Your resignation, and ours

10 March 2011

Dear Mr. Walker:

Today you proudly celebrated the darkest day in Wisconsin political history, demolishing 50 years of a great American tradition that began right here in Madison. Tomorrow you will sign that darkness into law (assuming your lawyers let you do so). And you'll go before the cameras, and lie again to the people of this state about how ripping away the rights of workers will help create jobs. You'll make snide remarks about "doing their jobs" and putting government to work. You'll refer again to your manufactured crisis and pretend the only way to fix it is if those of us who already give the most give more. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow.

Today, I read your sophomoric drivel in the Wall Street Journal, which was basically just lifted from previous speeches, and full of misleading examples that you don't support with any evidence whatsoever. I heard you applaud the illegal vote, the unannounced meeting, the devious way your legislators weasled this bill through. I heard your idiotic admission that the bill is a fiscal measure, providing the illegality of voting on it without a quorum. I heard you, yet again, directly oppose "hardworking taxpayers of Wisconsin" to "government employees" as if we don't also work hard, or pay taxes, or deserve to be referred to as citizens of this state.

I went to the Capitol today, twice. I saw a few thousand people, many of them teary-eyed, singing the national anthem. I saw video of elected officials being once again barred from entering their workplace. I watched live as the Assembly passed this bill in just as disgraceful and shameful a manner as the Senate did last night.

And I saw something new in the faces of the people of Wisconsin. A controlled and courteous anger, to be sure, but that was already there. What I saw today was resolve. I saw people who are angry, and determined and strong, and are resigned to not give up this fight. We will succeed in our recall efforts. We will win at the polls in April. We will restore Wisconsin to its rightful Blue State status and reclaim the rights that so many people fought, and even died, to protect. We will ensure that schools, BadgerCare, SeniorCare, are sufficiently funded, since we know what matters most. We will insist that those who can most afford to pay their share. And we will see your political career go down the toilet. The bill, however, we won't flush. We'll recycle that, like good lefties do. Because we're also taking back our recycling program.

Shame on you, Mr. Walker, and shame on the Republicans who voted with you.

Please resign,
Heather DuBois Bourenane