The Rising

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Remember when this country used to celebrate union organizers as working class heroes? Who could ever forget the memorable performance by Sally Field in the movie Norma Rae, in which she portrayed real life working class hero Crystal Lee Sutton.

This memorable scene from the movie captured a moment of courage when a lone figure stands against the rich and powerful, and her co-workers shut down their machines in recognition that there are some things in life that are worth fighting for no matter the danger. We have to stand up and fight for what is right or we lose our humanity.

Crystal Lee Sutton, the textile worker who rebelled against low pay and poor working conditions in a Southern mill to urge its workers to unionize and whose life inspired the film "Norma Rae," died of brain cancer on September 11, 2009 at a hospice in Burlington, N.C. Labor Organizer Crystal Lee Sutton Dies 68 – washingtonpost.com.

But Ms. Sutton's spirit and vision are alive and well in the great state of Wisconsin. A Tea-Publican tyrant governor, as part of a national strategy by rich and powerful businessmen, is out to break the unions in Wisconsin, and by extension, cripple the Democratic Party's capability to compete financially in elections after Citizens United v. FEC. The Tea-Publican goal is to destroy the capability of any political opposition to their corporatocracy so that they can roll back the hard-won gains of the 20th Century and impose a new corporatocracy serfdom on working Americans.

This is not just a threat to union employees. This is a threat to all working Americans. Ultimately, it is a threat to the very survival of our democracy.

Conservative economic policies over the past 30 years have nearly erased America's middle class. Now the Tea-Publican tyranny is out to finish the job.

Wisconsinites are rising up and fighting back against this Tea-Publican tyranny. They realize what is at stake. Wisconsin's unions have been joined by non-union workers, students, and supporters from across a wide spectrum of Wisconsinites in an uprising against the Tea-Publican tyranny that seeks to impose a corporatocracy serfdom on workers. The uprising in Wisconsin should spark a national movement. All working Americans should join arm-in-arm with Wisconsinites in defense of the rights of working Americans and the American middle class.

CRAIG SCHREINER – Wisconsin State Journal

It was most telling that yesterday the billionaire bastard brothers Charles and David Koch sent in their Americans for Prosperity and Tea Party Patriots Tea-Publican thugs for some good old fashioned union busting. There is a long and sordid history in this country of rich and powerful businessmen like the billionaire bastard brothers Charles and David Koch hiring thugs for union busting, often resulting in violence that has killed many hundreds of workers in the course of union organizing. This is something our schools do not teach in this country but should.

Elected Democrats across America should be standing together arm-in-arm in support of the "Wisconsin 14," their Democratic counterparts in the Wisconsin Senate who have fled the state to prevent a quorum and to block the Tea-Publican tyrant governor's union busting scheme that has absolutely nothing to do with fiscal austerity and balancing the budget. It is all about breaking the unions, and by extension, the Democratic Party.

The right-wing noise machine led by FAUX News Fraudcasting is smearing the "Wisconsin 14" for standing up for their constituents and for working Americans. There is a long history of legislators who have done this in the past, including Abraham Lincoln. The Wisconsin 14 are in Good Company: Lincoln!:

CNN.com, of all places, has a gem of a story  on the history of state legislative walkouts to avoid a quorum. One state legislator who attempted to flee the statehouse to avoid allowing the opposing party to proceed to a vote with a quorum: none other than young Abe Lincoln, who in 1839 actually jumped out a window in the State capitol building to try and prevent the majority from pushing through a bill.

I thought we knew everything admirable there was to know about Lincoln!

All Democrats should be singing the praises of and be supporting the "Wisconsin 14" for taking a courageous and principled stand in defense of the rights of working Americans and the American middle class. This is what the Democratic Party stands for, these are the constituents whom we represent.

This is "the rising" of a new progressive era and labor movement in this country for which we have been waiting. Rise up and make a stand!

Segment from the Ed Show on Friday, which has done an outstanding job of covering "the rising" in Wisconsin.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy