The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    This is an important blog post to read...

    By Peter Schwartz on Wed, 08/10/2011 - 2:53pm |

    I won't spoil it for you because it's well-written and short enough. I think it's clear how it relates to many of the discussions we've having here for some time...

    http://marccooper.com/beyond-wisconsin/

     

    Comments

    Thanks. Excellent reference and post. We are up against a large, well financed enemy. To wish it were not so doesn't help. We need to be united and smarter--especially in messaging.


    by Oxy Mora on Wed, 08/10/2011 - 3:02pm

    Wisconsin Democrats and their union allies did everything right in this case.  Everything that some progressives demand that Dems and Obama need to do at the national level. They pushed back real hard on Walker’s conservative agenda.  They organized, mobilized and protested en masse for weeks and months on end. The union-backed protests forced Wisconsin Democrats to take militant and tough positions they probably ordinarily wouldn’t have dreamed of.

    There is no reason in trying anymore. It is all over.

    If the Wisc Dems could not pull it off, if the unions could not pull it off, if the millions of dollars donated from the national progressives could not pull it off, if the fascist Wisc Supreme Court Justice won, if the county clerk who enabled both fascists to stay in office was able to pull it off....all hope is gone.

    2012 will show Obama out, fascists in and I do not give a damn any longer.

    The American People want fascism....there is nothing I can do about it.

    I quit!


    by Richard Day on Wed, 08/10/2011 - 4:13pm

    Dick, I don't think that defeatism should be the takeaway. See this line:

    It means PART of the work of those who consider themselves on the Left includes having to find effective ways to actually convince and persuade these folks to think more clearly.

    Simply demonizing them won’t make them disappear.

    I think that effort to reorient liberal ideology in a way that has broader appeal has already begun. It's not coming from the Democratic leadership, which has been focused on winning elections, but from the grassroots and the small but passionate liberal media. The Wisconsin protests and recall effort were part of that.

    But you can't expect the country to suddenly experience epiphany when they hear liberal gospel. It takes repetition, organization, outreach, and unfortunately, a lot of time.

    PS Great find, Peter. It probably fits best in the news links section though.


    by Michael Wolraich on Wed, 08/10/2011 - 6:39pm

    Sorry about that, Genghis.

    Should I repost it over there?

    BTW, if you don't of him, Marc Cooper is on FB and has his own blog and is well worth reading. I think he used to be with The Nation and maybe now teaches journalism. His daughter is good, too.


    by Peter Schwartz on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 10:47am

    You're right about there being a risk of real fascism, Richard. That's why you don't quit. The people who organized the Wisconsin recalls know this, and they are not quitting. The energy that went into these elections has been excellent groundwork for the recall of Gov. Walker himself.

    The anti-Walker coalition came within 2,500 votes (the margin in Olsen's district) of retaking control of the state senate. If they had, the headlines for every newspaper pundit and talking-heads show in the country would have been some variation of "End of the road for Tea Party?" I guarantee it.

    So they came up a bit short. Disillusioning, but that was one battle. The war's still on. Your draft number just came up.


    by acanuck on Wed, 08/10/2011 - 8:08pm

    Arthur, I know you are horribly disappointed, but I would not take a defeatist view on this, either. They won 2 seats in VERY red areas. Imagine what they will do if they keep at it and do the recalls in more purple areas, or even in attempting a recall of Walker.

    It is isn't the total victory we had hoped for, but it was not nearly a total loss, either.

    I am heartened.


    by stillidealistic on Wed, 08/10/2011 - 9:00pm

    Yes, this point got lost in all the disappointment.

    These are VERY red districts. It's been many, many decades since they voted Democratic. I didn't know that until the debriefing began.

    I'm sure a lot of people had to hold their nose to vote Democratic in these districts. Must have been VERY tough for many of them.

    Also, something like 40 million red dollars were pumped into this race.

    So seen in that light, this was a big victory--it just won't enable the impact we wanted.


    by Peter Schwartz on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 10:50am