I have posted more on the speeches and their content on the
AFB, but I wanted to address what I found to be one of the most important aspects of this event here. Some in our government and MSM reporters have called these events "Astro Turf" and have implied that the crowds were one step short of violence. I can't speak for the other demonstrations, but Madison's was absolutely one of the nicest crowds I have ever been in-and I'm including Farmer's Markets and fairgrounds in that comparison.
Our group initially went to the Alliant Energy Center to park and take a shuttle bus to the Capitol Square for this rally. It was soon apparent that this was not going to work. For one thing there was a steady stream of cars and tour buses loaded with folks from across the state who had the same idea.
Mostly because that's how it was supposed to work.
Unfortunately there were not nearly enough buses to shuttle all the folks who were showing up for this event. For a second thing there were already at least 200-300 people waiting for the two or three shuttle buses that arrived every 5 minutes or so.
Far from being discouraged, many people just started walking. (Now it's at least 2 miles (and probably closer to 4)from the parking area to the capitol building, so this was not lightly made decision from a time standpoint.)
We decided to see if we could find some parking closer to the event and the Lord blessed us with a spot about two blocks away. Something I noticed about the over 300 people still waiting for the shuttle buses when we left, (still with a steady stream of cars and buses arriving), was that, even after they realized they were going to miss the beginning of the rally due to the dearth of shuttle buses, they were still upbeat and patient. They were courteous and patient. They were helpful to each other and patient. I don't think I heard anyone swear all day. (Except one of the speakers. My son would tell you that I have a low tolerance for even the mildest expletives, so this is really saying something.)
The tone of the event was further set for me by this encounter as we approached the capitol square. There was a young woman (She looked about 17 or so to me) carrying an American flag. As she walked it was coming perilously close to dragging on the ground. When I caught up to her and said "you want to be careful, that flag's almost touching the ground" she apologized to me and adjusted the way she was holding it to keep it farther from the ground.
My son and I were in the closest bit of the crowd-about 50 feet from the speakers on the main sidewalk. (There is an excellent-although incomplete photo of the crowd
here.[My apologies, the website is no longer active])There was no pushing or shoving. Folks were careful of their signs and flags and each other. We did not see any counter-protesters although the friends we drove down with said they saw about 4 Acorn folks being ignored by the rest of the crowd. When folks wanted to move closer to the speakers, they said "excuse me" and other folks made way.
When I was having trouble with the names of the speakers, the man next to me (one Mr. Paul Hopp as I found out later so I could say thank you here - Thank you Mr. Hopp. :) ) who was a bit taller and with a better vantage point would tell me the names. He eventually insisted that I change places with him so that I could see the screen where the names were being displayed. There was some chanting done as well as some booing, but it was, for the most part, well intentioned, good natured and not at all inappropriate.
There were many remarks made by various MSM sources that these events were "Astro Turf". That they had been secretly organized by the GOP. CNN had predicted they would have less than 100 in attendance, the local newspapers grudgingly predicted a few hundred. There were actually, by the counts I have heard so far, between 5000 and 10,000 people who showed up for this event.
Most of the people I spoke to were not fans of the GOP, feeling that the GOP had betrayed America by their profligate spending during the Bush and Clinton administrations. I don't recall any of those near me identifying themselves as republicans and, in fact, the president of the WI GOP was heckled and booed a bit by the crowd when he spoke.(Well the fellows handing out signs opposing the governor's plan to add a transit/commuter rail system to Madison, [and why, when the city buses are losing money already, would you add a train?] were members of the GOP, but they received a fairly cold shoulder from the crowd. Not many would take a sign from them.)
At one point, when one of the speakers lambasted Congressman David Obey for his writing of the state budget, the crowd booed Mr. Obey appropriately. (Non-fiscal items do not belong in the state budget, period, to say nothing of the other excessive spending proposals.) But when that speaker said, "It could be worse, you could be married to him", the crowd near me loudly chanted "Cheap Shot, Cheap Shot, Cheap Shot." I heard one of them saying "We're better than that" and I had to agree.
The organizer, Mr. Mark Block of the Wisconsin AFP chapter, thanked the Capitol police for their help and relayed their request that we leave any sticks attached to our signs outside when we went in to visit our legislators. Everyone I saw did so without objecting, either leaving their signs outside to collect later or breaking the sticks off and leaving them in a neat pile.
An uncharitable reporter might spin this request to imply that the capitol police thought we might use the signs to attack someone, but, in reality our state capitol is a beautiful building with many fine artworks and historical monuments in it. The sticks would also pose a safety hazard to the attendees themselves as the crowd was compressed to fit in to the building. The request was appropriate and respected by the attendees.
Those legislators who were not in hastily convened committee meetings (Ironically enough, requesting more money for housing entitlements.) met with their constituents, discussed their concerns and addressed what they needed to do to have their voices heard in this bastion of entitlement mentality. (At least mine did,[Thank you Mr. Kestell and Mr. Liebham] but they didn't vote for the budget and they have done what they could to let their constituencies know what was wrong with it. I wonder what the liberal legislator's discussions were like-if they weren't hiding in the committee meetings.)
There were senior citizens and babies. There were teenagers and married couples. Those with suits and designer clothes were outnumbered by those in jeans and T-shirts, but it is Madison after all. There were businessmen, stay at home moms, students and hourly workers. From what I saw the crowd really didn't leave anyone out. The uniting factor was love of and concern for our country, our state, our families and our fellow citizens. This was America and I am sad for all you folks that didn't attend. If you only heard the highly spun comments I heard in the news coverage later, then you missed seeing the real America.
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"~Mt 5:44
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