Dear Voters of Ohio:
As I write this, about a third of the precincts have reported. CNN and MSNBC and even Fox News is running your story, and they all tell me that as of right now, more than 63% of you have voted to reject Senate Bill 5. As of right now, they all say that the bill will be defeated.
Thank you.
I live in Wisconsin. We know a little bit about attempts to curb collective bargaining rights here in Wisconsin, as many of you are aware. We know a little bit about a Republican Governor and a Republican-dominated State Legislature attempting to limit the political power of union members and workers. We know about protests, and we've chanted Solidarity till our throats were raw. You've done us one better. You've shown us what Solidarity means at the ballot box.
Thank you.
Your own battle has seemingly reached victory. Governor Kasich is vowing to pause and take a deep breath and then continue to lead. You've shown him that if he is going to continue to lead, he better do it in a different direction.
Thank you.
You have reinforced my belief, and the beliefs of many Americans, that the middle class might still have a voice in this great nation. You've allowed the whole nation to see that the voice of the middle class not only exists, but it has something to say, and that those in power ignore it at their peril.
Thank you.
This fight is a long way from over. In your state, it is entirely possible that portions of Senate Bill 5 will reappear in a slightly different form. Please be vigilant. In our state, we are only beginning the recall efforts to force Scott Walker out of office and try to begin the healing from the great damage that he has done. We may not succeed in collecting 540,000 signatures, but you have given us new reason to try. Even if we get those signatures, we may not succeed in voting Governor Walker out of office, but you've given us new reason to hope.
Thank you.
Most importantly, at least to me, is that you have demonstrated the principles that founded this nation. The TEA Party likes to claim that their movement is more in line with the ideas of the Founding Fathers and Mothers. But the Founding Fathers and Mothers based their ideals on earlier ideals of the European Enlightenment. Perhaps the best example can be found in the Declaration of Independence:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
You didn't abolish your government tonight -- nor, in my opinion, should you. But it appears that you did alter it, because it violated the consent of the governed.
Thank you.
You may not understand what this means to me. I am a history teacher. I can use this in class tomorrow. I can stand in front of my class and let them know that -- whether they agree with your vote or not -- the ideas that founded this nation are not some stagnant and meaningless words written by men in powdered wigs that have no relevance to our world today. I can tell them that the idea of John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Montesquieu, and Jefferson, and Adams, and Hamilton, and Madison and Jay and Franklin and many others are ideas that are still worth fighting for, because the people of the great state of Ohio fought for them tonight, and as of this writing it seems that have won.
Thank you, Ohio, and thank you again.
(This diary first appeared, with very slight alterations, at the author's blog of www.bangthebuckets.com)