Originally Posted By skinnerbox That's the final number for the Scott Walker recall. Only 540,000 are needed. And I highly doubt that over 460,000 are fraudulent. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/17/scott-walker-recall-1-million-signatures-wisconsin_n_1210810.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...810.html</a> It should also be noted that the Lt Governor, along with four Republican State Senators, are also being recalled, with huge margins of signatures collected compared to what is needed for recall. This is the wakeup call, America. If Wisconsin voters can take back their state government from teabagging Republican corporate shills, so can the rest of the nation.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>If Wisconsin voters can take back their state government from teabagging Republican corporate shills, so can the rest of the nation.<< Don't count your chickens before the milk is toasted, butter side down. I don't see this as any sort of wakeup call. Just more of the ongoing circus. Pass the popcorn.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox Voters are also fighting back in Ohio and Indiana. Wisconsin is not the only state. This is a growing movement, whether or not you choose to accept it.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 To be fair, voters in Ohio did succeed in rolling back the union stripping law, and in WI they may well turn out the governor. You may say these are two spits in the ocean compared to how screwed we are and the stranglehold enjoyed by TPTB, but geez, that's too cynical even for me. Short of pitchforks and torches, what else exactly is the average person to do? These are two quite successful actions, and I don't think throwing up our hands (if that's what you're saying) is very constructive or very helpful.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>You may say these are two spits in the ocean compared to how screwed we are and the stranglehold enjoyed by TPTB, but geez, that's too cynical even for me. << Time marches on ........ >>Short of pitchforks and torches, what else exactly is the average person to do?<< Go on other websites and troll the Tea Party types. For the lulz. >>I don't think throwing up our hands (if that's what you're saying) is very constructive or very helpful.<< That's what I'm saying. And you're right. It's not. Right now my crystal ball is seeing financial armageddon followed by ... well, I'm not sure what, but I am quite sure that I have no faith in any of our top-tier "leaders" - Romney, Obama, Paul, or anybody else - to get us through it in a condition that I would recognize as the USA. With SOPA and the NDAA and other Constitution-busting legislation coming from both "sides" now, it sure looks like they're setting us up for maximum control in the event of social unrest. A movement to recall a jerk governor seems kind of irrelevant in this light, other than one more vigorously swirling eddy in the growing doodoo storm. Idiocracy has arrived. The forces of good have lost. The forces of anger and tribalism are totally in control. There's nothing left except entertainment value, and I see this recall effort, well-intentioned though it may be, as part of that. Bread and circuses. Like I said, pass the popcorn. And be sure and vote for my Constitutional amendment that bans the use of the phrase "wake up, America" or any variation thereof.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder SInce all politics are local, I'd say recaling a governor, a congressperson, overturning a bad state law, is exactly how to fight back.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>So I uess mawnck is on suicide watch.<< No more so than someone with a terminal illness would be. I'm enjoying what time America has left. >>SInce all politics are local, I'd say recaling a governor, a congressperson, overturning a bad state law, is exactly how to fight back.<< First of all, "all politics are local" is another one of those meaningless and unfounded phrases that I'm sick and tired of. They are not. Second, recalling a governor is only useful if the voters who elected him originally do a better job selecting his replacement. And there's a replacement worth selecting. I don't know about the replacements, but I REALLY don't trust the voters.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>Right now my crystal ball is seeing financial armageddon << It's been seeing that for four years. Time to get a new one. Or read different stuff online. Or both.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder 'First of all, "all politics are local" is another one of those meaningless and unfounded phrases that I'm sick and tired of. They are not.' Up yours, too. Like I give a rip what you're tired of. I stick to my original statement. You really, really need to get out more.
Originally Posted By Labuda Wow. As an avowed hater of the entire state of Wisconsin, I gotta say this: GOOD FOR THEM! Nice to see people fighting back successfully when they're screwed by their government.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>Up yours, too.<< Mawnck took issue with your statement, not you personally. This is uncalled for.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox <<Second, recalling a governor is only useful if the voters who elected him originally do a better job selecting his replacement. And there's a replacement worth selecting.>> Anyone not in the back hip pocket of the Koch brothers, like Walker is, who is more concerned with the struggles of the middle class than helping to increase the wealth of the Greedy One Percent would be better. Walker only works for his corporate masters; he's there to do their bidding only, the 99% be damned. He lied through his teeth about his corporate connections and what he actually intended to do as Governor. Walker promised job creation by growing the economy, and made zero statements about giving huge tax breaks to his corporate masters while dismantling the unions and cutting education and social programs. There was no deficit in Wisconsin when he took office, but his massive tax cuts to his corporate masters quickly drove Wisconsin into a deficit that Walker tried to correct through elimination or drastic reduction of social program funding. He used the massive tax cuts to create a negative fiscal situation in order to 'justify' the slashing and burning of collective bargaining and social programs that the uber-rich have hated for decades. Walker does not care about anything but his own pockets and the pockets of the corporate masters he's hoping will make him rich after his political career is over. Which, fortunately, will happen sooner rather than later.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Which, fortunately, will happen sooner rather than later.<< Those chickens haven't hatched yet.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "Mawnck took issue with your statement, not you personally. This is uncalled for." I beg to differ. When he's as dismissive as he's been on this issue as well as more negative and cynical than anyone I've encountered either in person or online, my comeback only scratched the surface. People like him are self-fulfilling prophecies.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox <<Those chickens haven't hatched yet.>> And your point is? Almost one-fourth of the voters in Wisconsin signed the recall petitions in 60 days. At least one in four voters want him gone. That's huge. Most incumbents who lost their recall elections, like Gray Davis, didn't have this many petition signatures against them. And some politicians have simply resigned with smaller percentages of recall signatures, knowing full well they didn't stand a chance of winning. Remember... Walker only won by a 5% margin to begin with, when he wasn't as hated. There is NO WAY Walker is going to win his recall. Even a large percentage of Republicans who voted for him now hate him. Sure, they might not vote for the Dem challenger in the recall election. But what other option do they have? If they don't vote for Walker nor his challenger, then they simply don't vote. And if they stay home, enough voters will turn out against Walker to oust him from office. The tide has turned against the Koch brothers machine in Wisconsin. This guy is gone.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>And your point is? << <a href="http://blog.ninapaley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/NA_StupidSheep_clean_960.png" target="_blank">http://blog.ninapaley.com/wp-c..._960.png</a>
