June 4, 2011

The "Walkerville" tent-city protest was supposed to start at 7 a.m., but that's not what Meade found on the Capitol Square this morning.

"All the assholes are over on the other side," says a man on the street, beginning my edit of what Meade caught on camera as he biked around the square a couple hours ago.



I think the anti-asshole man is anticipating the Walkervillians — Walkervillains? — but the closest thing to anybody camping out is that one guy at the very end, but he might not be protesting Scott Walker. But you know, nobody's ever taught you how to live on the street, and now you find out you’re gonna have to get used to it.

UPDATE, 2 p.m.: Absolutely no sign of Walkerville. Lots of action around the Capitol today, though, with the Farmers' Market (which is there every Saturday) and the annual Cows on the Concourse event, both of which are seen in the video. There was also "Cars on State," which is an exhibit of classic cars on State Street. That's not in this video, but I'll have some photos of it soon.

UPDATE, 10:25 p.m.: We went over to the square around 8:30 and saw plenty of tents set up for the night, including directly in front of the hotel on the square and right next to a restaurant's sidewalk café. The protesters were completely mellow. There was a group of people standing in a circle at the foot of the Forward! statue and they were singing "We Shall Overcome" and other civil rights/labor movement songs. I shot some video and photographs, which I'll put up in a new post soon.

57 comments:

Jason (the commenter) said...

A guy sleeping in the landscaping; seen that in Florida plenty of times.

#derros

TMink said...

Celebrate dairy. Cool. Now there is an event we can all get behind. Have the commies completely run out of steam? Have they spent the 80% of the stimulus money that went to government unions in Wisconsin?

Trey

rhhardin said...

The website blurb for Penelope Swales says that she started out busking on the streets, which turns out to mean singing.

Peder said...

So Walker's policies are so bad that it will force people to abandon their otherwise perfectly fine homes and apartments and camp out in public places? That sounds monstrous.

rhhardin said...

Penelope Swales a pretty good song, musically. She has better but I don't see them offhand.

Sgt. Rock said...

Ann,

A belated congratulations to you and Meade for the fine coverage of the political scene in Madison and Wisconsin for the last many months. Sometimes I worry about your safety though. Take care.

Unknown said...

"Have the commies completely run out of steam?"

Yes, Trey, for the moment. That's why they were so insistent upon getting a tent city--if there was nothing to do, nobody would come. One '60s throwback and one guy who didn't make it home last night are about all they got anyway, LOL.

I love that farmers and small business folks took over the space!

Lincolntf said...

Hey, give the guy a break. He camped out all night to get tickets to see Dick Leo and the Trio.

Unknown said...

Looks like a very cool street fair, which reminds me, there's a wine tasting this afternoon at a local vineyard.

No assholes in sight. Is this a great country or what?

Anonymous said...

Looks like a rag-tag collection of smelly grifters and poorly-tuned panhandlers.

Welcome to San Francisco (North).

When do you start executing your Jews for circumcising their sons?

edutcher said...

"Walkervillains"

Oh, that will bring the Lefties here like flies...

Carol_Herman said...

Nah, it doesn't look like Woodstock! Woodstock had a stage, and sound equipment going up to the sky.

Do the vendors have permits?

Will the stores be asked by non-customers "if they can use their bathrooms?"

We're really in a mini-war, here. The media vs. the Internet. And, the Internet seems to win each and every encounter.

Just like the grey underpants story; the media couldn't knock it down.

Prediction: One business Saturday for Madison is shot to hell. The Internet may give this display, ahead, "a life of their own?"

Lincolntf said...

"I think the anti-asshole man is anticipating..." inspired this...

(to the tune of Candy Man)

Who can take a protest, and point out the loons
Cover it with an Ipod and a webcam or two
Anti-Asshole Man can, oh Anti-Asshole Man can
Anti-Asshole Man can 'cause he mixes in with thugs and keeps the world informed...

