Who is persuaded?
It’s probably a sign of despair, if not abject surrender. When we heard that Madison teachers had decided to take the day off so they could take to the streets Friday to demonstrate for socialism, open borders, the repeal of Act 10, and opposition to Donald Trump — what was our reaction? It was: Forget it, Jake, it’s Madison. We’re running low on outrage.
Near as we can tell, no other school district in the state is shutting down on May 1. Milwaukee’s public school district had already scheduled two days of “professional development” well before “A Day Without Immigrants.” Even Chicago public schools and its militant teacher’s union are holding schools open.
But this is Lee Sherman Dreyfus’ 77 square miles. Friday is “A day of solidarity, truth, and power” and, we would add, groupthink. “No Work, No School, No Shopping” is the bumper sticker. Are Teslas permissible again or not?
In addition to empty classrooms we expect deserted cubicles in state government. Meanwhile, in the real world, flights will take off from the county airport. MG&E will generate electrical power. Hospitals will patch up the wounded. Dairy farms will keep milking. Exact Sciences will examine stool samples. Disrespected city police will safeguard all the virtue signalers AWOL from their taxpayer-paid employment.
Ask not for whom these demonstrations are intended. Mark Pocan is already on board. So is the Democrat(ic) party, writ large, increasingly more Hong than (Ron) Kind. Clueless that this performative Wokery is what elected Trump in the first place, that border czar Kamala Harris midwifed Minneapolis.
We do concede that these protests may be educational, in the same sense as Lenin’s re-education camps. Children attending Madison’s public schools will learn police are racist, that free market capitalism is evil, that borders are optional, that identity is dispositive (and fluid), that victimhood is within reach of anyone who tries hard enough to be aggrieved. Same things they learn when school is in session. But more than anything else: Progressivism means A Day Off from School! (When they return on Monday, will their school have been renamed?)
Local Republicans will be reminded to keep their heads down and any Tiffany yard signs in the garage. Moderates will let someone else run for school board. Again. Businesses will put lamb’s blood on the post, hoping for a political passover. Suitably cowed, the Wisconsin State Journal will never remind readers that we are a nation of legal immigrants. (That was the why of Ellis Island, history buffs.) Or that Jacob Frey and Tim Walz killed Renee Goode and Alex Pretti. Parents, admittedly a minority of them, will learn that the only way out is school choice. The UniParty fights vouchers for a reason.
Blaska’s Bottom Line: Demonstrations, at their core, intimidate. They do not persuade. They reinforce. Expect a sea of raised fists Friday. References to Trump as Hitler. Participants will slake their thirst with Kirk Bangstad’s brew, then go home to watch Jimmy Kimmel crack jokes about glowing presidential widows.
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