POWIP Piece of Work In Progress

The Row

I chose to address the quarrel between my friends Stacy and Joy by means of an allegory that was also an essay. People who read it are free to interpret it as they like, because that's really all I care to say on the subject.

I've never made an historical study of feminism. I don't pretend to know. Jeff's categorization of the subject seems useful to me, but that's a function of my own polemics.

I have written about it because I wanted to demonstrate to both of them that I care, but I'm not going to choose sides, because I believe that they're arguing at cross purposes. Everyone has his own non-negotiables, and one of my own is caritas, however short of it I may often fall. That, in turn, is because I am a hypocrite, but I like to believe that I get points for trying not to be.

Was the Wife of Bath a kind of feminist? Was Christine de Pisan? Neda? I think it depends on what you mean. I think it's absurd for us to criticize Obama for playing golf and meddling in state politics while Japan reels and American-killer Gaddafi clings to power while focusing on this. So, I am done.

Many thanks to Mike for the link.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Regarding “Downton Abbey”

I mentioned it yesterday in my post about Stacy, Hugo and breasts, and I've just finished watching the last episode of 2010's first season. It's tremendous, but here's how it's described on Netflix:

Exposing the snobbery, backbiting and machinations of a disappearing class system, this seven-part British series chronicles the comings and goings of the upper-crust Crawley family and their assorted servants. Ensconced in their stately manor, the Crawleys delight in their aristocratic life -- until the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912 muddles their line of inheritance. Maggie Smith plays the sneering Dowager Countess of Grantham.

The sneering is a projection of the blurb-writer.

Yesterday, in a long (but interesting) diatribe against Little Miss Attila and feminism, Stacy reproduced one of my favorite Chesterton quotes:

“My attitude toward progress has passed from antagonism to boredom. I have long ceased to argue with people who prefer Thursday to Wednesday because it is Thursday.”
– G.K. Chesterton, 1913

As a Roman Catholic, I have a perspective on that that Stacy may not share in its entirety. And what is the matter with that? Nothing at all. Undoubtedly, Victor Davis Hanson, who knows a great deal more about early Western Civilization than I do, has a different perspective still, and Jews of my acquaintance (even those who share many of my political opinions) still another.

But the falsity of the blurb-writer's obvious contempt for the exquisite James Fellowes drama amounts to bad faith. Let's consider the terminology regarding the "Gothic" in literature. Henry James, who was no slouch as a writer (though in my view he never produced anything that came near to touching Melville's The Con Man, for example), regarded the so-called Gothic novel (or Gothick, if you want to get all Mathew Lewis-y about it) as a species of "loose baggy monsters." Yet he never did produce anything either in my personal estimation as truly great as Wuthering Heights or Frankenstein; but perhaps I'm just insufficiently appreciative, and the limitation is not his so much as mine. He might have disparaged the very term, "gothic," as itself a kind of inexact grokking regarding the effect, such as we might employ the term "slasher" with respect to film. If one chooses to view the matter that way, there's little that another one can do to talk one out of it, even though another one might assert as a point of departure that it's unfair to expect a composition that functions according to its own internal logic, quite different from that one employ in one's own compositions, to answer to an alien aesthetic.

That is not to say that the aesthetic isn't ideological, either, though in the hands of Aristotle the ideology of the aesthetic is quite different from what it is in the hands of Terry Eagleton. In my particular field of study, Renaissance English and Italian literature, there was an enormous quarrel, which I've noted elsewhere, between those who felt that Aristotle's aesthetics were meant to be prescriptive or descriptive. My personal view is that to state that it was descriptive is a great deal saner. Also in my personal view, Shakespeare, who knew something about dramatic composition, thought so as well and even commented on the issues metadramatically in some of his plays.

