The ongoing protests against Gov. Walker's proposal to strip public employees and their unions of collective bargaining rights hit yet another high note today with a rousing rendition of "Do You Hear the People Sing?" from Les Miserables early Sunday afternoon inside the Capitol.Led by an ensemble of trained vocalists and musicians, the song gathered strength from a vast chorus of demonstrators who joined in the refrain:
Do you hear the people sing,
singing the song of working men?
It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again.
When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums,
there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes.
Past galleries festooned with banners and signs, the voices rose from the rotunda floor. Watch the video:
The sing-along lent a sense of exultation, grandeur and determination that swept up onlookers who burst into their own chorus of cheers as the song climbed from crescendo to crescendo with an exhilaration that filled the Capitol dome -- reflecting a resolve that remains vigorous as the protests reach the end of their first full fortnight.
