Buckdance!

For readers not familiar with the terminology - a buckdance in black American vernacular  is a dance done by slaves for money or the approval of their white masters. The African American variation of which derived from the West Indies. The term has since been absorbed into the lexicon to mean a style of dancing, wherein a male dances by himself to show his skills. Clogging, a style of dance which derived from dance styles in Scotland and Ireland, which is performed to Bluegrass or Country style music has a variant where a man dances alone, typically using a sheet of plywood as a soundboard for his steps. It is an art style, and to be well done requires considerable skill.

Buckdancing in this post is the African American version – which is a racial pejorative synonymous with Uncle Tom.

Our first buckdancer up for our entertainment is Herman (“Where the white wimmin at”) Cain -

Obviously Herman is buckdancing for white conservative ears, as he now has a new Radio show taking over for Neal Boortz. The fact that Herman is a sick, women molesting trick, who cheated on his wife for 20 years or more isn’t a problem for evangelical white conservatives ready to forgive his sins as long as he continues to put a black face on their racism.

Our second buckdancer is Al Sharpton – making excuses for the Democrat Party’s failure in the recent recall election in Wisconsin -

Buck up Al – The Republicans didn’t win by cheating – they won by the Democrats failure to invest money in the election, AND, most importantly, their failure to make the case that Walker should be removed for unpopular politics – well short of any proven (to this point) criminal malfeasance. The donors apparently figured this out early – as did the DNC – and were noticeably absent in pouring money to counter the Republicans 7-1 spending advantage in the state.

This was not the stolen Florida Presidential Election of 2000 – they beat the Dems by 5 points – not 5 votes. Dems lost…Period. Guess what Al, black folks are so thin on the ground in Wisconsin, if you got 100% turnout… They (Walker) still won.

You can blame Citizen’s United – you can blame the Koch brothers…

But what they did was legal.

As to Walker – with his former top adviser turning State’s evidence – he will be indicted in the John Doe fiasco in the next 30 days and out of office by the Presidential elections. So the Dems win anyway. Its the good citizens of the state who lost.

First Wisconsin Recall Petition Reaches Milestone

In what should be a national landslide by 2011 – the effort to recall Tea Bagged Republican legislators bent on destroying American freedoms is now solidly underway – with the first recall petition in Wisconsin reaching the minimum number of signatures to force a recall election in less than 30 days…

First Wis. Recall Petition Will Be Filed Today

The first recall petition will be filed today against a Wisconsin Senate Republican who joined the rigged vote to take away public employees freedom to bargain. Organizers say volunteers have gathered more than the 15,588 signatures needed to trigger a recall election of Sen. Dan Kapanke, who represents the La Crosse area. Recall supporters say they plan to take the petitions to Madison after a rally today at La Crosse City Hall.

This is the first  of 19 active recall efforts registered between Feb. 24 and March 2 against 16 senators. The filing comes just before the halfway point in the 60-day window the recall committee has to gather signatures in the district.

The state Democratic Party provided infrastructure support but “not a single paid canvasser was needed to trigger the recall versus Dan Kapanke,” said party spokesman Graeme Zielinski, who credited volunteers for collecting more than 20,000 signatures in less than 30 days.

“It took on a life of its own,” said Pat Scheller, who filed the original paperwork to launch the recall effort. Scheller is  a banker and is not a member of any party.

The state Government Accountability Board could order an election on the sixth Tuesday after determining the petition is in order. If there is more than one challenger, that election would be a primary followed by a general election four weeks later.

Bet they can’t wait until January when the citizens of Wisconsin get to fire Governor Scott Walker.

Virginia…Where are you?

Judge Block Wisconsin Union Busting Law

Hopefully the beginning of ruling the Law unconstitutional.

Judge blocks Wisconsin law curbing labor rights

A Wisconsin judge issued an order Friday temporarily blocking implementation of a law that would severely restrict collective bargaining rights for most public employees in the state.

Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi issued a restraining order that stops publication of the law signed last week by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Governor Walker (R). Halting that procedural step has the effect of blocking the law, which would go into effect once it is formally published.

