I guess the old saying about things having to get worse before they get better is playing itself out today. In the wake of the Republican party attacks on women’s rights, the working class, the unemployed, unions, and the rest of what America is supposed to be about; of the revolutions and peoples uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya – and France and England – the American people are awakening from their slumber.
We now have another reason to love Wisconsin. They’ve spurred Americans to get off of our collective asses and stand up for our rights.
Paul Krugman explains the importance of the protests happening now in Wisconsin, which are now spreading with solidarity actions in other states…. And, as we discussed on Thursday, the UKuncut movement has spread to our shores!
I’m in. And I hope you’ll join me.
I set up a twitter account and facebook page for US Uncut South Florida. And I’ve set up an event, so we here in South Florida can participate in the first US Uncut Day of Action on Saturday, Feb. 26.
So, please follow the links and plan to join us here in Boca Raton on Saturday afternoon or, if you’re not in Florida, please find or organize an action near you!
We’ll talk more about it in the days to come, so stay tuned…
This morning on the show, I was joined by Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Ohio – Pro Choice Ohio, who told us about the GOP’s war on women and reproductive rights, and the specific challenges they’re facing in Ohio.
And, being Monday, Crooks and Liars‘ Nicole Belle joined in for our Fools on the Hill segment. Here’s what she brought to us today:
The protests in Wisconsin were obviously going to be the big topic of discussion on the Sunday shows, though it was telling to me that not a single Sunday show asked on a union representative or a Wisconsin state employees’ union member to give their side of the debate. It’s almost as if the media doesn’t want you to consider it from the side of the protesters.
For example, Senator Lindsay Graham on Meet the Press doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about. After all, the unions knew that Walker was planning on busting the unions if he was elected—they made flyers telling their members exactly that. And yet Walker was elected any way. So why are they obstructing him from doing what the voters mandated him to do? You know, just like the Congressional Republicans have been so accommodating to President Obama to achieve the mandate the voters elected him to do.
Meanwhile, on Fox News, Hans von Spakovsky (who was Bush’s recess appointee to the Federal Election Commission and advocated for the Citizens United ruling at Heritage) and John Fund just asked the question if OFA, DNC and the Obama White House are coordinating these protests. You know, there’s no evidence of it at all, but they’re just asking the question. And in a classic case of projection, they neglect to point out all the campaign assistance that Scott Walker received from the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity, including organizing a tea party counter protest over the weekend.
Speaking of Scott Walker, he appeared on Fox News Sunday (naturally) and said that he was in this for the long haul. He said that it was time for the Democratic senators to return to the state and there would be plenty of time for debate. Yeah right. A couple of point to note, the Democratic senators fleeing the state actually have quite a noble predecessor: Abraham Lincoln.
But as far as getting information from the perspective of the protesting workers, the only television personality doing this consistently (and really earning my respect for his work) has been Ed Schultz on MSNBC. He has definitely been presenting the side of the American worker. And Howard Kurtz thinks that’s a problem. And you’ve just got to love someone from a network that’s been openly promoting the astroturf “tea party” AND that has just hired Erick Erickson and Dana Loesch for some fair and balanced commentary.
Finally, this is slightly tangential to the issue of the Wisconsin protests, but it comes from the Meet the Press roundtable discussion of the Wisconsin protests. Unfortunately, David Gregory’s producers (Executive Producer Betsy Fischer) brought on Harold Ford, under whose chairmanship the DLC is folding, to discuss. Helpful hint to Democrats who actually want to win Democratic voters: stop adopting and using Republican talking points. As George Lakoff writes:
Democrats help radical conservatives by accepting the deficit frame and arguing about what to cut. Even arguing against specific “cuts” is working within the conservative frame. What is the alternative? Pointing out what conservatives really want. Point out that there is plenty of money in America, and in Wisconsin. It is at the top. The disparity in financial assets is un-American – the top one percent has more financial assets than the bottom 95 percent. Middle-class wages have been flat for 30 years, while the wealth has floated to the top. This fits the conservative way of life, but not the American way of life.
Democrats help conservatives by not shouting out loud, over and over, that it was conservative values that caused the global economic collapse: lack of regulation and a greed-is-good ethic.
Democrats also help conservatives by what a friend has called “Democratic Communication Disorder.” Republican conservatives have constructed a vast and effective communication system, with think tanks, framing experts, training institutes, a system of trained speakers, vast holdings of media and booking agents. Eighty percent of the talking heads on TV are conservatives. Talk matters, because language heard over and over changes brains. Democrats have not built the communication system they need, and many are relatively clueless about how to frame their deepest values and complex truths.
And Democrats help conservatives when they function as policy wonks — talking policy without communicating the moral values behind the policies. They help conservatives when they neglect to remind us that pensions are deferred payments for work done. “Benefits” are pay for work, not a handout. Pensions and benefits are arranged by contract. If there is not enough money for them, it is because the contracted funds have been taken by conservative officials and given to wealthy people and corporations instead of to the people who have earned them.
Democrats help conservatives when they use conservative words like “entitlements” instead of “earnings” and speak of government as providing “services” instead of “necessities.”