President Obama is selecting current Commerce Secretary and former Washington state Governor Gary Locke to be the next Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China:

The official says that “as a Pacific Rim governor and Commerce Secretary he helped lead an historic increase in trade with China. As Commerce Secretary, Locke has delivered on the president’s goal of doubling U.S. exports in the next five years (up 17 percent in 2010), led the push for patent and export control reforms and presided over a Census count that came in 25 percent under budget – returning more than $2 billion to the Treasury.”

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is frustrated over the political standoff over his legislation to strip away collective bargaining from most public employees.

Walker’s frustration comes, in part, from recent polls showing the Wisconsin citizenry siding with public employees. The most recent poll comes from the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute:

Bargaining rights: […] Exactly half of the respondents (50 percent) say that public employees are willing to compromise on pensions and benefits but limiting bargaining rights does nothing to balance the state’s budget situation and is really just an attempt to get rid of public employee unions. Forty-three percent say the proposed changes are a necessary reform because they will give local governments greater flexibility to control their budgets over several years.
[…]

Walker: Slightly more than half (53 percent) of the respondents have a somewhat or strongly unfavorable opinion of Walker while 43 percent have a somewhat or strongly favorable opinion of him. In a November WPRI poll shortly after Walker was elected, a slightly higher percentage (45 percent) had a somewhat or strongly favorable opinion of him while 35 percent had a somewhat or strongly unfavorable opinion of him and 20 percent either didn’t know or had never heard of him.

Almost two-thirds of respondents (65 percent) say he should compromise with Democrats and public employee unions while one-third (33 percent) say he should stand strong no matter how long protests last.

Other bad news for Walker is the relatively pro-worker sentiment expressed by a majority of those polled:

Laying off State workers: Two thirds (66 percent) are somewhat or strongly opposed while 30 percent are somewhat or strongly in favor. […]

Public employee unions: In the most recent poll, almost six out of ten respondents (59 percent) had a somewhat or strongly favorable opinion of public employee unions. Thirty-four percent had a somewhat or strongly unfavorable opinion.

Little wonder that Walker is frustrated. He thought he could cram his extremist anti-worker legislation through the legislative process without anyone really noticing. Instead, his actions have placed him in the ideological spotlight. The recent polls tell us that Wisconsinites don’t like what they see.

Walker held a press conference today, and tried to take his frustration out on Mark Miller (D), the Senate Minority Leader and de facto leader of the self-exiled Senators:

[…] Walker wielded Sunday night’s report from the Wall Street Journal, which reported Miller as saying the Dems would come back — and which Miller and the Dems quickly distanced themselves from — as evidence that Miller had misled people.
[…]

On multiple occasions, Walker said that Miller was in effect following the word of labor union leaders — and he imagined that there might have been some sort of secret phone calls.

Later in the conference, Walker said that Miller “appears to be listening more to the labor union bosses in Washington than he does to members of his own caucus.” He again maintained that Miller had told the Wall Street Journal that he would come home, “and then after he got the phone call from labor unions in Washington or whatever it was,” had changed his tune.

Wait…he “imagines” a “secret phone call?” From out of state? Calling the shots?

That’s rich stuff, coming from a guy who actually took a phone call from out-of-state billionaire David Koch! At least, that’s who Walker thought he was talking to on the phone.

Yes…this is classic Wingnut projection: Whatever we actually do, we will accuse the Democrats of doing and hope nobody notices.

Walker also later said: “I’m not sure, I can only speculate. But I have to assume that some of those labor leaders who have invested millions and millions into this state got on the phone with Sen. Miller and told him, you cannot budge.”

See what I mean?

This is almost sad. Via The Guardian:

For America’s beleaguered liberals, Monday’s New York Times reports what sounds like a dream come true: Fox News is considering parting company with Glenn Beck, the rococo conspiracy theorist who inspires those on the swivel-eyed right and infuriates anyone to their left.

Wait a minute…Beck infuriates the left?!? While it may be true that some years ago Glenn Beck was a low-level chronic irritant who, on occasion, rose to the level of infuriating—like when he claimed with a straight fact that “Barack Obama has a deep-seated hatred of white people”—well…not so much lately. Seriously…has Glenn gotten under your skin lately? Or just made you snicker when you saw something about him on Comedy Central? These days Glenn Beck has taken on new importance as a crazy-rich vein of blogger’s gold.

Remember in late 2008 how many comedians lamented the departure of George W. Bush with no President McCain in the stars? Comedians saw a McCain/Palin administration as a mother lode of comic, freaking, gold, perhaps as rich as Bush/Cheney. Obama/Biden? Eh…not so much. A comic order of magnitude separates Biden shooting off his mouth from Dick Cheney shooting his friend in the face….

