Walker recall effort a call to democracy

The word democracy is defined by Merriam & Webster's Dictionary as a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.

Wisconsin has become the epitome of democracy as the opponents of the anti-union crusader that is Gov. Scott Walker have begun their own mission to recall the unpopular Republican next year.

Only 19 states allow the state officials to be recalled: Alaska, Kansas, New Jersey, Arizona, Louisiana, North Dakota, California, Michigan, Oregon, Colorado, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Georgia, Montana, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Illinois and, of course, Wisconsin.

If Florida was on that list, Rick Scott would most likely face a recall and there is not enough money in the world that would stop me from starting a petition to throw Scott out.

Walker's opponents' goal: 540,208 valid signatures by Jan. 17, 2012. On Monday night Nov. 28, 12 days into their mission, the organizers announced that they had collected more than 300,000 signatures, 105,000 of them in the first 96 hours, from every county in Wisconsin.

If successful in their mission, a recall election could occur as early as March 27. In the likely odds that Republicans challenge the petition signatures, the election could be rescheduled for a later date.

The disaster of Scott Walker's term has included slashing almost $800 million from public schools, trimming tax credits for the poor, rewriting state pension law while cutting investment and corporate taxes, an unpopular photo voter ID law that will make it harder for elderly voters, young voters, students, minorities and low-income voters to make it to the polls, and of course his famous bill that nearly eliminates public workers' collective bargaining rights.

Last week, Scott Walker took it to a new low under a new policy,  which requires protests groups of four people or more inside state buildings and 100 or more people outside the Capitol to obtain permits at least 72 hours in advance of protests. Groups could be charged $50 per hour per Capitol police officer, while costs for other law enforcement agencies will vary.

"I'm a little skeptical about charging people to express their First Amendment opinion. You can't really put a price tag on the First Amendment," Edward Fallone, an associate professor at Marquette University Law School, told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

I'm not skeptical at all given the immoral actions of this governor in just one year against the middle class, voters and those who are brave enough to speak out in protest of the people running their state.

I'm happy to report that one of those brave individuals was Detective Adrian Monk himself, Emmy-winning actor  Tony Shalhoub.

In the fight for democracy in America, I wish every state had the right to recall their elected officials after a certain amount of time in office.

The people of Wisconsin gave their governor almost a year and in that short time he has not only failed the good people of The Dairy State, but he has also put a price on their right to vote and protest.

As I was writing this, I came across a quote that speaks volumes from my favorite cable news anchor, Keith Olbermann, whom I admire because he was instrumental in giving me my confidence to speak out against people like Walker, Bloomberg, Scott, and those who worship greed .

"Now is not the time to build fences around our freedom; now is the time to emancipate our culture from the fear of losing it," Olbermann said.

Alex is a junior majoring in communication. He  enjoys going to concerts, going to Starbucks, listening to his Sirius Satellite Radio, going to the movies, swimming and playing games like UNO and Monopoly. His favorite musicians are R.E.M., Bon Jovi, Elton John and Kenny G. His favorite magazines are Mother Jones, Newsweek and Rolling Stone, which he loves to pick up at the campus bookstore.