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One thing I have found really sad about this thread is how people are so quick to try and jump down each other's throats about thier educational levels. Also many attempts to discredit people based on what they assume is a person't intellect.
Consider the following. This is a bonnaroo message board. Most people who don't have a clue would conclude that most on this board are drugged out hippies who are dirty and can't hold a job. They would dismiss anything said on this board. I mean these people would laugh at inforoo and state what do hippies and NO NO WORD!!! users know about politics and finance?
making judgements about people's educational levels is foolish. First you really have no idea what thier level is from a message board. Also you wouldn't want to be labeled a hippie NO NO WORD!!! user just simply b/c you enjoy bonnaroo.
We need to get passed the labeling or grouping of people to help us feel better about our arguments. This is an informal setting. It't a message board not cspan.
I think most on this board that would be labeled by outsiders a fool b/c you are a bonnaroo hippie would laugh and say you have no clue. You are flat our wrong and ignorant. I would agree
The same holds true in this discussion. Please refrain from trying to pass judgement on what you believe is somebodies educational level.
Not every person's post is perfect. ALL posts have some mistakes. Whether it's grammar, content ect. No post or idea is different
What should be learned is open honest discussions are needed. If you point a finger ...five more are pointing back at you.
Now where's that daft punk in 2012 thread!
Not sure of exactly to which/what posts you are referring to but personally I haven't seen these condescending posts you are refering to where someone claims to have a PhD in History or Economics or Political Science. And if you too my talking about what I learned in school as being condescending...sorry. But unlike apparently you and whomever else you are referring to regarding the members of this forum...from personal experience meeting MANY of these people I DO assume they are intelligent, informed and literate. If you come into this forum expecting zoned out hippies...then you REALLY have been gone too long....
As for those of you who expressed interest in my earlier post....why do you think the French offered their help and military support to the Confederacy during the Civil War? England stayed out of it only because they had ties to both the Northern Factories AND needed the South's cotton but there are many instances if you research it where England DID help the South discreetly. It wasn't because they LIKED Southerners better...it was because it was in their direct financial gain to do so. As for the "States Rights"...what the heck do you think they were talking about?? The Southern States felt like they had the right to decide who to sell their produce to and at what price...and didn't want anyone else telling them otherwise and imposing a tax just because it was to the other states benefit. It was, as I said earlier like most wars, a war of econmic values and political power (who had more clout) than any social issue. The slavery issue was the way they could convince the border states (and people everywhere on the fence) that THEY were the party of freedom and on the right side. As I say, I have no tolerence for slavery and think the war ended as it should. But not for the reasons it should.
If you will notice, I asked for an on-the-record response and peripherally an acknowledgement that unions are not a total waste of time money and effort and are hood-winking us all. They have actually contributed to some very important, necessary and long overdue improvements for workers that might never have happened without them.
And as for Lincoln freeing the slaves....don't know how your history textbooks read, but from what I learned in middle school, high school, and college....freeing the slaves was a SOCIAL agenda that was totally a secondary (and more passionate rallying point) than the true reason for the Civil War which....as in almost every war...was power and money. The Southern mills wanted the Northern Factories to pay them as much as the Europeans were for cotton...and Northern Senators decided that they would block this and impose an export tax on Cotton that would make it MORE expensive to export than to take the lesser prices the northern factories wanted to pay. THAT is the real root of the Civil War. The rest is just emotional pandering. Thus said.....even having an ancestor who fought for the Confederacy even though my family NEVER owned any slaves (only rich people owned slaves) I find slavery dispicable and am not at all sorry that the Civil War's ending was as it was except for all the unnescessary loss of life and the complete looting of the South afterwards. I am actually an independent (have voted both Democrat AND Republican depending on the person I thought would do the best job). But anyone who thinks that the Civil War was a war of virtue over right and wrong over slavery....obviously there are a few things missing in your educational endeavors.
This is all very nice, but you kinda missed the point.
Did I really?? Cause I thought you were speaking about how things change...and depending on viewpoint you are totally correct. 100 years ago what is now considered the right wing was actually the left wing. Yes things change, but most of the values behing them don't. Only terminology which I admit I can't keep up with....it seems to be redefined each election year. What side is Communism on this year? Left or Right....I really don't keep track of that crap. Cause in the end you are not voting for a positional slot...you are voting for a PERSON with life experiences, educational experiences, maybe hopefully even political experiences. Left and Right are directional...not political
One thing I have found really sad about this thread is how people are so quick to try and jump down each other's throats about thier educational levels. Also many attempts to discredit people based on what they assume is a person't intellect.
Consider the following. This is a bonnaroo message board. Most people who don't have a clue would conclude that most on this board are drugged out hippies who are dirty and can't hold a job. They would dismiss anything said on this board. I mean these people would laugh at inforoo and state what do hippies and NO NO WORD!!! users know about politics and finance?
making judgements about people's educational levels is foolish. First you really have no idea what thier level is from a message board. Also you wouldn't want to be labeled a hippie NO NO WORD!!! user just simply b/c you enjoy bonnaroo.
We need to get passed the labeling or grouping of people to help us feel better about our arguments. This is an informal setting. It't a message board not cspan.
I think most on this board that would be labeled by outsiders a fool b/c you are a bonnaroo hippie would laugh and say you have no clue. You are flat our wrong and ignorant. I would agree
The same holds true in this discussion. Please refrain from trying to pass judgement on what you believe is somebodies educational level.
