February 16, 2012

A year ago today in the Wisconsin protests...

... on the Althouse blog:

1. "Madison schools close for the day to allow teachers to protest Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting budget plan."
[I]sn't it interesting how well the students used the internet to organize their political activity? Why not close all the schools altogether and let the students romp and play and be political and speak and learn via the internet and internet-organized activities... forever?
2. Paul Soglin beats Mayor Dave in the Madison mayoral primary, and I publish the picture of him I took at the low key protest on the 13th.

3. Meade goes up to the Capitol and grabs some shots of the protests: "Dick move, Scotty!," "Hosni + Hitler = Dictator Scott Walker," ""We have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers."

4. The late evening announcement that the schools will be closed for a second day on the 17th.

5. At 10 p.m., I've finally got my edit of Meade's video up:
There's singing of the national anthem at the beginning and end of this video. In between, there's some chanting — "... what's disgusting? Union busting!" — and "Don't Stop Believing" and drumming and so forth.
This is our first posted video of the protests, and it's kind of charming. At 3:21, you can see a "Recall Walker" sign. At 4:21, that's our first "Recall!/Walker!" chant.

48 comments:

lawyapalooza said...

I love Meade's selective photography! I looked back at the photos I took from the protests, and there are a couple handfuls of nastygrams, and literally thousands of clever, amusing, boring and powerful signs. The "outrage" over a couple dummies with offensive signs in a sea of others reminds me that despite all of the assertions that Hitler and Mickey Mouse were going to sign the recall petitions, apparently not a single one has popped up! And the "many false signatures" alleged by Scott Fitzgerald have so far turned out to be that his staff falsely wrote down the actual addresses and names from the petitions. Has Meade been spending his incredible amount of free time poring over the petitions? Maybe he could find an inconsistency or a double signature or two among the million plus and take a picture of that.

mesquito said...

I love Meade's selective photography!

No you don't!

Fen said...

lawyapalooza: "I looked over the Occupy grounds, and there are a couple handfuls of nasty rape-rapes, and literally thousands of clever, amusing, boring and powerful instances of consenual sex"

/fixed, via Olbermann

Patrick said...

So it was this day, one year ago on which the Left's "civility bullshit" was finally put out of our misery.

Sorun said...

Althouse, you didn't share all of the boring signs? Now I feel cheated.

I can imagine there were a few clever ones. By "powerful," do you mean over-dramatic, the sky is falling crap?

MadisonMan said...

There were other clever and witty signs, but to take a picture of them you had to enter a captcha and althouse kept misreading things.

edutcher said...

IIRC, things really didn't start to roll for Meadhouse until they videoed those school kids being squired to one of the demonstrations by their union teachers.

Ann Althouse said...

This is our first posted video of the protests, and it's kind of charming.

Nowhere near as charming as the Wonda In Da Rotunda, Madame.

coketown said...

Lawyapalooza: Did you expect Meade & Althouse to go all Andy Warhol on us and not only collect but meticulously organize and proudly display thousands upon thousands of photographs? Besides, I think "selective photography" is redundant--photography is by its nature selective.

But you know, instead of weeping about it you could start a blog of your own, post your thousands of photographs, then link to it here. Then we can all bore ourselves to tears going through each one.

Petunia said...

Actually, Mickey and Adolf did in fact sign petitions. There are screen shots online of the pages in question.

I don't believe that Mickey put his address (he also spelled his name "Micky"), but Adolf lives in West Allis.

Also, Jesus apparently lives in Sun Prairie. Or, as it should now be called, "Son Prairie". Who knew?

Mark said...

Please, link that Mickey signature. It it clear the intent of the signer was nefarious.

garage mahal said...

This 'Hide Ya Kids, Hide Ya Wife' sign from Dave Weigel always cracks me up for some reason. The geek quotient signage was high inside the rotunda, I have a good 500-600 pics from the rallies, and many are funny as hell; I don't care who you are.

Anonymous said...

Yeah that was a year ago. Thanks and next...

ricpic said...

Slow and steady Walker wins the day!

Anonymous said...

Coketown +1 @ 7:20

Sal said...

Still moored to year old news? Zzzzzzz.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Heh. A year later and those crybabies are still having a tantrum.

deborah said...

I still have the cell phone vid of the drumming-in-the-capitol footage, but luckily for you all, it's on my broken laptop :(

Chuck66 said...

By "powerful" signs, I think he meant "smug" signs.

Hey look at me. I am walking around, carrying a sign with a witty phrase attacking the Governor and I want approval of the like minded people who dominate this town.

Bob Ellison said...

