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Just got an alert from the Capitol City Leadership Committee (which is what the protesters who held the building last night have taken to calling themselves). The Capitol Police were supposed to open the building to the public at 8am. Two hours later they are still not letting anyone into the building. It’s particularly cold out in Madison today, with big crowds outside trying to enter. The media relations person for the CCLC, Thomas Bird, told me that one lady, who has been coming to the Capitol from the beginning, has colon cancer, and it took a long time for them to finally persuade the police to get her in.
Crowds outside the Capitol are chanting “Let them in!” as the police block the entrances.
The Department of Administration released new rules this morning about building access:
• Visitors to the Capitol will enter at the King Street entrance.
• A handicapped entrance will be available at the Martin Luther King, Jr. entrance.
• Visitors will be admitted to meet with legislators and other officials who work in the building, to attend committee hearings and to observe the state Assembly and state Senate if they are in session.
• Capitol Police will be stationed at the King Street entrance and can assist members of the public who do not have an appointment, but who wish to see their legislators or meet with others in the building.
• Protestors will be allowed into the building, but crowd size will be adjusted to accommodate the cleaning crews, the preparation for the Tuesday’s joint legislative session and the number of protestors who remained in the building overnight.
• Items that created safety or fire hazards and were removed from the building beginning on Friday will not be allowed back in.
• Police will continue the practice that began on Saturday of disallowing items including sleeping bags, blankets and animals (other than service animals) into the building.
• Members of the media will enter the Capitol at the West Washington entrance.
As you can see, they are really cracking down on access, and particularly what can be brought into the building. They have tried to make it very uncomfortable for people to stay, forcing them to sleep on jackets or the bare floor. They have restricted medical supplies and slowed the supply of food. But according to the CCLC, they are going well beyond these rules and basically blocking access to the building. And this comes after the police told protesters that they would be allowed back in at 8am.
Blocking access to the Capitol building is illegal under the Wisconsin state Constitution:
Article I, §4 – ANNOT.
The legislature cannot prohibit an individual from entering the capitol or its grounds. 59 Atty. Gen. 8.Article I, §4
Right to assemble and petition. Section 4. The right of the people peaceably to assemble, to consult for the common good, and to petition the government, or any department thereof, shall never be abridged.
This is all tied to the joint legislative session on the budget on Tuesday. Governor Walker really doesn’t want to have to deliver the budget in a building under occupation. I think initially he planned to move locations, but that would not have been legal under Wisconsin state law. So instead of mass arrests and the negative publicity that would have went with it, Walker is going for the slow squeeze.
Local union leaders and the ACLU are working on the issue as we speak. More when I get it…
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By the way, the local Minneapolis (Hubbard-owned, deeply Republican) TV station KSTP newsies are reporting the “cleaning” gambit as if it’s an honest fact — the place was starting to smell “funky”, a Wisconsin state official was quoted as saying — even though I understand that the protesters were helping the cleaning crews every night of the past two weeks.
Thanks David. I would point out that Walker is shameless but that is far beyond obvious at this point.
He, Walker, has managed to lower my opinion of him even though I would have sworn that was impossible.
A Solidarity with Wisconsin Public Workers petition here at FDL is sounding very much needed very soon.
Maybe Al Franken should receive the signatures as well as Sherrod Brown.
I think the time has come for the protesters to demand Walker’s resignation. The public cannot tolerate such an abuse of power from an elected official.
Wisconsin elected a Governor not a dictator. If they don’t like his policies, he is obligated to negotiate an acceptable compromise. Further, no Governor has the authority to brush aside constitutional guarantees by fiat.
I hope the WI ACLU drags the Department of Administration before a judge pronto.
Given the Sunday “talk shows,” and the typically crummy “reporting” on WI and the various solidarity marches around the nation over the weekend in the corp-owned facist media… it certainly looks to me as if the MOTU are digging in their heels and refusing to countenance what the “small people” want. Not surprised, but I’d say that, at this point, it’s quite obvious that this goes way beyond Gov. Walker. And even way beyond David Koch. JMHO.
Power to the People and good luck to the protestors in WI and to us all.
That smell the Republicans called “funky” is the sweet smell of independence. Clearly, it is unfamiliar to them.
