April 8, 2011

We heard about the 4:30 rally at the top of State Street and got there in time to hear a couple speakers try to rile up the crowd...



... Should Wisconsin have to "worry about being an international human rights violation, having conditions where the U.N. should intervene"? The crowd looks forlorn, and the speaker calls for a march around the square.

Meade and I go clockwise as the march goes counter-clockwise so we catch the front as it streams by chanting "We're not going away." A woman near young children wears a sweatshirt that says, in large block letters "Fuck Walker." There are lots of "Integrity" signs, including in the hands of some young guys who stop to interrogate Meade.

The guy in the fedora says "I'm just a citizen admiring another citizen's ability to be out in public." A man walking by points to Meade and calls him "a right-wing agitator." I question the fedora guy about his "costume."

We catch up to a small demonstration that appears to be the unionized crew from "Legally Blonde" (the show playing at the Overture Center nearby). They've got a new chant: "The people, ripped off/Are gonna get pissed off." Sweeping in from the side are marchers chanting: "Hey hey ho ho/These right-wing tricks have got to go."

There's a shot of me photographing the Segway-riding protester, and then a dog comes along. Meade gets down to pet him, and the owner tells us he's a Basset-Beagle mix, his name is Joey, and "This is what dogmocracy looks like." There's a bit more, and then it's time to go.

(Video by Meade, edited by me.)

44 comments:

Trooper York said...

How does it feel to be counter filmed by Kevin Spacey?

Almost Ali said...

(Boehner blinked, that asshole)

Anonymous said...

Kinkos must be making a mint on all of the professional signage that has been used in the past 2 months.

Meade better get disguise, he's getting to be too well known. People will never let their guard down and be honest if they know they are talking to a Walker Plant.

Anonymous said...

What's that line from Charles Krauthammer? Something like "Republican politicians think their base is stupid; Democratic politicians think their base is insane."

Whether or not the first half of that adage is true, this rally substantiates the second half.

wv: plerv ... That ought to be a word.

Unknown said...

I think the Lefties are past being riled. They tried all their tricks and failed.

Anonymous said...

I'm still sorta new at this. I have a question. Are these rocket surgeons allowed to hold any opinions that don't rhyme with "Hey Hey, Ho, Ho"?

TosaGuy said...

"The tears of unfathomable sadness. Yummy!" Eric Cartman

Irene said...

Boycott "Legally Blonde."

Irene said...

@ALH, Kinkos is no more. It's been eaten up by that evil corporation, Fed Ex.

Sprezzatura said...

So that's the proper use of a slash (i.e. '/').

CachorroQuente said...

Bag Lady impersonator Althouse challenges some poor dope because of his "costume." That has to be the funniest thing I've seen all day.

What's up with those clown shoes?

Van Halen said...

That was really lame. Looks like the Left base knows this one is over. But did we just lose the Planned Parenthood fight for the time being?

Sprezzatura said...

"if they know they are talking to a Walker Plant."

I think his wife prefers the term 'Walker Whore.'

William said...

Sad to think how many of these teachers will have perished by this time next year in the Great Walker Famine. Well, they made a valiant effort. This will be remembered like the Warsaw Uprising not for its futility but for its courage.

MadisonMan said...

'Dogmocracy'

I like that.

Van Halen said...

Hey Hey Ho Ho??

THAT tired old chant?

Get new material, Libs! No wonder you aren't winning anything. Well, that and your ideas have been proven over the last two years to be a total disaster...

Phil 314 said...

Needs drums

Phil 314 said...

These are not the protests they'll tell their kids about

(Besides, their kids are grown.)

ALP said...

I have not had the time nor inclination to comment on this phenomena - but I've been following every post. At this point I gotta say: Ann, I just don't know how you can take living with this. Crowds are something I try my best to avoid; obnoxious, wound up crowds are to be avoided at all costs. To even imagine living in Madison during this mess turns my stomach. If I lived in Madison, I would be packing up boxes and looking for a new city to live in at this point, as I would have lost all desire to leave the house. Or-I would be in jail after losing my shit and beating the crap out of the nearest protester.

Leland said...

I think it is spelled dogmacracy.

vnjagvet said...

This pitiful demonstration shows that a lot of burned out hippies have settled in Madison.

Anonymous said...

These people could make Anne Frank lose heart.

Unknown said...

Should Wisconsin have to "worry about being an international human rights violation, having conditions where the U.N. should intervene"?

Whoever asked the question was too stupid to vote. Ask the U.N., i.e. the Chinese, the Russians, the Iranians, the Libyans, the Arabs, the Cubans to intervene. How stupid and disgusting the leftists are descending!