The judge’s order came after Dane County’s Democratic District Attorney Ismael Ozanne filed suit alleging that a joint committee of the legislature violated the state’s open meeting law when it abruptly called a session to facilitate the law’s passage last week.

The judge’s ruling does not speak to the legal merits of the law but says that the lawsuit over the session has to be completed before the law is allowed to move forward.

Phil Neuenfeldt, president of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, praised the judge’s action.“Judge Sumi confirmed today what we knew all along — that the bill stripping hundreds of thousands of hardworking Wisconsinites of their voice on the job was rammed through illegally in the dark of the night,” Neuenfeldt said.

In a statement, governor’s spokesman Cullen Werwie said: “The legislation is still working through the legal process. We are confident the provisions of the budget repair bill will become law in the near future.”

 

Wisconsin State Senator Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac)…Has a Problem

Oh My! Looks like the first of the Wisconsin criminal Republicans is getting ready to go down…

And most embarrassingly. Even the guys wife is signing the petition for his recall!

WI Repub lives outside district with mistress, says wife

Protesters who marched at the home of Wisconsin state senator Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac) were met with something of a surprise on Saturday. Mrs. Hopper appeared at the door and informed them that Sen. Hopper was no longer in residence at this address, but now lives in Madison, WI with his 25-year-old mistress.

Blogging Blue reports that the conservative Republican’s much-younger new flame is currently employed as a lobbyist for right-wing advocacy group Persuasion Partners, Inc., but was previously a state senate staffer who worked on the Senate Economic Development Committee alongside Mr. Hopper. Her bio has been scrubbed from the Persuasion Partners’ website, but a screen-grab is available here.

Sen. Hopper has worked closely with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to implement the state’s new anti-labor laws and enact policies favorable to the interests of big business. Like Walker, Hopper is one of the Republican politiciansnamed in a massive recall effort spearheaded by Wisconsin Democrats.

According to Wisconsin law, state elected officials who have served at least one year of their current term are eligible for recall by voters. Hopper was elected state senator for district 18 in the fall of 2008, making him eligible for recall, whereas Governor Walker will not be eligible until 2012.

Blogging Blue also reports that Mrs. Hopper intends to sign the recall petition against her husband. The petition has already been signed by the family’s maid.

“Tens of Thousands” March On Wisconsin Capitol

Things are just getting revved up… This is a good start to the recall effort to take down the criminal Republican legislators in the state.

Protesters march at Wisconsin Capitol

Tens of thousands of protesters marched around Wisconsin’s Capitol on Saturday while hundreds more gathered in the building’s rotunda as part of a planned daylong demonstration against a new Republican-sponsored law that drastically weakens the state’s public employee unions. Opponents of the legislation that strips most public employees of nearly all their collective bargaining rights say the fight is not over even though Gov. Scott Walker signed it into law on Friday. “I’m here because I think it’s important that not only the governor but other people need to understand that this is not simply a union issue,” said Bridget Stafford, 43, a teacher and union member from Stevens Point, Wis., who was watching other protesters from a balcony in the Capitol.  ”It’s about people’s rights.”Stafford she was especially angry over the legislation because she felt Walker didn’t propose it during his campaign. “He’s been lying from the get-go,” she said. The cold, breezy day started quietly, with a few dozen people gathered in clusters outside the Capitol. Groups of police officers also huddled outside the building. As the morning went on, however, more people streamed toward the Capitol. By late morning, tens of thousands of protesters were marching around the Capitol, cheering as dozens of farmers driving tractors joined in the procession. Chants of “This is what democracy looked like!” echoed off the buildings surrounding the Capitol’s square.

Shut ‘Em Down!

You know – those Union Pension and retirement funds make up a large part of Wall Street Capital. Because Koch Industries is privately owned, it isn’t subject to  Investor pressure. However, many of their co-criminals and “pardners” are…

M&I Bank branch on Capitol Square closes after protests

M&I Bank’s branch on the Capitol Square, at 1 W. Main St., closed Thursday after demonstrators, protesting campaign contributions by bank executives to Gov. Scott Walker, gathered outside the bank and several pulled their money out.

