, to the GAO office, and that they were accepted.
Ed took a call from a workin' man, east coast, I recognized his accent. He struggled to keep his emotions in check, as he said,
'I just want to thank you, thank you so much, for what you do, you both do, standing up, for the working people of America. You and Mike, are on top of of your game. I just want to thank you, from the bottom of my heart!'
Ed, humbly thanked the man and was about to take another call, when Nichols' interrupted him,
'Ed, Ed, I want to take a priveledge here.'
Nichols talked eloquently, about the partneship that's needed between, grass roots organizers, who sometimes toil in the dark, and those who can shine a light, on their efforts. He reminded us about Ohio, and Indiana and talked a little more about Wisconson. He congragulated Ed, for being the first national media program, to shine that light, when he broadcast his nightly t.v. show, live, in the very early days of the protest, on the street, in the frigid cold, from Madison.
Ed was humbled, he took another call, from a very passionate man from Wisconsin. He started telling a story, that immediatly brought out, the pad I always have in my pocket. His voice was loud, as he talked about, 'The students, Ed, it was the students. Someone should name a park, or build a stutue, for them. High school students from the 2 high schools near the Capital, they made the difference. Someone, should, build a statue.'
I hadn't heard anything about this, so I came home, and did a little digging. High school students, were very involved, and supported the teachers, very early on.
STOUGHTON — About 100 Stoughton High School students walked out of class Monday morning to protest Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to limit the collective bargaining of public employees, including teachers.
The students walked across the street to the parking lot of Stoughton United Methodist Church, where they signed a petition and listened to protest leaders give speeches.
"Let's show Gov. Walker that we care about learning, and the teachers are worth every cent that we pay to them," said Theron Luhn, a junior who helped organize the protest.
The students returned to the building after about an hour.
The action was the most dramatic schools-related response Monday to Walker's bargaining plan, offered as part of a bill to close a $137 million budget hole through June.
Students at East High School in Madison planned a protest march to the Capitol on Tuesday during school hours, and a Facebook group formed by students in Platteville called for a statewide student walkout Tuesday.
About 10 students at Sun Prairie High School held a "walk-in" to show their support for teachers.
"As faculty came walking in the doors we welcomed them and cheered for them," said Zack Henderson, a Sun Prairie High School senior who organized the event that started around 7:15 a.m. "(Teachers) were so happy students were standing up and saying something."
http://host.madison.com/....
So, I was glad, Nichols then picked the up ball and ran with it a little. He recounted the day in February, when he was in Madison, attempting to drive to the Capital and report on the protest. He said, 'We were all sitting there, in traffic, stuck and not knowing what was holding us up. And then all these students showed up, marching throught the streets.'
I dug a little more, and found this excerpt from Nichols' own report, in the Nation, on February, 15th. Sounds as though, this might be the day.
More than 10,000 protesters, including students, demonstrated outside the state Capitol building in Madison today, many of them carrying signs and chanting “recall Walker.” This comes one day after hundreds of students flooded downtown Madison chanting, “kill this bill” and handing out valentines that read, “Have a heart, don't tear the UW apart.” The governor did not make an appearance.
Even before the protests hit the state's capital, about a hundred high school students in Stoughton, Wisconsin, a city about 20 miles outside of Madison, walked out of class Monday morning to protest the governor's proposal. And today, nearly 800 Madison East High School students also walked out to join the demonstration.
"Let's show Gov. Walker that we care about learning, and the teachers are worth every cent that we pay to them," Theron Luhn, a high school junior who helped organize the protest in Stoughton Monday, told one of the local newspapers The Capital Times.
http://www.thenation.com/....
Then a call, immediately came in, from a very eloquent woman, with a pleasing, but very determined voice,'
'I'm calling to reiterate what your previous caller just talked about. I'm a teacher. My husband and I were there, 6 and 7 hours a day. It was about a month or so after the protests began, and we were tired, and we tried to get a chant going, but we couldn't. And then all of a sudden the doors opened, and all these students poured in, and everyone started getting excited again. And the students took up the chant. They got us all going again, Ed.
And I just want to say, that, yes, someone should build a statue, to commemorate, what they did.'
Another call came in from a Wisconsin man, very emphatic,
"They're right Ed. I was there too. It was the students. Someone should build a statue.'
Now, I have to say, it was one helluva' an hour, of live, riveting radio.
I was glad, too, that Mike Nichols said what he did, about Ed. Ed Schultz is not everyones' cup of tea, and that's o.k. But on this singular, incredibly important issue, standing tall, for the working folks of America, he's my cup of tea. No one, no one does it better, with as much passion and sincerity, than Ed. After so many years, of feeling unrepresented, feeling as though, I had no voice in our government, Ed gave sound and fury, to my cause. I support folks, I know are on my side.
I'm a workin' man too, blue collar roots, and now, after some 40 years of working, owning a business or two, here I am, blue collar again.
And I'm damn proud of it.
Blue collar built this country, it needs all the support it can get, all workin' folks need that support, union or not, and Ed, does that better, than anyone.
So, I stand, with the great and proud people, from the state of Wisconsin. When I signed up at Dkos, a little over 2 months ago, PuddyTat, GilesGoatBoy and noiseofrain, were some of my first folllows, and I've been busy in their, always, great diaries. Your cause, is my cause, because it's the righteous cause, of all workin' folk, in this great country of ours.
I applaud you all, your courage, your persistance, your occupy, and your victory, today.
Thank You.
We, The People!