Open Thread – Brian Goes to Madison!
That’s right. It’s the Mudflats mascot Brian the Moose coming to you from the capital of Wisconsin! Believe me, it was just as much a surprise to me as it is to you when I got an email from Mudflatter Attagirl with a picture of Brian in Madison!
Attagirl and her husband traveled to the uprising in their neighbor state, and did a great write up of what they found. Check in later today (Wednesday afternoon) to read all about it and enjoy some awesome pictures from the center of labor movement.
Brian is heading back this morning to Madison to be part of Tractorcade. Farmers are coming to surround the Capitol in their combines and tractors. And, he is hoping to spot Patrick in the crowd………….
Glad to see Brian made it to Madison, but I fear he will be visiting too many state capitol buildings in the future for the same reasons.
YOW! New poll not kind to Palin:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51028.html
Texas is catching the rally fever. There is a Save Texas Schools rally in Austin Sat. They say thousands will be there and are organizing buses and transportation across the state. I am so glad to see this in “red” TX. @savetxschools
savetxschools.org
Good luck, you need it. Texas is a textbook example of the rotten government that is beholden to the corporations and the rich. Only 61% of their students manage to graduate from high school.
Ustream, twitter and facebook could break the back of corporate news control.
G
The statistics are sad. I raised my son in TX & he graduated from college, so the schools have not been a problem for us. I feel very sorry for all who will now have to face, and be victims of, the budget cuts.
The government in TX is rotten but demographics will change TX, if not by 2012, probably by 2016. I live in blue Dallas county and I am very happy about that.
“High school students in Madison, Wisconsin will walk out of class this Friday, March 11th at 2:00 PM CT to hold a 3:00 CT teach-in on Library Mall in downtown Madison regarding the effects of collective bargaining elimination on public education, as well as the proposed education cuts in the Biennial Budget.
We are asking all students in the United States to walk out at 2:00 PM local time in solidarity with Wisconsin and to organize teach-ins on the attacks on public education and working families where you live.”
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=141162765948861
Yes. Resist.
The people have retaken the state building. Enjoy this photo of the “repurposed” metal detector at the entrance: http://twitpic.com/4815qv You can follow events inside the building here: http://www.livestream.com/theuptake
Photo taken close to midnight inside the building: http://yfrog.com/h2xflujj
How on God’s green and blue either does Walker think anyone will be able to trust him after this? Oh wait, he doesn’t really trust anybody either, so he never even thought that being Gov. might actually involve ‘trust’. The democratic senators surely cannot trust a word he says now. And the behavior of the Rep. senators doesn’t appear to be much better (although I know the dems were in some contact with some of the reps and probably know more about this that we can know).
Walker has completely blown it. How can they ever come back to vote if he’s 1) already said on a phone call he’d trick dems into returning, and then 2) pretended to be negitiating with the dems through e-mail, and then 3) splits the bill provisions up to take advantage of a voting loophole to get the ‘non-fiscal’ parts he wanted passed, y’know, the ‘nonfiscal’ ones that he kept insisting were vital to the budget (therefore by definition, fiscal). My head is exploding like Ray-Gon OS 911’s was last night on Jon Stewart …. and why shouldn’t it be? This is crazy!
Best comment I saw on HP thread? Something like “Sarah Palin just tweeted Scot Walker, thanks for making her not ‘Worst Governor Ever’ anymore”
If Cheeseheads are lucky, he’ll keep following her example and quit. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Then again, is the lieutenant governor a Sean Parnell look alike?
And where’s Eliot Spitzer when you need someone with integrity?
i want a brian, where do i go?
Patience, little one.
Posted up-thread, but bears repeating: 🙂
Here’s a link to AKM’s Amazon shop, and the Brians:
http://astore.amazon.com/mudflats-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=8
(but I’m thinking the listed six-pack price might be missing a digit)
When we shop at AKM’s Amazon store, she gets a little bit back.
Anytime I shop Amazon, I start at the Mudflats Amazon page (listed—-> at I heart the Mudflats):
http://astore.amazon.com/mudflats-20
thatcrowwoman
Go Brian Go Brian!!!! ON Wisconsin!