Sara Schmitz, a spokeswoman for M&I in Milwaukee, said in an e-mail the bank shut its doors “under the advisement of the Madison Police Department and due to the significant number of protesters surrounding the Capitol.”

Madison police said hundreds of people had gathered at the front entrance to the bank.

“(The) concern was if the crowd continued to grow, it would be difficult for us to guarantee access and safety for those trying to get in and out of the bank,” police spokesman Joel DeSpain said. He said police did not tell M&I officials to close the bank.

Members of several labor unions stopped at M&I twice between 9 and 9:30 a.m., said Joe Conway, Jr., president of Local 311 of the International Association of Fire Fighters. The protest was peaceful, he said.

Several protesters went inside and closed their accounts, displaying checks that totaled $192,000 withdrawn, Conway said. Schmitz declined to comment about any withdrawals.

Some of the products produced by Koch – which could be subject to boycott…

Georgia-Pacific LLC, based in Atlanta, and its subsidiaries, have approximately 300 manufacturing facilities across North America, South America and Europe, ranging from large pulp, paper and tissue operations to gypsum plants, box plants and building products operations, and more than 40,000 employees worldwide.

Georgia-Pacific’s familiar consumer brands in North America include Quilted Northern^®, Angel Soft^®,Brawny^®, Sparkle^® , Soft ‘n Gentle^®, Mardi Gras^®,Vanity Fair^®, and the Dixie^® brand of tabletop products.

INVISTA B.V. and its subsidiaries (INVISTA) deliver exceptional value for customers through market insight, technology innovations, and a powerful portfolio of some of the most recognized global brands and trademarks in the nylon, spandex and polyester value chains, as well as other specialty products

Consumer brands include STAINMASTER^®carpet, ANTRON^® carpet fiber, CORDURA^®fabric, and COMFOREL^® fiberfill.

 

 

Wisconsin Pushed Into Virtual Civil War By Republican Backdoor Vote

4 PM yesterday the Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate pulled a parliamentary trick to pass a bill outlawing most Unions collective bargaining. Thousands, if not tens of thousands of angry protesters descended on the Capitol building last night and this morning shutting it down…

Thousands storm Capitol as GOP takes action

Thousands of protesters rushed to the state Capitol Wednesday night, forcing their way through doors, crawling through windows and jamming corridors, as word spread of hastily called votes on Gov. Scott Walker’s controversial bill limiting collective bargaining rights for public workers.

The Capitol overnight crowd had gone mostly silent by 2:15 a.m. Thursday after a nearly continuous stream of protest songs, drumming and the occasional bagpiping since about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Protesters on the ground floor of the state Capitol rotunda led others in Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Our Land” just after 2 a.m. then joined about 200 others snoozing in sleeping bags along the Capitol walls.

Outside the Assembly chambers, about 50 protesters were sleeping and planned to remain until the body takes up the Senate’s amended budget-repair bill, scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday. Police and protesters continued to get along, with no incidents reported and no arrests.

Jesse Jackson Brings the Old Fire in Wisconsin

Jesse Jackson recalls Martin Luther King’s last days in support of Memphis Workers, and the March on Selma -

Jesse Jackson invokes Martin Luther King Jr. in a blockbuster speech to Wisconsin protesters

On Friday afternoon, Jesse Jackson returned to Madison for the third time in two weeks to hurl thunderbolts at Gov. Scott Walker’s union-busting budget bill. Jackson gave a hastily arranged speech to city employees on the steps of the City County Building, invoking Martin Luther King Jr.’s crusade for Memphis workers just before his 1968 assassination.

“His last act on Earth was marching for workers’ rights,” said Jackson, who accompanied King during his final march in Memphis.

If Wisconsin workers were looking for moral authority to bolster their fight against Walker and the Republican legislators, they couldn’t have done much better than this.