So is CCLC seeking an injunction?
When is the governor supposed to give his Diktat? Surely the demonstrators can hold out as long as they have food and can keep the place clean. Toilet paper may be a problem at some point if it is not being allowed in. And it is hard to see a court overruling the state constitution.
It should be very apparent to anyone that follows politics, that the Republicans are only concerned in upholding the Constitution when it suits a specific purpose for them When it isn’t convenient, they’re more than willing to throw it under the bus.
Walker’s desperate — it’s been confirmed that Dale Schultz, a Republican state senator who isn’t even one of the Recallable Eight, has told Democratic legislators he’s going to vote “no” on the bill. If two more Rs flip, the bill dies.
I’m going to paste this link to a mass emailing, everyone in my contacts list. Sadly, this is not given coverage in most outlets. Madison guy who slept in the Capital building was interviewed on the radio, was asked if it was cold. “The Capital floor is as cold and hard as the governor.”
That can also be applied to most so-called “Democratic” politicians these days, especially at the federal level, but increasingly at the State level, as well.
Voters increasingly have no real say. It’s all about what the corporations and MOTU want. Constitution? What’s that???
I’m going to start refering to him as soon-to-be Former Governor Wanker.
Either that, or “That Guy Who Can’t Get A Table In Madison And Has To Wear A Paper Bag To Eat At McDonald’s”, although that one runs a bit long.
CBL on fb –
Won’t that make that make anything the WI legislature passes while the State Capital isn’t open to the public Unconstitutional?
That’s scenario is filled with nothing but win for us. It’s not the ideal way to win, but under the circumstances, we’ll take it.
So in other words, the Capitol police are being instructed to carry out orders that are illegal? Is that correct? If so, is it Wanker who’s calling those shots? What is the legal remedy?
Unfortunately, the WI Constitution doesn’t say the police can’t prevent entry to the capitol.
Article I, §4 – ANNOT.
The legislature cannot prohibit an individual from entering the capitol or its grounds. 59 Atty. Gen. 8.
Article I, §4 – ANNOT.
Section 947.06, Stats. 1969, which prohibits unlawful assemblies, is constitutional. Cassidy v. Ceci, 320 F. Supp. 223.
Locking folks out of their State House seems to be a rather shortsighted and foolish move.
Jon Walker has a fresh cross-post up: Obama Backs Moving Up State Health Care Wavier to 2014
See #14. CBL tweeted just a few minutes ago.
The police are a statutory organ brought into existence through legislation. If it worked that way, legislature could trivially avoid most any provision of the constitution simply by diverting tax dollars and creating a department.
I read a report that “hacktivist” group Anonymous interrupted service over the weekend to Koch sponsored (through Americans for Prosperity) website StandWithWalker.com. I am opposed to this action.
I support the first amendment. Therefore, I don’t support suppressing another point of view, but want the opportunity to publicize my own. I supported Anonymous’ DDS attacks on PayPal, Visa and MasterCard because those entities were acting as agents of government censorship of WikiLeaks.
Anonymous should adopt a set of principles for its actions. If a website is operated by an enemy of the first amendment, then it’s fair game. Otherwise, Anonymous discredits those it aims to support and gives free publicity to those it attempts to thwart.
Wow, elected officials is the democracy of the US hiding behind a police line. That can’t go on forever.
It does, and it would indicate the desperation that Walker’s now operating under. I wonder how much money is personally on the line for him. It must be quite a bit if he’s willing to commit political suicide.
I like it.
You seem to credit him with far more brains than I do.
I can find nothing yet other than the retweet from CBL. If true it, the lawsuit, strikes me as pretty smooth move if an emergency injuction was requested.
just like a hitler type persona. or charles manson. get others to do your dirty work for you.
Not brains, just greed. Nothing he’s doing at this point could be considered tactical or smart. He’s just flailing about and knocking shit over.
Excellent.
It’s a great move considering the Constitution in WI. This also strikes me as a state where the judiciary actually upholds the Constitution. I think they’ve got a good shot of getting people in the building today.
Anon isn’t a group – it’s a bunch of individuals who make their own autonomous decisions. If you don’t like the op … don’t participate.
Oh, you mean like this?
