Wisconsin's Republican Progressives

Professor William Cronon in the New York Times:

NOW that a Wisconsin judge has temporarily blocked a state law that would strip public employee unions of most collective bargaining rights, it’s worth stepping back to place these events in larger historical context.

Republicans in Wisconsin are seeking to reverse civic traditions that for more than a century have been among the most celebrated achievements not just of their state, but of their own party as well. . . .

William Cronon, "Wisconsin's Radical Break," New York Times, 22 March 2011.

It did not take long for Wisconsin Republicans to launch a McCarthyite attack on Professor Cronon.