To go into the differences between Shakespeare as a practitioner of crowd-pleasing dramaturgy on the one hand and an academic practitioner like Guarini, the Ferrarese author of the tragicomedy Il pastor fido, would take me some distance from where I mean to go. Let's just say that comparatively speaking, Eagleton is one of those whose ideology gets in the way. He truly believes that Marxist dialectic is somehow more "material," to use the word that Marxists love to use, and therefore tries to grind every composition within reach through the "function box," if you're old enough to remember that piece of crap analogy in mathematics, of Marxism, to see what kind of word-sausage emerges on the other side. If it turns out unsavory, that's not the fault of the box, but of the ingredient.

So, back to sneering. The blurb would give you the idea that the author's intention is to demonstrate how awful and benighted those people were. On the contrary, he shows complex people dealing with change in ways that are mostly honest, dignified and heroic. Among the many themes are duty, honor, love, ambition, truth, self-narration and -invention, weakness and strength, humility and pride, honesty and work, but above all change and the demands it places on people trying to do the best they can, whether only for themselves or for the community at large, however one defines it. The blurb-writer is insensitive to all that, because it is Thursday.

Tomorrow, it will be Friday (metaphorically), and perhaps some future graduate student will be given the unlucky task of having to read the meanderings of what was once called a "blogger" on some archaic electronic platform called "the Internet." And if that unlucky graduate student unluckily happens upon this unlucky piece, they may wonder what sort of a man the author was. Or perhaps not. But I am vain enough to hope that that person will think well of me, and that if people still pray, she will do so for me.

In the course of his writing, Stacy's even found space to mention with approval something by James Wolcott. Whether Wolly finds that pleasing, I can't say. I hope so, because it was honestly meant. And I imagine, too, that when he is gone, Mr. Wolcott will wish to be remembered as someone who meant well, and meant to give pleasure to his readers, and I imagine that he has by and large succeeded. Generosity should be answered with generosity, I think.

The pretext is another matter. I am sure I have put off any number of people with my continuous and not-always-as-funny-as-I-meant jesting, but I think that it's important, even if one is scrupulous and has a reasonable valuation of his worth, to cultivate a certain amount of Honey Badgery where insults intended or not are concerned.

Talk to the claw.

The nose is out of joint. O, cursed spite . . .

Disclaimer: Nobody's feelings were intentionally hurt in the composition of this post.

NB: I would have chosen Sybil. Despite her patrician beauty, Mary's too full of passionate neurosis, like me, and I'm too superficial to be attracted to Edith. In truth, though my wife is named Mary, I did marry Sybilishly, and am a happy, stupid Irishish person for it.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Post-Ides Round-Up

I'm glad we've gotten beyond that beware the Ides, the Ides beware stuff for another year, aren't you?

The ever-fascinating Crassy and Pompous stuff is provided by Ulsterman, whose latest Deep Throated interview may be his most interesting yet. If the stuff about Rahm Emanuel is true, I may owe the Rahmster an apology, for I was among those who believed that he'd been dispatched to Chicago to keep a lid on Obama's trash.

At any rate, I hope he's wrong about Issa, but in case he's not, it's important to keep the pressure on.

I rather enjoyed "Turtle Times: The Cross-Generational Cult Text of Turtles Forever and Gendered Readings," but David Thompson sees fit to mock it, along with other Stuff Academics Like, which is (suitably) an org.

Fifty-four Republicans in the House voted against the Continuing Resolution (a measure of continuing irresolution). If anyone wants to buttonhole you regarding the "budget cuts by water torture" meme, point them at this. Also over at Ace's a nice compilation of the latest Japan reactors developments. Here's a very good source for scientific perspective on the crisis.

Over at American Thinker, James Lewis picks up the topic of bullying, which I touched on in similar terms yesterday, and runs with it.

In the rough, Obama takes a drop for a gentleman's par. Better luck next time, Libyan rebels! If you were in Egypt, you'd have been Freedom Fighters! Now, die quickly and let him finish his waffle, for goodness sake.

Simpsons voice actor Harry Shearer unveils his project recounting the MFM (and more general media) coverage of Katrina. Worth a close read.

