So far (cough, cough!)
Four questions:
Is this a political movement, re-energized? (Tea Party Version #2)? Will the energy be maintained until November? Will new COVID-19 cases spike on May 8 (14 days from now)? Will the Packers get help at wide receiver?
Over 1,000 participants (later news accounts said 1,500) attended today’s (04-24-2020) Reopen Wisconsin rally at the state capitol in Madison WI. And the line of cars and pick-up trucks honking Capitol Square stretched way back down E. Washington Avenue.
Saw no (zero) Stars & Bars. No neo-Nazis. No tiki torches. No open weapons.
Signs, signs, and more signs — nine of every 10 homemade. Saw a lot of children, few with face masks. Speaker asked for round of applause for those wearing masks. “Freedom of choice,” he said. One mask was a pink lace panty. Social distancing? Not so much.
A do-it-yourself Trump float
Lots of religious references. Pro-life. Donald Trump. Tony Evers was not too popular. He should be recalled but no one threatened death, from what we could see. No one threatened to dress out his wife like a deer, unlike the protest against Scott Walker nine years ago.
One huge Case IH 220 magnum tractor, the kind with four huge back tires, said it drove 90 miles to save their dairy farm.
There were some dissenting views, but very few. Madison knew it was out-numbered. Some have commented on the size of the crowd, comparing it to the Act 10 protests of 2011. Remember, almost all Friday’s participants came from out of town. Madison in 2011 closed down its schools and, for all practical purposes, the university. Act 10 affected government employee labor unions in a government employee town.
Blaska’s Bottom Line: We did see Americans for Prosperity there. But this had all the look and feel of grass roots.
Did YOU attend?
33 responses to “We survived the Reopen Wisconsin rally”
Glad it went well.
Missed you, Spoons. It was a good rally, I could have saved you a cowbell. One of the best speakers was a 28 year-old dairy farmer who is getting crushed by Evers’ lockdown. Brought tears to my eyes, and choked me up. This farm has been in his family since 1846, and he’s close to losing it all.
A quarantine is when you restrict sick people.
A lockdown is when you restrict healthy people.
Evers’ shutdown is hurting all regular, normal American Cheddarheads.
It’s tyranny, … plain and simple.
Rather than developing herd immunity, Evers’ and his Legion of lockstep Lefties are developing herd mentality. Don’t be poor-choice, choose wisely, choose freedom over fear.
Uh, Dave, we opposed from home, that’s why you missed us! 🙂 Glad to hear the rally went well and those attending agree with keeping the gubmint’s hands off of us, let’s hold them to that in the future as well!
I didn’t go but have no animosity towards anyone who did. It was outside, they were spread apart in most cases and it sounds like the numbers were not much different from a weekend’s worth of customers at Costco. If people can jam into big box stores why not this?
What I AM fed up with is this: government and public education employees who haven’t lost a cent of income since this started, spreading their hatred of other Wisconsinites far and wide, calling them names, ridiculing them, and accusing them of being dangerous killers. It is clear some of these folks demonstrating are desperate and jobless. To be mocked and condescended to by those who largely are riding it out at home collecting full pay snc benefits while pretending to work 8 hours a day, is DISGUSTING.
I wonder how many of the arrogant name callers were at the 2011 Act 10 protests and were the object of some of the B.S. accusations they are now flinging at others? And how many remember that during the 2011 protests THERE WAS A CONTAGIOUS OUTBREAK OF RESPIRATORY ILLNESS among many protesters especially those camped out 24/7 inside the Capitol for weeks?? Oh but THAT was okay right? May have been swine flu for all we know but THAT was fine.
Hypocrites DISGUST me. Both today’s group and the 2011 group were exercising their God-given constitutional rights as Americans. I don’t hold that against EITHER group.
Either scream at yourself and others for packing stores, or cut the “safety” act.
Oh — and if you are still getting a check, then check your privilege.
Well said!
So, help me out here. You create a Trump float, pulled by a truck with Trump banners and you take it to a protest against policies that are exactly aligned with Trump’s recommendations????? Are you really protesting the policy or just blowing off some MAGA steam? And if you’re really there because of the stay at home policy, why all the Trump paraphernalia? In effect, you’re protesting Trumps policies by rallying for Trump?? This all seems so petulant.
Me likey AdamC’s relevant and insightful post; Madison1218? Not so much…. BTW, Republicans have never been associated w/ petulant. Check the dictionary & notice the referral -‘See “Progressives”‘.
