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| Matthew Rothschild |
Progressive - A political buddy of mine died this week. His name was Ben Masel. He was one of those great characters who’ve so defined Madison, Wisconsin, over the years. This bearded, soft-spoken, yet defiant man truly believed in our Bill of Rights, and he exercised those rights more vigorously than anyone I’ve ever known. He could be counted on to attend just about any rally or demonstration for peace and social justice, but the two issues that animated him the most were the legalization of marijuana and the upholding of our civil liberties. I remember him walking into the office of The Progressive magazine one time just reeking of pot. And he was, for many years, the chief organizer of the annual legalize-marijuana rally here. But that was just part of his freedom-loving activity.
For instance, he put together one of the first demonstrations against the Patriot Act here. And he was never afraid of getting arrested. In fact, his was a self-funding operation. Knowing his rights, he would stand his ground, get arrested, and then sue the police successfully and win substantial awards. That’s how he got to keep doing all that he did. He was ingenious. I last saw Ben at one of the huge rallies in March against Gov. Scott Walker’s assault on collective bargaining. He pulled me aside to let me know that he’d been diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer, and that it was incurable. He also said the doctors advised him not to go to the rally but he told me had to be there. Read full column here: News New Mexico
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