Yesterday, over 1,000 people flooded the lawn in front of the Capitol in Michigan and filled the Capitol itself at an AARP-sponsored protest rally. Photos by my friend, Larry.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to stop the state Congress from passing the oppressive Emergency Financial Manager act which creates Super Czars to take control of municipalities which the Governor has decided are in financial trouble and need to be rescued. The bill goes to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder for his signature.
A group of about 40 people, led, in part, by former MI-08 candidate Lance Enderle, attempted to occupy the Capitol building last night after the 5:30 closing time but they were rebuffed by Capitol security. So much attention is on Michigan right now that these 40 intrepid souls were significantly outnumbered by the press as the showdown played out.
UPDATE: Here’s a video of Lance Enderle speaking yesterday:
More photos at the Lansing State Journal.
Today a much larger rally is scheduled, this one hosted by a wide variety of groups including the AFL-CIO, the UAW, and MoveOn.org. OFA folks from around the state have also pitched in their efforts to help recruit. I’ll be there myself and will report on it tomorrow.
Adding…I should probably explain my position on these rallies given my pessimistic statement about them in my recent blog rant about “Teaching Obama a Lesson”. I do not think these rallies will change a single Republican vote. Michigan Republicans know they hold all the cards; all the political power right now. However, the rallies serve to show that Democrats are not silent and, more importantly in my opinion, should help to energize Democrats to ORGANIZE NOW!!! in preparation for 2012. We may not have a voice now but we will on November 6, 2012 and now is the time to start getting ready for that. It doesn’t matter which group you connect with, we need all hands on deck, in Michigan and elsewhere, in 2012.
I’m just sayin’…
