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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Own It, Shut Up, and Go to Hell

I haven't written for a while, but I have been compiling stories for this post. The things people do never ceases to amaze me.

Since Wisconsin, smartly, elected Scott Walker in November, my political activism has been on the rise. I actually worked the phones for Walker and Johnson before the election, and enjoyed it so much, I got myself more active. Which means, because I live in the belly of the beast; Dane County, Wisconsin; I have also opened myself up to the amazing rudeness of the lefties.

When the 14 Democrat Senators left the state on 2/17/11, I couldn't believe it. I figured they would be back in a day or two, after all here is where their presence was needed. When it became obvious by the next day they weren't coming back any time soon, I started thinking about what action was available to me as a constituent of the ring leader, Mark Miller. Recall. Perfect. I looked on line and found out what was needed, talked to a helpful individual in the Government Accountability Board office, and thought some more. I knew this was a task beyond just myself, so I reached out to a fellow I had made phone calls with, and he introduced me to the people I needed to be in touch with. I have been working hard since then collecting signatures for the recall effort. I have stories to share.

My favorite is the old hippie who drove past me squeezing a rubber chicken and flipping me off. Do you think he carries that chicken around? Did he have to go home and get it, then drive past me with it? There were too many people to count that flipped me off. Most were content with just drive by with the bird flying. Others were compelled to slow down, make sure I was looking, then whip it out. There were those who honked and flipped it out, and there were those who had to add obscenities to the bird. The most shocking were the little old ladies flipping me off. Do they cook for their grandbabies with that finger?

About a month ago, the local daily newspaper and one of the local news stations interviewed me about the recall effort I am putting time in for, so, for a lot of the unionistas, I became the face of the movement. That also made me a flash point for a while. I was told to get a job before I told other people what to do.??? I was told I am a pawn for the corporations, the rich, the Republicans, ... I had a postal employee tell me I couldn't have a sign on my vehicle because it was in their PUBLIC parking lot. I told her she was trampling my civil rights, and she was. I had a large man park, get out of his car and tell me I had to leave the PUBLIC sidewalk I was set up on in front of the Post Office. He told me he had called the authorities but wouldn't give his name. I'm pretty sure he called the local Police Department, because I was visited by an officer not 20 minutes later. Of course, I was within my rights and completely legal. Another man told me I couldn't have my temporary recall signs pounded in to the grass between the sidewalk and the street. He told me someone from city hall would be visiting. None did.

My signs had two sides: Side 1 said Recall Mark Miller, Side 2 said This is What Democracy Looks Like. A woman, who thought she was signing a recall petition for Scott Walker, told me my signs were misleading. (I didn't find out until after the reporter for the paper talked to her that she didn't know what she signed. She didn't know until the reporter told her.) I guess her reading vocabulary is limited to : "This is what democracy looks like." I had more people than I can count ask who Mark Miller is. OK, I get that he's just a state senator, but if you're going to sign something, shouldn't you have a clue? Especially since he's the Senate Minority Leader. It made national news. Hello.

On election day, we were allowed to collect signatures at polling places within the 100 foot "safe zone" because none of the people being recalled were on the ballot. Some old union guy yelled at me from the time he walked out of the polling place, all the way to his truck and then as he drove past me. One woman went ballistic. I had no idea what she was yelling about, but I'm pretty sure she had been off her meds for a while. Two other women told me I was too close to the door, and they would call the police to make sure I wasn't breaking any laws. The polling place I was working was inside a building that houses police offices.

Stupid, rude, insulting, close-minded, and intimidating was what I saw of the left during my 60 day adventure to collect signatures. What I saw at the Capitol during that time was more of the same, but when they gather all their finer points (stupidity...) increase exponentially. In contrast, I never swore, I never flew the bird, I wasn't insulting and I didn't intimidate anyone. i can be a little closed minded, but no one was going to change my mind about this action.

So, lefties, unionistas, Democrats, socialists: Own it, shut up, and go to hell.

1 comment:

  1. Seems to me politics is designed to make people act rashly and rudely.

    ReplyDelete