Don't forget that I OPPOSE senate bill 22 and so much more.

Dear Scott Walker,

I OPPOSE senate bill 22 and so much more. I am feeling creative tonight and want to write another poem to communicate my feelings. I wrote a poem in my email for 4/18/11. That was one of the emails I pre-emailed you with the "open on" subject line. It had words that rhymed with OPPOSE because I OPPOSE senate bill 22 and so much more. I have chosen a different format for this poem; I hope you are still able to understand my message:

I OPPOSE senate bill 22 and so much more

Openly and

Purposefully I craft original emails nightly

Partly for me and mostly for you

Only to find

Some machine is yet again speaking on your behalf

Everyone has a voice, and I want to hear yours

Sound bites simply are not

Enough for me anymore

Now we have reached

A

Time in our relationship that I must say to you:

Enough is enough!

Big, little, young, old, no one 

Is spared from your

Litigation bills (Do the taxpayers know you are costing them money when you violate the law?)

Lawyers, lawsuits, law, low-down dirty shame!

2 people emailing nightly, one pouring her heart out, the other searching for something...a heart?

2 immediate replies received, one a message about mail delivery failure

And the other, a generic letter desiring to usurp power from a hard-working, tax-paying citizen

No you are not going to pretend to be representing me

Do not write that you are my governor

Shirley is my grandma, and she is my governor. I voted for Grandma Shirley and

Others are writing her in on the ballot, too.

Making cuts and calling votes

Under the cover of darkness

Children's education: cut!

Healthcare services: cut!

Mother and baby benefits: cut!

Oh, and don't forget about public transportation: cut!

Recycling: cut! Really? How is what you are doing benefiting the citizens of Wisconsin?

Everyone needs to look in the mirror at some point. 

I OPPOSE senate bill 22 and so much more.

Dear Scott Walker,I OPPOSE senate bill 22 and so much more. How has you Sunday been so far? Mine has been amazing! I did not get out of bed until 9 am! Then I did dishes, cleaned the kitchen, and prepped our meals for the rest of the week. This is goinga to be a busy week for us. How about you? The weather was so nice that I sat outside this afternoon to grade papers. Tonight will bring some beef Kung Pao for dinner and working on report cards. What are you going to be doing tonight? I hope you were able to fit in a little Sunday funday, even if it is just grading papers in your backyard on a sunny afternoon. Wait, you wouldn't be grading papers. Even if it is just creating an authentic reply to emails in your backyard (paid for by taxpayers) on a sunny afternoon. Enjoy your Sunday funday :) I OPPOSE senate bill 22 and so much more.

Carrie 

 

Dear Scott Walker,

I OPPOSE senate bill 22 and so much more. I am starting to feel like I am the only one working at this relationship. I ask questions, share experiences, and seek mutual understanding, but you just keep replying the same thing over and over:

Thank you for your e-mail message.  I welcome you expressing your views and concerns to me, and I commend you for participating in your state government.  I take into account the views of all of the citizens of Wisconsin, and I will keep your specific comments in mind during my service as your Governor.

If you would like more information about my positions on issues, or would like to read my public statements on issues, I encourage you to explore my website: www.walker.wi.gov.  I like to respond individually to every letter and telephone call I receive; however, I cannot respond to each e-mail individually due to the volume.  If your request is time sensitive, please call my office at (608) 266-1212. You may also write to me via conventional mail at Governor Scott Walker: PO Box 7863, Madison, WI 53707.

As noted on our website, please know that any communications may be subject to release under Wisconsin's public records law and that our policy is generally to release communications sent to this email address.

Once again, thank you for contacting me. Please feel free to contact me again if I can ever be of assistance to you.

Sincerely,

Scott Walker

Governor

I think you may becoming a little complacent in this relationship. I want you to know that I am not. This is important. I will not just fade away. I will email daily, unless I happen to miss a day, and then I will begin emailing daily again the following day. That reminds me, since a did miss emailing you last Sunday, are we starting fresh with the anniversary date, keeping the old one, or acknowledging both of them? I OPPOSE senate bill 22 and so much more.

Sincerely,

Carrie

What Teachers Make, or
Objection Overruled, or
If things don't work out, you can always go to law school

By Taylor Mali

He says the problem with teachers is, "What's a kid going to learn 
from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?" 
He reminds the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about 
teachers: 
Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.

I decide to bite my tongue instead of his 
and resist the temptation to remind the other dinner guests 
that it's also true what they say about lawyers.

Because we're eating, after all, and this is polite company.

"I mean, you¹re a teacher, Taylor," he says. 
"Be honest. What do you make?"

And I wish he hadn't done that 
(asked me to be honest) 
because, you see, I have a policy 
about honesty and ass-kicking: 
if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. 
I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor 
and an A- feel like a slap in the face. 
How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall 
in absolute silence. No, you may not work in groups. 
No, you may not ask a question. 
Why won't I let you get a drink of water? 
Because you're not thirsty, you're bored, that's why.

