And the Beat Goes, “On, Wisconsin!”

From My Cuz, Dateline March 12, Madison, Wisconsin—“I went back to the Capitol today — my third time at a protest — to welcome back the 14 brave Democrats who held off the passage of a bad law by leaving the state. Susan Sarandon was here. So was Tony Shaloub, the actor who plays Monk. The crowd was enormous, but very peaceful and there was a very small police presence.

It was in the 30s and windy, but people just kept coming and coming. [My wife] Marge came with me; that's her holding the sign behind the SDS banner. I haven’t marched with an SDS banner in over 40 years. We could feel a lot of anger in the air and constant calls for “Recall.”

When the “Fabulous 14” Senators came out, the crowd went nuts, screaming “Thank you, Thank you.” over and over.

The Teaching Assistants at the University of Wisconsin are considering going out on strike. We have all been told to try to keep teaching until April 18th, the last day that the UW has to refund money to the students if classes are disrupted, so that's the key date coming up. We don't know what to expect — a peaceful end to the semester or a strike.

The Republicans have been paying for more ads to persuade Wisconsinites that all the problems are being caused by outside agitators and Obama is the root of all evil. So far, most people are not buying it. Stay tuned.”