In the same way, all of us dirty hippie, commie-pinko, gun-fearin’, Bill Ayres-palling, tax-loving, abortion-eating, leftist bloggers now are alarmed by the demise of the wackiest clown in FAUX News’ impressive line-up of wacky clowns. You see, even on the slowest of news days, even on days when the pressures of blogging induced cognitive constipation, even when the day’s news was so terrible it killed the joy of writing, we could always look up the crazy things Glenn Beck did or said that day for a little blogging fodder with comic relief.

Alas, the comics’ fears in 2008 never materialized. The election of a black man with a funny sounding name catalyzed a modest-sized assemblage of right-wingers to jump off the deep end into a cesspool of insanity that keeps comedians well stocked with material.

So maybe my fears are unfounded; Glenn Beck will not abandon us left wing Bloggers. He’s wealthy. He’s driven. He has a deep-seated hatred of not being loved by white people. I think we can anticipate bigger and crazier crazy.

Cenk: Anti-gay pastor caught maturating near a playground.

Thom: The Good, the Bad, and the Very, Very Ugly.

Maddow: Anti-gay marriage language slipped into Ohio “budget” bill.

Pres. Obama toasts Gov. Gregoire and the whole pack of Gubernators:

Defense of Marriage Act: That’s gay.

Revolution in the MiddleEast:

• Ann Telnaes: Gaddafi says Libyans will die to protect him.
• Cenk and Anna: Sheen or Gaddafi
• AC: Gaddafi guns down unarmed protesters in the streets

Young Turks: Anti-Muslim bill in TN.

Drug Czar Kerlikowske on pot legalization and the Seattle Times (via Slog).

Jon: The Pardon of the Christ (via TalkingPointsMemo).

Thom: “How far will you birthers go to keep a black person from being president?”

FAUX News “facts”:

• Liberal Viewer: FAUX News wants examples of bias?!?
• Cenk: FAUX News lies.
• FAUX News survives a tour of duty in Wisconsin (via TalkingPointsMemo).
• Tina DupeyFAUX News bias on WI protests.
• Young Turks: Rep. Weiner pwns FAUX News actress Megyn Kelly.
• FAUX News’ 32 second segment on Republican voter fraud (via TalkingPointsMemo).
• Tweety: “You know who’s un-American! Huckabee & Newt & the rest of yhe (FAUX) goon squad.”

Young Turks: Huckabee’s anti-Obama quasi-Birfer comment.

Sam Seder: George Will takes the Crazy Train to Glenn Becksville.

Revolution in the Middle West:

• GritTV: Rep. Cory Mason: Beating Walker’s Budget.
• Thom: What Republicans have learned from Wisconsin.
• Prank call to Walker pisses off Hitler (via TalkingPointsMemo):
• Pap: Koch brothers’ fascism on the move.
• Sam Seder: The Koch brothers, Scott Walker and garlic covered freedom dildos.
• Thom: Latest from the trenches in Madison.
• Jon on The Crisis in Dairyland (via Slog).
• GritTV: Budgeting badly in Wisconsin.
• Young Turks: Bill-O, Beck, Rush love their union.
• Ed is fired up about Walker’s budget.
• Thom: Wisconsin Democrats are fighting back.
• Sam Seder: The plutocracy and what Scott Walker really wants from Wisconsin State workers
• Thom: New ad campaign for Wisconsin.
• Tina Dupey interviews Ian Murphy, AKA ‘David Koch’.
• Maddow: WI Representative Nick Milroy wrestled to ground by police trying to enter his office
• WI Dem: G.O.P. are creating a Police state in WI (via TalkingPointsMemo).
• Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH): “Hitler didn’t want unions! Stalin didn’t want unions!”
• Democracy Now: The Indiana 35.

Stephen: New Country for Old Men (via OneGoodMove).

Young Turks: Sen. Hatch and the “Federal Government Dumbass Program”.

Rep: Jay Inslee (D-WA-01) on Boeing tanker deal:

White House: Behind the Scenes at “The Motown Sound”.

Federal Budget Battle:

• Maddow: G.O.P. votes for $40B in tax breaks for Big Oil.
• Newsy: Lawmakers kick the can 2 weeks down the road.
• GritTV: Fighting over crumbs left from military spending.
• Maddow: G.O.P. votes to cut IRS Collections from Rich .
• Cenk with Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA-07) on G.O.P. cut, cut, cut agenda.