Anonymous said...

On a more philosophical note, I've been wondering how this whole series of events would have been covered in the absence of New Media Meade. It's alternate history and ultimately unknowable but I'm very curious what the Althouse-only coverage would have looked like. Not nearly as much on-site reporting, I'm sure. Would it still have been Pulitzer-worthy? Did fate bring Meade on board at just the right moment?

ricpic said...

Blue helmets in our midst.
Why? Because the Left is pissed.

rhhardin said...

A woman near young children wears a sweatshirt that says, in large block letters "Fuck Walker."

It could be worse. The kids could be wearing the fuck Walker sign near a woman.

AllenS said...

A woman near young children wears a sweatshirt that says, in large block letters "Fuck Walker"

I don't get it. Does the woman want to sex with Walker to have another child? One with better genes?

Anonymous said...

A couple of agitators, a bunch of mind-numb tools. Public Education has done it's job of destroying any sense of self-reliance, independence, or critical thought and created a large class of bots totally dependent upon the Nanny State. Peak oil and economic collapse will be a blessing. Evolution can then, once again, begin to repair the damage to humanity caused by the Industrial Age.

Olduvai Theory, by Richard Duncan.
http://dieoff.org/page224.htm

When I was younger I was against the precepts of the Georgia Guidestones; older and more experienced, I am for them. For those who haven't seen, The Georgia Guidestones, Mans future.

http://www.thegeorgiaguidestones.com/Message.htm

Anonymous said...

The podium speech at the beginning of the video clip reminded me very much of the 'witch trial' scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail - and was about as logical.


Peasant: So ... if ... she weighs the same as a DUCK, she's made of wood!

Magistrate: And therefore ... ?

Mob: A WITCH!! BURN HER!! BUURRRNNNN!!


But in the film, the mob had no "hey hey ho ho" chant. Pity.

Wonderful comic relief, AA. Thanks!

Francisco D said...

The kid in the black suit and fedora grabbed the wrong shirt out of his closet. It should have been brown.

Then again, maybe he made the right choice.

Let's call them RedShirts!

TWM said...

"Sad to think how many of these teachers will have perished by this time next year in the Great Walker Famine. Well, they made a valiant effort. This will be remembered like the Warsaw Uprising not for its futility but for its courage."

This is sarcasm, right?

traditionalguy said...

Is there a misdemeanor for "Shamefully Impersonating Leaders"? Wearing dark overcoats, fedoras and armbands while holding a bullhorn is an obvious fraud on the crowd. Are they imitating of The Nation of Islam?

Meade said...

"This is sarcasm, right?"

Heh.

Meade said...

"I think it is spelled dogmacracy."

Nice.

caplight said...

What they needed was the plastic drums. Apparently all the good plastic drummers have left Madison for the cast of Stomp in NYC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn5Gz4LNxbM

Jim Treacher said...

There's no problem that can't be solved with a good chant.

sane_voter said...

I was hoping Ann would challenge the F Walker woman about the appropriateness of her shirt. Plus, the more of those obscene leftys we get on camera spouting off innoculates the tea party from lefty and MSM comments about incivility.

D.D. Driver said...

I love, love, love LOVE the Guy-On-The-Segway. Nothing says "I'm fighting for 'working families" quite like a Segway.

Unknown said...

The protests have been a disaster for the reputation of teachers. This is the problem with unions. Everything is reduced to the least common denominator. The nurses in California have probably the worst union. Real fascists.

Lidia said...

"This will be remembered like the Warsaw Uprising not for its futility but for its courage".

During Warsaw Uprising between 150,000 to 200,000 civilians died in addition to 16,000 members of Polish resistance. One of the objectives of uprising was to stop Soviets and communism.
I do not see any relevence to Wisconsin protests.

Chip S. said...

@Lidia, I think the point is that there's exactly the same correspondence between life as a Wisconsin public employee and life in the Warsaw ghetto as there is between Walker and Hitler.

Was that Tom Waits at 5:10?

michaele said...

At some point, Althouse and Meade need to get a dog of their own. Ann especially always seems to seek them out and generously give the owner a compliment about how adorable or handsome the pooch is. As a besotted dog owner myself, I can attest that that is a great way to knock down a person's defenses.

SGT Ted said...

"This will be remembered like the Warsaw Uprising not for its futility but for its courage".

Drama Queens.

Fen said...

"This will be remembered like the Warsaw Uprising not for its futility but for its courage".

I thought this was parody?