The Immoral Sheriff Clarke

By Jeff Simpson

I think I want to run for office in Wisconsin.  It seems like the perfect way to get numerous taxpayer funded  vacations to see the world.  The latest is Milwaukee's own Sheriff David Clarke.  Sheriff Clarke was inexplicably in New York and found his way once again onto the Fox and Friends show.

The good people of Milwaukee had to fly the "Democratic" Sheriff out to New York for some very urgent pressing business.  To call Hillary Clinton a racist because she likes hot sauce.

You absolutely can not make this stuff up.  

 And although many news outlets have noted that Clinton has had a long-documented obsession with hot sauce, conservative media seized on the comments as evidence that she was pandering.On Thursday, the hosts of Fox & Friends asked Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, who is black, to weigh in.
“I’m surprised she didn’t say watermelon,” Clarke opined, referring to a racist stereotype. “Just go all the way.”
“You know, this stuff is dehumanizing,” he argued. “It’s embarrassing, it’s disgusting.

The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department Code of Conduct is very clear. 

Personal-Professional Capabilities

Police officers will be responsible for their own standard of professional performance and will take every reasonable opportunity to enhance and improve their level of knowledge and competence.  Through study and experience, a police officer can acquire the high level of knowledge and competence that is essential for the efficient and effective performance of duty. The acquisition of knowledge is a never ending process of personal and professional development that should be pursued constantly.

Private Life

Police officers will behave in a manner that does not bring discredit to their agencies or themselves. A police officer's character and conduct while off duty must always be exemplary, thus maintaining a position of respect in the community in which he or she lives and serves. The officer's personal behavior must be beyond reproach.

It is kind of hard to enforce the Code of Conduct when the Boss breaks it on a daily basis.

But wait....There is more!  

Speaking of Dehumanizing, embarrassing and disgusting.... SHEriff Clarke is about to cost the taxpayers of Milwaukee a whole lot of money....

See under Sheriff Clarke's rule, the Standard Operating Procedure for women giving birth in jail(there have been 36 of them) has been to make the women give birth while their hands and feet were shackled.   Sheriff Clarke treated his female inmates so poorly that right wing extremist Federal Judge Randa, allowed a class action(with up to 300 women) proceed.  

There is a chance that Sheriff Clarke had no idea what was going on in the prison he runs, because he is constantly on right wing radio or TV.  He could have been too busy talking to Charlie Sykes to actually do his job.  

However know or not, the responsibility lies with him.   

A federal judge is allowing a former Milwaukee County jail inmate who is alleging in a lawsuit she was shackled during childbirth to make class action allegations on behalf of pregnant women or new mothers who also were shackled by county jailers.
The county acknowledged in a court filing that the woman was restrained by handcuffs and a leg restraint while she was in labor and by a handcuff while she was delivering.
There could be as many as 300 women in the class -- which the suit defines as women hospitalized for labor, delivery, or post-partum medical care since February 2010 --  if the lawsuit is allowed to proceed as a class action, the woman's lawyers said in a court filing. Thirty-six jail inmates gave birth between Jan. 1, 2010, and Feb. 19, 2016, according to federal court documents.
The jail is under the jurisdiction of Sheriff David Clarke.
Shackling women in the weeks surrounding giving birth is opposed by the American Correctional Association, the American Bar Association, the American Public Health Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Nurse Midwives, and the World Health Organization, the suit said. The US Marshals Services and the Federal Bureau of Prisons has sharply restricted the use of restraints on pregnant women, the suit said.

It takes a real strong man to shackle a woman who is giving birth.  No wonder he wears such a big fake cowboy hat.  He is all hat and no cattle as the saying goes.   I guess if they can push the woman choking David Prosser to the Supreme Court, the WOW counties truly have no standards when it comes to their elected officials.  

It is time for Sheriff Clarke to resign/  

 

The Ghost of Bill Kramer

By Jeff Simpson

Not sure what it is about "Friends of Scott Walker" that they think women are their own personal play toys but the fun never ends when republican thugs gather to honor our Governor.

Well it is usually not much fun for single women.  At the inaugeration ball, Republican Bob Westman allegedly channeled his inner Bill Kramer:

Authorities were called to the ball at Monona Terrace around 10:30 p.m. Monday, and arrested Robert J. Westman, 45, of Madison, on tentative charges of battery and fourth-degree sexual assault, police spokesman Joel DeSpain said.
A 44-year-old Onalaska woman told police Westman had been bothering her -- touching and trying to kiss her even though she repeatedly asked him to leave her alone, police said.
The woman sought help dealing with Westman from a 55-year-old Onalaska man, who confronted Westman and told him to stop, DeSpain said. About 20 minutes later, the man told police, he saw Westman bothering the woman again and went up to him once more, telling Westman he was going to call security, DeSpain said.
Westman "responded by head-butting the second man in the face," DeSpain said.

Following a looooooong line of lack of personal responsibility within the Republican party, Mr. Westman fit right in:

Westman claimed he and the woman were "having a good time," and that the touching was consensual, DeSpain said.
"That’s not backed up by any of the witnesses we talked to," DeSpain said.