Lawrence O’Donnell: How Mike Huckabee smears Mitt Romney.

Mark Fiore: Little Suzie Newsykins with “Cut and Run”.

Maddow: Newt’s fundraising scam.

EMILY’s List Senators fighting the G.O.P. war on women.

Young Turks: New Polls show U.S. liberal on taxes, budget cuts, bargaining rights.

Lawrence O’Donnell dismisses Huckabee’s ‘Boy Scout’ talk as culturally detached ‘lying’.

Ann Telnaes: Republican Trojan horse.

Young Turks: Strictest abortion law in U.S. coming to South “Coat Hanger” Dakota.

White House: West Wing Week.

Haters Have Free Speech Too:

• BBC: Supreme Court rules in favor of Westboro Baptist “Church.”
• Newsy: Hate speech is still free speech.
• Young Turks: Westboro Baptist “Church” Supreme Court decision.

Young Turks: 9-week year old fetus to testify.

Thom: Is there a civil war coming in the GOP?

The story of Citizens United v. FEC:

Maddow: Obama to G.O.P. governors, “Put-up or shut-up!

Cenk fires back at Rush.

Newsy’s hat trick in crazy: Teabagger compares Boehner to Charlie Sheen.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

From the floor of the U.S. Senate:

I look back in history, in some of the worst governments that we had, you know the first thing they did, go after unions, Hitler didn’t want unions, Stalin didn’t want unions, Mubarak didn’t want unions, these autocrats don’t want independent unions.

— Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

Update: You knew this was coming….

He’s Back! This photo is from last Thursday.

A couple of week ago I posted a picture of this guy at the same spot on the UW quad holding a sign saying, “Don’t Think”. I asked if anyone had a clue as to the purpose.

Well, meet Kevin Smith. He came to the comment thread and provided a few clues, and linked to his blog, Signs On the Quad.

So, now what do you think this is all about?

(And this does qualify as an Open Thread.)

And after years of chronic unemployment impoverished activism, Goldy really earns his paycheck. And man, when he gets a fire under his ass, he can perform!

Check out this outstanding feature for the current issue of The Stranger.

Goldy takes an in-depth look at a Governor Rob McKenna, and what McKenna’s own words and actions suggest would happen during his stay in the Governor’s mansion.

I won’t even offer a blockquote-bite here, but let me just tease you with, Hello…Wisconsin! For the full skinny on McKenna, head over to The Stranger, right now. There you will learn the nightmare-provoking truth about the many faces of Rob McKenna.

If, by chance, McKenna doesn’t capture the Governor’s mansion in 2012, Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) will deserve most of the credit. Goldy’s piece gets most of the rest.

(Full disclosure: Goldy is an occasional contributer to this blog.)

Yesterday there was this NY Times poll, of 984 adults, taken 24 to 27 Feb (3% margin of error):

Americans oppose weakening the bargaining rights of public employee unions by a margin of nearly two to one: 60 percent to 33 percent. While a slim majority of Republicans favored taking away some bargaining rights, they were outnumbered by large majorities of Democrats and independents who said they opposed weakening them.
[…]

The poll found that an overwhelming 71 percent of Democrats opposed weakening collective bargaining rights. But there was also strong opposition from independents: 62 percent of them said they opposed taking bargaining rights away from public employee unions.
[…]

The one group that favors weakening those rights, by a slim majority, was Republicans.

And today, a similar poll from the Wall Street Journal and NBC is about to be released. This poll sampled 1,000 adults (3.1% margin of error). From the preliminary WSJ write-up:

Eliminating collective bargaining rights for public-sector workers over health care, pensions or other benefits would be either “mostly unacceptable” or “totally unacceptable,” 62% of those surveyed said. Only 33% support such limits.

The results don’t bode well for Wisconsin’s newly elected Republican governor, Scott Walker, who is locked in a standoff with statehouse Democrats and unionized state workers over these rights.
[…]

Similarly, 77%…think unionized state and municipal employees should have the same rights as those union members who work for private companies.

You know, I seriously doubt the same poll taken six months ago would have come out anywhere near this pro-Labor. Gov. Walker’s extreme, and ham-handed politics, with a helping hand from New Jersey, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, etc. has been a big awakening for America’s inner progressive.

The question is does Walker do more damage by compromise, or by standing firm on stripping public employees of their collective bargaining rights?

Either way…Walker’s and the right wing extremist’s War on Workers has sustained a huge blow.

