There was 100,000 people on the square every weekend during the winter of 2011 trying to get Scott Walker recalled - and nothing changed. Obama gave zero support and the mainstream neoliberal Dems barely noticed and few cared about what was happening in a “flyover state”, despite Wisconsin’s history as a progressive bastion.
It made me realize that in this post Citizens United world that ordinary people have no ability to affect change.
I’ve watched the deterioration of everything: schools, infrastructure, utilities, etc., just crumble away over the subsequent 14 years.
Really great piece! My parents went to this as their first protest and I was so curious what the crowd would be like since I don’t know any younger people who went (including myself). Thanks for great reporting!
I was at the one today in Mountain View, CA. Looked like >85% of us (including me) were over 60. I'm glad we Boomers are showing up, but somehow we need to get younger people involved.
Some clever signs I saw:
- All of my OUTRAGE can't fit on this sign!
- Does this ass [photo of Trump] make my country look small?
I join the others in extending kudos for this reporting. I keyed in on this paragraph:
"People are pissed at management writ large, with those who run the country. Not just Trump or Elon, not just Republicans or Democrats, not just the appistocracy or corporate America, but all of them."
It gave me pause to think, and then it dawned on me. We are being played in the largest (to date, anyway) private equity takeover ever. The p/e investors/managing partners use leveraged buyouts (other people’s money) to finance their acquisitions of businesses throughout the economy. They load these companies up with debt (again other people’s money); pay themselves with a healthy cut of the profits and management fees; impose ruthless cost-cutting measures; then profit further by selling off the assets after running the businesses into the ground. They have enriched themselves obscenely not through any managerial acumen, but by sticking the bill to others. They have deformed the economy by putting people out of work and weakening communities.
Their latest acquisition has been that of the federal government, with control of all three branches completed on Nov. 5th of last year (the Supreme Court takeover had already been accomplished some years earlier). They are now on the path of making it barely functional, except for its war making and surveillance capabilities, by putting hundreds of thousands of government employees out of work and selling off government programs, functions, and assets to their other private sector management elites (cronies). They additionally reward themselves handsomely with further tax cuts for the wealthy structured by the Congress which they own, and by run-ups in the now $36 trillion dollar national debt, the interest on which (forget the principal) is paid for by further sell-offs and reductions in government services, in other words all borne by ordinary people.
People are right in perceiving this is not just Trump, it is indeed (mis)management writ large that they are protesting against. Frighteningly, it is now an open question who will prevail.
I'll just offer this take: the massive hit taking the financials down is, yes, causing injury to 401Ks & followers of Jim Cramer, but the very robust financial market schemers that you fault in para #3 are getting hammered as well; our country has been hollowed out and the 2/3 of the total US workforce that doesn't have a college degree (and are least likely to own stocks) are the ones who have suffered from the catastrophic lack of opportunity in this now Service economy. what do you think is happening to all the fat cats who have managed to enrich themselves through cronyism at every level of govt? As Buffet has said - when the tide goes out, we will see who's been swimming naked. to me, these moves by Trump are an attempt to reverse the generations of decline that have left those who work with their hands, who make and build things from washing machines to mouse traps, a chance to reclaim a dignified place in the economy. why do things not play out before condemning the process? A lot of people voted for revolution, and they're getting one
sorry, but the climate change adherents have seriously overplayed their hand; I worked for the Council on Atmospheric Sciences back in the 1970s and '80s & while they persuaded some national publications of our certain doom by Y2K, there is scant evidence of the alleged impacts being realized. in short, your views are not those of a majority of the US or world population. Majority rules
The only online reference I could find was in a May 13, 1976 article in the NYT in which the opening paragraph reads, "Industry scientists [I emphasize those words] suggested yesterday that recently revised estimates of atmospheric chemistry may reduce the predicted effects of fluorocarbons upon the protective ozone layer 'nearly to zero,' and that therefore an early ban on their use it [sic] spray cans was unnecessary."
A few questions, if you don't mind:
Were you one of those scientists?
Can you tell us more about the council, e.g., its members, its funding sources?
My proofreading is proving deficient, the opening line of the above post should have read, "The only online reference I could find to the Council on Atmospheric Sciences was in a May 13, 1976 article in NYT..."
Let me also go back to AG Fromuth's points about this country being hollowed out, that those particularly without a college education are the ones who are suffering, that the fat cats have enriched themselves through cronyism at every level of government... I wholeheartedly agree.
What I wholeheartedly disagree with is that Trump has begun the revolution to "reverse the generations of decline... to reclaim a dignified place in the economy." Trump, being in the company of the aforementioned fat cats, has launched not a revolution but a devolution, "tending toward or resulting in a worse or previous state" as the dictionary says. Some say a reversion to the Gilded Age. I think worse than that. He has put in motion forces, while concurrently eliminating or circumventing checks on them, to accelerate this devolution, and that's one reason we can't allow this malignant process play out.
Checking in from Des Moines, IA. Huge crowd here as well. I was at the one in February, and the one today probably had twice as many people.
