Update 2: Well, well, well. That is impressive, the police essentially refused the order. My hat is off to them. This is an extraordinarily encouraging sign, in that it indicates that the security apparatus has limits to what it will do. If elites1want real crushing, they’re clearly going to have to ship in outside police/military, like they do in major conventions. The local cops, at least in some places, won’t crush the locals without good reason.
Sad, given the police union has been supportive. Police are obeying an order they know is wrong.
People who are willing to walk are gathering on the ground floor, those who will not cooperate are linking arms on the 1st floor. Some reports of people forming a linked arm barrier outside the capital.
AFL-CIO ustream here.
The next step is to shut something else down (or everything, via a general strike), while recall efforts are worked on.
Update: police seem really reluctant to arrest anyone. This may not be over yet.
Adam Smith
In “1848 the revolutionaries were idealistic and divided by the multiplicity of aims for which they fought—social, economic, liberal, and national. Conservative forces exploited these divisions, and revolutionaries suffered from mediocre leadership. Middle-class revolutionaries feared the lower classes, evidencing different ideas; counter-revolutions exploited the gaps.”
Sound Familiar?
zot23
Would be nice if we could trust the TV coverage to know what is going on in WI. Is not going to happen though, we’re down to what we hear via the internet and twitter for signs of what’s happening.
John J Sears
They did not, in the end, close down the Capitol. The cops sided with Madison over the Governor, as I had thought, and hoped, they would. We’re at the point in a dying regime where the official enforcers of authority have defected. Walker has nobody now, unless he wants to call in the Guard, and odds are they’d defect too.
Don’t underestimate the importance of that fake Koch phone prank. In the call, Walker mentioned discussions in his administration about planting agitators in the crowd to start a riot (or ‘ruckus’ as he termed it). On Fox he later admitted taking calls from out of state politicians who urged him to do it as well.
The police here in Madison are very, very unhappy about that. The mayor is livid. The local press are actively heckling Walker when he does bother to talk to anyone but Fox. He can’t go out in public anymore without being the subject of derision, and was forced to leave a restaurant recently when he made the mistake of trying to dine in public.
In any functional democracy, the legislators would bolt from Walker for fear he drags them down, but we’re dealing with Tea Party infused wackos, they might fight to the end.
There’s a meeting on a general strike being held Tuesday that I plan to go to. Not sure if that’ll happen or not, but it’s good to stay informed.
scruff
Wow. I am legitimately stunned. Perhaps it is safe to harbor a little hope for America yet.
alyosha
JJ Sears – thanks for the report. It’s really encouraging.
John J Sears
There’s an update that is not so encouraging. Basically, the Department of Administration took over from the cops and have tried to split the baby, with allowing only some small groups in while not booting out those already inside.
They’re being sued by… basically everyone. The ACLU is mad, the AFL-CIO is mad, some others. I don’t think the policy is meant to hold for long, just until after Walker presents his budget tomorrow.
Walker’s goons have reportedly been trying to starve out the people who got stuck inside in what is becoming a no-man’s land. There have been reports, backed up by pictures, that they’ve been bolting the windows shut so people can’t sneak in food. From what I’ve read on Twitter and facebook some is still being smuggled in, but not enough.
They’ve also put up a metal detector, which is new, and started searching bags. Not sure what for (food? weapons?) or how thoroughly. The cops may be slow-walking the whole thing.
It’s also being reported that Walker is busing in Tea Partiers to fill the Assembly gallery when he gives his budget speech to avoid the heckling he gets everywhere he goes, otherwise.
The budget is expected to be brutal, and naturally, all based on severe cuts to public services, married with more tax cuts for his cronies, paid for by even more cuts to public services. He can’t pass any budget, of course, until the Dems return from Illinois. It’s also thought he will try to raid our state’s large and fully funded pension system for quick bucks.
People are retiring from gov’t en masse in an attempt to preserve their pensions before the new budget comes out.
FYI, the AP has been really ugly and biased about their Wisconsin reporting. Their video perpetuates the lie that the building needs to be closed to be clean. In fact, the protesters organized cleaning crews themselves, and when the actual janitorial staff cleans they do so one floor at a time, closing it while it’s being done. I know this because when I slept over there they cleaned the 2nd floor; it took an hour, and everyone dutifully moved their stuff away until it was over.
John J Sears
Oh yeah, one bit of inside baseball that may interest those of you outside Wisconsin:
There are a lot of different groups of cops here, with differing agendas. The Capitol Police aren’t equipped to handle this sort of crowd, as you might expect, so they’ve been bringing in local cops from around the states to help out. Also involved are the State Patrol, whose head is a Walker stooge. The head of the state patrol? His two sons are, respectively, the Speaker in the Assembly and the Leader in the Senate.
God what a banana republic they’re running here.
