Karma Catches Up To Kreiser

Two years ago, a state employee named Chris Larsen was terminated from his job.  His sin was to send out an email saying that people were able to get free picture ID's despite a memo from Steve Krieser, third in command at DOT.  Via Caffeinated Politics, the incriminating email read thus:

Steve Krieser

“Do you know someone who votes that does not have a State ID that meets requirements to vote? Tell them they can go to the DMV/DOT and get a free ID card. However they must ask for the free ID. a memo was sent out by the 3rd in command [Steve Kreiser] of the DMV/DOT. The memo specifically told the employees at the DMV/DOT not to inform individuals that the ID’s are free. So if the individuals seeking to get the free ID does not ask for a free ID, they will have to pay for it!!

“Just wanted everyone to be informed!! REMEMBER TO TELL ANYONE YOU KNOW!! ANYONE!! EVEN IF THEY DON’T NEED THE FREE ID, THEY MAY KNOW SOMEONE THAT DOES!! SO TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!”

Amazingly, nothing happened to Krieser, even though his order was unethical at best.

Fast forward two years and Karma has finally caught up with him when he went on a racist tirade about a sticker that was supposed to represent a hunting permit for illegal immigrants:

In a stunning online rant, a top Gov. Scott Walker appointee likened illegal immigrants to Satan during a Facebook debate over a bumper sticker declaring open season on foreigners living in the U.S. without documentation.

"You may see Jesus when you look at them," Steven Krieser, assistant deputy secretary at the state Department of Transportation, wrote Tuesday regarding illegal immigrants. "I see Satan."

Krieser wrote that a "stream of wretched criminals" is crossing the border without obstruction. These individuals, he said, "completely ruined" entire states and industries, breeding "the animus that many American citizens feel toward them."

Walker's response was swift and dramatic.

Less than two hours after his office was informed of the rant, Walker fired Krieser. The gubernatorial appointee had been paid $96,628 a year as the No. 3 official at DOT.

"These comments are repugnant, completely unacceptable, and have no place in Governor Walker's administration," said Tom Evenson, spokesman for Walker. "Governor Walker condemns his views, and they do not represent the governor or his administration in any way."

Krieser's exact comments was the usual ill-informed claptrap that one would expect to hear from radio squawkers like Charlie Sykes or Mark Belling:

Sorry Joe, but I'm not with you on this one. The sticker is probably over the top, and while some people are undoubtedly motivated by racial animus, I think you err in insinuating that opposition to illegal immigration generally is driven primarily by racism.

As one of your other commenters here pointed out, it's pretty easy for a person to sit in Madison, Wisconsin, and tut-tut people in Arizona and some of the other states that have been completely ruined by illegal immigration and cast aspersions on their frustration with the complete inability of our federal government to defend the sovereignty of our borders. The whole social safety net and educational systems of entire southern states have been crushed under the weight of these criminals who commit another crime with every breath they take here, having snuck across the border. They routinely steal the identities of millions of legitimate, actual Americans, causing untold grief and billions in individual and business losses annually. Long-time landowners along the Mexican border - American taxpaying citizens trying to live out life on their own land, have seen their ranches completely overrun with violent criminals who routinely raid their homes and trash their land as the stream of wretched criminals continues to flow unabated to the north, day after day, night after night. And the whole service and agricultural employment sector has been skewed against actual Americans as unscrupulous, treasonous employers have replaced citizens with "undocumented" help for which they pay no tax, pay no unemployment insurance, pay no workers compensation, etc.

Then, on top of it all, we get to be treated to the incredible chutzpah of hundreds of thousands of these criminals marching in the streets in broad daylight, demanding all the benefits of citizenship from a country whose laws they are breaking even as they are standing there. The illegals themselves have bred the animus that many American citizens feel toward them You may see Jesus when you look at them. I see Satan. And if they don't like it here, hey, the door they came through to get here swings both ways.

Walker was correct in firing Krieser, but it does leave me wondering did he do it because it was the right thing to do or because he couldn't have Krieser making him look bad as he tries to gain some traction of his presidential bid.