Union protesters demonstrate outside a Wisconsin State Senator's home in Wisconsin, and vow not to leave until she speaks to them, although they're invited to drop by the district office and have a word anytime. William Jacobson has the skinny on the intimidation tactics used against a Tea Party recall petition drive, including tearing a petition page.

The policemen who were there, and who were standing in close proximity to these events as they unfolded, did nothing to assist those collecting the petitions as they were being destroyed, despite such an action being a Felony under Wisconsin law. Police also did nothing to clear the walk way for citizens that wanted to sign the petitions. Recall Committee members received many phone calls the following day from Merill area citizens who stated that they showed up to sign the petition, but were too afraid to get out of their vehicles and approach the recall table.

Harassment: it's everyone's responsibility.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Pray for the People of Japan

Enoch_Root

AKA. Bobby Donn Brubaker (the most popular man in Mesa, AZ), the Umbrella of Terror, Jack Ketch.

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Stacy McCain and Hugo Chavez (and Breasts)

Tits, boobs, jugs, sweater puppies, melons, breasts, the list of names goes on and on; and as the saying goes, the well-loved child has many names, the child in this case being those glorious globes so denominated. For who doesn't love tits?

Among today's searches leading to this site: "sweater puppies," "latina chick with big ass [sic] boobs," "christina hendricks," "mary katharine ham boobs," "stacy redhead boobs," and (unaccountably) "milf wacker," "gfoup sex" and "don quixote + ariosto delusion." It's true that on occasion I've expressed on this blog my admiration of breasts, and yet it never ceases to amaze me how avid are readers of both sexes and probably any intermediate positions between them for ever more information, verbal or pictorial, regarding them.

An admirable rack is a truly glorious embellishment to the feminine form, and I could, I suppose, rhapsodize at some length regarding the delights visual, tactile, and appealing to other senses, therein encompassed, but my purpose is instead to speak specifically regarding the similarity in attitude towards breasts apparently expressed by both Stacy and Hugo. For as Fausta has noted today in a post, Hugo Chavez has come out against, not breasts per se, which would be simply monstrous, but surgically "enhanced" breasts; and, I am sure you're aware, Stacy has expressed a similar scorn for what he regards as adulterated boobage.

What I want to say, though, is that that is where the similarity ends, no matter what detractors may wish to impute to Mr. McCain. For his great preference for breastiture in its natural condition derives solely from his solemn respect for the great variety of mammaries as expressed phenotypically, from the hand of God, as it were; in perfect contradistinction to the objections of the dictator, whose bluster maintains that women who are dissatisfied with their frontage are victims of a racket perpetrated by evil plastic surgeons and abetted by the media, who subversively wish to make them unhappy with their more proletarian appendages, afforded by the hand of the state.

In one, we see the love of the connoisseur; in the other the abject demagoguery of the idealogue. Certainly, there is as much difference between those positions as can be, no matter the apparent but superficial convergence.

Continued below, where it becomes NSFW:

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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The Law of the Jungle and Tough Guys

In the post below, I mentioned that the NLRB has come down on the side of threats of physical violence in the workplace, as long as it's in the service of collectivism. Here's what was at issue in their decision:

Specifically, the objections cite a statement by prounion employee Anthony Hodges to employee Matthew Abel that Hodges could “whip [employee Dennis Sheil’s] a*s” or sabotage his work; an anonymous telephone threat to employee Lou Mays that the caller would “get even” with him if he “backstab[bed] us”; and statements by prounion employee Chris Verbal to a group of three or four employees that Verbal would “b*tch slap” two other employees (who were not present at the time) or “whip their f—in’ ass” if they “cost us the election,” and that he would “whip [supervisor] Eddie’s ass” if the Union lost.

You know, the union will protect you, as long as you do everything you want it to.