My feed went down, but LiberalMegan @ Kos reports it just passed 18-1 (Schultz against)
“In a surprise move late Wednesday, Senate Republicans voted to move forward with the governor’s controversial budget repair bill, sending the measure into a conference committee scheduled for later in the day.
Republican leaders would only say the Senate bill differed from the Assembly bill and indicated it was possible lawmakers could strip fiscal elements from the proposal and pass only the measures dealing with collective bargaining.
Such a move would allow Republicans to pass the governor’s bill without the 20 Senate members needed to vote on fiscal matters. Currently 14 Democratic senators remain in Illinois, hiding out in an effort to deny the quorum and stall the vote.”
I am just disgusted. They slither like snakes and destroy rights.
There can be no doubt about what this whole standoff was about.
Bust Unions and screw the working person once again.
The bill was passed by the non-qurom senate 18-1. To those who think this was a republican victory/end run around the deocratic opposition please not the following.
The provisions removing collective bargaining rights were larded onto the budget bill because they were supposedly fiscal issues, IOW the claim was made by the Gov. that collective bargaining had a direct impact on the state’s budget woes. By decoupling the collective bargaining rights from the rest of the budget bill they (the republicans) have publicly admitted that it has nothing to do with the budget (or else they could not have separated them from the budget). This proves conclusively the Walker was lying from the outset and the sole reason for these draconian provisions is partisan and intended to secure republican dominance of Wis. elections.
The majority reaction to this bit of bad theater should be simple and straightforward. Demand that Walker resign for lying to the citzens of his state to further his own partisan ambitions. Demand the republican “legislators” resign for lying to the citizens of their state to further their partisan ambitions. Forget the recalls. Demand resignations. Kick them out.. I would further suggest that we up the ante and expand the demand to national levels.
The concept of representative democracy is workable and not very complicated. In principle it is supposed to be a selection process, whereby the electorate choose between differing policies as to what the correct course of action should be on issues of public concern. Part of that principle is that anyone elected to office has a responsibility to represent the interests of the entire constituency. The republicans are obviously doing something completely different, they are representing their own interests only and the interests of the minute minority of ultra-rich plutocrats who paid for their election to office.
The only way to pass this bill was to admit that it had nothing to do with the budget (which we’ve all known since the beginning). It was put through conference committee (apparently without the notification required by the Wisconsin constitution) and then quickly voted on in order to pass it before the Dems could return to fight it.
I saw Assemblyman Corey Mason on Last Word tonight and you could just feel his fury. I am sure there are already lots of lawyers dissecting this legislation and voting process used to pass it since there seemed to be some Wisconsin laws/regulations that were broken in order to get it done. Shocker, I know.
I am very afraid that this situation could get very ugly in the next few days.
leenie17 –
Actually I hope it does get very ugly in the next few days. What the republicans are trying to do is worse than ugly it is obscene. The sooner we confront them and provoke them to even more extreme measures the sooner we can rid ourselves of their pernicious influence. Demand their resignations. Kick them out. In a word, strike.
I, too, feel your anger and frustration but I worry about how ‘turning ugly’ might damage all the progress that has been made since this movement started. In the past few weeks, the peaceful but passionate demonstrations have caused a tremendous change in the perception of the unions, and public support for them has continued to increase in Wisconsin and around the country.
Now that the tide of public opinion has turned against them, I suspect that the Republicans would like nothing better than to have some of the protests turn violent so they can point to the unions as thugs, as they have unsuccessfully been trying to do all along. Walker admitted that he considered planting agitators in the crowd to get people riled up. They claimed that the protesters did 7.5 million dollars of damage to the capitol until they were forced to admit that there was no damage at all. They claimed tonight that windows in the capitol were broken by the protesters…and again were forced to admit that their claims were untrue. Members of the legislature called the protesters ‘slobs’. It would serve their purposes very well to have even a small number of people in the crowd cause problems. You KNOW that footage of it would be run on Fox 24/7 and they would proclaim that Walker was right to take away their rights after all. They would be thrilled to be able to call them ‘union thugs’ and have even the tiniest shred of evidence that the name is accurate. I hope that the measures taken to deal with this travesty are done through the legal system and without resorting to violence.