Upwards of 200 people, a hand full of police officers, a few different media organizations, and one bloodmobile braved gusty winds and rain this morning to gather by George on the University of Washington campus as part of a United Students Against Sweatshops national day of action.

The protests are in response to draconian budget cuts and anti-collective bargaining legislation proposed by governor Scott Walker (R-WI).

Here are some scenes from the demonstration taken from my cell phone:

I’m sure someone’s gonna claim the bloodmobile was used to bring in out-of-state protesters….

Please join us tonight for an evening of politics under the influence at the Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally. We meet at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. We start at 8:00 pm, but feel free to show up even earlier for dinner.

Not in Seattle? There is a good chance you live near one of the 214 other chapters of Drinking Liberally.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) at 10:30am, UW (Seattle) students will meet by the Statute of George Washington and protest in solidarity with UW–Madison students.

The United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) and members of the UW American Association of University Professors (AAUP) will demonstrate in support of
Wisconsin unions and workers. The rally is part of a USAS national day of action called by students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who are currently fighting draconian cuts proposed by governor Scott Walker (R-WI).

The full press release is posted at The Ave.

Remember that 2008 Republican primary candidate named Tommy Thompson? You know, that guy who demonstrated all the charisma of soiled laundry? Tommy was elected Governor of Wisconsin in the late 1980s. When elected, Illinois had had a Governor Jim Thompson in office for a decade. Big Jim was a Republican as well.

I don’t remember why, exactly—perhaps it was just a pissing contest over who the real Gov. Thompson was—but economic warfare ensued between the two neighboring states.

Gov. Jim struck first when a billboard appeared just over the Wisconsin border saying, “Gov. Thompson wants you to move your business to Illinois.” Cute. Gov. Tommy responded in kind, though I don’t remember the details. I moved out of Wisconsin as the battles raged. Not even sure who (if anyone) won the war.

Cut to 2011 :

After Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law a state income tax hike…New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels–all Republicans–pitched Illinois business to move to their states. Christie was the most aggressive, running newspaper and radio ads in Illinois and stopping earlier this month at the Union League Club in Chicago.

What is it with these Republicans and their desperate opportunism. You have to believe they’d sell the flesh of their own mothers if it might lure a business to their state. And they might not wait for death.

“What…you have a headache, Mom?”

“Well then perhaps you would you consider contributing some bits to my campaign to land our state a new Kibbles factory…MY PRETTY!”

Let’s examine a Democratic and Republican response to this gubernatorial scavenging. First, the Democrat (my emphasis):

At the opening session press conference on Saturday, I asked Washington State Gov. Christine Gregoire, a Democrat and the NGA chair, what she thought of governors coming to Illinois to steal jobs.

“Going over and stealing from someplace else really isn’t the future for them,” Gregoire said. “Their future is building their own economic stability inside their state…my policy as governor is anybody who wants to come to Washington State is welcome. I am not out trying to steal a company from my colleagues.”

And now, the Republican:

NGA co-chair, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman responded that it is okay to poach “I believe in competition among the states and among the countries.” He then gave out his phone number.

See any difference?

And hear that, Boeing? Gov. Heineman wants poached Boeing. For a good time, call Gov. Dave Heineman at 402-471-2244…and re-relocate your headquarters to fricken Nebraskghanistan.

Q: Who is winning the hearts and minds of Wisconsin voters?

A: Not Governor Scott Walker.

Public Policy Polling (PPP) has released a new opinion poll today, taken from 24-27 of February on 768 Wisconsin voters. From PPP’s write-up:

…if voters in the state could do it over today they’d support defeated Democratic nominee Tom Barrett over Scott Walker by a a 52-45 margin.

The difference between how folks would vote now and how they voted in November can almost all be attributed to shifts within union households. Voters who are not part of union households have barely shifted at all- they report having voted for Walker by 7 points last fall and they still say they would vote for Walker by a 4 point margin. But in households where there is a union member voters now say they’d go for Barrett by a 31 point margin, up quite a bit from the 14 point advantage they report having given him in November.

It’s actually Republicans, more so than Democrats or independents, whose shifting away from Walker would allow Barrett to win a rematch if there was one today.

The poll details are here.

Keep this in mind when Gov. Walker starts “ratcheting it up” with claims of irreversible damage Democratic senators are doing to the state by preventing a quorum, or about how the people of Wisconsin are tired of the Senators’ “stunt.” More likely than not…he’s bullshitting.

The major damage the Democrats are causing is to Walker’s future in elective office.

Today is the 10 anniversary of the Nisqually earthquake that shook the Seattle region and almost brought down the Alaska Way viaduct. 

