Andre's Executive Order

An article about the Occupy movements was, I suppose inevitable. I'm going to do this a little differently than I have in the past. I'm not going to make a prolonged argument, but instead I'm going to make a series of points that everyone who watches the Occupy situation evolve should keep in mind. I think it does a disservice to the movement to over-analyze it at this point, so I'm just covering how to engage and think about the protests. The Biology of a Protest I hear a lot of complaining from outsiders about the lack of goals, focus, or consistency within the Occupy movement. Perhaps it's just been too long since the 60's for people to remember how this works or perhaps those who lived through the 60's have been infected with hindsight and can't clearly remember the reality of how a protest movement evolves. Real grass roots protests never start out as terribly organized. They never have metrics or specific goals or clearly identified leaders. ...

Today I'm going to walk you through an analysis of the logic behind protesting the Budget Repair bill that I think anyone regardless of political orientation can follow. First, some facts taken from Scott Walker and his Administration. I've placed some citation sources in the margin for areas I thought might be helpful. Campaign Promises The cornerstone of Scott Walker's campaign promises were on numerous items including stopping the train, cutting taxes, cutting spending, and creating 250,000 jobs. He also made numerous smaller promises none of which are relevant to this discussion one way or another. These promises are pretty standard Republican election points, the only thing particularly interesting is that the number of jobs promised is very ambitious – but good for him. Set your sights high. We need jobs. State of the Budget In Scott Walker's State of the State address, he referred to the budget in dire terms: “First, let me be clear: we have an economic and fisca...

I heard what sounded like political wisdom last night on the Lawrence O'Donnell show. I'll share that in a moment, but first an update on the protests. The Wisconsin protests are striking their long stride at this point. While the sheer numbers of people showing up at the capitol have started to ease, the determination of those present has if anything grown deeper. I was at the capitol for about three hours last night and got a chance to talk to a lot of people. The icy damp air had pushed most of the protesters into the capitol building which was still crowded and loud, but the streets and walkways around the capitol were still moving with signs and chants. The diversity of people I talked to was impressive. Of course they included teachers, firefighters, and other public union members but they also included private sector non union employees. I talked to an electrician of 23 years who had moved to Madison from a 'right to work' state and had told union friends 'ne...