Who can take a long look, then let out a sigh
Lookin' at the hippies and seeing who is high
Anti-Asshole Man can, oh Anti-Asshole Man can
Anti-Asshole Man can 'cause he mixes in with thugs and keeps the world informed...

Anonymous said...

We told everybody "don't take the brown acid, it's bad" but the guy at the end....didn't listen.

They never listen.


WV: bentl, yup, that's what happens.

SteveR said...

He camped out all night to get tickets to see Dick Leo and the Trio.

lol

ndspinelli said...

"Good enough for government work."

Michael K said...

Looks like plenty of guitars and bad singers. It reminds me of the scene in Animal House when Belushi smashed the guitar and then apologized.

Titus said...

Where do the tent people pinch their loaves?

Lincolntf said...

You calling dibs?

A. Shmendrik said...

I guess I'm not following this closely enough from sunny South Florida.

Somebody up there help me out with this.

1. Legislature passes the budget.
2. Walker signs it.
3. Temporary injunction issues before the law is published.
4. Ultimately, Judge Sumi declares the budget law void, due to imperfection in the process that led to the final vote.

OK, so, doesn't the Wisconsin's Budget year run from July 1 to June 30?

And, without the budget reforms as passed in February, aren't major layoffs necessary to meet revenue expected in the coming budget year?

So, where are the layoffs (notice of which must be announced some stautory period in advance)?

Titus said...

When I see that "Shocking Meat Video" on your sidebar I think it is about Weiner's weiner.

I would do Anthony Weiner.

Insufficiently Sensitive said...

How come Dick Leo and the Trio get to hog half the stage time? Is the fix in with the organizers?

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

Meh. This morning is irrelevant. It's too early. The crowd size tonight will be more telling. Sunday night/Monday morning even moreso. And if they don't amazz and keep a crowd until at least Tuesday, then this may qualify as this month's biggest tempest in the smallest teapot.

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

"amazz"? Interesting typo. Like a cross between "amass" and "amaze".

Titus said...

I would do Anthony Weiner.

Sorry, dude, your boobs ain't big enough for him.

George said...

Actually, all press accounts I've seen (Jsonline and AFL CIO BLOG) lead me to believe it doesn't start til 7 PM.

But that's just some quick googling.

Phil 314 said...

Arrest that dancing toddler!

Phil 314 said...

Grilled Cheese Eating Contest


Mmmmmmmmmm!

Do you get free tomato soup with that too?

Lincolntf said...

Grilled Cheese eating contest? That is probably the only competitive eating event I'd ever consider entering. Now I'm hungry.

wv: plite
I weep for the plite of the Teechers

edutcher said...

Titus said...

When I see that "Shocking Meat Video" on your sidebar I think it is about Weiner's weiner.

I would do Anthony Weiner.


That's like a straight guy wanting to do Sandra Bernhard.

BJM said...

Grilled Cheese Eating Contest

Uh-oh. Nobody tell Moochelle.

frank said...

Heh, Walker, like a rolling stone--teaching teachers--to live on their own, heh.

MadisonMan said...

Was it Cows on the Concourse today? My kids loved that when they were elementary aged. Breakfast on the Farm is next week, I think, but the Dane Co. version is way up in the Town of Dane this year -- near Titus' parents, I am sure -- and that's too far to go on High School graduation day!

@AShmendrik, the injunction was not on the "Emergency" Budget "Repair" Bill. That was passed separately from the law forbidding public workers' "right" to collective bargaining.

rhhardin said...

assholes

I infiltrated a small (dozen people) anti-war demonstration in the 80s with a hastily drawn up "Jerks for Peace" sign; which I convinced them was an effective sort of protest sign.

What the motorists thought, I don't know.

Steve Koch said...

Sometimes the boy scouts will camp out in city parks in large numbers. That is fine.

Having a tent city on the Capitol for political demonstrations is a bad idea. Why does anybody (even the Dems) want to do this? It adds extra noise, crime risk, sanitation risk, squalor, and litter to the neighborhood. How is it even effective political theater?

The one good thing about it is that it moves the demonstrations outside, which will preserve the Capitol Building.

