The night that the Wisconsin Senate Republicans got together and forced through Scott Walker's union-busting bill, many Wisconsinites cried foul. The state's open-meetings law required more notice unless there was a true emergency.

Last week, a Republican-appointed judge ruled with the protesters that the session that passed the bill may have  violated the law, which requires 24 hours notice on a vote. Judge Maryann Sumi put a stay on the bill, blocking its implementation. Teachers and other state employees retain their union rights.

The people of Wisconsin, I told the Left Forum on Friday, stopped a steamroller. Their willingness to fight, to keep showing up in greater and greater numbers, not only held off the bill but put the GOP in a place where they were desperate enough that they violated the law. They inspired the fight back in other states—Indiana's state Democrats are still out of state, holding up a vote on a similar bill.

And Judge Sumi's decision puts paid to all those who say progress is achieved through one set of tactics OR another. Voting or protest, law or disobedience -- Wisconsin stopped this Walker steamroller through a combination of them all: direct action/legislators' actions/legal challenges/protest and above all organizing.

The fight isn't over—Republicans plan to appeal the decision, and the legislature has a chance to take up the bill again. Meanwhile, the recall organizing efforts go on, and Walker's budget makes mincemeat of desperately-needed healthcare and education programs in the state. It's going to take every tactic in the book to turn back the steamroller for good.

But it's worth it right now, I think, to stop for just a minute and acknowledge what's happening in this country.

When was the last time you heard about a tea party rally?