Associated Press Photo
Yesterday in Wisconsin, a state panel set June 5 as the date for the recall election of Republican Governor Scott Walker.
Opponents of Walker secured over 900,000 signatures on a recall petition, well above the 540,000 required.
The significance of this recall election can not be overstated.
Walker, a hard line right wing reactionary, whose campaign for governor in 2010 was a huge recipient of the Koch Bros. largesse, became infamous last year for his direct assault on the public service unions in the state and particularly their right to continue collective bargaining.
Tens of thousands protested Walker's ham handed moves in Madison in the winter of 2011 which inspired similar rallies in all 50 states in solidarity with the Wisconsin protesters.
What happened in Wisconsin that winter was essentially the forerunner of the Occupy Wall Street protests that began later in September.
So this recall election in Wisconsin in June has national implications not only for the presidential election in November but also for the continued viability of the "occupy movement" whose support of workers, unions, collective bargaining and overall wage inequality was a significant part of its appeal to the 99% over the 1%.
If Walker survives his recall, which according to polls is 50-50, it will signal corporate money and its propaganda continues to hold sway over the majority of voters. Alternatively, if Walkers recall is successful, it will signal that a majority of voters reject Walker and his corporatist backer's assault not only on unionized labor and collective bargaining but the corporatists assault on middle class wages and middle class men and women generally.
The ball is clearly in Wisconsin's court and the outcome of this recall election will say a lot on where we as a people are headed, not only in Wisconsin, but nationally.