Jackson was in town to meet with Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, who introduced him to the throng of people spilling out onto Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. (What better street for this speech?) Wearing a trench coat and a determined expression, Jackson spoke forcefully for about 20 minutes, without notes, in his patented preacher’s cadences. He engaged the crowd in call-and-response, hoping to keep them motivated in this weeks-long battle with no end in sight.

“I’d like to congratulate you for having the staying power to hang on,” he said.

Jackson has clearly been keeping up on breaking news from the Capitol, judging from his intimate knowledge of the issues. He referenced the governor’s cuts to education and public transportation, his voter ID bill, and his proposal for selling off the state’s public utilities in no-bid contracts.

Most powerfully, he noted this week’s anniversary of Dr. King’s civil-rights march in Selma, Alabama, when another governor – George Wallace — stood in opposition.

“This is the weekend we marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge for the right to vote in 1965!” he said.

And then, devastatingly:

“We’ve gone from Wallace to Walker!”

 

Of Pirates, Wisconsin Republican Governors, and Whack Jobs – Blackmail

Apparently the Wisconsin Governor is down to threatening to metaphorically kill hostages if he doesn’t get his way. Not much difference between Scott Walker and a Somali Pirate…

Somali Pirate...

Republican Scott Walker...One's a Thug on the High Seas, the Other on Land.

Wisconsin governor tells absent senators: Return or 1,500 get laid off

Gov. Scott Walker warned that Wisconsin could take steps Friday to lay off 1,500 state workers — unless 14 absent lawmakers return to the state Capitol.

The lawmakers fled to Illinois to prevent a quorum for voting on the state’s budget repair bill, which would limit collective bargaining to wages and require public workers, with the exception of police and firefighters, to cover more of their retirement plans and health care premiums.

Walker has said the measure is needed to get the state’s financial house in order.

He said Thursday night that the state would “have a legal and moral obligation to start forewarning people” of impending layoffs if the legislators did not return to the Capitol at once to vote on the measure. He warned the state could send layoff notices before the weekend.

The layoffs would take effect April 1, Walker said.

Well… If this scam fails – I guess Walker can try fellow Whack-job Warren Jeffs’ routine!

Free Me, or Face Doomsday: Warren Jeffs

What conservatives mean by alternate energy...

Polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs declares that doomsday is imminent in a rambling document he claims is a revelation from the Lord.

The nine-page copyrighted document promises deadly, catastrophic events if the self-proclaimed prophet is not released from jail in Texas, where he awaits trial.

“Let this nation know I am with my people, and shall sweep the wicked from the face of the Land of America,” it states.

Passages indicate that deadly storms and earthquakes can be expected “soon.”

Jeffs, 55, heads the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a sect that practices polygamy and is based in an isolated border area of northern Arizona and southern Utah about 150 miles from Las Vegas.

The bizarre document, written and numbered in biblical style, is titled “A Warning to the Nation — A Petition to the President of the United States of America.”

His brother Lyle Jeffs and Vaughn Taylor, high-ranking members of the FLDS, signed off on the document as witnesses “to the word of the Lord” received and delivered by Warren Jeffs.

Various media outlets have reported that the document has been mailed to President Barack Obama, members of Congress and federal officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

 

Republican Lies About Public Worker Pensions in Wisconsin

Go to any Tea Bagger or Republican site and the first thing you will see is a their complaint about taxpayers funding “lush” union pensions for public workers…

Problem is – that’s an outright lie.

The Wisconsin Lie Exposed – Taxpayers Actually Contribute Nothing to Public Employee Pensions

Gov. Scott Walker says he wants state workers covered by collective bargaining agreements to “contribute more” to their pension and health insurance plans.

Accepting Gov. Walker’ s assertions as fact, and failing to check, created the impression that somehow the workers are getting something extra, a gift from taxpayers. They are not.

Out of every dollar that funds Wisconsin’ s pension and health insurance plans for state workers, 100 cents comes from the state workers.

