Look familiar? That is YOU that was named Time's person of the year. Congratulations!
While many of the people on the wrong side of the issues, will point out that Wisconsin did not get mentioned and that in the photo album there is only one picture from WI. To that I say who cares. the 7000 (give or take a few) essay is far from the final word and poorly written by not including the Wisconsin Protests. Without what happened in Wisconsin last February and March there would be NO OCCUPY movement. The whole world was watching what happened in WI:
The Wisconsin protests were the fuel to the fires that spread all over the country from Ohio to Alaska to Florida and everywhere in between and beyond.
I am proud to say that my wife and I were there on the second day. At that time, no one knew what we had going or what Governor Walker had started. Well I cant say no one knew, Tom Morello was the first to recognize it and made his way to WI immediately:
While Morello made his way to Madison on his own ASAP, this was not a celebrity led protest. Very few celebrities showed up and a few who did just kinda blended in the crowd and were icing on the cake. The major networks did not even cover it at first but as hard as they tried, they had no choice but to come cover. Like everything the national media does they went from no coverage to over coverage and added a sideshow circus to the protests from Fox News transplanting Palm Trees to the Daily Show bringing in a camel(unsuccessfully).
These protests were textbook grassroots and unlike anything that has ever happened in my lifetime. I remember driving down to the Capitol and we were worried that we missed the one day of protest. Protests always are a single day then they die out and everyone goes home and life goes on. We arrived there fairly early and the crowd just kept building and building. So much so we went down there the next day also and the crowd was even bigger than it was the day before and schools were starting to close(Props to MTI). I also remember that we could not wait until the weekend so we could take our kids down to the Capitol to drink in the history we were creating. Who would have ever thought that a protest would start in the middle of winter and grow by the day? The fact that the crowds kept growing is what empowered the 14 senators to head to Illinois to slow down the debate on ACT-10. That is when the politicians and media had to start writing a story they didn’t understand. Scott Walker and the republicans flat out lied, the democrats and unions did not know what to do. While labor leaders like Richard Trumka came here, they came here because of us, we were not down there because of him. On a quick side note, I still think that one of the coolest stories ever is the Ian's Pizza story.
If TIME magazine mentioned WI or not it does not change the fact that this is a moment in history. Today the democratic party will announce that we are well on our way to gathering the signatures to Recall Walker/Kleefisch and another moment in history will be made. While Wisconsinites should be very proud, the end of this story is far from written yet!
Stay Vigilante and informed and buckle up and enjoy the ride. Much more excitement to come. Maybe we can make the American worker the 2012 Person of the Year!!
The protestor on the cover is clearly from the middle east. That you think you can compare the Wisconsin protests to those in places like Egypt and Libya is absurd and a bit revolting. The protests that constitute the “Arab Spring” — a fight for freedom and their lives — hardly compares to disgrunted public employees who had to contribute a bit more for their own health and pension benefits.
forgot, what amount of lost pay would you consider to be a “bit more,” and how much less income would you accept from year to year without being disgruntled?”
$1,000 annually?
$3,000 annually?
$5,000 annually?
Oh, and the protests weren’t just about paying more towards health care and pension costs; the main crux of the issue was the almost total loss of collective bargaining rights on non-fiscal issues, as well as the blatant attempt to weaken the unions through the new rules on recertification.
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/276-74/8985-focus-times-qperson-of-the-yearq-cover-the-photo-you-didnt-see
Forgot I guess it was not quite so clearly a middle eastern protestor
By the knit stocking hat it looks to me like its a morphed version of an American protestor with a middle eastern protestor. As I pointed out in the picture of the egyptian protestor who carried a sign standing with WI. The whole world was watching .
While many times they fight for a bigger end in the middle east, lets not downplay what was started here in WI. Without the protests in the Capitol there would be no occupy movement. This fight is about much more than a ” bit more” of benefits forced upon public workers.
Your fond memories of the protests last winter are absurd, if not downright delusional. While you speak of “props to MTI for closing schools”, I think of all the private sector parents you let down by having your temper tantrum and not performing the job you were paid to do. While you “could not wait until the weekend to take your kids down to drink in the history”, my kids and I cried about the mess you made to our beautiful capitol, the lack of respect you taught hundreds of children to show towards politicians and others, and the misuse of your powers of position to brainwash captive audiences in the classrooms. Please, for once take a hard look at yourselves and be honest. What do you really have to be proud of? Maybe that is why the article did not focus on you guys?
Fed UP,
You cried about the mess we made to your beautiful capitol?
Maybe you should………………..
Fedster,
I am actually one of those “private sector parents” I am not nor have i ever been in the union. I have been in the private sector for years many of them owning my own business. I loved taking my ki9ds down there to show them democracy is not about voting for 5 minutes every year but it happens all the time and to stand up for what you believe in.
I took a very hard look at what was happening and i stand by what I wrote. I was proud to be a part of history and even prouder to share it with my family!
..
Ditto here.