the uptake
GRITtv: Wisconsin Farmers, Lena Taylor, and Susan Sarandon
Laura's back in Madison, Wisconsin, for our third special broadcast at the largest rally in Wisconsin history - more than 120,000 people are estimated to have descended on the capital. These protests mark the fourth weekend of protests and follow the action in the state house, as Wisconsin state senators forced through a bill stripping Wisconsin public unions of their collective bargaining rights. In this very special edition of GRITtv, we hear from Wisconsin farmers standing in solidarity with public workers, state senator Lena Taylor, actress and activist Susan Sarandon, and Will Williams of Veterans for Peace Madison. Distributed by Tubemogul.
Email this pageGRITtv: Will Williams: Years of Struggle Gone
"Too much has been spent on defense and killing at the expense of people, of working class people," Will Williams, of Veterans for Peace Madison, said to Laura. "And I say that because, when you look at the statistics, it costs one million dollars a year to keep one troop in Iraq. Yet we talk about we can't balance the budget unless we do it on the backs of working class people. And it's wrong." Williams spoke with Laura from the streets of Madison during this weekend's protests. He pointed to the widening wealth gap and excessive military spending as evidence that the middle class is being forgotten. "This governor we have has taken away everything that working people had, what was built throughout years of struggle," Williams said. "He took it in the stroke of a pen." Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Susan Sarandon and Robert Turner
"We will not yield to the system where political power derives from wealth," said actress and activist Susan Sarandon as she spoke to the protesters in Madison. "This is a great opportunity to become more human human beings and base our politics on compassion and love and not economics." Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Lena Taylor: Awakening a Sleeping Giant
"They've awakened a sleeping giant. People who have never been engaged are engaged," Lena Taylor, Wisconsin state representative, told Laura Flanders from the streets of Madison. "900 million dollars, almost a billion dollars, out of education. How can we be prepared for our future?" Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Ryan Bingham: A Song for Wisconsin
"There's just no time for propaganda, or media filled with hate. No time for scripted messages that slither around like snakes in your brain," sang Ryan Bingham, of Ryan Bingham and The Dead Horses, as he performed "Direction of the Wind," which he dedicated to all the people on the streets of Madison, WI. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Wisconsin Farmers Support Labor
Rolling down the streets of Madison in their tractors, Wisconsin's farmers joined the protests that rose throughout Madison this weekend. While in Madison, Laura spoke with Scott Schultz, executive director of Wisconsin Farmers Union, who spoke about the ripple effects of the anti-union bill that will be felt throughout their community. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Mahlon Mitchell: Thrown Into the Fire in Wisconsin
"When firefighters see an emergency, we respond," says Mahlon Mitchell, the new president of the firefighters' union in Wisconsin. Scott Walker left the firefighters and the police out of his drastic cuts to union employees' rights, but the firefighters have been rallying in solidarity with the rest of the public employees all week. "It's not a movement, it's a way of life. It's not just a union way of life, it's letting them know that labor is important," Mitchell notes.Mitchell spoke with Oliver Dykstra from The Uptake inside the Capitol building this weekend.
GRITtv: John Nichols & Matt Rothschild: Who's Behind Wisconsin Union-Busting?
"Unions realize that this is a threat to their very existence," says Matt Rothschild, editor of The Progressive , of Scott Walker's attempt to strip collective bargaining rights from public workers. And some of the usual suspects are behind Walker's attack--from the Koch brothers to Republican ideologues. "These corporations want to get these people off the playing field," says John Nichols, of The Nation .John and Matt join Laura in the studio at WORT, Wisconsin community radio, in Madison, Wisconsin for a special broadcast from the site of the historic labor protests.
GRITtv: David Corn: What the Sotomayor Hearings Have Revealed
David Corn, Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief for Mother Jones, on the Sotomayor confirmation hearings and the Justice Department's position on the prosecution of Bush era crimes and the use of torture. Mother Jones and The Uptake have been streaming the confirmation hearings live and writing about them at their blog, on twitter, and everything in between.
GRITtv: The Uptake's Mike McIntee on Sotomayor's Confirmation
The Uptake's Mike McIntee on Sotomayor's Confirmation Hearings
