Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Midwest. Mideast. « Fred Klonsky's blog #WIunion #SolidarityWI

Midwest. Mideast. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Midwest. Mideast.

I have almost over-dosed on Wisconsin. We have traveled the 300 mile round trip from Chicago to Madison two Saturdays in a row. Sunday night I couldn’t keep my eyes of Twitter following every minutiae, every rumor.

Who doesn’t know about Ian’s pizza? The hand made signs, funny and profane? The fire fighters and the Wisconsin state police? Bolted windows and weddings?

In one ear are the sounds of Wisconsin. In the other, Libya and the Mideast. The world seems to be changing and the flow of information on the internet makes it all so immediate that you can barely keep up.

And teach too!

Robert Fisk, a British journalist, has been covering the Mideast for thirty years.

Who would have believed that the old man in the cave would suddenly have to step outside, dazzled, blinded by the sunlight of freedom rather than the Manichean darkness to which his eyes had become accustomed. Martyrs there were aplenty across the Muslim world – but not an Islamist banner to be seen. The young men and women bringing an end to their torment of dictators were