Dear Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, Thanks For the Wake-Up Call
While scanning the news coverage of the Wisconsin protests I caught glimpse of a sign that said “Thanks for the civics lesson, Governor Walker.” Yes, indeed Governor Walker, I for one appreciate what you have done for the worker’s movement.
I have been heartened by the crowds of people drawn to Madison, Wisconsin in defense of workers. Interviews with the crowd have indicated the presence of many young people in attendance with their parents and grandparents. Many of them standing up in support of their teachers and proud to do so.
I have long been concerned for the future of the middle class and workers in the United States. For too long support for causes important to the financial security of the overwhelming majority of Americans has been severely lacking.
I was starting to wonder if American’s would ever get off the couch, walk out their front door and say “no more.” While watching MSNBC is certainly a worthy use of our time, more is required of us than simply rolling our eyes while watching footage of the most recent Tea Party demonstrations.
They are not messing around and nor should we. It is long past time for us to put down the bag of Doritos, pull out our Sharpie’s and poster board, and let our governments leaders know what it is that we stand for and more specifically in this case, what we will not stand for.
Perhaps we do not have those really cool Revolutionary War Replica uniforms to wear, but some of us do have police officer uniforms, fire fighter gear, hospital scrubs or union T-shirts emblazoned with their specific local number. It does not really matter what we wear. Some might just show up with old t-shirts which are dotted with holes from welding splatter. The point is that we work for a living.
We are not going to carry guns to our protests either or Louisville Slugger’s with our names on them. We do come armed with our voice. Our determination, our will, and our unity sends a much more important message in a much more civil way than a loaded weapon.
Like you though, we also carry signs. Ours tend to be without spelling errors, which is a refreshing difference and is further indication that our teachers and parents are doing their job.