I know that back-alley brawlers like James Wolcott, who emulate Hemingway (whose legacy hums like a far-off Subaru), are fine with this kind of intimidation. Hard cases like street-fighting man Roy Edroso are obviously all right with the idea of bare knuckles and no holds barred, because of their formidable physical conditioning and roughneck upbringing, whereas I could stand to lose 20 lbs. So, I guess it's fine for them not to speak out against this kind of bullying. If they did, it would be "bashing," after all.

Did I say bullying? Obama's against it, unless it's a matter of a knife fight, in which case he advises bringing guns.

Given what's gone on in Japan, with the 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, it's really terrible of Jeff Goldstein to advocate for nuclear power right here in the United States, because God knows it's another Chernobyl. Lefties always take such pains to ensure that science is on their side. It does rather put one between a rock and a hard place, energy-wise, though, considering the way that greenhouse gas emissions are destroying the planet and raising the level of the seas and all of that. It's a terrible shame that some people are skeptical regarding the happy projections for green energy.

It could easily happen in Wisconsin, which sits directly atop the Ring of Cheddar.

Getting back to the issue at hand, though, we've now arrived at the place where creating a hostile work environment by remarking on cleavage, even in general terms, can get one sacked, whereas threatening to bash someone's head in with a 2x4 really is a matter of little concern; or where ogling someone's skirt gets one sent to harassment rehab, whereas primary school students are expected to learn how properly to don condoms. Welcome to enlightened nirvana.

Really, it's dreadful the way those people pay attention to this minor business involving unions . . . while folks disagree with Edroso on matters involving volcanoes.

And, just on time, how the 80s trained us for war. If these narratives aren't properly allegorized, they're not authorized!

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Threats of Violence: When Are They All Right?

As you're aware, but most of America is not, Scott Walker and the other Wisconsin Republicans who have curbed union "rights"--which are now civil rights or human rights according to lefties--have received death threats directed not only at them, but also at their families. In one instance, a leftist agitator called in a bomb threat at an aviation business where Scott Walker had just given an address on business prospects in Wisconsin. Numerous photographs and videos bear witness to the signs comparing Governor Walker to Mubarak and Hitler.

Wisconsin police and firefighters are among those who have called on a variety of businesses either to denounce the legislation or to face boycotts. Meanwhile--I know that the comparison is growing tired, but it's so clearly illustrative of leftist objectivity that it needs to be stated repeatedly--there is in the MFM, so solicitous of politicians' welfare regarding imagined rhetorical violence among Tea Partiers, Palinites and the like, a virtual blackout on any discussion of these actual threats. To employ the tactics of those promising boycotts in Wisconsin, I call on all union houses and their supporters specifically to denounce the threats of unions and their supporters or face boycotts themselves. What? Nothing?

Even when I was in high school, there was something already seedy about Madison's radicalism. There was a great nostalgia for the heady days of the '60s, the sit-ins and demonstrations and the generational sense of self-importance. What became of this self-proclaimed "greatest generation" is largely what ails this country at this time. Tuning in, turning on and dropping out turns out not to have been a very effective way of dealing with life, after all. A more conceited and selfish generation of Americans there has never been.

It flatters their vanity to think that collective bargaining "rights" are the equivalent of what disenfranchised Egyptians endured under Mubarak, and in their self-pitying romanticism they think that theirs is the American equivalent of the demonstrations in Tahrir Square (minus the shooting and batons). Many of them in their bravado believe that this is something desirable, and there are no end of Marxist idiots with megaphones who will flatter them that it is so, to cheer them on with their infantile polemics.

So, is this all right?

The NLRB seems to think so:

On Friday, in its continuing attempt to hand over the American workplace to union bosses at all costs, the union-controlled National Labor Relations Board has thrown employees’ rights under the bus once again. This time, however, the NLRB’s obedience to union bosses could cause employees to get hurt...

Under the National Labor Relations Act, employees are presumably free to choose to unionize or not to unionize free from coercion or interference. In previous cases, the National Labor Relations Board had considered threats (even by third parties) enough cause for an election to be overturned. This was the case even recently...

