June 20, 2011

Whatever happened to Walkerville?

We observed this weekend that the tents were gone. And:
The street permits that had allowed the protesters to set up camp were revoked at the request of the demonstrators on Friday evening.
But there's this Facebook "Events" page: "Walkerville #WIunion Vigil Only Under The Stars NO TENTS":
Time  —Today at 7:00pm - September 2 at 9:00am
Location  — Wisconsin State Capitol...
Camp free-style under the stars, no tents allowed.
ATTENTION: organizer David Boetcher's group, _We Are Wisconsin_, has canceled its permit with the city as of 5 pm Friday June 17. If you still want to VIGIL near the Capitol it must be WITHOUT a tent, AND self-sufficient!
Yesterday a little after 5 p.m., we walked and drove around the square. There was little sign of any protest activity:

P1000245

(Enlarge to read: "Refusing to Eat — Day 04 Hunger Strike.")

I don't see how the city can accept free-form sleeping on the street, with no group taking responsibility. Homeless and transient people are not allowed to sleep on the street, so I don't see how special immunity from the laws can be given to other sleepers based on their political opinions.

63 comments:

Scott M said...

"At some point, the stench will overwhelm even the smelly hippies"

Romans 12:66

The Dude said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lincolntf said...

So they effectively cancelled what was supposed to be a summer-long protest? Gee, I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that the "protesters" were largely well-off public employees from dual income families? Beach homes, lake cabins, tennis camps, soccer, etc. take up a lot of time. Impersonating the oppressed just isn't as much fun, even if you're an attention hog.

Curious George said...

AA: I don't see how the city can accept free-form sleeping on the street, with no group taking responsibility.

Really? Same way they accepted tents, and blocked the BRB.

Just do it.

Duh.

Curious George said...

A comment on the "No Tents" Face book page:

"I was out of town when the tents were taken down Friday and don't know what happend to our tent. Does anyone know if there was an organized clean-up of the tents that were there?"

" Friday afternoon, Information station stated anything left behind would go to the Salvation Army as per: "Information Station sez: " If you or anyone you know has a tent or other belongings there, please come and get them ASAP. Anything that is not claimed will go to the Salvation Army in the next couple of days."

Ha ha.

virgil xenophon said...

But their hearts are pure and filled with good intentions, Ann, how could anyone possibly suggest...

joewxman said...

Scott Walker will be guest hosting on cnbc tomorrow morning. Squawk Box 6am-9am

KCFleming said...

"I don't see how special immunity from the laws can be given to other sleepers based on their political opinions. "

Special immunity is similarly granted to the left when they say racist or misogynist things, based on their support for the correct political opinions.

The Dude said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
FloridaSteve said...

I followed these posts for months now. All I can say is that Wisconsin is a silly place.

Drew said...

"at the request of the demonstrators"

Gee, I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that the "protesters" were largely well-off public employees from dual income families? Beach homes, lake cabins, tennis camps, soccer, etc. take up a lot of time. Impersonating the oppressed just isn't as much fun, even if you're an attention hog.

I think you're spot-on. But you're talking about the actual people with the claimed grievances. Certainly any protest at the capitol will attract the sort of professional demonstrators that flock to Madison at the first indication of faltering leftism. So the public employees didn't really need to be there for their protest to carry on. There would always be placeholders in the form of life-long radicals and useful idiot students.

MadisonMan said...

@Lincolntf, the original permit application was through the 20th

Joe said...

(The Crypto Jew)



Althouse, when you were there did you see Garage wandering dazedly and disconsolately around the empty “Walkerville?”

Lincolntf said...

Then why the Sept. 2 end date? Had they planned on extending in two-week increments or something?

Calypso Facto said...

"I was out of town when the tents were taken down Friday and don't know what happend to our tent."

I wondered how many absentee squatters there were in Walkerville. Plenty, I suspect. Put up a tent and retire home to your couch, fridge, and ac to watch the Brewer game.

traditionalguy said...

Maybe when heard that Biddie had struck her tent and disappeared into the night, and they followed their leader's example.

The Crack Emcee said...

Jesus, Ann, don't you get it - those are NewAge liberals:

It was all an illusion, silly!

Check out your local yoga studio. They'll all be camped out there,...where they were all along!

Oooooh,...

Lincolntf said...

Anyone feel like going down there, sitting on the steps and chowing down on a big juicy burger? Or maybe bringing a few pizzas and passing out slices? Hot fudge sundaes for dessert? All in the interest of keeping the hunger-striker from getting lonely, of course.

The Dude said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Curious George said...

From the Channel3000 link:

"The Republican-controlled Legislature passed the budget despite the protesters' opposition."

That's some funny stuff there.

Anonymous said...

Is there any stupider form of protest than the hunger-strike? Even setting aside the fact that most strikes wind up having so many loopholes that the participants are more satisfied than the average weight-watchers participant, why on earth should I care if a psychologically healthy (debatable, but still), physcially capable adult *chooses* not to eat?