How can that be? Because the “contributions” consist of money that employees chose to take as deferred wages – as pensions when they retire – rather than take immediately in cash. The same is true with the health care plan. If this were not so a serious crime would be taking place, the gift of public funds rather than payment for services.

Thus, state workers are not being asked to simply “contribute more” to Wisconsin’ s retirement system (or as the argument goes, “pay their fair share” of retirement costs as do employees in Wisconsin’ s private sector who still have pensions and health insurance). They are being asked to accept a cut in their salaries so that the state of Wisconsin can use the money to fill the hole left by tax cuts and reduced audits of corporations in Wisconsin.

The labor agreements show that the pension plan money is part of the total negotiated compensation. The key phrase, in those agreements I read (emphasis added), is: “The Employer shall contribute on behalf of the employee.” This shows that this is just divvying up the total compensation package, so much for cash wages, so much for paid vacations, so much for retirement, etc.

The collective bargaining agreements for prosecutors, cops and scientists are all on-line.

Fostering Extremism and Hate

While the SPLC doesn’t regard the Tea Party Movement as a hate group – I think that is an exercise in semantics. Some pretty fine hair splitting, indeed.

In Arizona, “Hate Central” for the “movement”, Republican legislators have drafted an even more draconian gang-rape of the Constitution…

Number of U.S. hate groups on the rise, report says

The number of radical right groups in America — including hate groups, “Patriot” groups and nativist groups — increased in 2010 for the second year in a row, according to a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The organization’s quarterly publication, Intelligence Report, said the growth was “driven by resentment over the changing racial demographics of the country, frustration over the government’s handling of the economy, and the mainstreaming of conspiracy theories and other demonizing propaganda aimed at various minorities.”

The SPLC documented 1,002 hate groups operating in the United States in 2010, a 7.5% increase from the year before. It was the first time that more than 1,000 hate groups were recorded since the organization started tracking them in the 1980s.

But the biggest growth was in so-called “Patriot” groups, which the organization described as conspiracy-minded groups that see the federal government as their primary enemy. There were 300 new groups like this, an increase of more than 60% from the year before, the report said. A lot of the growth in the Patriot groups came from an increase in the number of militias recorded.

There was also a smaller increase in the number of anti-immigrant vigilante groups, SPLC reported.

“We were expecting to see the winds out of their sails because of the mainstreaming (of some of the radical right’s ideas), but that hasn’t been the case,” said Mark Potok, director of SPLC’s Intelligence Project.

He cited developments in the past year such as the passing in Arizona of a restrictive immigration law as an example of extremist ideas being folded into the mainstream.

Politicians affiliated with the Tea Party movement have also co-opted some of the extremist groups’ agenda, ranging from attacking birthright citizenship to requiring special permission for federal agents to carry out operations without the local sheriff’s consent.

But, Potok pointed out, there is a difference between the Tea Party movement and the Patriot movement described in the report.

The Tea Party is not considered an extremist or hate group, “but there are some strains of extremism” in it, he said.

We Know What to Do With Labor Unions and Illegals! (some current Arizona Border Vigilantes)

On the organization’s website, there is a new map that includes a list of all the hate groups and extremist organizations operating in each state. The rise of the Patriot groups is especially notable because this is the subset of radical right groups most associated with violence.

“The real large criminal plots have come more from Patriot groups than the hate groups,” Potok said.

As an example, he noted a man with a long history of anti-government activities who was arrested in January in a car filled with explosives outisde a mosque in Dearborn, Michigan.

There was also a case of a neo-Nazi who was arrested in January as he headed for the Arizona border with a dozen homemade grenades, and another case where police discovered a plot to bomb a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Spokane, Washington, he said.

The Buffalo Beast Punks Scott Walker

Hat Tip to Roderick for being first off the blocks with this one!

What happens when the guy who bought Scott Walker calls? Walker infamously refuses to answer the calls of any of the Democrats in the Wisconsin Senate…

So why exactly is he answering Koch?

Part Deux…

Now it is pretty obvious who Walker reports to, and that the effort to smash unions has been bought and paid for by the Koch brothers.

