Fighting City Hall in Milwaukee

Last month your favorite Peasant took part in a protest in downtown
Milwaukee; it was the first protest which I had attended in too many
years, so I thought that it would be good to get back into the game.
On this occasion I had gone to protest the launching of the Milwaukee
streetcar, the "Trommey" as we who are opposed to this boondoggle
call it, as it is the pet taxpayer money-wasting project of Milwaukee
Mayor Tom Barrett. The white elephant on tracks was situated by
Cathedral Square, where the mayor, several of his chums on the city's
Common Council, U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, and some other municipal
officials along with some wealthy liberals all in support of the thing
(never mind that they will never ride in it, as they will stick to their
Cadillacs, Lincolns, and Mercedes Benzes; they back Barrett to the
hilt on anything that is obscenely expensive, not at all necessary,
a burden to the taxpayers, and makes them and Barrett feel oh so
visionary, so intelligent, so intellectual, so much smarter, better than,
and superior to the local peasantry whom they hold in such disdain
and contempt, for they see these Great Unwashed as being simply
too stupid to see what is truly best for Milwaukee --- a trolley which
precious few will ride, as opposed to an improved bus system and
safer neighborhoods through hiring, training, and sending more police
to make them so. All plebeian concerns, not at all worthy of the city's
elites' time and efforts, you understand.

I was invited by Thomas Brian, the founder of G.R.A.S.P.
(Group Resistance Against Streetcar Policy), whom I had mentioned
in an earlier post on this topic, to join him and some other members
of our organization for a protest there at the launch party. I happily
accepted, and what I saw there made me so glad that I moved to
the suburbs! Hizzoner and his aforementioned chums and cronies
were gathered there, with Barrett and the municipal officials giving
self-congratulatory speeches, and doing more than a wee bit of
mutual backside-kissing. To witness it was as nauseating as watching
the Oscars for all this stomach-turning behavior! It made me again
ask a question that has been rattling inside my head since the last city
elections: Why did the people of Milwaukee re-elect the clueless
elitist Mayor Barrett, and by a huge margin? They complain about
the soaring crime in the city, the potholes in the streets begging to be
filled in, and other things that Barrett and Co. can't seem to be
bothered with, but they vote overwhelmingly to keep him on?
Talk about voting against your interests, to steal a favorite phrase of
left-wingers when they criticize people for not voting for their
candidates and causes.

Thomas handed me some placards to hand out, listing the Top 10
Reasons to oppose the Streetcar, and I immediately got busy. After
a while, a nicely dressed middle-aged woman who, as it turned out,
was one of the Barrett people putting on the party, politely but firmly
informed me that I couldn't hand out our material on the park grounds
while the bash was proceeding. I found it very odd and most discom-
fiting, but I played along just to see where this would lead, reasoning
if there was to be a scene, I would not be the one to start it. Thomas and
I were there just to make our side of the issue known, to ensure that we
would have our half of the inning. She guided me to a spot on a corner
across the street from the square, saying I would be free to distribute
my lit there. I still went along with this, and if she was hoping to quash
distribution of the literature, she miscalculated greatly. I gave out half
of the sheaf that Thomas gave me, and then I decided to head back to
the square.

I caught up with Thomas and told him what happened, then we went to
look for this woman. Upon finding her, Thomas demanded to know
why we weren't allowed to give out our information to the attendees,
to which the woman gave a bunch of reasons which didn't make much
sense or none at all. She even said that she was concerned that our lit
would end up on the ground (!) after the event. Thomas said that as
head of the group he'd take full responsibility for the literature, but
she was unpersuaded. Thomas said that we had every right to be
there with our materials, the First Amendment and all that, as she
walked away. Then it was time for Mayor Barrett to address the
gathering, followed by the aforementioned big shots joining him.
Thomas had something else up his sleeve; signs to hold up, one
saying "Boo!" (to hold aloft when cheering and clapping interrupted
the speeches), and another saying "Say No to the Trolley!". He had
other signs, but the others who said they'd show up didn't, including
some friends of mine whom I had called to ask them along. And we
gave out more of our "Top 10" placards, in defiance of the Barrett
stooge. By the by, City Hall never complained about the signs, lit,
and other items strewn on the ground by left-of-center protesters
at their gatherings at Cathedral Square and elsewhere around
Milwaukee. I've seen the terrible state in which they left the city's
public squares and other gathering places and can attest to their
making pigs look like The Odd Couple's Felix Unger to their
Oscar Madison. And not a peep from the city's bigwigs!

We chatted with attendees who were opposed to the streetcar but
came out of morbid curiosity to see how big a turnout there would
be, what the streetcar looked like, would there be any others there
in opposition to the "Trommey". I had my picture taken by a couple
of these folks with my big sign. Although we didn't have much of
a turnout for our protest, we did encounter people there who shared
our opposition to the thing, all for the same reasons. And we learned
that dissent in Milwaukee, when aimed at the powers that be, is
NOT patriotic, and is to be frowned upon and discouraged. Such as
it is when dealing with liberals in positions of power. And a reminder
of what we as a nation are facing across the political divide in the
war for the heart and soul of our country. Fighting the flight of fancy
of a left-wing mayor is but a skirmish in this nationwide war. We
have many bigger clashes ahead. This all is far from over, my grand
readers, so count on our being in it for the long haul --- and it
shall be very long.


MEM