Which Side Are You On?

I've got a cold virus that's making a mess of my week. It's been so long since I had a bad cold that I'd forgotten how to treat it (especially since I can't find the cold pills I used to rely in the stores anymore.) Meanwhile, the ordinary American public has gotten so used to the benefits unions have made possible for everyone, and their crucial role in keeping the middle class above water, that they forgot what life would be without them. But the Rabid Right virus, intent on killing unions as a political and economic force to benefit their persistent very wealthy manipulators, has apparently reminded them.

More than 70,000 gathered on a snowy day in Madison, the epicenter of the Wisconsin real and symbolic threat to all. It was one of many demonstrations across the country on Saturday supporting unions and the hard-won right of collective bargaining. Such peaceful mass protest is in the union tradition, so it was fitting that Peter Yarrow was there as an heir to Woody Guthrie, to lead the crowd in the union song, "Which Side Are You On."

So far I've only seen Talking Points Memo really covering this. Here is their story on Madison written by an eyewitness, and here is their photo album on the other demos of the day. Here's the Kos thread which has more eyewitness accounts from around the country in the comments.

Update: A story in the Christian Science Monitor, the New York Times and other Sunday editions.