Not every person's post is perfect. ALL posts have some mistakes. Whether it's grammar, content ect. No post or idea is different
What should be learned is open honest discussions are needed. If you point a finger ...five more are pointing back at you.
Now where's that daft punk in 2012 thread!
1st, why bring this up? You like to push buttons.
2nd, I think you are confusing lack of intelligence with laziness. you have some good points, but your laziness or blatant lack of wiliness to use the "quote" correctly or spell check discredits you. People were not jumping on you for not having a college education(which you might even have), no people are calling you out for being lazy. Glad to see you have learned to use the quote button. Maybe Monday we can work on the spell check and you will see "person't" is not a word.
Last, you and I both know we will not see you in the Draft Punk 2012 thread. This post you are coming off as trying to make yourself out to be a victim, which is sad. It sounds like, 'Don't judge me, Bro!' *Scrog points finger at Chicagorooer*Seriously! Come on man.
This is all very nice, but you kinda missed the point.
Did I really??
Yeah, you did. You've taken my simple analogy meant to demonstrate a fairly basic point, and written a bunch of words that only manage to prove that my analogy is just like every other analogy in the history of the universe: flawed.
Did I really?? Cause I thought you were speaking about how things change...and depending on viewpoint you are totally correct. 100 years ago what is now considered the right wing was actually the left wing. l
I beg to differ. Left and right remain the same. It's the political parties themselves that switched.
I'm going to launch into one of my rants I've had stewing in my mind for a while now.
February 1854. Ripon, Wisconsin. A group of roughly thirty abolitionists gathered at the school house. What brought them together for that meeting was shared opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which in addition to creating these two states nullified earlier compromises (Missouri 1830, Clay's 1850) and allowed new states to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery. (Later leading to Bleeding Kansas & John Brown.) What came out of this meeting was a decision that a new party was necessary. Because of the word's ties to the Declaration of Independence, this group chose "Republican" as its name. The concept spread, with Republican parties being created amongst northern states. The first gathering of a group calling itself Republicans took place in Michigan later that year.
This Republican Party ascended to the presidency just six years later with the election of Abraham Lincoln.
It brought us Wisconsin's own "Fighting Bob" La Follette, one of the foremost figures of the Progressive Era, who served as Wisconsin's governor and U.S. Senator in the early 20th Century. He took the unpopular stance of opposing American participation in WWI and advocated for open government, labor unions, the direct election of senators, and recall elections. It should say something that every state gets to select two statues to be placed in the national capitol, and one of Wisconsin's is a likeness of Fighting Bob.
The party brought us Theodore Roosevelt, an accidental president (he was actually nominated as VP because party leaders felt he'd be less disruptive as VP than governor of New York) who continued in the progressive tradition with his trustbusting and conservationalism.
It was Teddy Roosevelt who led this original sentiment out of the existing party. The Rough Rider made good on a 1904 promise not to run for more than one full term, found his hand-picked successor William Howard Taft to be too beholden to business interests for his liking, and ran again as a third-party candidate in 1912. This brought about the election of Woodrow Wilson.
Following Wilson came three more Republican presidents - Harding, Coolidge & Hoover - whose administrations were associated with corruption, scandal and economic failure. This opened the door for Franklin Delano Roosevelt to seize the progressive torch for the Democratic Party in one of the most influential presidencies the institution has known.
FDR ushered in an era of Democratic dominance, with one notable exception: Dwight D. Eisenhower. Admission of personal bias: the crown jewel of my political button collection is a hologram design with the phrase "I Like Ike" alternating with his face. Eisenhower won the presidency as a Republican in 1952, yes, but he never was much of a partisan. After returning home to ticker tape parades, the presidency was pretty much his regardless of which party he chose. A career civil servant, he never was politically connected with either party. At the end of 1951, he knew that he was going to run for president but not under which party banner it would be under. This being the era of Adlai Stevenson running four cycles in a row, Eisenhower went with the more open Republican nomination. Eisenhower continued with most of the New Deal, as well as had top bracket tax rates 6x what they are today, grew the middle class, and invested in national infrastructure like the interstate system. When Eisenhower left office, he delivered one of the most memorable parting messages a president ever has. He warned the American people to be wary of wealthy interests exerting undue influence over the nation. I think his words still need to be heeded today. I credit Eisenhower with being the least partisan president of the 20th Century.
I can't speak so highly of Eisenhower's running mate, Richard Nixon. Nixon was the smoke-filled back-room choice to be Ike's running mate. I feel that the Republican Party as we know it originated with Tricky Dick... and it's been downhill from there.
While that progressive spark no longer exists in today's Republican Party, I don't feel it exists within a majority of today's Democratic Party either. It's still there to an extent, but one that's been dwindling in recent years. I've said before in this thread that I feel that these wealthy interests Ike warned us about own a majority stake in today's Republican Party and a plurality stake in today's Democratic Party. I feel the decline of this progressive spark amongst our representative leadership is indicative of this.
I live roughly as close to that school house in Ripon as I do from that capital square in Madison. While party labels may have changed over the past century, that spark remains alive and well, albeit not accurately reflected in the composition of our present leadership - on either side of the aisle. I feel that the ethos is still represented by the movement here in Wisconsin. Myself and so many other Wisconsinites count as our ideological forefathers those that upset the existing status quo with a movement back in the mid-19th Century. Exhibit A is what happened at the capitol this February and March. That was not the work of any political party, corporation, or union. That was the people getting together to blaze a new trail. In 2011, as it was in 1854, it seems as if it's up to Wisconsin to lead the way forward.