I make parents tremble in fear when I call home: 
I hope I haven't called at a bad time, 
I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today. 
Billy said, "Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don't you?" 
And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.

I make parents see their children for who they are 
and what they can be.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids wonder, 
I make them question. 
I make them criticize. 
I make them apologize and mean it. 
I make them write, write, write. 
And then I make them read. 
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely 
beautiful 
over and over and over again until they will never misspell 
either one of those words again. 
I make them show all their work in math. 
And hide it on their final drafts in English. 
I make them understand that if you got this (brains) 
then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you 
by what you make, you give them this (the finger).

Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true: 
I make a goddamn difference! What about you?

Dear Scott Walker,

I OPPOSE senate bill 22 and so much more. Okay, let's address the white elephant. Wait, that is a white elephant gift! If you are unfamiliar, a white elephant gift is a gift that costs more to keep than give away. ***Rhetorical question coming*** Are you a white elephant gift? I kid, I kid! I kid because I know the answer; that is also why I warned you about a rhetorical question coming. Getting back to the topic at hand, what is it called when something seems unstoppable? What is something called when it will do what ever it has to do to get what it wants? Ahh, it is all coming back to me now; it is called the 800 pound gorilla in the room! Some people confuse this with the elephant in the room; they are different. What you and I want to address is the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Before we do that, I am looking for a punch-line: What do you get when you cross a white elephant with an 800 pound gorilla in the room? I know what I would say, but I am going to save that for my signature line. 

Let's get to the meat and potatoes of this email. Assembly Bill 7, also known as the Wisconsin Voter Suppression Bill, passes the Assembly today on 5/19/11. Here is a clip of what happened today in case you did not see it. 

http://youtu.be/wpJ_U1j_cm4 

Mike Ellis says things such as "shut up" and "no, nuh, nuhuh, no, nuhuh" and is very demanding and intimidating. The clerk calling the roll seems quite uneasy and his initial questioning about whether or not to continue the call is quickly squashed with "continue the roll-call" (repeatedly). After his second questioning, Mike Ellis demands to have the count. I present exhibit "800 pound gorilla in the room".  

Here is another clip of Mike Ellis swearing on the senate floor:

http://youtu.be/G7Tlsk4toUc

This clip is to reinforce Mike Ellis' lack of self-control and myopic agenda. I represent (as in present again) exhibit "800 pound gorilla in the room". 

I have heard that this bill will be in front of you to sign into law as early as next Wednesday (5/25/11). I would like to pose a question to you. Have you thought about whether or not you will sign Assembly Bill 7? Have you thought about the impact of signing this bill? Have you thought about what the financial ramifications to the state and taxpayers will be if you sign this bill into law? Have you thought about the statistics regarding voter fraud in the state of Wisconsin? Have you thought about the fact that there is insufficient voter fraud in the state of Wisconsin to make a statistical difference? Have you thought about the amount of disenfranchisement you will be inflicting on hard-working citizens of Wisconsin? Gosh darn it, I intend to pose one question to you so I am more likely to elicit a response from you; then that morphs into multiple questions. It reminds me of posters I saw in Madison "Screw us and we multiply". One question leads into the next, which gets me thinking about another, then I wonder what you would say about...you get the picture, right? I mean correct! I have really been trying to break my habit of using certain words. For example, why say tool when you can just as easily say "handheld device that aids in accomplishing a task"? If you have done nothing else for me, you have created an aversion to certain words. Let's refocus to the many questions I posed to you about Assembly Bill 7. Luckily for you, all of my questions can be answered with "yes" or "no". I purposefully did not require more explanation than that. I want you to have time to personally reflect on your reasoning. You have nothing to justify to me. I voted my conscience; I voted for Grandma Shirley. You are the one you have to go to bed with at night. You are the one you have to look at in the mirror in the morning. You are the one you need to face throughout the day. I mean, really, if you cannot convince yourself, how can you be expected to convince the people who bought the election for you? Grrr, did I go there or was it just in my head? I am pretty sure I went there. Bought, brought, tomato, tomaaahto. What does it really matter? You will still send me an automated response that does not come close to addressing any issue we need to discuss, right? :) Great, at least you are consistent. 

Don't forget to think of a punch-line for "What do you get when you cross a white elephant with an 800 pound gorilla in the room?" Don't forget to look at my signature line for my punch-lines.  Don't forget that I OPPOSE senate bill 22 and so much more.

Sincerely,

Carrie

Punch-line to "What do you get when you cross a white elephant with an 800 pound gorilla in the room?"

Someone who thinks he is CEO of Wisconsin OR someone who thinks he is creating more jobs than he is destroying in Wisconsin OR someone who packs his lunch (or perhaps has his wife pack it) and thinks that is extraordinary OR someone who has no problem disenfranchising citizens of Wisconsin (Please do not be fooled my use of the singular form here. You have some how managed to insulate yourself with white elephant 800 pound gorillas in a room. We are working on that, though.)