It’s only the first battle, and not the last

The above photo appeared in my inbox this morning, courtesy of family members, a brother in Montana and a cousin in Wisconsin. The caption was “How the Senators escaped Wisconsin.” You probably don’t want to hit me with something like that after I’ve had nightmares about hail storms and my son being arrested (in my dream, OK?). I responded

Wow, this is impressive. A new low for you guys! You are at once insulting mentally challenged people and the brave men and women in Wisconsin who are fighting a fight for you. You don’t even know that it’s for your rights that they are fighting. If I were so low as to use your crude form of humor, I might suggest that there are seats reserved on that bus … for you.

As usual, you guys remind me of prisoners in an unlocked cell. The jailer is not worried about you. You’re not going anywhere.

Yeah, we’re one big happy family, and I wish I could take that response back. The part about seats on the bus, anyway. That was bad. That bus represents a crude slur of mentally challenged kids, and is part of this culture in which we live. Have you seen that show Tosh.O on Comedy Central? We are backsliding. It’s OK now to ridicule people in public based on race, personal appearance and handicaps. That show is extremely offensive, but common fare. We’re decadent and in precipitous decline.

The battle in Wisconsin is not Armageddon. Not by a long shot. Governor Walker says he’s in it for the long haul. He’s intent on busting that union. Club for Growth was running ads in Wisconsin urging people to contact their representatives to support the bill even before Democratic representatives in Madison were given a copy. Walker is connected to the national money, and his efforts are part of a larger thrust. This is the new right wing. The true fanatics, the wild men – the Koch Brothers and John Birchers – are out of their cages. They were freed by 9/11, and after Citizens United, smell blood. They are going for the jugular.

Crazy times! But they won’t win. It’s been decades now since Americans understood class warfare. My cousin and brother who sent that awful email are unaware of it still, or are so deluded as to think that they are on the side that is fighting for the rights of ordinary people.

The folks in Madison might lose. As surely as we sit here, the moles of the back rooms of the national security apparatus are looking into the lives of those fourteen senators, searching for dirt, for ways to extort them back into Wisconsin. One or two will fold, seeing his or her life and reputation threatened. And that particular battle will be lost.

But out of it will come a newly energized set of “Fighting Bob’s”, and a smart and tough minority of people will realize that the stakes are real, and high. There will be more protests, and the more violent the right wing becomes, the more likely will be victory for regular people. Scott Walker might have thought that his Koch-Brothers support made him invincible, but all he has done is awaken the slumbering beast.

So as bad as it looks, as bad as it is going to get, it is going to get better.

And most importantly, all of those people in Madison who are sleeping outdoors and eating pizza (paid for by supporters all over the world)* know that it all happened because of Scott Walker. Two lessons will not be lost on them: one, that the national and state Democratic Party apparatchiks are not there for them, and two, solidarity. Those pizzas are not being supplied by Obama and Company. They are coming from their real friends.
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*To make a donation to feed the hungry strikers, visit the “Welcome” page on Ian’s Pizza’s Facebook account.