I've mentioned Joanne before. I have met her a couple of times and consider her a friend, the same way I could say about many of you. She lives in Oshkosh, about an hour north of me - and nearer than I to that schoolhouse in Ripon I was just talking about - in the district where Jess King unseated incumbent Sen. Randy Hopper. She is an unemployed Ph.D who was what we call a DemocStar in this race, canvassing in rollerskates and (when necessary) a crab-shaped umbrella. She made an ActBlue page (which included a picture of her I took back in June at Walkerville) soliciting pledges-per-door to raise funds for the King campaign and netted over $1000. She had an overall goal of knocking on three thousand doors during this campaign, but I haven't checked in with her since before the elections on the 9th so I don't know whether she reached it. Even if she didn't make it, she certainly was close.
There was a day during this pledge campaign where she tried to document her last day of roller-canvassing, hoping to document a typical day of her activities, but it didn't quite go according to plan.
If there were an award for Wisconsin Recalls MVP, she would either be on the shortlist or win it outright.
It is days like today....all day meeting over crapt that SHOULD have been already worked out and fixed or at least on a list to be fixed for three to five years ago! By 4 pm I leaned over to one of my government counterparts and whispered "Ok, OK, I'm ready to just drink the kool aide and get on with whatever they are going to do to us!!" And totally meant it....the government needs new EVERYTHING! Just tell me what you want and I'll give it to you...no matter how useless, stupid or unusable it is. BUT...you HAVE to tell me what you think you want otherwise I have absolutely NOTHING to base anything on and THAT is why things take 6 years in the DoD to get done when a commercial company can do it in less than a year!
One thing I have found really sad about this thread is how people are so quick to try and jump down each other's throats about thier educational levels. Also many attempts to discredit people based on what they assume is a person't intellect.
Consider the following. This is a bonnaroo message board. Most people who don't have a clue would conclude that most on this board are drugged out hippies who are dirty and can't hold a job. They would dismiss anything said on this board. I mean these people would laugh at inforoo and state what do hippies and NO NO WORD!!! users know about politics and finance?
making judgements about people's educational levels is foolish. First you really have no idea what thier level is from a message board. Also you wouldn't want to be labeled a hippie NO NO WORD!!! user just simply b/c you enjoy bonnaroo.
We need to get passed the labeling or grouping of people to help us feel better about our arguments. This is an informal setting. It't a message board not cspan.
I think most on this board that would be labeled by outsiders a fool b/c you are a bonnaroo hippie would laugh and say you have no clue. You are flat our wrong and ignorant. I would agree
The same holds true in this discussion. Please refrain from trying to pass judgement on what you believe is somebodies educational level.
Not every person's post is perfect. ALL posts have some mistakes. Whether it's grammar, content ect. No post or idea is different
What should be learned is open honest discussions are needed. If you point a finger ...five more are pointing back at you.
Now where's that daft punk in 2012 thread!
1st, why bring this up? You like to push buttons.
2nd, I think you are confusing lack of intelligence with laziness. you have some good points, but your laziness or blatant lack of wiliness to use the "quote" correctly or spell check discredits you. People were not jumping on you for not having a college education(which you might even have), no people are calling you out for being lazy. Glad to see you have learned to use the quote button. Maybe Monday we can work on the spell check and you will see "person't" is not a word.
Last, you and I both know we will not see you in the Draft Punk 2012 thread. This post you are coming off as trying to make yourself out to be a victim, which is sad. It sounds like, 'Don't judge me, Bro!' *Scrog points finger at Chicagorooer*Seriously! Come on man.
sorry scrog you lost me at "glad". It appears Glad is on another line when it should come right after lazy. Not sure why you decided it needed to start ona new line? At first I thought maybe it was a "3rd" point but now I see it's still part of the "2nd" point. Thanks for the tips and maybe we both can attend that grammar and paragraph structure class on Monday?
^there you go getting ahead of yourself, Monday is spell check day. "Grammar and paragraph structure class" will have to be later and to be honest, I will need help with that. I will be the first to admit, my gamma sucks, but I have learned to use the spell check and quoting was just plain easy to learn. And no, my poor grammar or paragraph structure does not make it okay for you to be lazy. Now, you can ridicule me all you want, but the fact of the matter is your laziness does nothing to give credit to your argument and in turn it lessens your argument. Take that for what you will. I have made my point. In the words of a wise man, "Forward!"
Greetings from Three Lakes in the North Woods in the northeast corner of the state. I am seated outside the room at the local community center, where DGP id observing the manual recount. Polls closed 45 minutes ago, and there is a discrepancy to be cleared up before we can leave for the Sen. Holperin party further south in Rhinelander.
A group of five from our office plus another two from the main DPW office came up here yesterday for this election. Had a good night in office head Nick's grandfather's cabin up in Eagle River. Booze, brats & camaraderie with those who have otherwise mostly been office mates. It was much needed.
Polls are closed & discrepancy settled. Off to the results party.
Godspeed and keep moving FORWARD! Cause I am stuck in DoD Project HELL! Almost a decade, hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars and NOTHING to show for it yet...yeah....I need to find a major career shift!
I want to talk about the August 16th GOTV, because it involves a road trip up to the Northwoods. I would feel remiss doing so without at least backtracking a bit to the August 9th GOTV first.
We had the different location and had OFA in assisting with these two GOTV operations. We did break 100,000 calls those four days. A few senators of the Wisconsin 14 were stopping by. I met half of the fourteen by that day. I had a van to help carry a lot of our GOTV location stuff back to the regular office.
Ed Schultz was in town broadcasting live from the capital square both of those days. I was in the office when he started taping but caught the last 10-15 minutes of the taping. Ran into a lot of the familiar faces on the square that night.
I drove home on Election Eve, which was when I had the Democrabeep/vuvuzela incident I described in a post that night. I had a good talk with troo for about a half hour of my drive which helped calm some jitters and give me some perspective. (Thanks again.)
I kind of talked about the electioneering part of GOTV earlier. We were rocking the phone bank until the polls were closing up, then packed up and hauled to the usual office. After that, it was off to the Majestic.
Most of the others had already gotten there. It was the two staffers, Nick & Zach, as well as myself and a guy from the party office with whom Nick had worked before. Nick had mini bottles of Jagermeister and some inspirational words for us all before we headed off to the Majestic for the Democratic Party's results-watching party.
There was a line for members of the general public to sign in, but we got to go right through. The place was at capacity, so that was good for us. At one point in the night, I tried to go out for a cigarette and was told the line to get back in was about 75 people long because it was "one in, one out." Not only was Ed Schultz taping live until 10pm, but people generally wanted to converge on the capital square to see the culmination of these efforts.
By the time we'd gotten there, two races (Sen. Sheila Harsdorf vs. Shelly Moore & Sen. Robert Cowles vs. Nancy Nusbaum) had already been called. I bought Zach & Nick some Jameson shots as soon as we could get to the bar. Lots of other familiar faces around the place too - leads team & volunteers from our office, some elected officials, people I Bonnaroo with to throw a few out there. Ran into my friend Phil, who was doing photography for the night. Phil was working, so he was buying my PBR tall boys as long as I'd keep him stocked up.
There was plenty of drinking going on. We were watching results come in on an MSNBC feed shown on the movie screen. Local DJ Nick Nice was emcee during the breaks, along with speeches from the party chairman Mike Tate and Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller. There could have been others, but I was working when the event began. At one point, I did sneak out a side door for a smoke. I got to thank Nick Nice for importing/distributing hundreds of vuvuzelas during the protests during my smoke break, which felt great.
The race tightened up. The third race to be called was challenger Rep. Jen Shilling unseating Sen. Dan Kapanke, followed by incumbent Sen. Luther Olsen beating our candidate Rep. Fred Clark. Jess King unseating Sen. Randy Hopper 51-49 made things 2-3 in favor of the Republicans... with the balance hanging on the outcome of the Sen. Alberta Darling vs. Rep. Sandy Pasch race.
The crowd looked like this right around that point.
For most of the way that race was being reported, up until 80% of the vote coming in, Pasch led Darling by double digits. Then there was a delay from Kathy Nickolaus out in Waukesha County - she claimed she needed an hour to count absentee ballots at the end of tabulating votes, and was the last report. (An alternate explanation could be that she was waiting to report last due to ulterior motives...)
At some point in there, when our races were 2-3, I saw Bowzer from Sha Na Na standing off in a corner by himself playing with his phone. He was emailing DNC chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. We stopped and talked for a bit. Phil snapped this photo:
Kathy Nickolaus finally did her thing, putting Sen. Darling in the lead and making our final scorecard for the night 2-4*. People began to scatter. I wound up heading to the bar Zach & Nick were going to be at after they'd left. I had just a drink before I went to stay at Phil's place. At one point, a stranger saw my Wisconsin 14 shirt. He said "Shitty night, huh?" I said "At least we fought fair."
I crashed on Phil's couch. No way was I in condition to drive that night. Hell, I was still drunk when I woke up Wednesday morning.
I returned the van borrowed from Mom, showered and got down to the office for my usual shift. I was about ten minutes late, but it turned out we were closed that day. I might have been told that by Zach the night prior, but I wasn't in remembering condition at the time. So I got to the office and it was closed. Gave Nick a call, and he told me he & Zach were on their way in shortly. Even when the office is "closed," I know those guys don't get the day off unless it's an official holiday. I was there long enough to sign for a package from DGP, and then the two of them came in.
We drove out to the GOTV location. There was still work to be done. The three of us handled the sweeping, mopping, trash, and table/chair setup to bring the place into the condition it was as we found it. We had all had a rough night in general, with all the alcohol consumption to boot. It was one of those rare times we've gotten to talk without having volunteers in earshot. One comment from Zach pretty much summed up our mood: "The whole nation was watching and we got our donkeys kicked!" We had a lengthy gripe session while we cleaned up, eventually trying to figure out what good we'd done it for knowing the results.
In those six districts, we did turn out more votes for Democratic state senate candidates than 2010 Democratic gubernatorial (I love that word) candidate Tom Barrett. We had a good practice run for the effort to recall Walker. We turned a five-vote majority in the state senate into a one-vote majority, the slimmest possible. It's quite possible that because of this, any single Republican senator has more potential to be a headache for Walker & the GOP establishment here in the future. In taking down two senators who supported Walker, the number of sitting senators who voted for Walker's bill earlier this year (which passed 18-1) would no longer constitute a majority.
