William Cronon: Wisconsin’s Radical Break

Sen. Joe McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) and Roy Cohn

"The turmoil in Wisconsin is not only about bargaining rights or the pension payments of public employees. It is about transparency and openness. It is about neighborliness, decency and mutual respect. Joe McCarthy forgot these lessons of good government, and so, I fear, has Mr. Walker. Wisconsin’s citizens have not."
- William Cronon, professor of history, geography and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (NYT, March 21, 2011)