The person representing himself as David Koch wasn’t in this call as the following explains -

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker answers his master’s call

It really is all about Dirty Money – and Walker is a Koch whore.

 

Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Wisconsin… And Indiana

The battle in Wisconsin is getting ready to go nationwide, as Koch funded Republican Fascists try and destroy Unions…

Long past time to fight back.

Indiana State House Missing Democrats

Indiana Democrats trigger Statehouse showdown over anti-union legislation

Seats on one side of the Indiana House were nearly empty today as House Democrats departed the the state rather than vote on anti-union legislation.

A source tells the Indianapolis Star that Democrats are headed to Illinois, though it was possible some also might go to Kentucky. They need to go to a state with a Democratic governor to avoid being taken into police custody and returned to Indiana.

The House was came into session twice this morning, with only three of the 40 Democrats present. Those were needed to make a motion, and a seconding motion, for any procedural steps Democrats would want to take to ensure Republicans don’t do anything official without quorum.

With only 58 legislators present, there was no quorum present to do business. The House needs 67 of its members to be present.

House Speaker Brian Bosma said he did not know yet whether he would ask the Indiana State Police to compel the lawmakers to attend, if they can be found.

Today’s fight was triggered by Republicans pushing a bill that would bar unions and companies from negotiating a contract that requires non-union members to kick-in fees for representation. It’s become the latest in what is becoming a national fight over Republican attempts to eliminate or limit collective bargaining.

Gov. Mitch Daniels had warned his party late last year against pursuing so-called “right to work” legislation. While he agreed with it philosophically, he said it was a big issue that needed a state-wide debate and noted no Republican had run on this in the November election.

But now that his party is pursuing it, Daniels has not spoken against it. He has so far issued no statement, has held no news conference and has not been interviewed by any Indiana reporters in the Statehouse. Daniels did do a radio interview Monday with National Public Radio in which he discussed the labor fight which has caused a government stalemate in Wisconsin — where Senate Democrats have fled to Illinois to prevent a vote on a bill that limits collective bargaining –a now, apparently, his state.

 

 

They Bought 5 Supreme Court Justices… Governor Scott Walker was a Bargain!

Corruption in the United States has reached epidemic proportions. Whether it is Republican Judges in Pennsylvania taking kickbacks to lock up kids in private prisons on minor offenses, or corrupt Supreme Court Judges like Scalia and Thomas taking money, and getting their marching orders from the Koch brothers…

Wisconsin Protesters in State Capital

 

Seems the Koch brothers buying spree didn’t end with judges and the usual Congressman and Senators…

They bought a Governor.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker: Funded by the Koch Bros.

Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker, whose bill to kill collective bargaining rightsfor public-sector unions has caused an uproar among state employees, might not be where he is today without the Koch brothers. Charles and David Koch are conservative titans of industry who have infamously used their vast wealth toundermine President Obama and fight legislation they detest, such as the cap-and-trade climate bill, the health care reform act, and the economic stimulus package. For years, the billionaires have made extensive political donations to Republican candidates across the country and have provided millions of dollars to astroturf right-wing organizations. Koch Industries’ political action committee has doled out more than $2.6 million to candidates. And one prominent beneficiary of the Koch brothers’ largess is Scott Walker.

Tunisia, Cairo, Tehran, Benghazi, Beijing…Wisconsin

One brutal dictator or repressive government after another, in perhaps the largest series of mass demonstrations th world has ever seen – people are taking to the streets for political freedom, and economic rights…

In Tunisia and Cairo, the world was riveted as everyday citizens braved sometimes brutal violence by their repressive governments to suppress their will… And overthrew dictators.

The battles in other countries like Libya promise to be even more bloody, as hundreds are murdered by the Ghadaffi’s Secret Police and Army thugs. And China, prepares for perhaps another Tienanmen Square style repression suppressing the upstart “Jasmine Revolution”.

Meanwhile, in Wisconsin – Americans start the fight to take their country back from the neo-fascists…

The revolution may not be televised… But it will be on YouTube.