We went back to the office and begun to get things back in working order. There were tables, call dividers, beverage coolers, scores of cell phones, and the like to get back into working order to have things in working order before Thrusday. All the phones were particularly a pain.
We were all getting ready to call it a day around 4pm. I stepped out for a cigarette and one of our regular volunteers Valerie wheeled past the office. It was a "misery loves company" day, so I let her in to come chat for a bit. She commiserated with us for about fifteen minutes and took off. We tied up a few more odds and ends, Nick was just stepping into the office to grab something before we left... and another volunteer with a couple kids in tow came in. She kind of had him cornered with a long rant of her own, including a lengthy discussion of why she thought we should have organized more flash mobs in order to get people to vote in those districts. It wasn't really the conversation any of us wanted to be having at the time, and her suggestions in a logistical sense weren't really anything that would have won us the election. Zach & I just kind of sat there for a while in the next room and nursed our hangovers while Nick tried to bring the conversation to a close. At some point, her daughters couldn't take it anymore and came out to talk to us instead. I don't know how long they did stick around, because I cut out at 5pm.
I got a quick bite to eat and then I had plans to help one of my fellow Democracy Addicts move. The Madison Addicts watched the results together while I was at the Majestic party Tuesday, and the regular meeting was a trip to join the Milwaukee Addicts on Wednesday. Instead, I helped one of the Madison Addicts with moving. Kati who needed help with moving is an elementary school art teacher, for whom being personally affected by collective bargaining changes was a bit of a wake-up call to become politically involved where she previously hadn't. We had eight or ten people helping her move, with four of us being Addicts, plus her father so it didn't take too long. Her father left and we had a mini-meeting drinking in her backyard until around midnight. Kati did her part in this at the We Are Wisconsin office, which provided an opportunity to talk to some of the people who've been doing the same things I've been for a different organization.
We waxed political on other issues as well, including - kind of strangely - a lengthy discussion about Native American spearfishing rights. It normally seems like a bit of an obscure topic, but it was not irrelevant: Sen. Jim Holperin up in the Northwoods was facing recall the following week, and as a member of the Wisconsin Assembly he had faced a recall over the subject. Rep. Holperin faced recall for supporting a Republican governor on an issue; Sen. Holperin faced recall for opposing a Republican governor on an issue. As of Tuesday, he is the only state legislator in the nation to have faced - not to mention survived - two recall efforts against him.
I went home and slept for ten hours or so. It had been a rough few days, with another big week ahead.
I forgot another shout-out I wanted to give in that last post.
I mentioned that Ed Schultz was doing his TV & radio shows from Madison on the 8-9th. While I was wrapping up at the GOTV location on Monday night, a contingency of our high school interns went down to the square for the taping. I ran into them after the end of the taping, shortly after they took this picture with Ed Schultz. Clockwise, starting with Big Ed, are: Molly, Andy, Luke, Sean & Madelyn
(They weren't too happy with the way the pictures turned out. Two people had two cameras; Ed looked at one and these kids looked at the other.)
We mostly have them working the phones while us older leads team members keep the office running, and they do a great job. They've spent their summer vacation for the cause, and most of them aren't even old enough to cast a vote in these elections. I think the only one of our high school interns who's even 18 is Molly; there's a couple others who might be able to vote in the Walker recall. Most of them, though, have been working on these elections despite the fact that they won't be able to cast a vote in these election cycles. I know I wasn't that politically involved at their age.
These kids are no slackers. Sean holds two of the office records. One for calls in a day, 403, for which he stayed overtime to best Madelyn's effort of 402 that same day. He also edged out Luke - again, by one - for the number of volunteer shifts booked in a day. The girls here are part of the vegetarian caucus around the office. Madelyn is essentially Lisa Simpson, there's no way around that. She's remarkably mature and capable for her age. Luke's in 4-H, an organization I think I understand better now than I did at any point of my life. I approve. When the Dane County fair was going on in Madison, another leads team member mentioned seeing his name on a few exhibits out there. I went to check it out - he had some photographs, some animals, some vegetables, and a few that I missed. I saw some presentations for various local chapters' service projects and left with some newfound appreciation for the group.
I just turned 31 last Sunday. Some of these kids are literally half my age, still eagerly anticipating getting their temps and other milestones like that. I have friends half my age because of the movement and working in our office, just as I can say I have new friends twice my age from the same. They can be inspiring to have around at times.
Being high school aged, though, it's not all roses. Except for one instance (a college-aged leads team member's boyfriend being upset that she was talking to DGP in her dreams made for some Election Night friction) they bring some drama into it too. All the "so&so likes such&such, but such&such likes someone else..." kind of stuff. There's unrequited crushes, crush triangles and the like, stuff I haven't dealt with much in years. It's fun to watch, hard to keep track of sometimes, and makes me glad those turbulent years are behind. Even if it's a bit farther behind than I might like.
I've met some of their parents, too. I'd say I talk to Luke & Madelyn the most, so it's probably fitting I've met their parents. (One of my fellow Democracy Addicts also turned out to be one of Sean's teachers. Small world.) Luke's father was at the taping with him and I got to talk to him. At one point of that election eve, talking to Luke's dad, I told him about how being thirty surrounded by primarily young 20somethings and high schoolers "really makes me feel my age." It seemed an uncharacteristically mature statement considering how notorious of a case of arrested development I've been in my own past.
