The first time I felt those stirring of political optimism was in 1962, when I inadvertently wandered upon a small group of folks in Jackson, Michigan, who were reading the names of our soldiers killed in Viet Nam. The thought that average citizens, people without an agenda beyond a concern for their fellow man, were willing to stand in a park on a cold morning to make their voices heard made me realize the power of ideas. Was yesterday the beginning of Sixties activism redux? Or have we lost the capacity to break out of the old stereotypes?
The cynical side of me says that the rally yesterday was no more grassroots than the Tea Party. Fox News and Dick Armey’s Freedomworks paid for the buses that brought folks to the Capitol last April. The unions and Michael Moore paid for the buses that brought folks to the Capitol yesterday.
In both cases, however, I sensed that the people who actually showed up did so because they really do give a damn. Much as I think the Tea Partyers have the wrong solutions, they share a sense that people will have to shout to be heard.
But the reason that I felt so at home with the folks yesterday is that they are the workers, not the whiners. At the Tea Party rally last year, I felt compassion as a woman told me how concerned she was that her children might not enjoy the American dream as she had. But then she started complaining about how taxes and fees were rising so far that her husband found it harder to afford their private plane and their boat.
The folks I saw yesterday weren’t worried about how fast their hangar fees were rising. Speaker Amy Woodward is a child care worker who makes damn little yet she buys backpacks for the kids she takes care of who might not otherwise be able to have one.
The audience was filled with a diverse group of plumbers, electricians, corrections officers, teachers, nurses, the folks who take care of us and are kind and caring in the process. The white-haired woman with the Gov. Snyder Is a Corporate Whore sign said, “Why am I here? For our schools and for my pension.”
I also saw artists and musicians. As Corinna Van Hamlin says in the video below, many of these young people came from union families where Mom and Dad worked hard and saved so their kids could follow their dreams.
Many of the speakers exhibited what appeared to be authentic passion. Yet some of my more cynical media betters seemed non-plussed. One dismissed it as yet another protest at the Capitol. And those of us who are heartbroken to see President Obama announcing his March Madness brackets instead of appearing at the Capitol yesterday have good reason to question whether too many speakers were using this opportunity to shore up their jobs more than they were focused on changing the status quo.
State Senator Gretchen Whitmer, a rising star in the Democratic party, announced plans to introduce a single-sentence amendment to the Michigan Constitution that would make collective bargaining a right that would then be almost impossible to dislodge. A shrewd move? Or just another political game?
With the GOP firmly in control of both houses in Michigan, the bill stands no chance. Citizens could then take up the cause and put it on the ballot. But where should they put their energies? Into a Constitutional ballot amendment that would be extremely tough to pass or on recall efforts that might have a more immediate impact?
Are the Dems really serious about solving the problem or are they more interested in using these outrages to get votes in their column in 2012?
The folks who came to the rally deserve leaders worthy of them. If Governor Snyder and the GOP majority succeed in dismantling everything working people have spent decades fighting for, it will take decades, if ever, to get those rights back.
The goal is not to elect Democrats but to save democracy. If the Democratic leadership shares that mission, they deserve to be at the podium. If the entrenched leadership is not up to the task of preventing this impending nuclear disaster, it may be time for fresh faces and new movements.