I celebrated the day by driving the viaduct…for the first time in my life.  I took it southbound…you know, the direction that would get me pancaked in a collapse.

I was on my way to West Seattle to get a root canal.

You might say I was wishing for The Big One.

No such luck, as  I’m writing this from my phone while waiting in The Chair for the Novocaine to kick in. 

Update: Well, that wasn’t so bad. Root canals have a bad rep. I hereby apologize to the residents of the Puget Sound region for wishing mayhem, death and destruction upon them over my endodontic anxiety.

The 4:00 pm closing deadline is here, and the bottom two floors of the capitol building in Madison is still filled with protesters. Will the police take action to clear the building? If so, some resistance is expected. Watch it live…

Update: The world is watching! At 4:30 pm CDT (2:30 pm here on the left coast), there are over 10,000 people watching this live stream.

Update: The feed went dead around 4:32 CDT/2:32 PDT. Huh…imagine that.

Update: Mother Jones reports via Twitter that the internet has been cut off. Nobody is sure why.

Update (2:50 PDT): For now, you can follow the live stream at FOX News. Hold you nose, if you must, but it is just a feed…no commentary from the FAUX News entertainment gallery.

Update (3:15 pm): FOX News pulls the plug on their live stream.

Update (3:55 pm): Eric Kleefeld files this report from inside the capitol building.

Update (4:10 pm): Back to live (not–see below)…found a new video feed. (This one contains commentary.)

Update (4:18 pm): Fugitive Senators in Illinois have no plans to return to Wisconsin.

Update (4:30 pm): Okay…so the embedded “live stream” is not live. Here is a stream from someone’s iPhone that is, supposedly, live.

Update (4:59 pm): There are unconfirmed reports flying around the Tweetosphere that “Republican Sen. Dale Schultz will vote no on Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill”. This was just mentioned on the iPhone live feed too. “This is the crack in the armor!”

Update (5:00 pm): Apparently…capitol police are allowing protesters to spend the night. This is an impressive symbolic victory for the protesters.

Update (5:15 pm): Yep…the announcement has come that the protesters can stay for the night. And pizza will be delivered.

Update (5:32 pm): Ok…the current iPhone live feed from brandzel here.

Update (5:38 pm): Just heard on NPR bottom-o-the-hour newscast that Walker was “clearing the Wisconsin capitol building.” Someone needs to have a little talk with NPR’s news department about Twitter….

Update (6:01 pm): Rachael Maddow looks into Scott Walker’s disastrous attempt at busting unions while Milwaukee County Executive:

Finale (7:47 pm): Well…that was exciting.

Here is, I think, the take-home from this little episode of Walker’s War on Workers. First, tonight could have been just another evening of protesters in the Wisconsin capitol…a protest sleep-over like those of the preceding fortnight. But with the announcement that the protesters would be evicted from the capitol building on Sunday at 4:00 pm, the State Department of Administration created a huge confrontation. And both the old media and new media took a keen interest in the outcome. I didn’t really plan to live-blog this event. But with the live video feeds and instant reporting available through Twitter, the confrontation came alive–an epic battle was about to unfold between Walker and the protesters.

And the protesters won–big time. Tonight was a PR disaster for Walker.

The protesters won because the Administration had no choice but to back down. With a heavy media (old and new) presence, images of handcuffed teachers, students, firefighters, construction workers, etc. being dragged from the building would have been a disaster an order of magnitude larger that what we saw.

The protesters won because Walker’s cocksure posture has now been shown to be a façade, and one that is cracked. Walker is vulnerable.

The protesters won because the media saw police and firefighters, uniformed and off duty, stand with and even join in with the protesters. It does raise the question of whether the State Department of Administration made the decision to back down or whether the capitol police simply refused to clear the protesters out of the capitol.

The protesters won because, apparently, Republican Sen. Dale Schultz has decided to vote “no” on the bill. Yeah…it could be a trick. And, yeah, the Democrats need at least two more Republicans to kill the bill. But a Republican Senator rejecting the bill is huge (if actually true—I remain cautious). A week ago, I did not expect anything but the usual monolithic Republican support for the bill. If one Senator can bail, so can others. And now that the people of Wisconsin see that they can have a voice in the process, many more citizens will feel it worthwhile to write or call their elected leaders.

The protesters won through their longevity. A week ago, I could not imagine that the protests would be sustained through the week. Hell…a week ago I though it was unlikely that the bill would be killed. Now I’m not so sure. Tonight may be a defining moment—a turnaround—in Gov. Walker’s War on Workers.

Stay tuned!