There's a whiff of my own squeamishness about Schauenburg's undertaking in those remarks. Does it do any good for someone to starve themselves for a cause? For this cause?

I have mixed feelings. Despite some intermittent hunger-induced space-outs that he readily acknowledges, Schauenburg seems as intelligent and as up on the issues as any of the thousands of union protesters quoted by traditional media near and far. Many of those protesters are dedicated to the broader political and (some say class) issues on which the showdown in Wisconsin pivots, but they also are acting in their own self-interest.

Schauenburg? I don't see that what he might gain from this matches the risk.

What's he has received, so far, as he has watched the budget bill pass despite the unprecedented uproar against it, is physical discomfort, health risks, and boredom.

"It's just getting very old, there's no respite," he tells me. "Everything gets worse -- that in itself wears me down as well as physical weakness and the inability to maintain body temperature."

While reporting that hunger pangs dissipated after the first day of fasting to occasional sharp "punches," Schauenburg says he's in increasing pain each day from a degenerative spinal condition aggravated by sitting on the cold stone floor.