This "I said something a while ago" schtick, which you, Professor, and Glenn Reynolds are doing lately, is cloying. Most of the time, you folks do news and interesting stuff. When you look back like this, you look tired and old.

Fen said...

*shrug*

I find it interesting to recall what was center-stage a year ago and look at in context with current events.

Although I'm sure many Democrats don't appreciate the reminders of their behavior.

Fen said...

Speaking of current events, I now find myself wondering how many of our "saboteurs" are paid stooges from Media Matters. I wouldn't be surprised.

Matt Sablan said...

It's a real shame that those thousands of clever, amusing, boring and powerful signs ultimately did diddly squat.

traditionalguy said...

The vuvuzelas section comes in later when Madison's Gotterdammerung hits its crescendo.

I suspect the beer sales are to blame.

coketown said...

When you look back like this, you look tired and old.

I think it's age rather than retrospection that makes them look that way. Regardless, I like it. It's interesting to look back one year or ten years to see what all has changed and what remains the same.

Plus, come on. It's February 16th. Between Madison's meltdown, the anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol going into effect, and the celebration of Kim Jong Il's birthday, it's the closest thing the Left has to a religious holiday.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

As misdirected as it is.. its still a vivid example of what can be accomplished politically when enough people put their minds to it.

Commendable.. looking at the bright side of the... time and money waster.

Carol_Herman said...

If we had bushy eyebrows like Groucho Marx, we could wiggle them.

One year ago the republicans had a viable chance to convince independent voters, and even democratic voters, that they weren't just a bunch of shrill lunatics. They could have aimed at the grand prize: Winning the White House in 2012. But by now the GOP has probably gone and blown that chance.

Remember how you didn't knock Bill Clinton out of the White House?

Sure, now people are tuned into this "new" circus. And, Walker wasn't attacked by ordinary citizens in Wisconsin. He was attacked by UNION MONEY.

Union Money didn't change the outcome of David Prosser's race.

It's sad to confuse George Soros' money, and union money, with real American voters.

And, if you saw the stink caused by Clint Eastwood's SuperBowl pratfall, you'd begin to understand that lots of Americans are paying attention.

The unions aren't popular. While on a national spectacle level, the republican games have grown toxic.

As a matter of fact, today I saw an article that if Rick Santorum keeps doing well in primary states, then Mitt Romney might offer him the veep slot.

What insanity prevails?

Patrick said...

IRONY: The day that the Professor beefs up her spam defeating word verification system is the first time I actually see spam in the comments.

She and Meade must have been pretty quick to get rid of it before. I imagine that's a PITA.

LoafingOaf said...

I hope Althouse and Meade got those two salt truck drivers fired that they followed around the block two times about a year ago. One of them was laying down too much salt and the other not enough salt, and both dared to honk their horns in apparent solidarity with protesters. The tenured professor who likes to brag on her blog about her $100 dish of white truffles demands that they be stopped from wasting her money!

Fen said...

Hey Loaf, the truck drivers were harassing the opposition on the taxpayer dollar. They were wanna-be brownshirts. No wonder you want to minimize their actions.


I really love how desperate libtards like you are on this topic. You hate that Ann & Meade shined a spotlight on your side's facist tendancies. Maybe you should report them to attackwatch@whitehouse.gov to get your complimentary jack-boots and armband.

Michael said...

LoafingOaf. Certainly hope they were fired, but i expect it would take a lot more than fucking off on the job to get a city worker fired. Especially in just a year. Maybe they were required to do their work during normal work hours instead of over time. That would be harsh punishment indeed having to bust it for six hours.

LoafingOaf said...

Hey Fen: You're pretty funny calling people fascists and brownshirts!

You must be one of those proud, t-shirt wearing Althouse Hillbillies?

Just the other day, in a thread about Rick Santorum, I noticed you arguing with someone who linked you to a blog post written by a journalist/blogger who happens to be gay and HIV positive.

Your reply? To say - multiple times - that the journalist has "AIDS dementia".

You hate-speech spewing scumbag bigot.....

Fen said...

Loafing Oaf: Hey Fen: You're pretty funny calling people fascists and brownshirts!

Just calling em like I see em. You don't like being associated with brownshirt union thugs, then stop making excuses for them.

I noticed you arguing with someone who linked you to a blog post written by a journalist/blogger who happens to be gay and HIV positive. Your reply? To say - multiple times - that the journalist has "AIDS dementia".

Again, I just telling the truth. Andy Sullivan went off the deep end a long time ago.

You hate-speech spewing scumbag bigot.....

