GOP legislators target 'loophole' for appointees on expired terms

 This headline is directly from the lead story on the front page of today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel print edition (sorry this is a behind a paywall). And it is something that I wrote about a long while back at Blogging Blue. 

"A handful of Republican lawmakers are proposing to change state law to keep appointees from staying in their jobs beyond the expiration of their terms, a move that comes four years after GOP legislative leaders spent at least $255,000 of taxpayer money to defend the practice.

Currently, state law defines a vacancy in public office as occurring when someone dies, moves, resigns or goes through a formal removal process. Two iterations of the Wisconsin Supreme Court — one controlled by conservatives, one by liberals — have upheld two situations involving appointees staying in their jobs beyond the expiration of their terms based on the definition of "vacancy" in state law. Under Bradley's (Julian Bradley, R-New Berlin) proposed bill, a vacancy in public office is created if the office is filled by appointment for a fixed term and the incumbent’s term expires. "

 I will agree that a gubernatorial appointee should leave their position when their term has elapsed unless reappointed by the incumbent governor. That should be simple enough and commonsense.

But I would like to offer an addendum. The governor has to make a new appointment within 30 days of the vacancy if not before the term expires and the legislature must approve or disapprove the candidate within 30 days after the new appointment is made. Don't allow another loophole to exist that would allow a governor or legislature to leave an appointed position open for political theater. There is a reason these positions exist and the residents of Wisconsin deserve to have them all filled in a reasonable amount of time.

Note to media: Stop Giving Air To Washed Up Has Beens Like Scooter Walker

 Of course there are dozens of articles running around the internet both locally and nationally about the arrest of Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan. One of the recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel articles talks about the Wisconsin GOP response and actions that they are considering. 

The writer is Molly Beck and she quotes the ex-Governor of Wisconsin, Scooter Walker, from a post that he made on X about Dugan. Stop giving this washed up ignorant pol the air. We don't want nor need to hear from his time out corner nor see his bald spot beneath his dunce hat ever again. 

Was I supposed to say that X was formerly Twitter, or do we all know that by now?

A Note To Congress: YOU GO FIRST! i.e.House GOP Drafts Cuts to Federal Employee Pension System

 GOP members of the house are proposing changes to the federal employee pension system in order to reduce costs and lower the deficit. Without even reviewing the details this clearly means that whatever federal employees are still on board will see increased participation costs and probably reduced benefits at the other end.

So, my take is: Congress you go first. As a matter of fact I don't know what your pension plan is but I suggest you don't need one and should just take your ball and go home when your last term has been served. 

So here's Wikipedia's explanation of the Congressional retirement plan. Seems rather complex as many government plans are and exceptionally generous. I don't have the patience to read it in it's entirety nor regurgitate it here.  Again, I don't think that they need one.

RFK JR Is About To Ban Artificial Colors and Dyes

 I hope he starts with the ones that he and Donold use on their faces...

JD Vance Killed The Pope

on Saturday JD Vance went to the Vatican and met with a representative of the Pope. And the MAGAsphere went nuts at the blasphemy of the Pope dissing the VP. So on Sunday the Pope granted the hillbilly a short audience in the residence and today the Pope is dead.

That's the story.

So It Is Actually Happening: I know someone who didn't get their Social Security payment last week.

 A 72 year old retired American citizen and full time life long resident of the US did not get their Social Security payment deposited in their account on Wednesday as scheduled. They didn't have an online account yet so when they created one, the site simply said that the payment would be late. Nothing else.

Even I believed the stories running around the media about DOGE and Musk flocking up payments were just hysteria. But now that I have real proof from someone that I have known for quite some time and whom I trust...You can believe it. They have flocked up the Social Security Administration.

The Absurd End Result If Birth Right Citizenship Is Abolished! None of us are citizens, except

 Melania Trump and Elon Musk because they are naturalized citizens. And yes I know that purported executive excrement only applies to the future but...it is after all the great 21st C post-truth era. So let's have fun.

The Actual 14th Amendment:

Section 1

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Now, although the Constitution mentions citizens a number of times in reference to their rights, this is the only place that I see where citizenship is defined. So if the 14th Amendment were taken away?

Well, let's work this backward. I am an American citizen because I was born here. My parents were American citizens because they were born here. Three of my grandparents were American citizens because they were born here (one grandfather was a German immigrant). Now, six of my great grandparents were immigrants and of course two never came to the country. As far as I know none of the immigrants became naturalized citizens. So?

So if birthright citizenship didn't exist how would we define who is a citizen? My great-grandparents weren't so if the 14th was gone, my grandparents wouldn't be citizens either. And if my grandparents were citizens, my parents wouldn't be either...and then I wouldn't be either nor most of you. We are only citizens because the 14th Amendment says we are citizens if we are born here. There are no ancillary clauses, nor any ifs, ands, or buts.

It does seem rather odd that the original Constitution doesn't define citizen.

BTW: it still seems odd that the MAGA group wants to deny birthright citizenship while requiring your birth certificate to register to vote under the SAVE act. Hey, kids, which way does it work?