Fox will run footage of the protesters causing damage no matter what. You’ll be able to tell it’s authentic because of the rare indigenous to Wisconsin “Fox Palm” (fatuous lyinest). It’s so rare, it can only be captured on film during protests containing mostly Blue Cheese Democrats.
Did I incite anyone to violence? Did I call for barricades and assaults? No, I called for us to demand these puppet dictators resign. They are lying impostors. How can we force them to resign without violence you may ask? Simple. Stop everything. No government can resist a general strike.
They are obviously bold themselves to take such steps. They sincerely believe that they can bluster their way to absolute power. If they are not confronted, they will succeed, then there will be violence, because they obviously have no constraints respecting holding on to power. Did the protestors at the capital bring weapons?
The tea baggers did. They flaunted them.
Every public employee disenfranchised by this vote should stay away from work tomorrow. Instead they should go to the capital, they should go to the governor’s residence and they should chant loud and long, resign resign resign. Every citizen who does not have a private arrangement with Koch Industries for their future welfare should support the public employees. Dog them without mercy, drive them out in shame.
Will they fight? Of course. So be prepared for violence, because they are obviously prepared to use it if they are overly threatened, if they are in fact not so omnipotent as they assume. It was ever so. All these battles have been fought before.
It is certain to get ugly, it is already very ugly. The longer people vacillate, the worse it will have to be.
Forgot to add the link in my post. I can’t wait to see Kathy’s show.
http://www.okmagazine.com/2011/03/watch-sarah-palin-call-kathy-griffin-a-has-been-comedian/
I see that Sarah is after Kathy Griffin now. Said Kathy was a “grown-up” bully. I have news for her–just wait until Kathy fires back. She won’t pull any punches.
Stephen King’s next horror story?
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20110309/BREAKING/110309471/2416/?tc=obinsite
I’d laugh if it weren’t so darn scary!
It is scary! I recently posted a story about high speed rail from Germany that references Scott:
http://politico-junkie.blogspot.com/2011/03/germany-facing-challenge-and-benefits.html
If conservatives claim that America is exceptional, why do they fight so hard to make it less so?
I must be behind the times but I just read that “Game Change” will be made into an HBO movie. Julianne Moore will play Palin.
http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/03/09/julianne-moore-to-play-sarah-palin-in-hbos-game-change/
I just saw that too OMG.
What a surprise choice to play Palin. Moore is as far from Palin politically as one can get, pro choice and an activist for gay marriage rights, among other things.
Should be interesting.
I have no doubt that she’s going to relish this role and do it justice.
There are simply no words for the sheer hubris of the Republicans. I’m not sure who told them that they have been granted supreme power to do anything and everything they want, and answer to no one besides their corporate sponsors and themselves.
I suppose the only positive aspect to their utter arrogance is that they no longer feel compelled to hide their nefarious and immoral actions and the motives behind them.
Wisconsin State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI) was just interviewed on Fox by Megyn Kelly and he admitted what Walker’s true motives are in his efforts to destroy the unions.
“Fitzgerald explained that “this battle” is about eliminating unions so that “the money is not there” for the labor movement. Specifically, he said that the destruction of unions will make it “much more difficult” for President Obama to win reelection in Wisconsin”
So apparently, the Republicans in Wisconsin have decided that THEY are going to decide who becomes President in 2012. So much for the rest of the country and that whole pesky voting nonsense! Not that we haven’t all known what the goal of this battle was, but to go on television and proudly admit it…
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/09/scott-fitzgerald-obama/#disqus_thread
Saturday, March 12th aka “6 figure Saturday” in Madison. With tractors.
Recall the bombastic boondogglers.
On Wisconsin!
So even if the rest of the country votes Obama, he won’t be re-elected in Wisconsin? He didn’t just sleep though civics, he was comatose.
Wisconsin, if you want to elect Republicans, fine. Go for it. Me my guest. But why do you elect such stupid ones? You should be embarrassed to admit that any of these people came out of your educational system with a diploma. Sounds like they all went to Potato U–home of Spudnuts worshipers and “Journalism sans Speaking and Writing” degrees.
