My assembly representative (whom I didn’t support — he is not known to be particularly leftwing, and the Reps don’t bother running in this seat, so I supported the Green) writes the following instructions to his friends:

Continue to show up here at the capitol and shake the foundations of this building with your opposition.

Contact friends and relatives around the state and urge them to contact their Republican representatives. If you
know anyone in Appleton or Neenah (Senator Ellis), the LaCrosse area (Senator Kapanke), the Hudson area
(Senator Harsdorf), the Ripon area (Senator Olsen), Waupun or Beaver Dam (Senate Majority Leader Fitzgerald),
Platteville or Dodgeville (Senator Schultz), Sheboygan or Manitowoc (Senator Leibham), the Green Bay area
(Senator Cowles), Fond du Lac or Oshkosh (Senator Hopper), communication from the constituents of these
Senators would be especially helpful.

Protests continue at the state capitol building, as well as major rallies, until the people of our state are heard by
this Governor.

So, the Rep Senators thought to be particularly vulnerable to caving are named, and, wherever you are, if you know people who live in those districts prevail upon them to write or call, maintaining a polite friendly demeanor if possible.

Phelps asks me “How often has a Democratic representative asked constituents to shake the foundations of the Capitol building?” Not a lot in the past few decades, I’d guess.

Oh, and my representative will have to do some really awful stuff in the coming year or so if he wants me to support an opponent again at the next election.

The downfall of the Gaddafi dictatorship now seems certain, despite brutal and bloody attempts at repression. The failure of these attempts kills off what was briefly the conventional wisdom, that dictatorships in the region can hold on if they “don’t blink“. At this point, Gaddafi and his remaining supporters will be lucky if they can make it to The Hague for their trials, rather than sharing the fate of the Ceaucescus.

Now a new conventional wisdom seems to be emerging, at least according to this article in the NY Times. The central idea is that while dictatorships (more accurately perhaps, tyrannies, in the classical sense of monarchs who have seized their thrones with no prior hereditary claim) are doomed, but that monarchies can survive with cosmetic concessions. In particular, on this analysis, the US relationship with the House of Saud can go on more or less as before.

There’s an element of truth here, but the central claim is wishful thinking

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