BTW II: There is often a splitting of hairs around citizen and resident. Citizen is generally regarded as a the status of an American...while resident is the status for describing ones residence in a state. Doesn't the 14th above seem to indicate that one would be a citizen of the US and the citizen of the state where you reside? Not really important but interesting...

April 5th and April 19th 2025 Saw Tens of Thousands of Americans Take To The Streets To Protest The Action Of The President.

Yet, I haven't seen a single report of a federal building being stormed, windows or doors broken down, police officers assaulted, or items being stolen. And there will be no future president running on a platform of pardoning any miscreants from those two dates. 

Just something to think about.

Nixon vs. Trump? New Yorker cartoon from the past

 

Challenge The Establishment

During their tour of the western states, Bernie Sanders took the stage and talked about AOC and how she took on the establishment and won:

She stood up and took on one of the most powerful people in the House of Representatives. And she started with almost no money against the guy who had unlimited funds, and she beat him. Now, why do I tell you that story? 

It's not just to talk about Alexandria. The point that I am making is that in this arena of 15,000 people, there are hundreds of Alexandrias. There are hundreds of Alex's and Joe's and Mary's and Cynthia's. 

And all across this country, we are going to need people to go outside of their comfort zone. Because the establishment, man, they are smart. They are so smart. And one of the smartest things they do, one of the most effective things they do, is to say to all of you and working people all over America, hey, we got the money, we got the power, we own it all, you ain't nothing, nothing you're going to do about it. And a lot of people sit back and they say, what am I going to do? You can't do nothing. My boss is going to fire me, this, that, and the other thing. And that is the mindset we have got to break through. 

In Wisconsin, we have seen our own version of AOC, when Chris Larson, a strong liberal, took on then State Senator Jeff Plalw and won. It was a definite upgrade.Whereas Larson became part of the Fab 14 and fled the state to give us more time to fight against Walker and WISGOP over Act 10, Plale had actually went along with Walker and killed a last minute effort to divert the damage.

Now, I'm not exactly echoing Bernie in the sense that everyone and their uncle should file to run.  But we can definitely do our part by keeping an eye on our elected representatives on every level of government and make informed decisions on whom we vote for.  We cannot afford to have our electeds do nothing but just lip service, or even worse, go along to get along.  

I know I'm not alone in feeling this way:

Democrats, meanwhile, were more inclined to want their party to change course, with few saying this realignment should be toward the middle. 

Just 18% said the Democratic Party should become more moderate, while 50% said it should become more progressive. Meanwhile, 24% said the party should stay the current course.

And we need to do this not only for our representatives, but also for the party officials.  Right now, there is not one candidate that I know of running for Chair of the DPW who is not an establisment person. The status quo is no longer enough. We need fighters, everywhere.

What The Actual F*@k? American CITIZEN detained by ICE and Judge says:

 before I get to my comments here is the excerpt from The Hill:

An American citizen was held in a Florida jail at the request of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) despite the county judge being able to see a U.S. birth certificate in court. 

Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, who was born in the United States, was detained Wednesday in Florida by the state’s highway patrol and was charged with illegally entering the Sunshine State as an “unauthorized alien” under a state law that has been temporarily blocked by a judge, the Florida Phoenix news outlet reported Thursday. 

Leon County Judge LaShawn Riggans said Thursday that despite the charge against Lopez-Gomez being dropped, she did not have the authority to release the 20-year-old because ICE asked Leon County Jail to hold Lopez-Gomez. 

 So what the actual F*@k? An American citizen is arrested for violating a bogus state law that is blocked by the courts? Why is Florida law enforcement, 'enforcing' it? Why aren't they being indicted for ignoring a court order.

And once presented with the evidence that the man incarcerated is not a migrant but actually a US citizen, why he wasn't immediately released is impossible to understand. I don't give a shit who ICE thinks they are or what ever authority they might have, if they detain an American citizen thinking he is a migrant, once proven otherwise he is free to go. And ICE should also be hauled into court for violating a citizen's civil rights. This too is a no brainer. 

THE GOVERNMENT AT EVERY LEVEL NEEDS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR MISDEEDS EVERY DAY AND EVERY INSTANCE!

Masks: Doesn't it seem just a little bit 'odd' that

 the Trump administration is banning masks on college campuses during demonstrations while ICE commandos get to wear them when snatching up legal residents off the streets in the US or when neo-Nazi hoodlums parade through American cities?

RFK JR.

 proof that you can mummify someone before they are dead...

And Justice For Some

The big news out of Madison is that the city clerk, Maribeth Witzel-Behl, has resigned from office.  The action comes as a result of making a major mistake after nearly 20 years in office when her office failed to count some 200 ballots.  

But don't think for an instant that justice has been done.  

Justice will not be served when a clerk loses her job, despite 20 years of impeccable service, after someone in her office made a grave mistake, but a corrupt mayor who intentially stole a ballot box, denying the right to vote to a community goes without facing any consequences.

Justice will not be served until Wausau Mayor Doug Diny is also held accountable. 

Umbrella - 1; Evil Kumquat - 0

 Is it any wonder the country has gone to hell in just three months?  The Rancid Kumquat can't even handle an umbrella!

I wonder who ties his shoes for him in the mornings?