Monday, April 9, 2012

Those Classy Walker Backers

There is no limit to what they'll do to interfere with an election:

A man wearing a gun in a holster and a T-shirt that said "Scott Walker for President" caused a stir after he voted in a small western Wisconsin village. 
Village of Merrillan Clerk Debra Green said Tuesday the man is a firm believer in the right to openly carry firearms. She says he came to the village hall to vote with a pistol in a holster, tied to his leg. 
She says that made some poll workers "very uneasy."  After voting he went across the street and was handing out yard signs supporting Walker. Green says the man left after he saw poll workers observing him.
The police should have arrested him for causing a public disturbance and illegal electioneering.  I'd add the crime of stupidity, but not only is that not illegal, that would put the entire Walker administration in jail instead of just most of them via Walkergate.

15 comments:

  1. I'd be interested in knowing why you feel he should have been arrested. With Scott Walker not on the ballot and if he was 100 feet away from the polling place he broke no law. The open carry law is something that would need more investigation, but if he was openly breaking the law with open carry, I'm sure the village clerk could have alerted the police.

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    1. He was wearing a political shirt. A lefty was told he couldn't wear his "Recall Walker" sweatshirt to the polls, even though Walker wasn't on the ballot.

      And considering the bungle the Republicans have made of the laws, no one is sure what is the law anymore. But it's not unusual for Walker to screw things up. Look at how much he is costing Milwaukee County taxpayers for that kind of thing.

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    2. Last year, people were allowed to gather senate recall petition signatures *at* polling places, because none of the senators involved were on the ballot at the time, which made it not 'electioneering'.

      yoSAMite is correct: Walker not on the ballot means a Walker T-shirt is OK.

      http://gab.wi.gov/node/1689

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    3. Robert, the site you cite says, "The G.A.B. has concluded that petitioning in the immediate voting area or within the building containing the polling place is inherently disruptive. Election officials should order persons petitioning inside the building to leave the building."

      That page only allows petitioning *outside* the entrance (at least 10 feet away recommended, though this relaxes the previous 100-feet-away rule) -- never *inside* the polling place or the building containing it.

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    4. Raven, your kind of missing the point.

      Yes, people weren't allowed to attempt to gather signatures literally 'at the booth' or while people were in line, etc. But they *were* allowed within the 100 foot limit; that is, in the terminology of the statutes, circulating a petition doesn't constitute 'electioneering'. And I would hope we could all agree that simply wear a T-shirt is less likely to cause a 'disruption' than circulating petitions would.

      I can't lay my hands of the training materials we were given at the time, or point you to a link, etc., but at poll worker training April 2011, we were told about the GAB memo and were told that pro-recall buttons etc. would be OK because there was no overlap between people on the ballot and people involved in the senate recalls.

      Simply wearing a T-shirt or a button is not per se 'electioneering'.

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    5. Hell, anyone with a recall petition outside the polling place here were NOT allowed to even make eye contact with anyone entering the building.

      They had to sit at a picnic table and physically hold a sign indicating they even had petitions.

      They could not make contact with anyone, no sound; nothing; so to have some dude running around with a gun AND setting up signs for Walker is way more "activist" than any petitioner last fall that I seen.

      This guy could easily have been a trouble maker that Walker considered using in the crowds last spring.

      Oh well, it's all fun and games 'til someone flips out with the gat.

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  2. Isn't there a "verify" poll security third party group in operation now?

    These are people who are self-tasked with watching and video taping every vehicle license plate (since out-of-state people come to commit vote fraud, apparently), as well I think these self-tasked poll security folks are supposed to take pictures of each voter, too.

    And since Merillian is just beyond my backyard, I guess I won't have the kids accompanying me anymore.

    I'll probably have some redneck following them around to make sure they didn't vote now.

    Hell, the Merillian dude would probably chase them down and shoot them since they have HOODED SWEATSHIRTS.

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  3. Conservative activists keep pushing commonsense off the table of shared community well being. It should be universally understood that a citizen cannot take a weapon into a polling place! Does each polling place now require the "no weapon" sign at the door? Why would a citizen carry a threatening symbol of power and carry a specific written political message into the arena of individual choice? Everyone understands why.
    He wasn't arrested because he is known in the community and accepted as the gun nut he is...but what will the community say if he shoots that gun at a future election or a town meeting or a July 4th parade...?
    Palli

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    1. As long as no one uses a camera in the legislature, it might be okay....

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    2. I thought that it was supposed to be "concealed carry", not "open carry". Is there no difference?

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    3. "Does each polling place now require the 'no weapon' sign at the door?"

      Yes, it seems so -- and I'm surprised that this village hall has not done so. I would think that the possibilities of enraged gun nuts going postal over other village business (taxes, fines, etc.) already would have led to such a posting.

      Fortunately for those of us who vote in schools and similar facilities, those are no-gun zones now.

      But let's pressure our legislators to put through an amendment to this awful concealed-carry law that also extends to all facilities when used as polling places.

      Btw, my daughter -- voting for the first time and proud to do so -- and I were hassled illegally by a pollworker in the 2008 primary for t-shirts that we wore. I checked the law, I called the city, I made a complaint, and the pollworkers were better informed about the law by the 2008 general election. In sum, in all things, let's keep letting officials know both when they exceed their authority and when they may need to extend it to keep us safe.

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  4. You mean we have a right wing extremist in Wisconsin, I'm shocked. Luckily we don't have 10,000 left wing extremists, or they might try to take over the capital building. Wait, that did happen.
    Seriously, the poll workers can call the police if they feel so uneasy. The cop could have run a check, assuming he probably had his ID on him, and asked him to move along. Or would asking for an ID be dis-enfranchising his rights? Maybe we need the supreme court to answer that for us. At least the things that offend the left are getting smaller these days.

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    1. Poll workers should be able to carry their own weapons so the public don't get raked over the coals for high-priced union loving cops.

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  5. "Open Carry" exhibitionists typically suffer from "small man syndrome", that is, they are vertically-challenged, runts, little Mama's boys. Every one I have come across is shorter than I am and I'm only pushing 5'8".

    I have a cousin who fits in this category of idiots. In high school his dream was to become a cop. He would tell me, "When I have my uniform and gun noboby will push me around anymore". Fortunately for society, he never grew taller than 5'3" and couldn't meet the physical requirements of police work. The Army wouldn't even take him. He had to satisfy his fetish by becoming a gun-nut. He owns a gun store, masquerades as an outdoorsman and is a big Tea Party supporter. Every family should have one. When he shows up at reunions the shouting starts.

    He's also a deeply-closeted Gay man but that's another story and I won't tell you the disturbing way in which I came to learn this. Whatever you do, when you are around one of these head cases don't look down on them, which is difficult because they are so damn short. Just stare at the air above their heads and whistle a happy tune...but not one from "Snow White".

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    1. Are these "True patterns or merely perceived patterns to reinforce your already biased opinion?"

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