Sunday, February 27, 2011

A Tale of Two Saturdays

February 19 was a mild winter Saturday in Wisconsin. The sun was out, and the temperature rose above freezing. There was an organized rally of Scott Walker supporters, which drew a couple thousand extra people to the Capitol square. Police estimated the total crowd at 68,000.


February 26 was cold (the high was 19 degrees) and snowy. There were only a few Scott Walker supporters' signs visible, and the total crowd was at least as large (possibly larger) than the Saturday before. Once again, everyone was peaceful and well-behaved. There were many children and dogs in attendance, well bundled against the cold (even many of the dogs were wearing coats).  I am glad to see people bringing their kids, not because I think it is necessarily educational for them, but because it reminds everyone to behave like responsible adults. That and the lack of alcohol has made these the most family-friendly festivals the Capitol Square has ever seen.  The snow yesterday made it look like a winter carnival.


The "Imperial Walker" imagery has really taken off.  It continues to be used in new and creative ways.

6 comments:

Beer, Bicycles and the VRWC said...

You need to look inside the Capitol to see what kind of people are really at the heart of this. They have defiled the building and don't care. They are hippie wannabes and anarchists. Not the kind of people to win the hearts and minds of the Wisconsin taxpayer. There is video of a police officer stating the police will not uphold the law and evict these people today. That amounts to insurrection and is a good reason the public sector should not be unionized. The officer in question should be fired already. I also note that you are unwilling to show the signs equating Walker with Hitler and those that use sexual epithets, violent imagery and other despicable messages that I saw last Saturday.

And while MoveOn.org was able to rally 68,000 in Madison, the rest of the rallies were utter failures. A Recall Wirch rally in Racine/Kenosha drew more than most of the out-of-state rallies.

We have jobs and lives. We are not professional protesters, nor are we paid by the Koch brothers to do so. We are slow to anger, but it is coming.

It's not a "Winter Carnival", it is mob rule run by thugs and bullies. Try stopping by with a different point of view and see what response you get.

Ordinary Jill said...

I have seen inside the Capitol. I do not consider exercising First Amendment rights with signs and chants to be "vile". There are very few signs mentioning Hitler, and some more mature protesters have talked to some of the folks carrying them. The most visible sexual epithet (when you screw us, we multiply) is pretty mild, in my opinion. And I do not consider "Kill the Bill" to be violent imagery. It is not mob rule, and there has been no bullying (unless you consider people speaking opinions you disagree with to be bullying). I saw one pro-Walker sign yesterday, marching among the many anti-Walker signs, with no unpleasant confrontations.

I also have a job and a life. I am lucky enough to live in Madison, so it has been easy for me to attend the Saturday rallies. I am a private-sector, non-union employee (though I have many family members in unions). I saw signs from other private-sector, non-union employees, and even some business owners, who support collective bargaining rights for public employees.

Some out-of-state rallies drew bigger crowds than others. You can see pictures at http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/26/live-updates-americans-answer-call-to-protest-for-workers-rights/?utm_source=Raw+Story+Daily+Update&utm_campaign=f07cbd82d1-2_26_112_26_2011&utm_medium=email

The Recall Alberta Darling meeting yesterday drew over a hundred people, even though most of the union activists were in Madison instead.

Beer, Bicycles and the VRWC said...

Better chance of recalling legislators acting outside the law.

You aren't looking closely enough for the signs. Blinders on.

Defiling the Veterans Memorial (video evidence available), threatening teenagers (video evidence available), physical violence (video available), clear representation by socialists, communists and anarchists (video evidence available), infringing on the 1st Amendment Rights of my side (video evidence available).

Call it what you want. The Soros bought and paid for thugs are on your side, not mine. Koch Industries? 85th biggest campaign contributions. Public Sector unions? Eight in the top 25. Who is buying government? Not (evil) Big Business.

Pay attention and do some non-partisan research and you might learn something.

Beer, Bicycles and the VRWC said...

Oh...and you support insurrection by police, I take it.

Ordinary Jill said...

The Governor claims he never gave the orders that were on the flyers being circulated, so I'm not sure what insurrection you're talking about. I have seen some of the "video evidence" that you are probably referring to (I do follow rightie blogs), and it is pretty dubious. Some of it wasn't even shot in Madison.

KBOD said...

"Slow to anger" you'd never get that idea reading your blog or comments here.