I hope I'm more of a good influence than a bad influence on these kids. They see me smoke, and that makes me feel bad. I remember one particular moment which made me cringe and feel like a bad influence. It was at the Majestic on the big election night. I had my first tap beer with me, when photographer Phil sent me on an "you fly, I buy" run for a couple PBRs. I ran into Luke on my way back to find Phil with three beers in hand. He saw me and said "Hey Coffee, how's it going?" (I should note here, perhaps for the first time in this thread, that my nickname around the office is Coffee on account of just how much of it I drink.) I had three cold ones in my hand, and - already buzzed - I told this fifteen-year-old that "tonight, you can call me Beer." Probably wasn't the best example to set there, even if all the adults there were drinking.
I heard through the grapevine that one of these kids got in trouble for smoking weed behind their school during school hours earlier this year. I'm tempted to warn them about where that path can take them. I'm not saying they shouldn't do it, but in my first attempt at college I got mixed up in some harder stuff, and think I wasted some potential in the process. I'm afraid I'll be a bit of a hypocrite doing so, but I'd hate to see these kids make some of my same mistakes if they don't have to.
As I said, these kids are doing an amazing job. I'm sure many of them have great futures ahead of them, and I'd like to think what we're doing today will help them have a better tomorrow.
...and I hate to triple post, but it's another one of those times where I must confess to getting weepy.
It wasn't just talking about the kids, but that's a part of it.
Nick sent out an office wrap-up round-up email to those of us on the leads team today. Thursday/Friday we're calling all the volunteers we've had in the office. On Monday, we're having a potluck picnic/thank you party for the volunteers. Our office is closed over the weekend. Our last day open is going to be Monday until the potluck, and on an appointment basis for taking care of any final odds & ends after that. Nick's email included a questionnaire and details about arranging exit interviews.
I signed up for this in early May. It's been a long three and a half months. I've been working with a great team of people there. I see a lot of them more than my friends, family, and coworkers at my job. They and so many volunteers have been my second family these past three months, and like it or not that's about to change. Our tour of duty is nearly complete, and while I know I'm going to continue seeing some of them in the future, it's just not going to be the same. I don't want to see our office close, but that's the way it has to be.
My final scheduled shift at the office is tomorrow. I'll be there, and I'll be going in early on Monday before the potluck simply because it'll be my last chance to do so and I don't want to miss out.
We're having another gathering, a cookout for just us leads team members, at Nick's house on Wednesday. After that, it's all over for this run.
I should probably finally get some rest to make the most of my final shift. Some of us had a nice journey up into the Northwoods for the Holperin campaign on Monday/Tuesday, and it was a nice way to end things. I worked on my actual birthday Sunday, so that was my celebration for all intents and purposes. That's another post for another time, though.
Statement from gubernatorial (nor senatorial) non-candidate Russ Feingold released today:
I am grateful for the friendship and support of so many fellow Wisconsinites who suggested I consider running for statewide office in the coming months. While I may seek elective office again someday, I have decided not to run for public office during 2012. This was a difficult decision, as I thoroughly enjoyed my tenure in both the State Senate and the U.S. Senate, and I know that progressives are eager to reverse some of the outrageous policies being pursued by corporate interests at both the state and federal levels. I am also well aware that I have a very strong standing in the polls should I choose to run again for the U.S. Senate or in a recall election for governor. After twenty-eight continuous years as an elected official, however, I have found the past eight months to be an opportunity to look at things from a different perspective.
Teaching law during the spring semester at Marquette University Law School was a joy. The Marquette Law School is a thriving academic institution situated in a beautiful new building, Eckstein Hall. I found my time with the dean, staff, faculty, and especially the students at Marquette to be a terrific first experience in teaching law. I am pleased that I have been asked to return to teach full-time this fall and look forward to doing so.
Another different experience for me has been writing a book to be published by Crown Publishing/Random House next February. I am working hard to finish it. It's about how we have too often lost our way as a nation in responding to the 9/11 attacks and related issues. Entitled "While America Sleeps," writing it has given me a chance to put down in a sustained way some of my concerns at a time when too many political operatives in the nation try to shift the political discourse away from the fundamental national security and international issues that will determine our futures and those of our children and grandchildren. I intend to make appearances in 2012 in Wisconsin and around the country to discuss this topic.
The one thing many of us did not anticipate at the outset of this year was the extreme assault on the working families of Wisconsin in particular and the nation as a whole. I was happy with some of the results of this year's Wisconsin State Senate recall elections, and was glad to be able to play a small role in supporting all of the Democratic candidates.
When I said on election night last year that it "was on to 2012," I meant it. As I said those words I was especially thinking of the need to reelect President Obama. I will be working to reelect him and hope to play a significant role in that effort. But since the aggressive tactics of Governor Walker and the legislature ensued, those words now also mean retaking the state government from these corporate-backed operatives is a special priority. The entire political climate is more infected by the domination of very wealthy individual and corporate interests than perhaps at any time in our nation's history. That is why I founded Progressives United, an organization devoted not only to overturning the Citizens United decision but to challenging those involved in the political process who, for short-term political gain, are willing to seek and accept unlimited corporate contributions. This practice should be strongly opposed regardless of party and regardless of whether I otherwise support these candidates. In many ways, this is the overriding political struggle of our time. It is more important than whether or when one person runs for office again. That is why, at this time, I am devoting my primary political energy to this cause and this organization.
