Having been a resident of Madison, Wisconsin in the late 1960s and early 70s, I became acutely aware of that state's extreme political polarization. Madison, the home of the huge University of Wisconsin, is populated by many people on the left of the political spectrum.
This "left", of course, must be seen as relative to politics in the US where the political spectrum has moved to the right ever since the days of Senator Joe McCarthy (also from Wisconsin) and the right-wing anti-communist hysterical witch hunts. The latter were an organized attack by right-wing capitalists following WWII against all the gains made by working people in the 1930s.
The campaign purged all left thinking people from Hollywood, institutions of higher learning, media, government, and labor unions. It was highly successful and resulted in the emergence of the military-industrial complex where government increasingly became directed by private interests operating behind the scenes. Many people saw this development as "friendly fascism". Read The Secret Team by Col.(ret) L. Fletcher Prouty, who saw this happening from the inside, for the details.
At first as I read recent articles like this, I thought that the opposition to the Governor's attacks on state workers was largely confined to liberal Madison and would likely go nowhere. I'm not so sure now.
"I've never seen anything like it. It wasn't just teachers and union members from the University of Wisconsin (UW), where I work. There were Steelworkers, Teamsters, Pipefitters, building trades unions and more--unions I've never seen at a rally in 10 years," he said. "The most amazing thing is when the firefighters came in a delegation. Along with police, Walker has exempted firefighters from the legislation, but they came with signs that said, 'Firefighters for workers' rights.' People were crying."
