Fighting Bob Fest Kickoff: Friday night, September 10, 7:30pm.

Barrymore Theater, Madison, WI

• 7:30pm Welcome

• 7:40pm Laura Flanders

• 8:00pm Thom Hartmann

• 8:20pm Russ Feingold

• 8:50pm Daniel Kunene

• 9:00pm Jim Hightower

• 9:20pm Greg Palast

Breakout sessions

What Would Fighting Bob Do?: Belle and Bob La Follette in Their Own Words

Nancy C. Unger, is a historian and author of Fighting Bob La Follette: The Righteous Reformer, and writes the series “What Would Fighting Bob Do?” for FightingBob.com. Come join her in a celebration of the La Follettes. Their words and actions offer hope and inspiration, and suggest practical solutions to today’s most pressing problems. A century ago Bob La Follette led the fight against political corruption, environmental abuse, unwarranted involvement in foreign affairs, unjust war, unfair treatment of immigrants and people of color, and disparity in distributions of wealth and power. Under his leadership, Wisconsin was the first state to enact a host of reforms, cementing a lasting reputation for progressivism among its citizens and government. As U.S. representative, governor, and U.S. Senator, Fighting Bob left enduring political legacies: the direct election of senators (currently under attack by the Tea Party), child labor laws, environmental protections, women’s suffrage, and workers’ compensation. In the words of Bill Moyers, “The ideas of La Follette and his fellow progressives are our best hope for countering the reactionary and destructive forces that threaten to dissolve this fragile experiment in self-government which has so much to offer and has so far yet to go.”

Participants:

Moderator: Nancy Unger

Location: Badger Building

Uniting Citizens Against Citizens United

On January 21, 2010, the US Supreme Court, in Citizens United v. FEC, overturned longstanding precedent barring corporate expenditures in our elections. This ruling presents a serious and direct threat to our democracy, unleashing a torrent of corporate money in our political process unmatched by any campaign expenditure totals in our history. Immediately following the Court’s ruling, Voter Action, launched, with other organizational partners, the Free Speech For People Campaign (www.freespeechforpeople.org), a new campaign to amend the United States Constitution to challenge the creation of corporate rights under the First Amendment over the past three decades.

The Free Speech For People Campaign (FSFP) seeks to restore the First Amendment to its original purpose: to protect the free speech rights of people, not corporations. Through our initial focus on the recent fabrication of “corporate speech” rights, FSFP aims to drive a national grassroots amendment campaign that will reclaim constitutional rights for people and that will return corporations to their place as economic rather than political entities.

Immediately after the Citizens United decision was issued, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign organized a state-level protest (http://www.wisdc.org/index.php?module=cms&page=370) and petition drive (http://www.wisdc.org/index.php?module=wisdc.websiteforms&cmd=petition), and has been working to repair the damage done by the ruling through state legislation and rulemaking in Wisconsin.

Join voting rights attorney John Bonifaz, Director of FSFP, political strategist Steve Cobble, Senior Political Advisor to FSFP, and whistle blower Mike McCabe, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign for this discussion on how we can ensure that we the people, not we the corporations, govern in America.

Participants: John Bonifaz, Steve Cobble, and Mike McCabe.

Location: Hoop Building

Israel/Palestine: A Progressive View

Robert La Follette opposed colonialism and U.S. imperialism and believed in the right of self-determination of all peoples. He wanted a U.S. foreign policy that met the highest ideals of America. The ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and Israel's continued oppression of the Palestinians have increased anti-American sentiment in the MidEast and around the world. This session will assess the current situation on the ground between Israel and Palestine, examine U.S. policy, present a seldom-heard Palestinian perspective, and explore ways to arrive at a peaceful solution.

Participants:

Moderator: Matthew Rothschild of The Progressive magazine.

Cathy Sultan of Eau Claire, who has written three books on Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon; Sol Thea Kelley-Jones, a Madison activist who has done human rights work on the West Bank and who has written and directed a play on the Israel-Palestine border and the U.S.-Mexican obrder; George Shalabi of Sauk City, a Palestinian born in Haifa before the state of Israel was founded.

Location: Grandstands

What is up with healthcare? Is universal coverage still viable?

Participants: Moderators: Nino Amato and Donna Smith

Location: Progress Hall

First Feed the Face

"First feed the face, then talk right or wrong,” - Bertolt Brecht, Threepenny Opera

Food and agriculture play a central role in the economic, environmental, and social health of people and communities. Wisconsin and the upper Midwest are on the vanguard of efforts around the country and the world to reimagine our food system. In this breakout session we will explore some of the exciting opportunities in this area. We will also focus on breaking through some of the roadblocks to create an economically and socially just and healthy food and agriculture system.

Participants: Courtney Berner
Fifth Season Cooperative, Vernon County

Michelle Miller
UW-Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems

Donna Neuwirth
Wormfarm Institute

Sarah Lloyd
Columbia County Farmers Union

Location: Tent West of the Commercial Building