From Tahrir to Wisconsin

While the whole of the ongoing protest in Madison has been often astounding, one of the most striking things I’ve seen through all of it was seeing a photo of a man holding this sign:

It says, “Egypt supports Wisconsin Workers.”

My jaw dropped when I saw this. A guy in Egypt. Egypt, where they’ve just thrown out a strongman after thirty years of police-state rule. And at least one man there is with us.

That is truly remarkable. Thank you, Muhammad Nusair, for standing with us from half way around the world.

Statement from Rep. Christine Sinicki on GOP Floor Action

This is a press release from Wisconsin Assembly Representative Christine Sinicki.

(Disclosure: Sinicki is my state rep., and I am friends with her and her family. I’ve had beer at their house before. And I will definitely do it again.)

Rep. Christine Sinicki issued the following statement regarding the Assembly Republicans adjournment of floor action until Tuesday after a failed attempt to ram through Governor Walker’s “budget repair” bill:

“In my twelve years in the State Assembly, I’ve never seen such sneaky, underhanded, and illegal tactics as the Assembly Republicans tried to pull today. After telling Democrats that we’d be coming back to the floor at 5:00 pm, the Republicans snuck back in 4:55 and tried to rush through a vote on Scott Walker’s union-busting, Medicaid-slashing budget repair bill before the Democrats even knew about it.

This was an illegal, unconstitutional power grab, plain and simple. And they would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for tens of thousands of citizens protesting in the Capitol and around the state, keeping the eyes of the national media on Wisconsin.

In the face of Democrats’ relentless objections on the floor, Assembly Republicans admitted they were wrong, rescinded their initial vote, and slunk away in shame.

If it wasn’t crystal clear after their attempt to bypass the usual legislative process and ram this bill through in only five days, it is now: the Republican Party is afraid of open, honest debate. We won the battle today, not the war. The Assembly Democrats will return next Tuesday to continue our fight for the working families of Wisconsin.”

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Links:

Third Cost Digest

JSOnline

Drinking Liberally – Milwaukee heads to a new home in March 2011

From Milwaukee DL‘s amicable host, Zach W.:

[...] I’m pleased to announce that Milwaukee’s Drinking Liberally will be back in March with a new location, not to mention a new meeting day. While Sugar Maple has been a great home for Drinking Liberally over the past few years, it was time for a change, and so I’m pleased to announce we’ll be moving Drinking Liberally to the Transfer Pizzeria & Cafe. In addition, we’ve moved the meeting day from the third Wednesday of the month to the third Monday of the month. I’ll be sending out another email in March to remind you all of the new location and date, but here’s the information so you can mark your calendars now.

Date: March 21, 2011
Time: 7:00 p.m.

Location: Transfer Pizzeria & Cafe
101 W. Mitchell Street
Milwaukee, WI 53204

I’d like to encourage as many of you as possible to attend, so that we can show our new host location some love!

It will be quiet enough to have a conversation with the person sitting next to you, or to have a speaker in the room. And the food will be great!

Onward to April 5

As of today’s primary election, I have advanced to the April 5 general election in Milwaukee County’s 14th district.

Great thanks to everyone who’s helped me. Some are familiar faces in the Cheddarsphere, others not. Some are just folks that I met at the door; others sought me out. To everyone who’s made a contribution of any sort, be it monetary, with their time, their feet, or their voices: each of you has made a significant diference. Thank you!

While not all of my friend advanced to the general, thank you all for your service in our democratic process.

As someone who’s lucky enough to be moving on, I say, “Forward, to victory!”