...Unbelievably, on Friday, the union-controlled NLRB ruled that threats of physical violence by pro-union supporters is not coercive.

It's no exaggeration to say that this decision is sociopathy in its purest form. Moreover:

By contrast, Shuler notes "Wisconsin years ago passed" a mandate for labor education within its schools. "That's why the students came with their teachers," she said about the ongoing protests in Madison against right wing GOP Gov. Scott Walker's moves to strip 200,000 state and local workers of collective bargaining rights.

"High school is too late" to educate students about unions and workers, says Shuler, the daughter of union parents in Oregon who joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers as an activist and organizer after college. "We need to get into the elementary schools."

Obviously, when one considers the primary function of education to be political indoctrination rather than the content of math, language, science, this is so. The sociologists--the most godforsaken racket of dullards in all of academia, along with their certifying enablers in "education"--are firmly in charge of the agenda.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin's Secretary of State, Doug LaFollette, is holding on to the Governor's legislation as long as he's legally allowed, to provide the unions more time to negotiate favorable contracts with local officials and to screw the taxpayers of Wisconsin one more time.

And why shouldn't he? Students and unions were permitted to occupy the Capitol building against a court order. Teachers took high school students out of school to demonstrate with them, though there are laws on the books against truancy. Democratic State Senators flouted their constitutional duties. Police demonstrated on the side of lawbreakers.

Now the unions and their allies want to recall as many Republicans as they can. That is their right. It is not their right, however, to try to intimidate their opponents who wish to do the same thing to Democrats, or to tear up their petitions, or to threaten violence at the locations where they plan to assemble.

Either the rules of engagement apply to everyone, or they apply to no one. Take your pick, peaceable lefties.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Book One of The Divine Comity

From The Blaze, via Steve Bartin.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Wisconsin Aftermath

Sorry to have disappeared, but I had some things to do involving government bureaucracy today, and I always find that enervating.

For starters, Dan Riehl gets off some shots at NRO for a truly stupid editorial, stating that Walker's achievement in Wisconsin is "modest." I don't know what it is that NRO achieves in the space of a month, but I imagine it's nowhere near as significant. Sometimes wonks get so sophisticated that they arrive at retarded, as in this case.

Much better is this piece from The Weekly Standard that gives a blow-by-blow account of what happened in Wisconsin, and why, including the Senate Dems' idiotic inability to come to any kind of compromise at all, despite all their talk of compromise. As Moe Lane and Peter Ingemi and I (among many) have been saying, despite all the misdirections, the key was to eliminate the "card check" provision that put everyone in the teachers union, whether they wanted to be in it or not, and to make the state responsible for the enforced collection of union dues that went to one party, no matter which party a particular teacher affiliated himself with, politically.

Those who wish to contribute to unions will naturally be able to do so. Some very committed people will possibly even take Trumka's pleas to heart and double up on their dues this fiscal year. Likely, though, the number that will do so will be about equal to the number of multi-millionaires who think that the rich ought to be taxed more, yet somehow neglect to send more money than they owe to the IRS.

I imagine that it ought to be a relatively simple matter to set up a direct deposit arrangement with WEAC.

Naturally, the Wisconsin death threats aren't receiving any national attention, except from Fox, though it was a matter of some urgency just a few weeks ago that violent rhetoric might have been responsible for Gabby Giffords' shooting. Thank God, she's made remarkable progress. But it's still striking that someone can speak of "targeting" a congressional district and be accused of fomenting violence, yet people making actual, direct, unequivocal death threats towards legislators and their families are hardly worth remarking.

Counterpoint:

The frustration from the defeat will be channeled elsewhere. Wiping tears from beneath her dark-rimmed glasses, Anne Moser, 47, who works for the University of Wisconsin-Madison's science-based Water Library, said, "People know that violence doesn't get you anywhere. The attack the Republicans have made is violent and a violation of human rights. It is an attack on the middle class. We teach our children to follow rules and to sit at the table and work it out, but that certainly hasn't happened here." And so she and her allies may seek their revenge elsewhere: in a court of law or, most likely, a polling booth.

