September 26, 2012

This is what Wisconsin protesting looks like...

... these days.

Last year's vast crowds were a magnet for all sorts of people, and some of them were individuals with problems of their own, looking for meaning within a group. As the crowds disperse, who is left? What can they do? Where is the meaning?

If the seeming meaning they found does not remain and cannot be revived, perhaps these once-lost souls feel that they are dying.

28 comments:

Scott said...

What do these people do for a living?

Nonapod said...

At what number of people does a gathering reach critical mass and turn from a group of deranged obsessives into a protest? I'd say around 100.

Sorun said...

You don't have to walk around downtown Madison very long to encounter mentally ill people. I think some of them decided to pass the time being "protestors."

shiloh said...

Eagerly looking forward to Althouse/Meade's second anniversary most excellent adventure re: WI 2011 union busting protests.

btw, that's one reason Willard is wayyy behind in Ohio as Kasich union busting bill was crushed 61/39.

blessings

furious_a said...

As the crowds disperse, who is left?

Those not protesting on the taxpayers' dime.

What can they do?

Hope they can score a fraudulent doctor's note like those protesting on the taxpayers' dime did.

Calypso Facto said...

"and telling a Capitol staffer "You watch child porn,""

Was the staffer Mark Pocan? I still haven't heard ANY response to the Costa Rica accusations...

Anonymous said...

Dying..... How many times can someone be a hair's breath away from death I wonder?

Tom Spaulding said...

That's just a memorial service noting the Death of Democracy.

Thistle and Weepy Cheese Boy are co-hosting again this year.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

That guy's name is almost too appropriate. Breitsprecher translates literally from German as "wide speaker."

Paddy O said...

Those of us who are always interested in what Andy Williams thinks about the Wisconsin protests or other political issues are now left adrift, as he died today at age 84.

Ann Althouse said...

"You don't have to walk around downtown Madison very long to encounter mentally ill people. I think some of them decided to pass the time being "protestors.""

I think the regular protesters should feel some responsibility for the outsider/lonely/hurting souls they drew in and cranked up.

You could see this was happening even when the protests were at their height, and there were "normal" people beating drums and chanting loudly for hours on end.

I think there were some medical personnel serving the protesters who did care about the mentally ill people who were mixed in with the crowd, but I question whether enough was done. But the big crowd seemed mostly to care about it's big goals and the transitory ecstatic performance.

Now, we're seeing the aftereffects... the individuals who never came down.

dreams said...

"btw, that's one reason Willard is wayyy behind in Ohio as Kasich union busting bill was crushed 61/39."


Ohio has a good economy as in lower relative unemployment thanks to Kasich which of course might help get Obama reelected. The Dems love to take credit for Republican accomplishments and happy to reap the benefits of the hard work of others.

shiloh said...

"thanks to Kasich"

Thanx to Obama saving the auto industry which Willard was totally against. Oops!

damikesc said...

Thanx to Obama saving the auto industry

GM...doing a heckuva job.

I love watching Dems be CONVINCED that Obama will do EVEN BETTER than he did in 2008.

BarryD said...

"Police reports detail peculiar behavior at Capitol"

Like that's news?

dreams said...


"Thanx to Obama saving the auto industry which Willard was totally against. Oops!"

I rest my case. Thanks for proving my point.

garage mahal said...

Ohio's economy/jobs situation is markedly better than Wisconsin's. I wonder what they did differently?

dreams said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
dreams said...

"Ohio's economy/jobs situation is markedly better than Wisconsin's. I wonder what they did differently?"

"Mr. Kasich promoted his proposal for raising severance taxes on oil and natural gas from their current minuscule levels, now that the greatly expanded use of fracking to explore Ohio's rich shale formations promises an energy boom in the state. The energy industry doesn't like the plan, nor do Tea Party types."

The fracking energy boom is one reason. Is Obama pro fracking? Or is he just a fracking fruck up?

edutcher said...

And I thought it was just Oop dancing naked around a bonfire in the town square to commemorate the equinox.

shiloh said...

btw, that's one reason Willard is wayyy behind in Ohio as Kasich union busting bill was crushed 61/39.

Only if you consult Ned Silver. Ras has them even.

Thanx to Obama saving the auto industry which Willard was totally against. Oops!

Yeah, that $25B loss absorbed by the taxpayers was sure worth it, especially since GM can't sell a car inside this country, unless it's bought by Zero's Administration (another taxpayer expense).

Funny, how Ford saved itself without Zero.

dreams said...

"Ohio's economy/jobs situation is markedly better than Wisconsin's. I wonder what they did differently?"


"The governor's call for a realistic severance tax remains worth supporting; if anything, the tax rate he proposes is too low. I continue to believe there are better uses for the revenue from the severance levy than the income tax reduction Mr. Kasich wants, especially since the state already has carried out a 21-percent income tax cut since 2005."

Maybe lower taxes.

dreams said...

"Ohio's economy/jobs situation is markedly better than Wisconsin's. I wonder what they did differently?"

"He said his administration is participating in 47 economic-development projects in metro Toledo."

"Things are starting to pay off," he said. "We've diversified the way we look at Ohio. We've created an environment for job creators and people to invest."

http://www.toledoblade.com/DavidKushma/2012/08/05/Gov-Kasich-Things-are-starting-to-pay-off.html

Carnifex said...

Iowahawk has some eye-opening things to say about Wisconsin protesters.
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2006/02/seething_midwes.html

Go Randall! Run Cobb!!

(he used to play for us you know)

dreams said...

Obama is gaining in states that are run by Republican governors and the reason is because the Republicans have done such a good job that unemployment in their states is down so Obama gets the benefit of the Republicans good work.

Methadras said...

When all the grifters have gone, the mentally insane are all that's left.

furious_a said...

Althouse: Now, we're seeing the aftereffects... the individuals who never came down.

Did you see garage loafing about, muttering to himself about "indictments, any day now, yeah..."

wildswan said...

The polls show total support for Obama in Wisconsin BUT only the disturbed are still protesting in Wisconsin's capital. The polls show higher turn out for Obama than in 2008 BUT there are almost no yardsigns supporting Obama in the extremely liberal suburb I live in. The people supporting Obama are supposed to be the smartest most engaged in America BUT when Obama wants to appeal to his voters he goes on The View, thus dumping on all the leaders in the world. (And on NPR). That's OK with his actual supporters.
Well, it's all too hard for me. Back to regimental history - the 7th New York, the regiment of wealthy stockbrokers and playboys that saved Washington in the early days of the Civil War, used to send out to Delmonico's while on bivouac before the war. Champagne and oysters were carried into camp on trays by uniformed waiters. One of these militiamen was Robert Gould Shaw.

granmary said...

"Perhaps these once-lost souls feel that they are dying" If only that were true, at least for their socialist ideology.