Hmmm…
Brian, in all his moosenificent glory, shows up at the Madison capitol and suddenly Walker begins to cave.
Coincidence? I wonder…
What a concept! If it were only that straight forward! On Wisconsin !!
Brian wears his jowls with more dignity than Newt.
Here’s just a snippet from the fool:
Newt Gingrich: ‘Passion for the country’ led to personal indiscretions (video)
By Emi Kolawole
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich gave an interview to the Christian Broadcasting Network to speak about his past indiscretions, the coming presidential race and what he calls the threat to “Judeo-Christian society.”
“There’s no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate,” said Gingrich during an interview with CBN’s David Brody. “What I can tell you is that when I did things that were wrong, I wasn’t trapped in situation ethics, I was doing things that were wrong, and yet, I was doing them,” he continued, going on to say that he had sought “God’s forgiveness. Not God’s understanding, but God’s forgiveness.”
Patriotism made me do it!
That’s a little different and marginally ‘better than’ stating that the Devil made him do it.
Excuse me while I puke.
Um, passion for his country made him choose to cheat on his wife and divorce several of them? How does that work? What a sleaze, he is.
Oh gracious goodness, my oh my! I’m laughing so hard I’m slipping out of the chair.
The only thing that sounds stupider than Palin speaking Paling is Ging speaking Palin! I wonder ohm much he pays her to write his speeches? 😉
Dagian, your observation rings true. Brian has better jowls than Newt. This guy cannot really think anyone will take him seriously.
Where can I get a Brian? I want to help him get around.
Scheich made them!
http://cgi.ebay.com/MOOSE-Schleich-toy-replica-RETIRED-14310-/390255465604
Sometimes you can find them at the local Michael’s craft stores, or other venues. Hmm, try model train stores too.
Schleich not Scheich. Sorry.
http://www.learningthings.com/items.asp?Cc=SCHLEICHMIN&iTpStatus=1&Tp=
Good selection of critters! I see I can add to my wooden castle, knights/dragons, etc. collection. If only I had extra money.
After ordering my Brian on Amazon, I was redirected to other items I might like. One was a “female Grizzly Bear toy”. Coincidence? I think not!
Fisheye: you don’t get a Brian. Brian comes to you. If you are a virtuous mudpuppy, one morning just at sunrise the mists will part and there he will be, chewing on some alder branches and moseying up to your window with an inquisitive look that says “oh! there you are!” in all his moosiness.
Brian does indeed come to you. I received one from AustinTx via Ripley in CT. And I also received another one from Writing from Alaska when I was visiting Forty Watt. I gave my extra Brian to another mudpup, otherwise I would send it on to you Fisheye.
..HIG gave me my Brian when we met at the CSU Palin Protest last summer…He’s watching over my “Mad Rocket Scientist” stuff , making sure I don’t lose control of myself.. 🙂 …..Are Model Rockets covered under the 2nd amendment rights ???
Here’s a link to AKM’s Amazon shop, and the Brians:
http://astore.amazon.com/mudflats-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=8
(but I’m thinking the listed six-pack price might be missing a digit)
When we shop at AKM’s Amazon store, she gets a little bit back.
Anytime I shop Amazon, I start at the Mudflats Amazon page (listed—-> at I heart the Mudflats):
http://astore.amazon.com/mudflats-20
thatcrowwoman
Don’t forget the Mudflats Shop (lat the top of this page, to the right) where you can buy stuff like t-shirts and mugs with Brian on them!
I found my Brian at my local Fred Meyer store in the children’s toy section. There he was, just waiting to go home with me. And since then, he has traveled to Disneyland twice, San Diego, Tennessee, and down to the beach near my home. He sometimes gets a bit tangeled up in other things in my purse, but he doesn’t seem to mind much.
Here’s a link to a video forwarded to my by my brother in Madison.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ugz7W17GQOs
It’s titled “Hitler Finds Out About Prank Call to Governor Walker”,
Good one!