In Liberal Land, symbolic violence is always worse than actual violence.

The WSJ thinks that it's a win for taxpayers, but what do they know? They're eeeeevil capitalists. The President has this economy thing under control.

Regular people all across the country are going a little bit colder, a little bit hungrier, picking and choosing what to get rid of in an effort to stay afloat, and our "leaders" want to die on the hill of Cowboy Poetry. That's nothing, though, to the continuously evolving catastrophe in Japan. I just don't think that I have anything to add to what others have been saying about it.

The Consolation of Philosophy:

Two gamblers who miraculously survived a catastrophic brush with death aboard a Chinatown casino bus climbed back aboard the same company’s bus only hours later for another trip to the gaming tables. Bernardo Garcia, a 50-year-old cook from Brooklyn — whose buddy Miguel Aquino was one of 14 people killed in the horrific 5:30 a.m crash. World Wide Tours bus crackup on the Hutchinson River Parkway — told The Post he figured Lady Luck was on his side. “I’m the kind of person that believes when it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go,” he said.

UPDATE: I do want to thank Wolly for keeping my bleg somewhat fresh by mentioning me (and Little Miss Attila), even if he's too stingy to link to me. I'm sure that he found out a great deal about what I've been monotonously bashing (like a little wind-up right-wing cymbal clanging monkey toy) by visiting RightNetwork.

He's being mean to me, so you should give me money. I think that's how half of political donations work, isn't it?

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Remember November.

Wisconsin State law requires that recall petitions obtain signatures equaling 25% of the gross votes cast in the respective districts/county(ies) during the most recent gubernatorial election.

According to SparxMind.com, here are the turnout percentages by county:

[1] 65.50%: Ozaukee County, WI
[2] 63.56%: Waukesha County, WI
[3] 60.76%: Door County, WI
[4] 60.44%: Bayfield County, WI
[5] 59.16%: Vilas County, WI
[6] 59.16%: Washington County, WI
[7] 56.74%: Calumet County, WI
[8] 56.57%: Dane County, WI
[9] 53.85%: Price County, WI
[10] 53.83%: Oneida County, WI
[11] 53.43%: Sheboygan County, WI
[12] 51.45%: Kewaunee County, WI
[13] 51.02%: Marquette County, WI
[14] 50.55%: Jefferson County, WI
[15] 50.38%: Vernon County, WI
[16] 50.21%: Portage County, WI
[17] 49.87%: Columbia County, WI
[18] 49.74%: Washburn County, WI
[19] 49.51%: Marathon County, WI
[20] 49.45%: Lincoln County, WI
[21] 49.21%: Wood County, WI
[22] 49.07%: Outagamie County, WI
[23] 49.04%: Iron County, WI
[24] 49.02%: Sauk County, WI
[25] 48.83%: Iowa County, WI
[26] 48.82%: Fond du Lac County, WI
[27] 48.72%: Green Lake County, WI
[28] 48.67%: Manitowoc County, WI
[29] 48.56%: Rusk County, WI
[30] 48.40%: Florence County, WI
[31] 48.30%: Sawyer County, WI
[32] 48.29%: Burnett County, WI
[33] 48.18%: Racine County, WI
[34] 47.90%: Green County, WI
[35] 47.85%: Buffalo County, WI
[36] 47.85%: Trempealeau County, WI
[37] 47.80%: Ashland County, WI
[38] 47.48%: Waupaca County, WI
[39] 47.47%: Winnebago County, WI
[40] 47.42%: Milwaukee County, WI
[41] 47.07%: Oconto County, WI
[42] 47.06%: Brown County, WI
[43] 47.00%: Eau Claire County, WI
[44] 46.99%: Lafayette County, WI
[45] 46.74%: La Crosse County, WI
[46] 45.94%: Crawford County, WI
[47] 45.86%: St. Croix County, WI
[48] 45.80%: Taylor County, WI
[49] 45.45%: Chippewa County, WI
[50] 45.43%: Langlade County, WI
[51] 45.43%: Dodge County, WI
[52] 45.27%: Shawano County, WI
[53] 45.12%: Walworth County, WI
[54] 45.06%: Forest County, WI
[55] 45.03%: Richland County, WI
[56] 43.99%: Clark County, WI
[57] 43.72%: Waushara County, WI
[58] 43.63%: Jackson County, WI
[59] 43.59%: Polk County, WI
[60] 43.44%: Barron County, WI
[61] 43.39%: Marinette County, WI
[62] 43.33%: Douglas County, WI
[63] 43.11%: Rock County, WI
[64] 42.83%: Adams County, WI
[65] 42.71%: Grant County, WI
[66] 42.58%: Pepin County, WI
[67] 42.10%: Pierce County, WI
[68] 40.37%: Monroe County, WI
[69] 39.72%: Kenosha County, WI
[70] 39.55%: Dunn County, WI
[71] 38.70%: Juneau County, WI
[72] 25.18%: Menominee County, WI