Thanks for your input, but I can’t help but notice that you didn’t answer my question. Just responded with tribal reflex. (Kind of exactly what I was referring to.)
I have no problem with people out there honestly protesting a policy with which they disagree. I’m just not understanding the MAGA connection. That’s all.
Mad1218…. “Answer my question” -What question? “Tribal”… Huh? “MAGA connection”… What MAGA connection? The playground here is mostly reserved for adults w/ something to say. Do NOT continue to hang by yer knees onna top bar (or even the 3rd), yer gonna keep fallin’ & it affects yer head….
georgesson: I know that I’m not ‘an adult’ and have no idea what I’m talking about (thanks for setting me straight), but when someone with my ‘childish understanding’ sees a video of a truck with a bunch of Trump flags pulling a “Make America Great Again” parade float and getting a bunch of people to sing and dance to “The MAGA Song”, I foolishly assume that there’s some MAGA connection. But again, thanks for clearing it up for me. Your calm and constructive insights are appreciated.
I was there, masked-up at The Wife’s insistence. Saw a lot of creative signs and mostly honest, hard working people looking to get back to work and living. It was humbling to be part of something bigger than myself.
We were on the opposite side of you Dave. Very well behaved (of course). I guess a couple politicians somehow got in to speak and one of the orgranizers was pretty upset about that. Most moving was the dairy farmer, although the lady tested for COVID 3 times, not having it, but they marked her down as COVID-positive anyway was interesting. Even ABob might have thought that didn’t pass the smell test.
Peaceful yet fervent and not a bad day for it at the Capitol and the sun even came out at the end to disinfect everybody on the way home 🙂
I masked up, did a lap of the capitol and listened to some speakers for a bit. It was nice to see Americans gathering together to give the government the middle finger. It was a bit less awesome to observe many of the attendees weren’t masked. I hope Wisconsin’s low COVID numbers makes that work out OK for them.
More humorous were the counter protesters that were apparently so concerned about the COVID that they packed themselves four deep into a car, wearing bandanas instead of real masks. They were out done, however, by the photog I passed leaving the event. She was on her phone, describing in breathless detail how the event had left her literally shaking, but had gotten great photos. You’d swear she was describing infiltrating a Mississippi Klan meeting, circa 1958.
I laughed aloud at the account of an obnoxious “Karen” type who was so concerned about the virus killing everyone that she went down there with a sign telling everyone ELSE to “Go home.” The lack of basic intelligence of some people who are actually calling others stupid is ironic to say the least.
The farmer that drove his big CaseIH 90 miles to “save” his farm would have been a lot smarter to stay home and save the fuel and wear and tear on those big tires. That wasn’t a cheap trip. BTW, dairy farmers, and ag in general, have been struggling for quite a while and they sure didn’t need a pandemic on top of low prices and increasing costs. But to blame Evers is folly. As Madison 1218 pointed out, this is policy straight from the WH.
old baldy wrote, “The farmer that drove his big CaseIH 90 miles to “save” his farm would have been a lot smarter to stay home and save the fuel and wear and tear on those big tires. That wasn’t a cheap trip.”
Regardless of what you think of the farmers choice, what the farmer did was patriotic.
old baldy wrote, “BTW, dairy farmers, and ag in general, have been struggling for quite a while and they sure didn’t need a pandemic on top of low prices and increasing costs.”
Dairy farmers have been struggling off and on for my entire lifetime, and nobody needed a pandemic to wreck things. So what’s your point?
old baldy wrote, “But to blame Evers is folly.”
That statement is evidence of a totally consumed partisan psyche living in an alternate reality; Evers is LITERALLY the person that put the policy in place, it was HIS choice, no one elses choice, the buck stops in HIS office, he assumes 100% of the responsibility for HIS choices.
old baldy wrote, “As Madison 1218 pointed out, this is policy straight from the WH. “
No old baldy, the White House does not make policy in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Governor and Legislature does, the COVID-19 task force in Washington DC makes recommendations and the states do whatever they want.
There is a reality out there old baldy, how about you make a choice to become part of it.
withered:
Too bad your ideology continues to override your common sense. No doubt others have told you that before, and not doubt will in the future.
Mr. Farmer was far from patriotic, but he certainly was exercising his free speech rights. But he did nothing to save his farm. Eat more cheese, drink more milk. Buy more ag products. That will help a lot more.
You are correct, the WH doesn’t set policy in WI. But Evers is following the policy suggested by the WH. So answer the question:why are the trump sycophants, you included, protesting policy promoted by trump? Or is it just an opportunity to do some public whining and put their lack of public responsibility on full display?
old baldy wrote, “Too bad your ideology continues to override your common sense. No doubt others have told you that before, and not doubt will in the future.”
