'Operation Esquire' is what Nick Nice calls this photo, which captures Republican legislators celebrating at the Esquire Club following Gov. Walker's budget address on Tuesday. It was snapped by Nick's friend 'Sassy Fupa.'
In addition to regularly holding down the DJ booth at Madison night clubs, DJ Nick Nice's name often shows up on posters for fund raisers, community gatherings and family events. Since the protests at the Capitol started a few weeks ago, he's been spotted regularly around the Square, often in a powdered wig and accompanied by his baby boy Maceo. His Facebook and Twitter accounts has been a great source of information about rallies and demonstrations. He even ordered up a case of vuvuzelas a week ago, handing them out to anyone who promised to use them wisely. He posted the following essay to Facebook on Wednesday and gave us permission to republish it here.
So it's now been almost 3 weeks since our lives in Madison have been turned upside down and I needed to take a pause to reflect upon what's happening. It's hard to put into words exactly what's going on here but it sort of feels like we're in a war and at the best party of our lives at the exact same time. The connections and bonds that have been formed over the past few weeks will affect us for the rest of our lives. What started as simple outrage to a flawed bill, along with threats of calling in the National Guard on us, has rapidly evolved into a battle for Democracy and Human Rights.
Once we had time to actually read the bill and see Walker's actions, the true intentions of this bill and Walker's plans were made crystal clear. The media portrays it simply as a pro-union issue but those of us who live here, and especially those of us who are at the Capitol every day, know that it's actually an assault on our everyday lives. Obviously the union aspect of this is huge but it's SO much more than that. Many days that I'm at the Capitol it's apparent that most of the people there are just everyday average Wisconsinites who are fighting for their friends and family. Most of them have nothing to do with a union.
It's ironic that Republicans say the protesters are "a bunch of slobs" and "just a bunch of college students having a fun party" because I've been disappointed that there have not been many students there and all the usual hippie protester types and influential people of Madison have been notably absent. Instead it's been people like myself, many stay-at-home moms, professionals taking sick days to be there and basically average working Americans taking time off to express their constitutional rights.
We are in a battle for our future, our children's future and ultimately the future of this country. It's not even just about the survival of the Democratic party as it's been framed in some places. It's about fighting for good in the world, treating people with respect, education, public services and basic human rights. The fact that several of us (myself included) have received multiple death threats simply for fighting for our beliefs should tell you that the evil forces we're up against know what's at stake and they are afraid. It's almost like we're fighting a faceless enemy at times though since most of those threats come from people who don't live here.
The media aren't covering this properly because ultimately we're also in a battle with the lies they've been feeding us all our lives. Sure there's an accurate story here and there, but we are up against a VERY powerful propaganda machine and it takes a lot of time and effort to see through how the media manipulates the news. It's not just Fox, all the major networks do it. So what has become clear to me in all of this is that it's up to people like myself to report the news and what's really happening here.
The ironic thing to me is that we're not some crazy left wing militia but rather pragmatic middle-of-the-road people who just want an actual democracy, basic human rights, quality education and public services along with truthful media. It's truly the battle for common sense if you think about it.
While sometimes I feel like I'm yelling "the sky is falling!" and no one is listening, with each passing day it becomes apparent that something sinister is afoot here and if you care about this country you can no longer ignore it. I use the word Fascism and often get criticized for it, but if you look at what's going on here there are many of the characteristics of a Fascist movement.
Those of us who know history can see the signs of what's happening and what the future will be like if we don't take a stand now. However we're not there yet so perhaps using the word Autocracy is more accurate. That being said we have to start thinking of this like a game of chess and be thinking a few moves ahead.
While I can't go into full detail yet about Operation Esquire what I can say is what worked about it. We need to go into public situations that Republican leaders are in and attempt to stealthily document what's going on through photos, recordings, video, etc. The prank phone call illustrated that all the arguments in the world aren't nearly as powerful as hearing or seeing their misdeeds and broadcasting them to the world. And if we know one thing about corrupt politicians (of all parties) it's that they're brazen and will do foolish things in public.
I'm quite confident that even the most ardent Walker supporters will ultimately see how evil and corrupt this man is and will eventually have a hard time supporting him. Of course not everyone will be convinced, even Nixon and Bush had their supporters after their lies were exposed.
We have to take action before it's too late, Wisconsin is literally being decimated with every passing day. We're losing UW professors, teachers, veteran public-sector workers and professionals from varied fields as many of them have already taken early retirements to be able to keep their benefits. Some are planning to move away from here. The brain-drain has already happened and the more it continues the quicker Wisconsin will be unable to recover in our lifetime (or ever).
Situations with Walker are a bit different as I think we need to block his moves and make him feel unwelcome in public no matter where he goes. He is a rat that needs to feel trapped. He's so deluded into thinking that what he's doing is right that if the truth keeps getting shoved in his face he won't be able to ignore it anymore. He's obviously trying to anger us with his words, tweets and press conferences but we can easily be peacefully aggressive with him. No need to fall into the trap of being violent with him, as that would defeat all the goodwill that's been built up through our peaceful resistance.
That being said I'm confident we can win this battle. It won't be easy, I think many people thought it would all be over in a couple of weeks. We have to be strong, intelligent and always keep our sense of humor. For if we can't laugh in even the most difficult of situations, evil has already won. The fight for our future has literally been brought to our doorsteps, are you going to passively sit and take it or are you going to fight for your rights?
