Tuesday, June 3, 2014

There's A New Sheriff (Candidate) In Town

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that, to the surprise of no one, David Clarke has filed to run for reelection as Milwaukee County Sheriff.  The only people that even thought Clarke would do anything else are the rabid teahadists of the right, the Chicken Littles of the left and the paper who was pushing the story in order to increase their circulation to the dozens.

The rest of us who practice critical thinking knew Clarke wasn't going to go anywhere.  He can't win a race without the conservatives in the suburbs, so he wasn't going to run for the Mayor of Milwaukee.  Besides, all of the idiotic things that Clarke has said and done over the years keeps him from running for a higher position. The only other race he might have had a chance of winning would be county supervisor, but he's not going to challenge fellow nut job Deanna Alexander only to have his pay cut to about one sixth of what it is now.

What I do find hilarious in its hypocrisy are all the Democrats complaining about Clarke running as a Democrat again, pointing out how he speaks at Tea Party rallies and is buddies with the likes of Charlie Sykes.  They complaints might have had some meaning if they weren't also embracing Chris Abele, who supports Teapublican candidates and has spent more than his fair share of time on squawk radio.  Heck, they gave Abele a prominent speaking spot at their Founders Day Dinner, despite him behaving exactly like Clarke, if not even worse.

But the big news isn't about Clarke or the hypocrisy about conservatives running as Democrats.

The big news is that it appears that the election for sheriff doesn't end in August with the primary between Clarke and Chris Moews.

Angela Walker, a political activist, is running as an independent for the sheriff.  While many might dismiss her candidacy offhand, since she is running as an independent, she has a message that the other candidates aren't willing and/or able to send and one that I think will resonate with a lot of people.  From her Facebook page:
I am looking to be on the November ballot against Sheriff Clarke for a few different reasons. I believe that the problems facing the inner city are NOT going to be solved by adding more punitive measures. I don't think that either candidate for the office of Sheriff will address the huge problem of mass incarceration in Wisconsin, much less in Milwaukee. I don't believe the candidates connect the dots between failing schools, deteriorating neighborhoods, a complete lack of living-wage jobs, limited access to healthcare, inadequately funded transit, and mass incarceration to the violence in these communities. I KNOW that neither candidate will acknowledge the fact that these conditions are CREATED and sustained by racism and continuing discrimination. They are by design.

I can speak to those things. Somebody needs to!
Now, I can't say that I expect the local corporate media to give Ms. Walker much more attention between now and Election Day, but I think that Ms. Walker's message is a good one and one that needs to be heard. I'd expect that the gentle reader will hear more about Ms. Walker at this site in the upcoming weeks and months.

Walker might be considered to be a long shot, but given that she was able to organize a signature drive and get the necessary number of signatures in literally just a few days shows that she is a force to be reckoned with.

3 comments:

  1. Thank you Angela for running. Your voice will represent the multitude of voices who have had to endure the neglect pushed by David Clarke, Chris Abele and their Republican partners.

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  3. I am anxious to hear your plan Ms Walker. Where does one start to create the right conditions that will turn the inner city and it's prisoners into a liveable space with honorable citizens.

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