Sly isn't taking any time off. He's still out there, fighting for workers rights, as you can see in this video recorded by his former radio producer, Morgan. Sly and Morgan continue to post at Sly's Office, which was not a part of WTDY's web site. Check out this shorter version of the Monona Super Wal-Mart protest that made its way loudly inside the store. Sly has the green hat on:
John Nichols had this to say about the gaping hole in radio market and the labor movement:
William T. Evjue, who founded The Capital Times 95 years ago as a radical alternative to the mainstream media of the 20th century, had little taste for most editors, reporters and commentators. They were stenographers to power … These days, there is too little progressive radio, and even less progressive radio in the Evjue tradition. But the loyal listeners to John "Sly" Sylvester's WTDY morning show heard an echo of Evjue.Read the whole comment here.
...Sly drew from the same well of progressive idealism (and anger) as Evjue. Sly railed against Scott Walker from Day One of the Wisconsin uprising, sided unapologetically with organized labor and declared: "I don't want a tax break. I want to pay my taxes and I want those taxes to pay for great public schools and great public services."
Evjue would have appreciated that last line, just as thousands of Sly's listeners did as he uttered variations on that theme over 15 years.
Every guest (including this writer) disagreed with him sometimes. But Wisconsinites recognized that Sly's anger was motivated by a rage at injustice and dishonesty. And they loved him for that, giving his show solid ratings and a loyal listenership that advertisers craved.
Hopefully this void will be filled by the reappearance of Sly's morning show on another, more wisely managed station. The Wisconsin progressive populist tradition remains vibrant and popular, as the Nov. 6 election results remind us. It should continue to have a bold radio voice shouting "Hello Wisconsin" every morning.
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