Ya know I have seen post saying it was wrong to compare Walker to Hitler and while I agree we do not need that kind of name calling I have often said I bet the person who said that did not say the same when others were saying the same about President Obama. I thought the Video was hilarious and after hearing about Michigan and what their governor wants to do.It might just be more appropriate for them.AS their governor wants to take their rights to decide who they want in their own local communities.
jojobo1: I fear that anyone who digress to such name calling today have name called yesterday. From my perspective ‘fools names and fools faces appear in all the wrong places’.
here is something i found to be interesting. Americans Against the Tea Party has come up with this.
it lists all the TP congressional members. (i had no idea there where so many.) and gives their e-mail addresses. the list may come handy in the months ahead.
take a look. i believe this is good for people who are really into following people on twitter.
i don’t twitter my self because i don’t type fast enough to keep up.
********************************LISTEN UP, AATTP!***************************************
The day after the 2010 midterm election Tea Party Patriots national leader Debbie Dooley helpfully dumped the district, name, cell phone, and private email for about a hundred House Republicans that they felt were “theirs”. Thanks, Debbie!
We’ve been quietly using this for our own purposes, but now we’re going to throw it open for the crowd to pick it over. We don’t think the phone numbers are very important. It’s hard to imagine that a Representative’s personal cell number in the wild wouldn’t result in a prompt number change, as painful as that is. What is gold here are the email addresses, because it’s a mighty task to completely cleanse an anchor email from one’s life.
**************************************************************
AATTP WOULD LIKE TO THANK “@teacupleaks” for this information!
http://twitter.com/#!/TeacupLeaks
Blast! done it again! might have been nice to include the Link:
http://aattp.blogspot.com/2011/03/aattp-and-teacupleaks-this-is-big.html
Thanks, that is good information to have. I notice there are three or four in Washington state. I didn’t get to vote against any of them, but figured out who they were from their ads. Interestingly enough, I noticed that there aren’t any from Oregon. Way to go, Oregon!
bubbles
Thank you, the article [link] was interesting, however, I stumbled onto “How Dummies Interpret The Events In Egypt” and related “mock the dummy” videos while reviewing the blog. I haven’t laughed so hard nor been educated at the same time…..in many moons. 🙂
Mock the Dummy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDk8u-HeyV0
http://www.facebook.com/MockTheDummy
Idaho’s guv is gonna sign a nutter bill stripping teacher’s unions of collective bargaining rights. Apparently 9 rethugs broke ranks and voted against the bill,but the nays only had twenty-some votes and over forty in favor.
time for the unions in Iowa to do some protesting. maybe they should have walked out when Wisconsin did. just saying. make some noise about recalling this fool. also. too.
It’s Idaho, isn’t it? Not likely that anything will happen to protect collective bargaining rights. Idaho is a very conservative state – when we first moved to Washington state, I was glad we were on the west side and far away from Idaho. At that time, there were a lot of white supremacy groups that were headed that way, and though they seem to be quieter, I don’t think they left.
This man has a point about why Palin et al are so vociferous about their extreme religious views.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Editorial-Board-Blog/2011/0309/Is-Gandhi-really-in-hell
Always great to see Brian, in the middle of things as usual!
Brian, oh Brian. What a man about town you are.
{{{{{Attagirl and Brian}}}}}
SB736 (return of Senate Bill 6 with more numbers) is up for floor debate in FL Senate this morning at 9am…Hope all Florida mudpups have contacted our legislators. Maybe for Lent the legislature could give up attacks on the middle class?
thatcrowwoman
While we all know Brian is a veggie eating pacifist, I’d still like to see him run Scott Walker out of Wisconsin.
Maybe one of our mudpuppy artists could come up with Brian hoisting Scott by the seat of his pants out the front door of the capitol!
Maybe he’ll try to pet Brian – 🙂
http://tinyurl.com/4okrefc
I had the same thought, boodog. 😉
And here is part two.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#41979558
Waving to Brian.
For those who missed Rachel Maddow yesterday, she hits the ball out of the park.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#41979418
Would you believe I missed her last night, but caught her at 4am this morning? I thought the very same thing! She was on a roll, wasn’t she!
Her numbers amazed (and scared) me. She’s right, it’s not about the budget. It’s about power.
(Or rather no power to the people.)
Yes, it is shocking. It is a blatant power grab.
