But What Does Your Wisconsin Resident Think?
The worst part of this account is that nothing in it really surprises the Czar. Basically, this report confirms your suspicion that the protestors in Madison are hired thugs intent on causing real problems.
The tea party plans to rally in support of Governor Walker. I don’t know what kind of numbers they can amass, but frankly, I doubt they can come close to busloads of union thugs being shipped in from all over the country. Last night one Senator told me they had been told to clear the Capitol because the new groups coming in overnight are filled with with people “who aren’t afraid to be arrested” and the Administration could not guarantee the safety of the legislators and their staffs. In our Capitol.
On Thursday, legislators were advised to return to their offices and lock their doors. Mobs roamed the halls, banging on the glass of the doors, pounding on the walls. No one could move in the halls or enter or leave the building. The glass of the Supreme Court’s entrance was broken. Legislators were genuinely afraid. Our elected representatives were afraid. In our Capitol.
A young female reporter trying to get into the Senate chamber struggled to get through the crowd. She arrived disheveled and upset because she had been roughed up as she tried to get through “Bitch-slapped” the mob told her. A senior senator was spat on. A senator and his female staffer struggled to get into the capitol. He was worried about his staffer because the crowd was grabbing at her and pushing her. University Police were two arms lengths away and did nothing. They, of course, are union.
Protesters spent the night on the floor of the Capitol. A friend of mine said the entire place smelled when she walked in on Friday morning. There was garbage everywhere. This is one of the most beautiful Capitol buildings in the country. The mob had no respect for the place, for what happens there, or for the citizens whose freedoms it represents.
But it shows that for all the eggshell treading that the major media outlets are doing, the fact is that there is nothing democratic about the events going on in Madison. This is about organized intimidation, and because this is the 21st Century, it isn’t working:
On the other hand, one of the freshmen (Republican) members of the assembly tells me that the leggies are united and have bonded in a way that would never have been possible in other circumstances. On Thursday night, behind locked doors she said, they wept, held hands, and prayed, vowing unity. Another Senator says she thinks the tide has turned. Another (Repub) answered in response to my question; “This is kinda fun!”
The Governor stands firm. I understand that there are strategies in place for next steps which will shake up the stalemate….I have known him for at least 15 years, but he is different now. He is a man who has met his time and his place, and he seems to know it.
Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.