Oddly enough (or perhaps not) most news services don't seem to be saying all that much about what's really going on in the country, or seem to be trying to make the Wisconsin thing look like some kind of minor local spasm.

But—according to a lot of the e-mail I get (newsletters and such), AND from the LOCAL news, this Wisconsin thing is acting as a real wake-up call. What it breaks down to is that there are a lot of really pissed off people out there who have a pretty good idea of what's really going on, and they're not about to take it sitting down. Literally! They're on their feet. They're marching. There are rallies and demonstrations all over the country. And various kinds of protests, including a number of high school student walk-outs in support of teachers and teachers' unions and salaries.

In a lot of ways, it's reminiscent of the late 1960s, only along with the students, there are a lot of older working people—or people who are not working, but would if there were any jobs.

If you can't go punch a clock, you might be motivated to go punch a politician.

I don't see much about any of these rallies and demonstrations in the national news services. Only in the local news and in my e-mail (MoveOn, AlterNet Headlines, Truthout, several others, including a couple of local groups, such as The Backbone Campaign). Maybe there is a very good reason why some Right-wingers are calling for regulation of the internet!

The way the "trickle-down" theory works is that if you feel something trickling down, it's because some bloated fat-cat is standing on his pile of money and is peeing on your head.

Don Firth

P. S. Do I do anything other than just bitch here on Mudcat? Well, yes. It's pretty difficult for me (wheelchair and all) to participate in marches and rallies, or gather at Westlake Center in downtown Seattle or on the steps of the capitol building in Olympia, but I am in direct contact with my two Senators (Murray and Cantwell) and my Congressional Representative (Jim McDermott, with whom I have talked face to face on a number of occasions), and a couple of my State Legislators, one of whom is a neighbor.

There is a Right-winger who plans on challenging Christine Gregoire for State Governor come next election. He's already gone on record as planning to emulate Wisconsin's Walker if elected and wipe out the unions. Maybe he should have kept his big yap shut, because his mouth has engendered a substantial backlash already! If he actually does run for governor, he's going to have a very rough ride! The voters have been warned early!

So. Get crackin', folks!!