From what I’ve read, the mutiny Ian mentions was basically the local cops from around the state refusing to arrest people who aren’t doing anything wrong. The Capitol Police are a bit more willing to follow orders. Protesters are very wary of the State Patrol for reasons listed above, but as yet I personally haven’t gotten a feel for them when coming and going.
I can personally attest that the local cops seem to be on our side, and will wander around mingling when on duty. One helped me take pictures inside the Capitol one day when my hands were shaky because I hadn’t eaten in, oh, 18 hours, heh. I think he was from Manitowoc.
So the Capitol Police are apparently running things the DOA’s way for the moment. The local cops are all the way on our side. The State Patrol might be a wild card.
Celsius 233
Just as in the M.E.: We’ll see. None of it is finished yet by a long shot, so , we’ll see…
Celsius 233
This is for another thread, but; has anybody considered the ramifications to the U.S. regarding the revolts in the M.E.?
Celsius 233
^ I’m referring to our own citizen’s rights of peaceful assembly, which haven’t fared so well the last decade or so.
Notorious P.A.T.
The cops should know they are probably next. When Walker was county commissioner he fired his police force and replaced them with private contractors. Of course, one of those contractors was a convicted child-abuser, but he saved his government like $1,000 so it was all worth it.
Notorious P.A.T.
Here’s more on what I just mentioned:
http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/walker-and-wackenhut-odd-associations
John Sears, your hands were shaking from not eating? Go eat something! Feel better!
John J Sears
I did eat, and I do feel better.
Also, those lawsuits I mentioned paid off: a judge has put a temp restraining order out and ordered the Capitol re-opened to the public.
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_b6b140fc-4425-11e0-89a1-001cc4c03286.html
Walker’s budget address is at 4 pm our time. He can’t be happy about this.
Jay
I think the main lesson that the Right will learn from all this is the importance of privatizing municipal police forces. If the city of Madison had contracted out police services to Xe or Dynergy, you can bet that the protestors would have been forcibly removed right away.
People have a hard time engaging in mass violence against people they see as being just like them. A lot of cops are married to teachers and nurses and so are hesitant to attack them. If Walker had brought in private military contracters from Eastern Europe and South Africa, he would have had the option of force, including live ammo.
The Reaganite attack on labor has gone about as far as it can without the use of violence. The cops in Madison have shown the danger for corporate America in relying on the police to serve as shock troops in the class war against workers.
I would like to think that this is the beginning of the end of the war on workers. However, the realist in me thinks it is more likely that our oligarchs will instead turn to mercenaries to deal the death blow to the American middle class.
I wonder how the rednecks who defended Blackwater’s tactics in Iraq will feel when the same tactics are applied here.
John J Sears
Very interesting things happening here not being widely reported. The Department of Administration has been in flagrant violation of the court order to open the building since yesterday morning. An appeal has been going on but is expected to rule in our favor.
The cops have split right down the middle, with the Dane County Sheriff pulling his officers from the Capitol in protest over the closure:
‘The sheriff objected when Dane County deputies, who have been frontline officers from the start of the recent protests, were told doors of the Capitol were not being opened. Finally, he pulled his officers from the scene.
“When asked to stand guard at the doors, that duty was turned over to the Wisconsin State Patrol because our deputies would not stand and be palace guards,” said Mahoney. “I refused to put deputy sheriffs in a position to be palace guards.”‘
I can attest from being there yesterday that they’re really reaching to find people willing to enforce Walker’s orders. A small number of departments and the state patrol seem to be what they have left. Meanwhile the Dane County contingent stands at the far side of the Capitol square, watching warily.
The State Patrol have gone with Walker it seems, so we know who our enemies are at least. They assaulted and removed at least two protesters from the gallery during Walker’s speech for not cheering him. Literally.
Heading back down there soon.
Notorious P.A.T.
Thanks for the updates, John.
“the realist in me thinks it is more likely that our oligarchs will instead turn to mercenaries”
I sure wouldn’t be surprised.
Lex
Thanks, John. Please keep us posted.
skuppers
This is almost a little off topic, but I wanted to share this with all.
My hero: I have been following the writings of Immanuel Wallerstein since I was an undergrad. He’s scholar of Geoplolitics. In my view he’s one of the brightest minds in the field and I never get tired of reading what he has to say – he shows an amazing prescient ability in analyzing social trends. For example he had said that the likely result of Americas reaction to Septembr 11, 2001 was a turn toward authoritarian gov’t; not exactly a revelation now, but it was at the time he said it. I think he’s amazing and hope you will too – if you don’t, then to hell with you 🙂
so I hope you won’t mind me passing on a link to his postings. He publishes 2 articles a month – the 1st and the 15th. His articles go back to 1998. I trust that including the link doesn’t violate his copyright as he encourages forwarding and such – caveat is that his articles be published in full. For fun, read his postings from 2003 – in one he calls Bush a “geo-political idiot.” Also if you click on the link for the Fernand Braudel center, you can view his CV – all 40 pages of it. Have fun, and here’s the link:
http://fbc.binghamton.edu/cmpg.htm
John J Sears
Today’s Update: The Walker admin continues to drag out the hearing on opening the Capitol. From the ACLU’s live-tweets, it seems like the judge is sick of it and will give us mostly what we want tomorrow, save, probably, banning sleeping in the building.