Aaahhhh, poor witle wibtard got his fweelings hurt.

Good. It wouldn't hurt you if it wasn't true.

SGT Ted said...

""We have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers."


My brother is never a Union thug.

Or, as a sticker I've seen on a few motorcycles. says:

"I'm not your fucking brother."

I wonder how many union pukes are going to come try to glorify their thuggish behavior and their criminal activity.

Paco Wové said...

"It's a real shame that those thousands of clever, amusing, boring and powerful signs ultimately did diddly squat."

"Remember the war against Franco?
That's the kind where each of us belongs.
Though he may have won all the battles,
We had all the good songs."
— T. Lehrer, Folk Song Army

Fen said...

By "powerful," do you mean over-dramatic, the sky is falling crap?

I think lawyapalooza was referring to all the Walker-is-Hitler signs...

James said...

Here's a good laugh for Wisconsin residents....

WH flies labor flag in Milwaukee

Rusty said...

You could tell the protesters weren't serious because there was a definite lack of paper mache heads. It isn't a real protest unless there is a crowd of paper mache heads. No wonder Walker didn't take them seriously.

Brian Brown said...

garage mahal said...
I have a good 500-600 pics from the rallies,


And I bet you light candles and dim the lights and scroll throught them in utter ecstasy...

Steve Austin said...

I'd like a Drudge photo posting on how the screen shot of Hillary looks very similar to Dr. Zaius from Planet of the Apes.

SGT Ted said...

"Madison schools close for the day to allow teachers to protest Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting budget plan."

Why was this violation of the law even allowed to happen? This simple act of closing the schools to attend a partisan political rally shows once again that teachers and unions don't give a shit about kids. They only care about money.

I wonder how the "this is what democracy looks like" union goons and neo-Commie leftoids would react if a Military base closed for the day to allow all the soldiers to attend a Tea Party Rally?

You can't serve two masters. Public servants should be serving the public, not themselves or their unions. If they don't like what taxpayers can afford to pay them, then they are free to go work in the private sector.

SGT Ted said...

I love how not letting WEAC rape taxpayers is the equivalent of becoming Somalia. That is Drama Royalty right there.

Joe Schmoe said...

To add to Patrick's apt summation of lefty civility exposed for what it really is, I seem to recall lots of death threats against the Governor and several GOP congressfolk.

Fen said...

"They only care about money."

That was the major take-away from all this. For all their harping about "union busting" and "..but the children!", it was really all about Walker stopping the state from enforcing mandatory collection of Union dues.

Ann Althouse said...

"This "I said something a while ago" schtick, which you, Professor, and Glenn Reynolds are doing lately, is cloying. Most of the time, you folks do news and interesting stuff. When you look back like this, you look tired and old."

1. I am old. And I'm proud of it.

2. And I am tired... of people saying that looking at the past is somehow a bad thing. Just look ahead, at what hasn't happened yet. Nothing to learn from history. No point in memories.

3. Maybe some day I'll be so old that I don't have memories and I can't look back, but I'll still have my blog archive preserving some of those memories, and I'm glad I do.

4. I'm specifically looking back on the protests that happened 1 year ago, and many of those who hate Scott Walker are doing their commemorations, with new protests, etc. etc. I suspect that your irritation with my program of looking back each day at what happened a year ago is more about not wanting to have to re-live what I (and Meade) saw at the protests. I'm not going to be pushed back, however. With the recall election coming up (presumably), it's especially useful to sharpen up about what happened. It's not lolling in the past in a "tired and old" way. And I bet that's what's really bugging you.

traditionalguy said...

I love it when our Law Professor defends herself.

The Legal Profession is all about presenting evidence of what happened in the past and arguing about who is liable for it.

The only trouble with the past at my age is that there is so much of it.

Rusty said...

1. I am old. And I'm proud of it.



1.) Your not old. Mature, but not old.

2.) damn right.


The progressive left has an extreme dislike for a history they they cannot control.
The actual facts of history, especially the history of the progressive left, are disturbing in their own right. Consequently you have a leftist bent to control the narrative. Which brings us to the disconnect of the progressive left. In order to continue their narrative they must continuously lie. They must continually rearrange the facts to fit their history. They know they are lying. It is an absolute act of faith of the progressive left that everyone is lying. That there is nothing to gain by telling the truth unless they can color the truth to suit their narrative. Anything that doers not fit their narrative is to be Alinskied. Hence the incoherent raving of the proggs on this blog.

SGT Ted said...

They don't want Althouse talking about it because bringing it up is embarrassing them.

Portia said...

Can we just cut the nostalgia; I've read all of this before.