I am pleased to see that the nationwide protests made the news this time. The one in February was downplayed by the MSM as a kind of scattered set of protests, happening in a few locations, even though every single state had one. BBC reported on it accurately this time, as a nationwide, and even global, event.
Ken, your reporting makes it clear that most people feel we can’t count on elected members of Congress to lead. Did you get any sense that they’re looking to alternative sources of leadership, like unions and/or third parties? And what, if anything, are they actually willing to do - beyond marching - to develop new leaders and bring about real change?
Well done! Love the open-ended question to start, A+ journalism, letting people tell their own story instead of imposing a narrative from the get-go.
I also really appreciate the transcript/excerpts, I love video interviews and I am also grateful that if I don't currently have my headphones handy I can still read about what happened. Makes the video format very accessible, thank you!
Getting out on the front lines is a testament to your dedication of getting to the real story. Always nice to hear what fellow Americans have to say and the root causes of their frustration.
I couldn't go to the one in Hartford at the last minute, so this is so great to hear! I don't know what to call it, but it feels like Americans offline are actually uniting.
Thank you for the article, most opinions seemed to be similar, hope Congress is paying attention. I wonder if people will vote these people out. Surprised there wasn’t many against the Palestinian genocide. Thanks again, informative.
Good reporting. Thanks for doing this.
Glad you found it helpful, David!
Let this movement grow!
Wisconsin died in 2010 with Act 10.
There was 100,000 people on the square every weekend during the winter of 2011 trying to get Scott Walker recalled - and nothing changed. Obama gave zero support and the mainstream neoliberal Dems barely noticed and few cared about what was happening in a “flyover state”, despite Wisconsin’s history as a progressive bastion.
It made me realize that in this post Citizens United world that ordinary people have no ability to affect change.
I’ve watched the deterioration of everything: schools, infrastructure, utilities, etc., just crumble away over the subsequent 14 years.
It’s been a nightmare.
Really great piece! My parents went to this as their first protest and I was so curious what the crowd would be like since I don’t know any younger people who went (including myself). Thanks for great reporting!
Glad you found it helpful! Interesting that this was your parents first (like Larry’s). Wonder if this is some kind of tipping point for people
I was at the one today in Mountain View, CA. Looked like >85% of us (including me) were over 60. I'm glad we Boomers are showing up, but somehow we need to get younger people involved.
Some clever signs I saw:
- All of my OUTRAGE can't fit on this sign!
- Does this ass [photo of Trump] make my country look small?
- Orange lies matter! Make America THINK again!
OK - but has anybody there protested the US genocide in Gaza?
so..............if Harris won you wouldnt be outraged - i get that - but what policies would you be hoping for?
I join the others in extending kudos for this reporting. I keyed in on this paragraph:
"People are pissed at management writ large, with those who run the country. Not just Trump or Elon, not just Republicans or Democrats, not just the appistocracy or corporate America, but all of them."
It gave me pause to think, and then it dawned on me. We are being played in the largest (to date, anyway) private equity takeover ever. The p/e investors/managing partners use leveraged buyouts (other people’s money) to finance their acquisitions of businesses throughout the economy. They load these companies up with debt (again other people’s money); pay themselves with a healthy cut of the profits and management fees; impose ruthless cost-cutting measures; then profit further by selling off the assets after running the businesses into the ground. They have enriched themselves obscenely not through any managerial acumen, but by sticking the bill to others. They have deformed the economy by putting people out of work and weakening communities.
Their latest acquisition has been that of the federal government, with control of all three branches completed on Nov. 5th of last year (the Supreme Court takeover had already been accomplished some years earlier). They are now on the path of making it barely functional, except for its war making and surveillance capabilities, by putting hundreds of thousands of government employees out of work and selling off government programs, functions, and assets to their other private sector management elites (cronies). They additionally reward themselves handsomely with further tax cuts for the wealthy structured by the Congress which they own, and by run-ups in the now $36 trillion dollar national debt, the interest on which (forget the principal) is paid for by further sell-offs and reductions in government services, in other words all borne by ordinary people.
People are right in perceiving this is not just Trump, it is indeed (mis)management writ large that they are protesting against. Frighteningly, it is now an open question who will prevail.
I'll just offer this take: the massive hit taking the financials down is, yes, causing injury to 401Ks & followers of Jim Cramer, but the very robust financial market schemers that you fault in para #3 are getting hammered as well; our country has been hollowed out and the 2/3 of the total US workforce that doesn't have a college degree (and are least likely to own stocks) are the ones who have suffered from the catastrophic lack of opportunity in this now Service economy. what do you think is happening to all the fat cats who have managed to enrich themselves through cronyism at every level of govt? As Buffet has said - when the tide goes out, we will see who's been swimming naked. to me, these moves by Trump are an attempt to reverse the generations of decline that have left those who work with their hands, who make and build things from washing machines to mouse traps, a chance to reclaim a dignified place in the economy. why do things not play out before condemning the process? A lot of people voted for revolution, and they're getting one
For those interested in gaining more insight into the Svengalis of "(mis)management writ large", I suggest this interview by Chris Hedges with Gretchen Morgenson, who has done excellent work reporting on private equity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shv9g-4xXww and this piece in The Nation on one of the practitioners of the dark arts of p/e Bill Ackman https://www.thenation.com/article/society/william-ackman-harvard-donor/.