Patience, determination, and maybe a court injunction to enforce the state constitution. And lots of layers of jackets. I’m glad there are legal folks on this and that the discipline of the protesters has not lapsed. The way to break a seige is to outlast the seige.
While they are jamming the capitol building, what about the people trying to get in there and go to work. As far as that goes, is someone paying wages to the protesters or are they well enough off they can protest instead of going to work. Just asking.
I watched part of that video of that very very weird piece of work Shirely Roper-Phelps “arguing” allegedly with someone from Anonymous. I didn’t last much thru that taped piece. Shirley was just too weird and nasty and vindictive and revengeful for my tastes. It’s quite possible that WBC “hacked” their own sites as a publicity stunt.
But yes: WBC likes to stifle the First Amend rights of others in the name of *their brand* of religiousity….
“Just asking.” Don’t.
My understanding is that it’s a mixture of people who work but are taking leave of various types and/or some who are either retired or unemployed at this time. But that’s just things I’ve heard on blogs and have no links to give you to prove anything.
Sometimes fighting for our rights means going out on strike and not getting paid, even if you have to go hungry to do so.
For example:
http://news.stv.tv/scotland/80503-scotlands-miners-remember-25th-anniversary-of-strike/
Intimidation.
Of course, as we all know, you aren’t “just asking”.
That would be: Soon-to-be Former 1/4 term Governor Wanker.
And what would you call AFP except,’an enemy of the first amendment’?
The Anon on the call actually hacked one of the WBC while Shirley was ranting. This is the culmination of the clip. The linked piece includes the message left by anonymous, including a “swift and emotionless bitch-slap”.
Made me smile last night.
Anonymous typically does not announce targets before the fact. Sort of defeats the purpose, as any two-year old would know.
A lot of the protesters are 99ers, who have been out of work for 2+ years. And as far as then being well off, they are eating donated pizza and drinking donated water and coffee. There are hundreds of thousands of people supporting the efforts of those protesters.
They announced their pending assault against the Kochs. My thoughts were along the lines of your comment here. If they’re announcing it, they’ve already done it.
When Wanker’s lay-off notices go out, there will be a whole lot more there collecting unemployment and protesting his Bill.
That video was hilarious. Credit Anonymous for knowing how to find them.
There are more than 5 million people in Wisconsin (5.6, let’s round down anyway) and this population is maintaining like 10-70K protesters depending on the time.
By simple math, there are plenty of people available to maintain the current level of protest with any one Wisconsinite only needing to participate every 250 days (assuming an average participation of 20K). So, let’s say the state is 50% divided (which seems to be granting the Anti-Union folks more popularity than they have) … it still means any one person would have to go to Madison once every four months to maintain the current level of participation.
Obviously, there are a lot of out-of-state folks now and some Wisconsinites that are in it for the long-haul (that’s called self-sacrifice for a cause); but the math really sucks for Walker if the citizens of Wisconsin dig in and fight him on this long-term.
It there was an intrusion, it’s odd that nothing’s been reported yet.
I laughed so hard I dropped my phone! (I watched this on my phone initially last night)
I don’t think there’s been an intrusion yet. I think they’ve already found the holes they’re going to exploit. Or have already stolen email accounts. AnonymousIRC and the other related twitter feeds this weekend were fast and furious with activity. They had something big going on.
@watstearns: There is nothing illegal about this assembly so even under the strangest interpretation of that clause it would not apply. And since the WI Const. prohibits ever abridging the right to peaceably assemble it never will be illegal. Safety restrictions (no animals) are not abridgements but requiring an appointment to enter the capitol is.
there are 250,000 people in Madison, give or take, and I have yet to meet one person from here for this bill. Spring is around the corner. Don’t worry, we’ll keep it up! Now if only the rest of you would do the same in your own neck of the woods!
And why again are we supposed to obey any rule or law they state. Tear down their law it has no authority, it is words on a piece of paper no citizen had anything to do with. If we are going to revolt half measures are not the avenue.
Non violence, love, and compassion are the path, but that does not preclude ignoring their rules and their laws. You all keep talking about politics as if any politician or party has anything of value that makes your life better, that can effect positive change. It does not. It is all a charade to beguile you.