What the do you know about common sense; let me answer that, you know nothing about it and you prove that with your very next statement.
old baldy wrote, “Mr. Farmer was far from patriotic”
That statement shows a complete lack of common sense, complete lack civic knowledge, and most of all it’s signature significant.
Signature Significance: Signature significance posits that a single act can be so remarkable that it has predictive and analytical value, and should not be dismissed as statistically insignificant.
Here is a fact to store somewhere inside that limited space grey matter of yours; exercising your right to free speech in the form of public protesting regardless of the reason for protesting or the personal consequences it may inflict upon you is one of the most basic forms of being patriotic that a citizen of the United States of America can exhibit.
Do you care to show off more of your blatant anti-American sentiments?
old baldy wrote, “why are the trump sycophants, you included, protesting policy promoted by trump?”
First and foremost; you can shove your “trump sycophants” personal insult straight up your a**. Bite me.
Second; my answer to this question has already been posted on Blaska’s site in a previous comment a few days ago. Since you were not part of that comment thread, here is a link.
Don’t know where you were, but we saw about 6 idiots with AR’s walking around the perimeter. Maybe they don’t have a place to go now that the Culver’s on Washington is closed.
dad29 wrote, “we saw about 6 idiots with AR’s walking around the perimeter”
Why do you say they are idiots?
Is anyone exercising their Constitutional rights and “idiot” in your eyes?
No, but people who think being TACTICOOL for no good reason are idiots. There were plenty of armed people there, but only 6 were idiot enough to display.
Why? Was one of them your Mom?
Dad is an anti-gunner, good to know said the mugger.
dad29 wrote, “No, but people who think being TACTICOOL for no good reason are idiots. There were plenty of armed people there, but only 6 were idiot enough to display.”
Good to know that those who think differently than you are “idiots”. Just admit to yourself what everyone else already knew, you’re a bigot.
By the way, Righeous One, Blaska referred to open-carriers as “dumfuks” in a previous post on the matter. I didn’t call your Mom THAT name.
dad29 wrote,“By the way, Righteous One, Blaska referred to open-carriers as “dumfuks” in a previous post on the matter.”
Aha, so because someone else doesn’t agree with the open carriers then that makes your statement correct? You’re just full of unethical rationalizations.
dad29 wrote,“Was one of them your Mom?”, “I didn’t call your Mom THAT name.”
You sound like an ignorant child bully on the playground.
Bite me, troll.
Troll: Those that post inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion, often for their own amusement.
Actually, Stevie-Pie, I get to have an opinion. And you get to be an asshole. Or something like that.
Actually dad29 I disagree with the ones that were openly carrying AR’s as I think it detracts from the reason if the protest, the difference between you and I is I don’t condemn them for their choice and call them idiots.
Dave wrote, “Saw no (zero) Stars & Bars. No neo-Nazis. No tiki torches. No open weapons.”
Good to hear that most protesters stayed on point and didn’t imply other purposes for being there.
And not one American Flag on OUR House!
Tana
On Fri, Apr 24, 2020 at 2:52 PM Blaska Policy Werkes wrote:
> David Blaska posted: “So far (cough, cough!) Four questions: Is this a > political movement, re-energized? (Tea Party Version #2)? Will the energy > be maintained until November? Will new COVID-19 cases spike on May 8 (14 > days from now)? Will the Packers get help at wide receive” >
Sorry I couldn’t attend David – Other commitments kept me away, but I was there in spirit. I have seen 2 good friends lose their businesses, from my barber (gonna grow back my ponytail!) to a guy that runs a small tavern. Add them to my farmer friends, and it breaks my heart. This is NOT sustainable and must change soon. I take the virus very seriously, and do my best to sanitize myself, but at what cost. The numbers we are seeing make no sense, AND they can be distorted in any way anyone wants!
out of crioity, were they providing Lysol injections at the rally? or Clorox cocktails? .Just to mare
sure everyone went home Covid-free?, per Dr. Trump’s prescription. Seemed a lot like Jonestown TO me, minus the bloated bodies laying on the grass at the end.
^^^^^ This is why keyboards should be factory-equipped with breathalyzers!
The Gotch
[…] unlettered field hands took their pitchforks (last employed at the Reopen Wisconsin protest) to the asparagus patch. The leaf mulch might have been laid on a bit too heavy last fall. The soil […]