No word yet if Mr. Westman can get his trial moved to Waukesha or if Judge Randa has made it illegal to investigate headbutting incidences yet.

More info on this very unsurprising story, as it becomes available(pictures from facebook).



Or maybe Bob was just wearing Hai-Karate:

How Much Collaboration Do You Want?

By Jeff Simpson - Cross Posted from Purple WI! 

The Misaptly named "Citizens for Responsible Government(CRG)" has jumped on the right wing bandwagon of filing frivolous lawsuits and are now suing to be able to collaborate with candidates and other dark money groups.  
Wisconsin's Club For Growth(WICFG) and their "leader" Eric O'Keefe has already filed a frivolous lawsuit, asking for the investigation(he is one of the people being investigated) to end.   Mr. O'Keefe, has the sound of desperation wherever he goes to tell his story:
"We have in Wisconsin a taxpayer-funded domestic spying operation of over three years' duration conducted by the Milwaukee County DA, John Chisholm, and now in concert with Kevin Kennedy at the Government Accountability Board, which is corrupt and so is Kennedy," said Eric O'Keefe, one of the directors of the Wisconsin Club for Growth.
While it does not surprise me that Governor Scott Walker has no problem Mr. O'Keefe slandering a solid public servant like Mr. Chisholm, it does surprise me that the Governor has not distanced himself from groups with such questionable pasts as WICFG & CRG.  
Then CRG stepped, in maybe because they have been left out of all investigations so far, or it could be that when cases get in front of Judge Randa, they are confident in knowing the end result will favor the Republicans.  In that case, why not ask for the moon.   It also does not hurt that Scott Walker's lawyer's wife, works for Judge Randa. 
Either way, Club For Growth, funded by another org that Mr. O'Keefe sits on the board of, wanted to help muddy the waters.  Or as CFG president  Chris Kliesmet puts it:
"My rights to speak out are being violated and they're being violated in a violent way,"
The reality is, that Mr. Kliesmet should be thankful that his right to speak have actually not been taken away in a "violent way".   We have a history of doing that in America and it can be lethal! !   
In case you need a quick reminder of what is going on here, Wisconsin elected & public officials, have a history of breaking election laws.  Then earlier in Governor Scott Walker's term, there was a John Doe investigation that actually netted 6 convictions! 
Anyone who has watched an episode of CSI, or even Starsky and Hutch, realize that in order to get convictions, you need to gather evidence and investigate.  That is what the prosecutors were doing when they confiscated some computers from key figures in the case(some of who were given immunity).  This allowed investigators to get 5 felons and one convict, out of our government, so everyone benefitted.  
Mr. O'Keefe felt the need to speak up on that issue also, and really should not have(emphasis mine):  
He alleged "synchronized paramilitary raids" had been conducted in September 2011 and October 2013 that were aimed at intimidating their targets. Those whose homes had been raided are suffering reactions "similar to rape victims," he said.
Yes Mr. O'Keefe really did compare having your taxpayer supplied laptop confiscated to being raped.   While I am sure every Rape Victims would disagree, the real question here is -  why is our Governor taking counsel from someone who would hold such disgusting beliefs?   
Instead of allegedly coordinating in private,  Mr. Kliesmet comes right out and tells us his plans:
CRG told the court it wants to collaborate with Vilas County Supervisor Kim Simac, Waukesha County Board Supervisor Carl Pettis and state Senate candidate Jason "Red" Arnold. But it has not started working with the candidates because the accountability board and Chisholm have said such collaboration can be illegal, even if a group does not urge people to vote for a particular candidate, the group said in its suit.
Everytime the words, "can" or "may" be illegal are spoken or written, Chuck Chvala's Google alerts go crazy!   Plus, if the Republicans did not think this was illegal, they would not have tried to pass a bill to make it legal. 
It will be interesting to see where the courts take this and where it finally lands as illegal or we completely change the election landscape.
With such hyperbole and the flurry of lawsuits being filed, one would almost think that these people have something to hide.   However, as we wait for the courts to decide how much collaboration is allowed, there is something that can be done that is 100% legal.
That is to work bipartisanly to fix our state's messes. 
I hope these same people who are working so hard to collaborate, make sure and let the republican elected officials know that they expect the same out of them during session.   The people of Wisconsin will be watching next session to make sure that both sides amendments and arguments will be listened to and considered.     No more stunts like Robin Vos telling the Democratic Caucus not to waste any time on amendments because everyone would fail.   
If they find collaboration to be such an important function for success, let's make sure and live by that example.   
Let's swear off the divide and conquer philosophy, that Scott Walker brought to the state in 2010 and start working together.  
Finally, as Mr. O'Keefe complains about his speech being stifled, you should know that his speech is so stifled, that he only has a website, a facebook page, linked in, unlimited access to right wing radio, the ability to talk to any of his friends and neighbors, most right wing politicians will take his call, and he can write a letter to the editor in any paper he wants(among other venues).   
Some people in Wisconsin would love, if their biggest problem was, that their speech was "stifled" to this extent!