The only way to change this whole thing is to work from the outside and abandon this dominator, murdering culture of death and replace it with an inclusive nurturing culture that points to the true nature of existance which is a true connection with the source of all that is. No, no religion, just a human being. An awakened one. You start with one step and that step is from within. You must free yourself.
http://www.cveitch.org/?p=573
This not a rant or an attack, just an effort to show that there is another way that abandons the beasts and psychopaths of the world.
Just an observation but the people bringing up the hacking issues have done a very nice job of redirecting the conversation here away from what is happening in Madison right now. Coincidence or manipulation ?
Anon kind of *has* to announce actions before the fact … that’s how ops work. Otherwise, nobody knows there is an op in process and nobody joins in the fun – and nothing happens. Legitimate Anons don’t recognize any leadership; the group works by convincing others into mass action. Pure individual democracy.
Some legit hacks are carried out by silent teams organizing individually, but the targets and major operations are almost always selected and gone after using a hive-based decision making structure and tools. For example, the HB Gary operation was based on a public call to target the firm. Barr first approached Anon to try and get them to back off the visible DDoS ops in response to his FT article (little did he know that others had also taken it upon themselves to carry out a proper raid on his network).
That’s the fun of Anon. Even when people know an attack is coming, more often than not they still get their asses kicked. Sometimes not. But usually.
Stand strong people of Wisconson. These little minds are incapable of defeating a direct assault on their authority if you come together enforce.
Back on topic: It occurs to me the sound of CITIZENS in the rotunda must be making some of the more reasonable Republicans nervous. I think maybe Walker is afraid of “defectors” on his budget bill come Tuesday. Wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to prevent or “limit” access by the Press that day too.
It is surely fun pricking these little fools is it not. We certainly are not without power.
We’re trying in Idaho … but honestly getting our asses kicked. The Senate just passed two out of the three anti-union bills (with the third back to committee) … and the rest of the nation doesn’t even really know we exist. I don’t usually bother posting about our stuff because everyone is all like “Idaho? That’s a red state! Fuck ‘em … because of racism.”
IMO, the nation is primed for *something* beyond this bipartisan anti-labor corporatism we’ve “enjoyed” for the past three decades. It’s going to take a bit of work, but something has got to give.
Anon’s newest target? Glenn Beck! Oh joy!
Good afternoon, all. Moreover, it’s been reported that the Governor has given certain legislators 24 hours to return or the government of Wisconsin may lose an opportunity to restructure approximately $165 million in debt.
Theoretically and simply for frame of reference, if one million Wisconsinites or other such folks voluntarily agreed to “pass the community cap” one million times $165.00 each (about the cost of a night on the town or one small utility bill), that should take care of the debt troubles — correct?
I do believe it’s called a “workaround” solution, and to my best recollection something similar proved fairly effective for the townspeople of Whoville against “the Grinch” in a now-infamous book by Dr. Seuss…
I’d (attempt to) collect the funds, making it clear that it’s being done as a one-time emergency measure only, and then perhaps make a possible consensus decision on possible negotiating terms of endearment, that is agreement.
Also, when Native Americans hold pow wows, sometimes they have special dances where a front line forms at the front end of a circle and someone is designated to collect volunteer funds with a cap, or perhaps a blanket is placed within the dancing circle area to do same. They collect funds for young folk’s weddings, to help with someone’s medical expenses, all sorts of things…
ATTN: Speaking of funds, perhaps the wolfies could get up a collection to bargain for some more accommodating editing features when contributing to a particular thread (this one seems to have a built-in bias against paragraphs/line spacing?) Please?
I read Anonymous’ announce on Raw Story yesterday and immediately checked in with Americans For Prosperity websites. They were down. Checked again a few hours later and they were back up.
But if (Koch) money equals free speech why don’t (Anonymous) packets equal free speech?
do you really think the corporatist Al Franken would care?
Pretty much tells it all when Fox news can’t find one teacher to come on and support Walker. Media matters reports they had a GOP county worker pretending to be a teacher talking against teachers.
CORRECTION: Rather, that should state that the state of Wisconsin might stand to lose $165 million if they were to lose, forfeit, etc. a certain opportunity to refinance debt.