To para­phrase Franklin Delano Roo­sevelt, Dec. 7, 1941, Sept. 11, 2001, and Feb. 11, 2011 are all dates that will live in infamy. Every­one rec­og­nizes the first two dates – the attacks on Pearl Har­bor and the Twin Tow­ers – but few will rec­og­nize the third, the day Wis­con­sin Gov­er­nor Scott Walk­er intro­duced leg­is­la­tion to strip state work­ers of their col­lec­tive bar­gain­ing rights. Think this is over-the-top rhetoric? Think again.

Walker’s assault – and copy­cat attacks by rad­i­cal con­ser­v­a­tives in Ohio, Michi­gan, Indi­ana, New Hamp­shire and else­where – is a blow to the heart of our coun­try. If con­ser­v­a­tives can take away work­ers’ unions, next to go will be the things that work­ers in unions have achieved – the end of child labor, the eight-hour work­day, the week­end, work­place safe­ty stan­dards, and mil­lions of jobs that allow peo­ple to vis­it their doc­tor, buy a home, save for col­lege and retire with dignity.

If con­ser­v­a­tives take away unions, they will take away America’s mid­dle class. Mil­lions of ordi­nary Amer­i­cans will suf­fer. The suf­fer­ing will not be instan­ta­neous, but it will be broad, last­ing and profound.

The good news is that Amer­i­cans every­where are tak­ing steps to defend the coun­try. Walker’s actions in Wis­con­sin spurred weeks of protest, with some demon­stra­tions attract­ing near­ly 100,000 peo­ple, includ­ing stu­dents, farm­ers, teach­ers, police, fire­fight­ers and nurses.

On Feb­ru­ary 26, MoveOn​.org, AFSCME (Amer­i­can Fed­er­a­tion of State, Coun­ty, and Munic­i­pal Employ­ees), SEIU (Ser­vice Employ­ees Inter­na­tion­al Union), the AFL-CIO, Amer­i­can Rights at Work, USAc­tion and dozens of oth­er pro­gres­sive orga­ni­za­tions spon­sored ​“Defend the Amer­i­can Dream” ral­lies in every state capit0l in America.

At the time of this writ­ing the move­ment is slat­ed to con­tin­ue with ​“We Are One” actions to com­mem­o­rate the anniver­sary of the mur­der of Dr. Mar­tin Luther King. On April 4, 1968 King was struck down by an assassin’s bul­let in Mem­phis, where he was stand­ing up for san­i­ta­tion work­ers who were try­ing to form a union with AFSCME to improve their bru­tal work­ing conditions.

Hun­dreds of events are planned. Many par­tic­i­pants will wear red while engag­ing in teach-ins, moments of silence, coor­di­nat­ed walk-ins (where­in peo­ple walk to work togeth­er as a show of strength), leaflet­ing, ral­lies, demon­stra­tions and infor­ma­tion­al pick­ets at uni­ver­si­ties, work­places and pub­lic spaces from coast to coast.

Sol­i­dar­i­ty is in the air. Mil­lions are march­ing, many for the first time. The coop­er­a­tion among America’s often dis­cor­dant unions is grow­ing every day. The Wall Street Jour­nal is even rail­ing against protest music. As evi­denced by one protest sign in Madi­son (“You screw us, we mul­ti­ply!”), the demon­stra­tions have been inspir­ing, cre­ative and fun.

But it isn’t enough.

If we are to stop the attack, our actions will have to be big­ger, more focused and, yes, more row­dy. Such mea­sures must, of course, adhere to the non­vi­o­lent prin­ci­ples of Mar­tin Luther King. As Stephen Lern­er writes in this issue, these activ­i­ties, like the orig­i­nal Tea Par­ty, are as Amer­i­can as apple pie.

The con­ser­v­a­tive attack on our coun­try is about more than eco­nom­ics. Union mem­bers are the largest, best orga­nized and most effec­tive polit­i­cal force that we pro­gres­sives have. With unions out of the pic­ture, rad­i­cal con­ser­v­a­tives backed by cor­po­rate cash will dom­i­nate elec­tions. This takeover of Amer­i­can democ­ra­cy will mean the loss of much of the progress we have made not only in the area of work­ing con­di­tions, but also in envi­ron­men­tal pro­tec­tions, civ­il lib­er­ties and civ­il, LGBT and women’s rights.

No, you won’t see cable news­casts with nifty ​“Attack on Amer­i­ca” graph­ics behind the anchor. But pro­gres­sives should call it what it is – an attack on our nation. Defend Amer­i­ca, she’s worth it.