Sadly, given the kinds of garbage coming from Walker's administration, firing Krieser is akin to throwing a deck chair off of the sinking Titanic.

Finally, but not least, credit needs to go to Representative Josh Zepnick for standing up and taking the bigoted Krieser on.  This is what we need more of from all our elected officials on all levels of government.

Send Rep. Josh Zepnick A Special Holiday Message

As the gentle reader knows, Milwaukee County has and is still going through a contentious time.

Chris Abele, who is the plutocrat's plutocrat, is besides himself in rage and self-pity that the County Board aren't falling all over themselves to bow down to his delusions of superiority. He's besides himself that the Board stood up for the taxpayers, the vulnerable citizens and the county workers and didn't just rubber stamp his austerity budget, even if it was illegal and immoral.

Abele attacked the workers in ways Scott Walker only dreams of, doubling down on Act 10. Despite his claims otherwise, Abele has single-handedly caused the highest rate of staff turnover the County has seen in decades. Staffing is so low that Abele has hired dozens of county retirees back as contract workers - paying them twice what they made as county workers, and that's on top of their backdrops, pensions and free healthcare - to fill the gaps he has created.

No group of county workers has been attacked as much as the sheriff's deputies. Not only do they get gouged as other workers, but Abele has moved to lay off over a hundred deputies in the past two years.

Amazingly, despite laying off so many deputies, Abele still has the brass to say he is concerned about public safety.

So, it was rather shocking when State Representative Josh Zepnick (DINO - Milwaukee) came out with a most disingenuous and insulting press release thanking Abele for attacking the deputies and misleading the taxpayers:

Why any County Supervisor would defend David Clarke is mind-boggling and hints that at least some on the Board see this all as some kind of game. Clarke has systematically and routinely thwarted the Board’s instructions and played partisan political games with them. Now that the Abele-Barrett Proposal is on the table, Supervisors chime in with comments like “I was not consulted about this in advance” or “We’re not going to decimate the Sheriff Department”.

Really?! Shifting a few dozen deputies out of several hundred is “decimating” an agency? How are we supposed to treat this body seriously when people make these over the top comments and give taxpayers a tab of over $1 million? The web page for the Sheriff has a quote at the very top from “Reinventing Government” authors David Osborne and Ted Gaebler, stating “there is nothing so foolish as to do more efficiently something that should no longer be done.” Maybe we could actually put those words into action and have the Board and County Executive revisit this proposal and develop some compromise.

Zepnick totally disregards the fact that the Board took away the House of Corrections from Sheriff David Clarke due to the incompetence and corruption in his administration. Not exactly a move that I would call defending the sheriff.

Furthermore,the cavalier and dismissive way that Zepnick dismissed the laying off of dozens of deputies made me wonder how I missed his switching sides to the Republicans.

It was then that I remembered a tip left by a commenter on a post four months ago. Said commenter made note that Zepnick was part of a group called "Democrats for Education Reform."

And indeed Zepnick is involved with the group and their agenda to sell our children's future to the highest bidder.

Hmmm, apparently having seen his fellow school choice proponents - like Elizabeth Coggs, Jason Fields, Jarett Fields and Tracy Dent - get routed in the last elections failed to teach Zepnick that his sort of attitude is a losing one in Milwaukee.

So here is what I am asking you to do:

Call and or email Rep. Zepnick and politely tell him that you don't appreciate his disrespectful attitude to the brave men and women of the Sheriff's Office who put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe.

Also tell him to be thankful this Thanksgiving Day that he somehow escaped our notice during this past elections season. And remind him that he might not be so lucky next time, especially if he keeps taking the wrong side in the war against our children and against workers.

His Madison numbers are (608) 266-1707 and 1-888-534-0009. His Milwaukee district number is (414) 727-0841.

His email address is Rep.Zepnick@legis.wi.gov. or you can use his page's contact form to get your message to him.

The elections are over and now our job is to hold the elected ones' feet to the fire, whether they are friend or foe. And I can't think of a better place to start than with Zepnick's duplicity.