After having been lambasted by a commenter here on Blogging Blue as a coward beneath contempt ( yikes!) for my view that the solidarity singers should either get a permit or go home, I thought I’d enlist some help from an unaffiliated ally to the south. The above title is a comment from former Madison mayor Dave Cieslewicz regarding the solidarity singalong. His take on the whole thing is a pretty good read.
Blast away!
Anyone have a reliable link to send money to the Solidarity Singers?
TIA.
http://solidaritysingalong.org/
You can find a link in the center column of Blue Cheddar http://www.bluecheddar.net/
or-
“If you would like to contribute to the First Amendment Protection Fund that helps those cited for singing in the rotunda with tickets and legal expenses, donate using paypal at solidaritysingalong.org
Or send a check to this mailing address:
FAPF
C/O Steve Gotcher
PO Box 3141
Madison, WI 53704
If the goal is the freedom of expression, don’t get a permit. If the goal is civil disobedience, then fill the Capitol, take the tickets and fill the courts. Worked for Dr. King…
You Know damn well if they get a permit some idiot tea begger will do some damage and the permit holder will be responsible
Dave Cieslewicz: “Those freedoms come at a price and a couple dozen folks WHO JUST CAN’T MOVE ON WITH THEIR LIVES, singing old protest songs is a small price to pay.”
Not for them, Dave. Because they keep asking to be noticed.
Ben, the Singers need to do things to get noticed, because unlike Baggers, they don’t have 2 stations broadcasting 9 hours of their propaganda every day.
Mike Schmidt is right- you don’t need to ask for your rights, and we all know this Administration would be more than willing to ratf*ck and cause problems if they ever did get a permit. Or did you conveniently forget Walker admitting to “David Koch” that he considered planting troublemakers during the Uprising?
I think the Singers’ act is somewhat played out, but I certainly back them here. And to paraphrase Ferris Bueller “Even if it was OK to settle for a permit, they sure as hell aren’t going to let guys like Scott Walker and Dennis Erwin be the ones to make em do it.”
Jake, The Singers are not akin to 18 collective hours of right wing radio because RW radio *adapts its’ message on a daily basis *brings in ad revenue (some of which can be used for political purposes) *reaches an audience in the hundreds of thousands in real time, and *Selectively exposes candidates it wants to promote.
The singers are a symbol at best. And the majority of wisconsinites don’t seem to find them compelling or relevant after two years of the same songs.
Fight the good fight, Jake! Larger themes not withstanding- the arrests are only hurting your friends. You won’t beat Walker that way.
While I agree that a permit would enable them to keep up the singing without being arrested, they are engaging in civil disobedience.
The smart thing would be for Walker and his minions to tough it out, figuring that over time the singers would get tired of it. But since many in Walker’s administration believe in the rapture, they figure they don’t have time and now are engaging in the very bad optics of arresting old people.
I’m not crazy about the sight of aging hippies doing bad singing, but I think they have one over on Walker.