Sustained Fire

Organizers estimate that 65,000 people gathered for a rally to mark the one year anniversary of the passage of Act 10, the legislation that eliminated collective bargaining for public unions in Wisconsin. Photo by: Nice Nice

It was a year ago that Act 10 was passed by the Wisconsin legislature over howls of protest from an obvious majority of Wisconsin citizens. On this brilliantly sunny and warm Saturday (March 10) an estimated 63,000 gathered for a rally on the State Street steps of the capitol to mark the occasion. In a scene that could easily be taken for a year ago, rally attendees filled the approach to the capitol as well as the adjoining streets and into the 100 block of State street.

The weather today was identical to a year ago (except 30 degrees warmer) when we gathered at the capitol for the last of the big rallies and somewhat mourned the loss of the initial fight to “kill the bill” that had passed the night before. I remember the final speaker that day, actor and Green Bay native Tony Shalhoub, urged us to continue the fight and turn our focus to recalls.  We promised we would, but many of us wondered if we could sustain the anger and fire that brought all of us in Wisconsin together.

And just who was “Us” that came together to fight the naked power grab by the Republican leaders in the Wisconsin legislature and Governor Scott Walker? Walker repeatedly has characterized the opposition to his policies as outside interests “bused-in” from out of state. Frankly there isn’t enough money in the world, let alone union coffers, to bus-in protesters from out-of-state to equal the rally totals last year that ranged from 50,000 to 100,000 people each day of each weekend for six weeks.

The “Us” is the citizens of Wisconsin, from all corners of the state. While some celebrities like Michael Moore and Tom Morello did come from out of state to speak at these rallies, we let our own home-grown  celebrities such as the aforementioned Shalhoub, actor and my fellow Madison East High graduate Bradley Whitford, and US Airways First Officer Jeff Skiles (resident of Oregon), known for landing an airliner in the Hudson river speak to the pain we all felt was being inflicted on our state. But even these celebrities nodded to the real voices of the resistance, the union leaders, legislators, and citizens who were fighting and inspiring us all to resist each new piece of onerous legislation.

Several hundred people marked the one-year anniversary of the passage of Act 10 with a candlelight vigil and march which ended at the Orpheum theater.

As it was pointed out by the Capital Times, the “Us” that oppose the bill is probably best embodied by political novice Lori Compas from Fort Atkinson. Last year Compas was just another citizen, but almost on her own gathered enough signatures to force Senate Leader Scott Fitzgerald, whose hubris drips from his mouth with every word, to face her in a recall election. I wonder if Fitzgerald, who is part of the inspiration for “FitzWalkerStan” a favorite moniker used by protesters, ever considered that his sham committee vote last year that allowed Act 10 to move to the senate floor for a vote would lead to him standing for recall a year later.

Also part of the remembrances this weekend was a candlelight vigil held on the State street steps of the Capitol Friday (March 9) to mark the passage of Act 10. The several hundred participants then marched two blocks down State street, led by the ubiquitous bagpipers that were one of the many faces of the activist scene from year ago. The march ended at the Orpheum theater where what appeared to be a sold-out audience viewed a sneak preview of the documentary film We Are Wisconsin by Wisconsin native Aime Williams which chronicles the protests of the past year through the voices of six individuals.