It would be so much more fun to camp on a river where you could fish, swim, and canoe. You could also build campfires, roast s'mores and sing lefty protest song around the campfire. You could do demonstrations and capture them on video which could be forwarded to the media and posted to YouTube.

Camping at an actual campground would eliminate the problems listed above, would be equally effective, much more fun and much less irritating to the citizens of Madison.

hombre said...

As amusing as all this is, I can hardly wait for July 13th, when the union pimps and the Dems can get back to the serious business of bankrupting Wisconsin.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Grilled Cheese..

After throwing the Weiner under the bus, all they came up with was Grilled Cheese?

Jeremy said...

Needy...loyal sidekick to The Queen...bicycling around with his widdle camera.

It doesn't get any goofier than that.

Duh.

Chuck said...

What Sgt Rock said, doubled.

rhhardin said...

I have an '87 Dodge Colt in my garage. It saves travel to auto shows.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I have an '87 Dodge Colt in my garage. It saves travel to auto shows.

And the humiliation of driving an 87 Colt to a classic auto show.

Ricardo said...

Oh, damn. I missed the grilled cheese eating contest. But seeing the baby boogeying made up for it.

Anonymous said...

I would do Anthony Weiner.

That's like a straight guy wanting to do Sandra Bernhard.

CACK!

Michael said...

They are crafting the puppets.

Anga2010 said...

Dead squirrel. YAY!

Dody Jane said...

Maybe they all went home to live with their parents in a tent in the backyard...

NotClauswitz said...

How is it any different than a Further (Gratefull Dead reunion) concert at Shoreline?

Milwaukee said...

Perhaps not all of the schools are out for the summer yet. My former school district runs through the end of this next week, June 10th, with graduation on the 11th.

I like the idea of somebody suggested of releasing a bunch of mice near their tents.

As for those protesting the committee meetings: delay all meetings until 7 or 8 p.m., and then arrest the protesters, and keep them over night, since there won't be a judge to release them. Then charge them for a nights stay.

Lincolntf said...

Hmmm...mice might be impractical, but I like the spirit. I assume you guys have plenty of maple tress up there, right? If, say, someone were to gather a big handful of their signature "whirligig" seed pods, that person could hypothetically whip up a field expedient (and totally organic) "itching powder" to sprinkle liberally among the Walkervillain campsites.

Unknown said...

"Absolutely no sign of Walkerville."

Maybe they're waiting for Monday when they can call in sick and get paid for their protesting again.

N.J. Fentwanger said...

Years ago, The Boston Globe ran an op ed entitled, "How Cambridge Is It?" it was a hoot and it made fun of hippies, Volvos, Baby on Board signs, organic wheatgrass juice, et al. Madison (and San Francisco too) are the living, breathing homes of everything mocked in that long ago op ed.

Freeman Hunt said...

What are they protesting now? Just Walker in general?

Joanna said...

I've opted not to walk down and check it out for myself, but here are some pictures someone else put up.

If you're interested in following this mess on Facebook, here are some links.

The image of all of those fists on the square is like a punch in the gut. I feel so bad for the blockaded businesses.

Joanna said...

What are they protesting now? Just Walker in general?

According to Facebook, it's a vigil, not a protest.

There's danger afoot and these vigil-ers - whether 3 or 3 thousand - are a visible reminder to the statesmen & women to do the right thing, that indeed that they are being watched - from near and afar! The vigil demonstrates the continuing resistance to the governor's attack on working people

Sounds more like intimidation than a vigil to me.

Almost Ali said...

Walkerville's Mr & Mrs Cornball.

Walkerville's Grapes of Wrath. (avert your eyes)

AFL-CIO's Lady Bloomingdale (roughing it).

jalanco said...

That looks like comfortable mulch.

Rusty said...

How these a-holes cqan camp anywhere on the state capitol grounds and I get a friggin ticket if I sleep in my car by a trout stream.
It ain't fair I tell ya.

Mr. D said...

If they are camping on state land, I would assume the DNR should be collecting camping fees, right?