Political figures often cite wanting to spend time with their loved ones as a reason for not seeking public office when they haven't a prayer of winning anyway. In my case, I don't need an excuse and will simply say that the time with family, friends, and loved ones in the past few months have been among the best in my life, and I am not eager to give that up. Let me say again, however, that being your representative was the greatest honor of my life, a fulfillment of a dream. You never let me down. But for now I am thoroughly enjoying the life of a private citizen in this great state of Wisconsin.
100,000 calls in four days. That's some great Democracy at work Mr. Forward. With the exception of the Darling-Pasch race results, it sounded like a great night at the Majestic. That pic with Bowzer, fuckin fantastic.If I were you I'd think about making that a profile pic. Also the fact you all were nursing hangovers going to the office was funny and i'm sorry you had to deal with a volunteer who was hollerin up a storm after a disappointing night. She could have at least waited another couple of days to pull that off, especially since her kids were there.
But hey, you've maintained all the Democratic seats up for recall and get 2 seats against the Republicans with a 4-4 draw in the recall elections and now it's only 17-16 in the state Senate. Not to mention Scott Walker just got scared shitless in losing his job, which will now make the workers union issue a political hot topic that increases awareness and a potential career suicide for someone trying to override it. I would not call that defeat. Awesome job that you sir, the Addicts, and the kids did for your state. It was great reading your logs regarding this importent moment in labor history and after vicariously reading your efforts, I wish to take a more active political role in my nation's capital on my doorstep.
As far as the Feingold news goes. I don't take it as bad. I think he recognizes it's a systemic problem that reaches beyond the state of Wisconsin and has reached the federal level. And I hope his Progressive United PAC can make serious changes on the Hill. Especially against those jerks in the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity PAC.
That pic with Bowzer, quackin fantastic.If I were you I'd think about making that a profile pic.
Sorry, gotta stick with the fist. I'm the fist on Facebook and here; I'm in the cheesehead on Twitter and G+. Changing the profile picture isn't happening anytime soon.
Awesome job that you sir, the Addicts, and the kids did for your state. It was great reading your logs regarding this importent moment in labor history and after vicariously reading your efforts, I wish to take a more active political role in my nation's capital on my doorstep.
I don't know if the Democracy Addicts group, per se, deserves much of the credit. Online, it's mostly for information-sharing, strategizing and event promotion; offline, it's a weekly meet-up/drink-up which is something like a support group. We're involved with the political process, yes, but we're not involved through Democracy Addicts. We are a group of individuals who participated in this through various institutional avenues (Democratic Party, individual unions, PACs like We Are Wisconsin and United Wisconsin) and just happen to be in on DA. We've done some outreach-type things, like mailing those posters to California for an exhibit on the protests and making the We're Still here videos for others to know, well, that we're still here... but it's not a political entity in and of itself. I almost want to say it's like Fight Club but with hugs instead. (The official DA tshirt has the hashtag #_huglife and palm trees on it.) By my best guess, there's maybe three hundred of us statewide thus far. The monthly meeting can bring about fifty people; the weekly meetings somewhere between 12-20 depending on the week/location. It's mostly Twitterati, but we're starting to get a couple unplugged people dropping by. It's not much just yet, but it's a start. It takes a village, after all.
I barely got to drop by this week's DA, which was the official monthly meeting. After I dropped off some Holperin election materials with the main DPW office, I barely had time to eat and stop by for an hour or so before I had to go to work. I'll be missing next week's, too. Nick is hosting a leads team cookout at his place at the same time. I see the Addicts just about weekly, but this is going to be the last time we've got the leads team together. I can't miss that.
Here is the official, final 2011 Wisconsin recalls scoreboard.
Democrats won five of these nine races.
JULY 19 32nd Senate District 66% - Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay (Incumbent) - x 33% - David VanderLeest, R-Green Bay
AUG. 9 2nd Senate District 60% - Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Allouez (Inc.) - x 40% - Nancy Nusbaum, D-De Pere
8th Senate District 54% - Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills (Inc.) - x 46% - Rep. Sandy Pasch, D-Whitefish Bay
10th Senate District 58% - Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls (Inc.) - x 42% - Shelly Moore, D-River Falls
14th Senate District 52% - Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon (Inc.) - x 48% - Rep. Fred Clark, D-Baraboo
18th Senate District 49% - Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac (Inc.) 51% - Jessica King, D-Oshkosh - x
32nd Senate District 45% - Sen. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse (Inc.) 55% - Rep. Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse - x
AUG. 16 12th Senate District 55% - Sen. Jim Holperin, D-Conover (Inc.) - x 45% - Kim Simac, R-Eagle River
22nd Senate District 58% - Sen. Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie (Inc.) - x 42% - Jonathan Steitz, R-Pleasant Prairie
The balance of the state senate changed from a 19-14 Republican majority to a 17-16 Republican majority.
Democrats received more votes than Republicans, by something like 245K-239K, in the sum of all nine recall elections. To give this some context: statewide, covering all 33 senate districts, razor-thin Election 2000 was decided in Wisconsin in Al Gore's favor by about six thousand votes.
In eight of these nine races, the Democratic state senate candidate received more votes than 2010 gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett. I can't speak to the specifics of that ninth race. It very well could be as well, but the Government Accountability Board has yet to post last Tuesday's official results until they certify them this coming week. I looked up county-by-county numbers from 2010, but those don't exactly align with the senate district.
