Bad Signs

The Libya Thing -- what an unholy nightmare. Much worse, apparently, than the Bahraini nightmare.

The Christchurch Earthquake (again) -- It's the second one in five months. Shock. And. Awe.

The Wisconsin Thing -- "The People United Will Never Be Defeated". Trouble is -- as always -- when the leadership sells them out, what are they going to do? As I pointed out earlier, potential Bad Signs were in reports that union leaders had conceded the "need" to cut pay, benefits, and retirement for public sector workers. Apparently, they did this long ago, but still the issue came back to the fore when the People United went ballistic over the end of collective bargaining contained in the measure Walker has ordered be passed. The problem is the advance concession by the leadership. That means the Rightists have already won. They won before there was a Public Uprising.

There are other disgusting and horrifying aspects of the budget measure Walker has ordered the legislature to pass, all of them having to do with giving the governor or the state government unilateral and unaccountable power to act to harm the interests of the majority of Wisconsinites to the advantage of a handful of plutocrats and oligarchs, most of them named Koch.

But from my perspective now, this war is already lost. What we have left is "show."

So it will be throughout the Midwest. But not just there. California will set the standard for handing over the keys to the Overlords once and for all.

And -- as always -- the Movement fractures. We have national Solidarity actions all this week organized by SEIU; but then this coming weekend, USUncut -- modeled on UKUncut actions in Britain -- will be holding their own demonstrations. These interests should be united, and they are not.

We are stumbling toward the Apocalypse.