I don't want anyone stupid enough to think that a hunger-strike will is a good way to get what they want to ever teach any child anything.

- Lyssa

Fred4Pres said...

Where have you gone tented Walkerville,
Our unions turn their lonely eyes to you,
Woo Woo Woo...

Scott M said...

Walkerville is now past tents.

Ugh...The pun..it burns...IT BURNS!!!

WV- equispin - when your horse blows out the right rear and starts cartwheeling.

galdosiana said...

Well, when they've been allowed to take over the capitol building, sleep there for days on end, ride naked through the streets of downtown, sleep in tents in front of businesses on the sidewalks, threaten the governor, his family and the Republican congressmen...why wouldn't they be allowed to sleep without tents at the capitol? It's just par for the course.

Original Mike said...

We were up there Sunday morning. That guy on the hunger strike is in no immediate danger.

TosaGuy said...

Wish I knew what Salvation Army the tents went to. I could use a new Mountain Hardware or other tent brand marketed towards geardos. If those tents were simply there for props, then there would be no hippie stink to wash out.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

I don't see how the city can accept free-form sleeping on the street...

They won't be sleeping, they'll be vigiling.

A vigil (from the Latin vigilia, meaning wakefulness) is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance.

Scott M said...

They won't be sleeping, they'll be vigiling.

Does hanging a string of Christmas lights on your tent count as vigizzaling?

David said...

Hoovervilles existed because people had no where else. They were gritty, desperate places full of people seeking means to live. Walkerville was a fantasy of people with full bellies but weak minds seeking reason to live. Apparently this was not a good reason for them after all.

edutcher said...

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on:

They finally read the writing on the wall - the stuff that wasn't theirs, anyway.

Ann Althouse said...

I don't see how the city can accept free-form sleeping on the street, with no group taking responsibility.

This is a job for ANN and New Meadia Meade.

I'm serious here. You don't want the city to allow this or you'll be tripping over them everywhere.

Lincolntf said...

Anyone feel like going down there, sitting on the steps and chowing down on a big juicy burger? Or maybe bringing a few pizzas and passing out slices? Hot fudge sundaes for dessert? All in the interest of keeping the hunger-striker from getting lonely, of course.

You're a hard, cruel man.

I like that.

Anonymous said...

It's way too expensive to pay these fake protestors 24 hours a day. Once news media stopped covering them, they became just another wasteful drain on union dues.

Not surprising that their outsourcing this to part-timers who won't get a living wage and will get no benefits.

Next step ... Walkerville will be relocated to Bangalore.

Anonymous said...

Can we get some more video of all the pedo Democrat Party penises that were being flashed in front of the children of Madison during the naked bike ride?

Anthony Weiner can't be left hanging by himself!

Carol_Herman said...

1) The nude bikers gave them an idea

2) Newcomers couldn't afford new tents.

3) They couldn't put up the tents they did bring, because you can't hammer a stake into cement?

Or, maybe, passing dogs just kept urinating on the tents as if they were fire hydrants?

Ah. Or, maybe, like the New Yoke Times, they're short of subscribers, and they want the homeless to come to fill in their ranks?

The union still plots revenge.

Anonymous said...

"If those tents were simply there for props, then there would be no hippie stink to wash out."

Trust me, there is a certain type of stank splattered all over the inside of those tents. If you get one, I highly recommend you shine a black light in there before inhabiting them.

caplight said...

judging from what I saw in enlarging the picture I'd say that guy could use a few weeks of fasting.

Carol_Herman said...

Let's see.

There were tents. But their owners went home to comfortable beds. And, the tents were left unattended.

Since tents don't have front doors, where would the "tent city organizers" hang the notice?

Clearly, some people's property is at the Salvation Army.

Did the city do that, too, to the clothes piled somewhere by the nude bikers?

People so dumb they U-Bolt themselves by the neck, to the City Hall railing ... aren't smart enough to know how to read, anyway.

Anonymous said...

Refusing to eat?

That whale must weigh 350 fucking pounds! This isn't a protest ... it's the South Madison Beach Diet!

Fucking lard ass.

Lincolntf said...

Maybe he's on The Atkin's Hunger Strike? No Cheetos, extra bacon.

MadisonMan said...

penises that were being flashed in front of the children

Oh dear. Think of the Children!!!

Parklake guy said...

We are Wisconsin? Got a call 6/7 @ 7PM from them. Strangely enough caller ID sez AFSCME, and # 202-350-5849. Guy asked if I was going to vote for Fred Clark for senate. Told him I thought there was a primary-he didn't know. Asked about where he was calling from-he said "I just work here".

Anonymous said...

How does going on a very much-needed diet(image blowup) constitute some form of protest? My God the hippies have gotten lazier and lazier throughout the years. At least Barack Obama's terrorist friend Bill Ayers got up off his ass and bombed some Americans. The left is truly too fat to even bother now. (Image credit: Ann Althouse).

Carol_Herman said...

With the tents, gone, now, the aim of the egg thrower(s) from one of the high up condo units ... will be improved enough ... so that there will be direct hits on "sleeping forms."

Maybe, this will be mistaken for pigeon droppings?

If there's a rule buried in this shit, is that you plan your protests better. Even Woodstock didn't last for more than 4 days.

edutcher said...

MadisonMan said...

penises that were being flashed in front of the children

Oh dear. Think of the Children!!!


Funny you say that. It's so often the Lefties' excuse for whatever Commie atrocity they want to inflict on society.

WV "exuall" Reconstructed Southerner.

Bayoneteer said...

Ann if you truly "don't see" how this is fair application of the law (i.e., homeless vs. union-connected political protesters) you don't understand the mindset of Wisconsin politics as well as you think you do.

MadisonMan said...

Strangely enough caller ID sez AFSCME, and # 202-350-5849.

That would just scream out Ignore this call if I were to see it.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like it's kinda over.

The next step down will be a "I'm on Vacation but I'm Thinking of You in Solidarity" protest.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Ann, put your New Meadeia Hat on and tell us Who is David Boetcher?

Is he merely an ordinary concerned Wisconsin citizen interested in better government?

Who really is David Boetcher? Does New Meade Media know who David Boetcher really is?

Tell us.

Anonymous said...

"That would just scream out Ignore this call if I were to see it."

No, don't ignore it. Answer that call and start asking a lot of questions. Record the call.

They're running a fraudulent front group designed to hoax people out of their money. We need evidence. Start tape recording these calls.

If you have evidence of Democrat Party front groups fraudulently collecting donations from people without properly identifying themselves, let me know in the comments here. I'll get it to the proper authorities to investigate these frauds.

Anonymous said...

"I'm "On A Beach In St. Marteen vigilling" for you.

Solidarnosc Comrade!

Waitress ... can you bring me another Pina Colada!

Carol_Herman said...

So, Clarke, in District #42, won't make his daily allotment of phone calls to local registered voters, hm?

I guess the lady who hung up on him ... telling him the recall WAS JUST SUCH A SHAME ...

Got the union to come in and kiss his boo-boo.

Isn't 202 New Joisey?

The union's next big play is the recall elections! Other than an inability to count votes ... exactly where's their advantage?

You can't count ballots if they've been spit on?

No turnout?

Are the unions confused with turnout and "tents?" One is not the same as the other.

Carol_Herman said...

Oh, yeah. This guy who says he's not eating. But he's not losing weight. Does he get to lie down at night? Can he go to the bathroom?

Does someone sneak him food when you're not looking?

Why doesn't a farmer come along and put a seated scarecrow next to him, for company?

Now, if he were in Orlando, Florida (a city owned by Disney), and anyone went over to feed him, the cops would come by and arrest these kids.

I think Dave eats, but you don't see.

Phil 314 said...

To paraphrase Eliot:

This is the way the protest ends
This is the way the protest ends
This is the way the protest ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

Anonymous said...

"This is the way the protest ends"

It's not a protest.

A protest is when ordinary citizens petition their government.

That's not what is happening in Madison, Wisconsin. What is happening in Madison is government officials are angry that other government officials are cutting their unsustainable benefits package.

Ordinary citizens are not involved in this transparent fraud.

Ordinary citizens are too busy getting their houses repossessed and trying to find enough food for their families and jobs to camp out in $500 tents supplied by millionaire union thugs.

Meade said...

Lincolntf said...
"Then why the Sept. 2 end date?"

It might be significant that the first day of instruction for the fall semester at the UW-Madison will be Sept. 2.

Meade said...

"Who is David Boetcher?"

He is one of the organizers who applied for the city permit.

LordSomber said...

The rude boys went back to their shanty dorm.

Lincolntf said...

Meade said...

I wonder how many protesting Teachers will show up around Sept. 2nd, all of a sudden realizing that protesting for pay is easier than teaching for pay?

Anonymous said...

"He is one of the organizers who applied for the city permit."

That's not the queston.

Who is he?

What is his background.

Is he an ordinary citizen? By that I mean is he a government official? Has he ever been a government official?

It's important to measure these people for what they really are. If they're just government officials or former government officials who are agitating for raises, that's significantly different than if they were just ordinary taxpaying citizens (non government officials).

So who is David Boetcher? Tell us his background if you know it.

dick said...

No, Caole, 202 is Washington, DC. Jersey is 201.

MadisonMan said...

According to a youtube video, David Boetcher is a member of IBEW.

Meade said...

And, according to UnionFacts.com, he was paid, in 2010, a total compensation of $38,440.00 in his capacity as "Lobbyist."

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Whatever happened to Walkerville?

Cancelled due to lack of interest.

sarge said...

sarge here duh...they is all out doin recall work now that thar goovenor for life walker an his suprme court jesters has made that thar only recourse