Which, given the warming temps and the campout going on outside the Capitol, is less of a big deal by the day, to be honest. Given a warm spring I think it’d be a lot nicer to sleep outside; believe me, those marble floors are godawful to sleep on.
The police split continues. The Dane County Sheriff and the Madison police chief have pulled their cops. The cops at the door are getting thinner, and consist of deputies from other counties. The existence of a semi-secret tunnel to the Capitol that Walker’s been using to ferry in supporters has been pretty widely disclosed, and he has some really touchy and pretty thuggish supporters guarding that one. Honestly, it’s such a cliche, he feels like a high fantasy villain in his castle.
One interesting detail is that the University of Wisconsin has lent its cops and they’re integral to the lockout; I’ve observed them guarding the doors the last couple of days. UW’s chancellor asked for, and got, Walker’s support for a very controversial plan to cut UW out of the state university system, and the accompanying state oversight of said system. It seems like in return, he gets troops.
The general strike is looking more and more likely, as it looks like the Dem senators will be forced home for a quorum. They are now being fined 100 dollars a day for their absence, their staff can’t get paid and are threatened with mass termination, the Walker-allied goons in the Senate are even doing petty stuff like revoking copier privileges and parking spaces.
If the budget ‘repair’ bill passes and strips unions of their rights, followed by the actual, grotesque budget (slashes education funding while phasing out the cap gains tax, that’s fiscal conservativism for you) I expect this city to be shut down. And, of course, I’ll help them do it in any non-violent way I can. (note I don’t say ‘legal’, since a general strike wouldn’t be legal as I understand it)
Celsius 233
John J Sears
===================
Thanks for the blow by blow and the best of luck to you and everybody else who are on the front lines.
One can only hope you all inspire the rest of the donot (bad pun intended) nation to get up and fight.
anon2525
I think the main lesson that the Right will learn from all this is the importance of privatizing municipal police forces. If the city of Madison had contracted out police services to Xe or Dynergy, you can bet that the protestors would have been forcibly removed right away.
And the majority of the country that does not agree with the right-wing needs to learn the importance of ending the practice of contracting gov’t. services to private companies, who then make their profits by hiring non-union workers, paying lower wages, not providing medical insurance, and not providing pensions (i.e., The Walmart Way to Easy Profits).
Coincidentally, the author of a book on contracting out gov’t. services, Allison Stanger, was interviewed on the Daily Show yesterday. Jon Stewart has the good sense to connect the wasting and stealing of gov’t. money with the cutting of spending on education:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-march-2-2011/allison-stanger
beowulf
Big roadblock to privatized police is Richardson v. McKnight. 1997 Supreme Court case that said companies that operate prisons on behalf of state govt can’t shield itself from lawsuits with state’s sovereign immunity.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/96-318.ZS.html
There are privatized city governments in Georgia and they all have normal “public servant” police and fire departments. Because of the Richardson case, from what I’ve heard, no insurance company would write a policy for a privatized police or fire department (after all, firefighters are notorious of kicking down doors and breaking windows). :o)
Michael
It looks like the republicans suceeded in passing the bill even without a quorum. Apparently a quorum is only needed to pass a budgetary bill so they stripped the legislation of all budgetary language and provisions and just passed the anti union parts. Slippery little snakes aren’t they.
Now if we had a press corps willing to do their damn job this would naturally be the start of a major firestorm against walker and the wisconsin republicans, since passing the bill this way puts to lie any claims this attack on the unions has anything to do with closing a budget deficit. Indeed even before walker removed the budget provisions this was already one of the most egregious anti union bills I’d seen in my lifetime, but this latest stunt just makes it all the more blatant.
Unfortunately we don’t have a functioning national press corps which means that this latest move by walker, like everything else the wingnuts do, will just be reported on as part of the wisconsin “controversy” surrounding the unions with all the very serious people agreeing that walker might have gone too far but that the unions were being unresonable, what with their protests and their demonstrations and whatnot.
After that they’ll bring on two “political strategists” one republican and one democrat both of whom will take as their starting position that unions are spoiled and whose debate will be over to what degree they’ll have to suffer. After a fake argument the host will ask wether there’s anything the two can reach some common ground about and they’ll both meekly respond that its not the substasnce of the bill or walkers economic policies that need changing, its that “everyone” needs to tone down the rhetoric be more civil. and come back to the bargaining table top work out a compromise.
An open question then to the democrats and union leadership: what good is it to have a seat at the table, if your seat is an electric chair.