It makes for pretty nauseating watching and reading.
Meant to say why not let things play out before condemning the process
Because the situation is akin to ignoring the impending collapse stemming from global warming.
sorry, but the climate change adherents have seriously overplayed their hand; I worked for the Council on Atmospheric Sciences back in the 1970s and '80s & while they persuaded some national publications of our certain doom by Y2K, there is scant evidence of the alleged impacts being realized. in short, your views are not those of a majority of the US or world population. Majority rules
The only online reference I could find was in a May 13, 1976 article in the NYT in which the opening paragraph reads, "Industry scientists [I emphasize those words] suggested yesterday that recently revised estimates of atmospheric chemistry may reduce the predicted effects of fluorocarbons upon the protective ozone layer 'nearly to zero,' and that therefore an early ban on their use it [sic] spray cans was unnecessary."
A few questions, if you don't mind:
Were you one of those scientists?
Can you tell us more about the council, e.g., its members, its funding sources?
How did its statement on fluorocarbons hold up?
What do you make of 2024 being Earth’s warmest year since modern record-keeping began around 1880, and the past 10 consecutive years have been the warmest 10 on record [https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/temperatures-rising-nasa-confirms-2024-warmest-year-on-record/].
Similarly, what do you make of "the amount of sea ice on the planet had reached the lowest level ever recorded in March" [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/27/climate/global-sea-ice-record-low.html?searchResultPosition=3]?
My proofreading is proving deficient, the opening line of the above post should have read, "The only online reference I could find to the Council on Atmospheric Sciences was in a May 13, 1976 article in NYT..."
Let me also go back to AG Fromuth's points about this country being hollowed out, that those particularly without a college education are the ones who are suffering, that the fat cats have enriched themselves through cronyism at every level of government... I wholeheartedly agree.
What I wholeheartedly disagree with is that Trump has begun the revolution to "reverse the generations of decline... to reclaim a dignified place in the economy." Trump, being in the company of the aforementioned fat cats, has launched not a revolution but a devolution, "tending toward or resulting in a worse or previous state" as the dictionary says. Some say a reversion to the Gilded Age. I think worse than that. He has put in motion forces, while concurrently eliminating or circumventing checks on them, to accelerate this devolution, and that's one reason we can't allow this malignant process play out.
Grassroots movements are the most powerful, may this movement grow exponentially!! It’s time the people take back the power. They work for us!
Only if people would notice the US genocide in Gaza
I agree 100%
Checking in from Des Moines, IA. Huge crowd here as well. I was at the one in February, and the one today probably had twice as many people.
I am pleased to see that the nationwide protests made the news this time. The one in February was downplayed by the MSM as a kind of scattered set of protests, happening in a few locations, even though every single state had one. BBC reported on it accurately this time, as a nationwide, and even global, event.
Hi, Abigail! Really enjoyed hearing people’s thoughts, wish media did more of this kind of thing
Ken, your reporting makes it clear that most people feel we can’t count on elected members of Congress to lead. Did you get any sense that they’re looking to alternative sources of leadership, like unions and/or third parties? And what, if anything, are they actually willing to do - beyond marching - to develop new leaders and bring about real change?
The sense I got was that people are increasingly taking things into their own hands. Most didn’t mention alternatives
Kamala and Trump show that Americans suck at democracy - as the great Scott Ritter said
Well done! Love the open-ended question to start, A+ journalism, letting people tell their own story instead of imposing a narrative from the get-go.
I also really appreciate the transcript/excerpts, I love video interviews and I am also grateful that if I don't currently have my headphones handy I can still read about what happened. Makes the video format very accessible, thank you!
Good to see the rage bubbling. Thanks for the great work.
Was a lot of fun just chatting with people. Glad you liked it!
Getting out on the front lines is a testament to your dedication of getting to the real story. Always nice to hear what fellow Americans have to say and the root causes of their frustration.
I couldn't go to the one in Hartford at the last minute, so this is so great to hear! I don't know what to call it, but it feels like Americans offline are actually uniting.
Hands Off protesting was an Elixir! Many people said , see you here next Saturday!
Lots of first time protestors in Renton,WA.
Favorite signs:
Defund Musk
Hands Off My Family
But - NO to US genocide in Gaza and to Israel First….
Did anyone suggest that we need to “Vote Harder” or demand pictures of Hunter’s hawg? Follow up question, why not?
No. Be the change you wish to see in the world
I'm very busy posting my way to a leftist utopia. I can't attend rallies from the couch.
Thank you for the article, most opinions seemed to be similar, hope Congress is paying attention. I wonder if people will vote these people out. Surprised there wasn’t many against the Palestinian genocide. Thanks again, informative.