From 620WTMJ.com

The five Democrats being targeted [for recall] are Minority Leader Mark Miller, along with Sens. Spencer Coggs, Dave Hansen, Jim Holperin and Robert Wirch.

...

The eight Republicans [targeted for recall by the Democrats] are Sens. Robert Cowles, Alberta Darling, Glenn Grothman, Sheila Harsdorf, Randy Hopper, Dan Kapanke, Mary Lazich and Luther Olsen.

Name (Party) -- County -- Turnout

Miller (D) --- Columbia = 49.87%

Coggs (D) --- Dane = 56.57%

Hansen (D) - Marinette = 43.39%

Holperin (D) District spans Multiple Counties = 50%*

Wirch (D) - Kenosha = 39.72%

Cowles (R) - District spans Multiple Counties = 50%*

Darling (R) - District spans Multiple Counties = 50%*

Grothman (R) - District spans Multiple Counties = 50%*

Harsdorf (R) - District spans Multiple Counties = 50%*

Hopper (R) - Fon du Lac = 48.82%

Kapanke (R) - District spans Multiple Counties = 50%*

Lazich (R) - District spans Multiple Counties = 50%*

Olsen (R) - District spans Multiple Counties = 50%*

From Green Bay Gazette

*About 50 percent of Wisconsin voters participated in Tuesday’s election, a heavy turnout for a non-presidential election year.

Preliminary figures show 2.16 million Wisconsin residents voted [in the November 2010 election].

Quick Math for Gross Signatures needed for all recall efforts to trigger recall elections = 540,000

In a "flagrant act of Journalism" (h/t Charlie Sykes) from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Scholars interviewed last week could cite only three times in American history when more than one state legislator has been recalled at roughly the same time over the same issue: two in Idaho in 1971 over a pay raise, two in Michigan in 1983 over a tax vote and two Republicans in California months apart in 1995 over their collaboration with Democrats.

Moncrief said the leading historical example of a broad-based, successful recall effort at the state level occurred 90 years ago in North Dakota, when the governor and two other statewide officials were driven from office.

What's happening in Wisconsin is uncharted territory, said Thad Kousser, a University of California, San Diego political scientist who has studied California's rich history with recalls.

California is the only state besides North Dakota to recall a governor. In 2003, Democrat Gray Davis was ousted in the recall election that put Arnold Schwarzenegger in office.

Despite more liberal recall rules than Wisconsin, California has had only four state legislators successfully recalled in its entire history, Kousser said. But the threat of recalls has itself influenced the voting behavior of state lawmakers in some cases.

"It's certainly become a more common part of the California political parlance," Kousser said.

Total Recall? Unlikely.

Enoch_Root

AKA. Bobby Donn Brubaker (the most popular man in Mesa, AZ), the Umbrella of Terror, Jack Ketch.

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