All three incumbent Democratic senators won by double digits. Sens. Holperin and Hansen won greater shares of the vote than during the election which gave them their current terms. Sen. Wirch did not win by a greater margin than his 2008 state senate race, on account of having a more serious Republican challenge (he still won by 16%.) Most of these Republican senators hadn't had this serious of a challenge in a while, themselves. I don't know those specifics, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that some of their margins of victory were lower in 2011 than in 2008.
All told, spending on these nine state legislative races exceeded forty million dollars. That's upwards of eighty dollars per vote cast.
Senators-elect Jess King & Rep. Jen Shilling will be sworn in this weekend - one Saturday, one Sunday. Each will be sworn in in their district by Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson.
The voter identification law which was enacted is being challenged in court by the League of Women Voters over allegations it is in violation of the state constitution. The outcome of this suit helps determine the landscape upon which our next recall elections are fought.
The Walker administration regime is trying to do away with the offices of Secretary of State and state treasurer. These two officials hold a lot of power over land trusts and state trust funds, which many suspect is related to the proposal to eliminate these offices. Their existence seems to be a hindrance to Walker's access to these trusts. Wisconsin's current Secretary of State is Democrat Doug La Follette, grandnephew of Fighting Bob.
There's a planned rally at the capitol this Thursday, the day that many affected public workers begin to feel these effects in their paychecks. There's a constant presence in many respects, like the Solidarity Singers every weekday at noon, but this seems to be one of the bigger pushes for a capitol rally that I've seen in months.
There are sit-ins at the offices of U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan. Ryan has no scheduled constituent forums which are free and open to the public.* He does, however, have one event at which he will charge attendees $15 to participate in a town hall. There are beginning to be rumblings that he may seek to enter the presidential race, even if only to ostensibly run for vice president. * This year, only 174 House members (of 435 overall) have free, open-to-the-public town hall meetings as is traditional during their August recess. I find this disgraceful.
The mood here is still hopeful, despite what I was saying about our gripe session the day after we only went +2. Those of us working the office seemed to have taken that a bit harder than most of the volunteers or others we've talked to. I have yet to hear someone say we should not proceed with a Walker recall that wasn't already saying it before this round of elections.
Russ Feingold's decision not to run leaves other races for office in flux. This leaves no foregone conclusions for either Scott Walker's recall opponent or the 2012 U.S. Senate race. It leaves a bit of a power vacuum. I could go into a lengthy explanation, but that's for another time. Feingold made his announcement on Friday, and since then I've heard at least ten names floated around as potential Walker recall opponents.
Video clip to close this up, and it's a change of pace from Scott Walker meeting his adoring public. Instead, it is a rare public appearance by the brothers Fitzgerald. (Why yes, they are related to my location being FitzWalkerstan...) Big brother Scott is Senate Majority leader (and state ALEC chair ) and little brother Jeff is Assembly Majority Leader. The Fitzes made an appearance at a county fair in Beaver Dam (~25mi north of me) and were celebrity guests in a cream puff eating contest. The protesters here were mindful of criticism after Walker's state fair appearance and silently held their "Recall Fitzgerald" message at the event.
I know it's a bit long, so feel free to follow my guide for skipping through: :33 - first appearance by Jeff & Scott Fitzgerald 1:25 - cream puff eating contest begins The contest's play-by-play includes the phrase "the Fitzgerald boys are slowing down," which was of great amusement to the opposition here. (Feel free to skip ahead to three minutes in now.) 3:00 Interview with the Fitzgeralds, including groan-inducing protest/recall jokes. Immediately following this footage is a brief interview with Sen. Scott Fitzgerald. 4:30ish, start watching, and pay attention especially at 4:35 Scott Fitzgerald "emphasizes" for public workers affected by his legislation. Is it that the word empathize isn't in the man's vocabulary?
I forgot to mention the most important thing in my last update.
One the eve and the day of the final recall election where two of the Wisconsin 14 Democratic senators were defending their seats... Just across the Mississippi, over in Minnesota and Iowa, from the Twin Cities to Dubuque to points inbetween and beyond... There was a presidential bus tour focusing on the subject of jobs. Our president's route brought him within 10-15 miles of the Wisconsin border during the grand finale of these historic elections... ...but Barack Obama wouldn't come to Wisconsin. In the interest of leaving this a brief update, I'll leave it at that. For now.
I had a misunderstanding of the new proposal I mentioned above. It's still a power grab, just not exactly as I had described. AJR26 would: Remove the Secretary of State & state treasurer from the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, which oversees state land trusts & trust funds. Replace the Secretary of State (currently Democrat Doug La Follette) with the Attorney General (currently Republican J.B. Van Hollen) in the line of gubernatorial succession. Eliminate requirements that the state of Wisconsin keep legislative and executive records. Exempts governor's approval from requiring the great seal of the state of Wisconsin, which has its own constitutional rules regarding its use.
I can only imagine what their plan for such powers would be if/when this should pass.
;D
Almost a decade, hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars and NOTHING to show for it yet...yeah....I need to find a major career shift!
) and little brother Jeff is Assembly Majority Leader. The Fitzes made an appearance at a county fair in Beaver Dam (~25mi north of me) and were celebrity guests in a cream puff eating contest. The protesters here were mindful of criticism after Walker's state fair appearance and silently held their "Recall Fitzgerald" message at the event.