Bagpipes! (Wisconsin March 5/11)

More later when Michael Moore's speech -- he was on fire! -- is posted. (I tried to watch the live feed but it kept crapping out.)

There's something very BIG going on here. Very big and very hopeful.

Wisconsin Update (March 5/11)

Still obsessed with intensely interested in Wisconsin.

Catching up:

Last night, all protesters left the capitol building. Here they are singing their way out.

Another MASSIVE demonstration is planned for today. And it has a theme -- suits! That's in reaction to ReThug senator Grothman who called the protesters 'slobs'. Such a lovely guy.

Furthermore, Grothman has opposed increased funding for anti-smoking bills and voted against the bill that was passed to prohibit smoking in restaurants and bars. He argued that Martin Luther King Jr. day should not be a paid holiday. He introduced legislation that would remove the requirement to disinfect municipal water systems, although a 1993 Cryptosporidium outbreak killed 104 Milwaukee residents and made thousands extremely ill.

There are rumours that Michael Moore may show up.

There are pleas for more supplies.

@FrauMorris RT @opencapitol: Please RT: This wkend more "3M Super-Sticky" Post-Its Needed! Stores near sold-out. Help people be heard #wiunion #wearewi

(They've been leaving messages stuck to the locked doors of the capitol.)

And there are weather forecasts.

@RobinMarohn RT @muskrat_john: "Partly crowdy with a chance of bagpipes..." #wiunion

And if you love Rachel Maddow, go watch her gloat.

In related news, that $7.5 million clean up bill fell yesterday to a mere $350,000. Today it appears to have fallen even more.

@thewhereblog In 1 day, the estimate for damage to the capitol from #wiunion went from $7.5 million to $0. Now *that's* a budget repair bill

('Budget Repair Bill' is the supposedly 'minor' bill that caused the initial fuss.)

More later.

UPDATE: Confirmed. Michael Moore will be there.

Wisconsin Update (March 1/11)

I'm torn, I'm torn. Got things to do, but want to continue to witness the awesome people power on display in Wisconsin.

So, for those who might also be obsessed interested, here are a few links.

First, an interview with someone who's still occupying the Capitol and has been from the beginning.

Next, an illuminating read on why the Right is attacking unions, ACORN, and Planned Parenthood.

And here's some very good news. The tide may be turning in favour of the unions.

By a modest margin, more say they back Wisconsin’s public employee unions rather than the state’s governor in their continuing dispute over collective bargaining rights. Roughly four-in-ten (42%) say they side more with the public employee unions, while 31% say they side more with the governor, Scott Walker, according to the latest Pew Research Center survey, conducted Feb. 24-27 among 1,009 adults.

To catch you up on overnight developments: There are about 100 people still inside. More wanted to get in but weren't allowed, so they pitched tents outside. They were then told they couldn't pitch tents there. Tents were taken down and about 50 people slept outside in February/March in Wisconsin with just sleeping bags and blankets.

They are using pizza boxes from donated pizza for insulation.

Those Sconnies, as I now know to call them, are some tough mo-fos.

UPPERDATE: Judge has issued an order to have the Capitol open to the public! Effective immediately. The people are winning. A little.

Wisconsin Pizza Revolution Update

Since I'm not getting much else done, I figured I'd blog on the Pizza Revolution in Wisconsin again.

We progressives have always snorted beer out our noses when we hear the phrase 'left-wing media bias', but it seems maybe the message is getting through to Americans.

Titled 'TheWisconsin Protests Shatter the Myth of Liberal Media Bias', the blogger writes:

Something has happened in the last two weeks that should dispel the widely held misconceptions that the “mainstream” media is liberal and generally supports Democrats. For the second weekend in a row, no labor leaders, such as the AFL-CIO’s Richard Trumka, have been invited (as of now) on the Sunday morning shows.

He lists who is booked, rightwingnutbar governors from Wisconsin, Indiana, and New Jersey, union-busters all.

Notice what was missing? The opposing view point. Why might that be? Richard Trumka, the head of the AFL-CIO and probably one of the most charismatic leaders Big Labor has had in ages, has never been on any of the Sunday morning bobblehead shows. Wouldn’t a “liberal” “mainstream” media have had Trumka on at least once by now? He’s been AFL-CIO President since September 16, 2009, and was President of the United Mine Workers from 1982 to 1995.

Then an update: Trumka will appear.

Update: After a coordinated campaign of Tweeting and phone calls to Fischer and show host David Gregory, there was a late change Thursday evening for Sunday’s Meet the Press. The President of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka, will be one of the guests for the show, along with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker(R). The change was sent out by Meet the Press’ Executive Producer Betsy Fischer. It’s telling that it took a herculean effort from bloggers and unions supporters to even have Mr. Trumka given the union side of the argument this weekend.

To update the situation there: the ReThuglicans in the Assembly pulled a fast one at about 1 a.m. last night and passed the bill. But, it needs Senate approval and the 'Wisconsin 14' are still hiding out. (The Senate needs a quorum of 20. ReThugs are one short.)

Rumours are flying on Twitter about whether the protesters who are still occupying the legislature will or will not be moved out tonight.

Mother Jones who has been all over this story launched a million sniggers and retweets with this:

Police say they're planning to sleep with #wiunion protesters tonight, demand capitol stays open http://bit.ly/e4KG8w #wiunion

And, in case you missed it, Gov. Walker got punked yesterday by a blogger from Buffalo, NY, pretending to be one of the evil billionaire Koch brothers on the phone. The whole idiotic dealie was recorded. Among other things, Walker responds to fake-Koch's suggestion that they send 'troublemakers' into the protests with: 'we thought about that'.

Oh, really? asks the mayor and police chief.

“I spent a good deal of time overnight thinking about Governor Walker’s response, during his news conference yesterday, to the suggestion that his administration ‘thought about’ planting troublemakers among those who are peacefully protesting his bill,” Police chief Noble Wray said in a statement.

“I would like to hear more of an explanation from Governor Walker as to what exactly was being considered, and to what degree it was discussed by his cabinet members.” Wray added.

“I find it very unsettling and troubling that anyone would consider creating safety risks for our citizens and law enforcement officers. Our department works hard dialoging with those who are exercising their First Amendment right, those from both sides of the issue, to make sure we are doing everything we can to ensure they can demonstrate safely,” he said.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz also noted that he found Walker’s comments disturbing. He said Walker’s statement was “deeply troubling” especially because of the way the governor followed up by “brushing it off”, referring to Walker’s refusal to address the issue in press conferences and appearances on Wednesday and Thursday.

“The governor of Wisconsin actually thought about planting people in the crowds who might turn these peaceful protests into something ugly?” Cieslewicz asked in a statement.

Hmmm. And there may be further legal trouble for Walker.

"If Wisconsin law forbids coordination with political donors similar to federal law, Gov. Scott Walker is not just in political trouble, but in legal hot water,” said David Donnelly, national campaigns director for the Public Campaign Action Fund, in a statement.

More demos are planned for tomorrow right across the US. And 'The West Wing' is coming to Wisconsin. Actor Bradley Whitford, who played Josh Lyman and who is also a native of Madison, is going to emm-cee the rally.

The pizza part is continuing too. Ian's, the pizza joint taking orders from around the country and the world, has discontinued regular business to serve only the protesters.

You gotta admit -- Wisconsinites (?) really know how to protest. And party.

ADDED: I'm so wound into this, it just occurred to me that people might not understand that this battle is NOT just about union-busting. It's about far more. It's Shock Doctrine come home to roost, according to Paul Krugman.