I couldn’t believe what the new GOP governor of Michigan wants to do.Take over local government and put his own people in or place a corporation in charge. I hope the people of Michigan see thru this.I thought Walker was bad but this guy takes the cake.
THAT was even scarier than what Walker is trying to do. The Michigan gov seems to be setting himself up to be a dictator of the state. The problem is that if it works there, the other repub govs will try the same thing, just like they all tried to attack the unions when Walker seemed to be winning. Now that he is not, some have already started to pull back at least a little.
They have become a republican party that I don’t recognize, and they are out of control. Unless they are stopped, our country will be changed in ways none of us ever envisioned.
I was planning to go to bed on time for once last night, but got so caught up in watching her show online that it was after midnight by the time I hit my pillow.
She always does a great job but last night’s show was exceptional with the way she put all the disparate pieces together to paint a big, ugly, scary picture. All that Michigan stuff really needs to get a LOT more exposure in the media. If it somehow does get passed, I suspect a lot of it will be challenged and shot down in court, but a lot of time and money will be wasted in the process and a lot of people will be hurt.
I would be curious for opinions from Washington State Mudpups.
Is it just ME or does that WI Gov Scott Walker remind of the (3) times failed Republican Dino Rossi from our state. Granted Rossi, from what I’ve seen, doesn’t have that bald spot on the back of his black haired head…
But the smarmey words, greasy hair, smirky looks to Faux ‘news’, STOOPID & nasty comments about constituents that wouldn’t dream of voting for him.
Don’t the two dudes look like twins?
From the first time I saw Walker, I though the same thing- a Dino Doppelganger. I think Joe Miller could fit right in there, too. They all have that look that you described perfectly. I’m sure right now that old Dino is pretty jealous that he isn’t either in Olympia or Washington, DC making the Freedom Foundation proud.
Seems to me that both Walker and Pawlenty look like they each are a few brain cells short of a quorum. The duh look. But as long as someone else gives you your marching orders …
” A few brain cells short of a quorum” THAT is funny!
tee hee.
….and the money to march (thank you Koch bros, may I have more please!)
I would say he looks a lot like Droopy Dog. His eyes show no expression, and his whole face is like a sad mask, and yes, it looks droopy.
Plus he either wasn’t smart enough or motivated enough to finish college, or possibly he was kicked out of college (a persistent rumor that has never been proved), so that contributes to his total “duh” persona.
Also, too, he has a weird way of saying his vowels, especially when he says “time” which sounds something like “tuoime”. Droopy talks kinda funny too, now that I think of it.
I voted for Barrett and Feingold, so it’s totally not my fault!!!!
Sure does Kath- especially with Rossi’s last bid in WA politics at running for Senate against Patty Murray. (I hope Rossi has learned from WA voters that they just don’t like any message he spews and never tries to run again…but ya never know… if he’s been cut from the same cloth as Walker???) Must admit the first time I heard Walker I first thought of Joe Miller … I think they all drank from the same trough.
Absolutely! I hadn’t really thought of it – try not to think of Rossi any more than I have to. But yes, they are very alike. Saying one thing to get elected (or in the case of Rossi, trying to get elected) with the intent of doing something else altogether. You know the one that bothers me the most in Washington state right now is McKenna, who decided to add Wa state to that list of states against the Health Care Bill without the authority from the Governor or anyone else. And it seems he has gotten away with it, even though Gregoire clearly said she did not support that action. He’s doing it to position himself for a run at governor. The dems had better come up with a good candidate or we could be the next state with a repub governor following his own agenda.
Yes Pat- McKenna really bothers me also, and yes on your thought of him trying to position for his run for Gov.
Love it! Our Brian does get around.
What a great picture! I thought it was a statue right in the middle of the rotunda, until I saw the fingers peeking out of the SE corner!
OOOPPS! Should be SW corner as you look at the photo!
Isn’t it great how Brian gets around. Sometime I’ll send you the photos I took when Brian was in San Diego and Disneyland last spring. He had a great time there too. But the work he was doing wasn’t nearly as important as the work in Madison. 😉
Even a “Moosecot” is entitled to a bit of “down” time now and then!
‘ “Moosecot” ‘ Hehehe! I like this – a very well-travelled moosecot is our Brian!