Alexander besieged the city of Tyre in 332 BC, which was no mean trick considering that Tyre was half a mile from the coast. The Tyrians supposed their position was invulnerable. They were in the sea and Alexander didn't have a navy. How could Alexander attack them?
Alexander was wondering the same thing. With typical Alexandrian panache, he decided to build a causeway from the coast to the city. He would build a highway in the ocean and take the city by land.
The Tyrians laughed at such an ambitious and outrageous effort. Build a road in the ocean? They laughed until Alexander got about a fourth of the way. Then they laughed again when a storm wrecked much of what had been completed. They laughed when Alexander started over.
They laughed right up until Alexander got about half way, at which point it began to dawn on them that they were in real trouble. Alexander indeed built the causeway to the city, brought up his siege engines, broke holes in the fortifications, and took the city.
State senators in Wisconsin are the Tyrians. The number of signatures required to a recall is the causeway. Yes, the threshold is high--25% of the most recent vote for governor in that district--but then the distance from land to sea was great in the case of Tyre as well.
Vulnerable state senators must be watching nervously as Wisconsinites gather signatures in order to throw them out of Tyre. It seems a daunting task. Yet, the protesters in one district already have 26% of the signatures necessary, and 20% in another. Today, hundreds more will sign. It took Alexander 7 months to take Tyre. Wisconsinites have 60 days.
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