Wisconsin Supreme Kangaroo Court Rules In Favor Of Pandemic

The Wisconsin State Supreme Kangaroo Court has decided, in a 4-3 ruling that Wisconsin's Safer at Home order was illegal and immediately abolished the order. The decision is, of course, disappointing but not surprising, since many of the judges had obviously decided the ruling even before they heard the case.

Among the pro-pandemic judges was Rebecca Bradley, who compared the order to Japanese internment camps during WWII and Dan Kelly, the Scott Walker appointee, who is obviously still better in getting his ass handed to him in last month's election.

The rationale that the kangaroos used to support their decision made it obvious that this whole thing was nothing more than another power grab by the Republicans and their special interest masters:

In the majority opinion, Roggensack determined Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm should have issued regulations through a process known as rulemaking, which gives lawmakers veto power over agency policies.

Without legislative review, “an unelected official could create law applicable to all people during the course of COVID-19 and subject people to imprisonment when they disobeyed her order,” the majority wrote.

The problem with their reasoning is that state law clearly spells out that the governor's administration's authority to issue the order that it did.

Surprisingly, another one of Walker's appointees actually had a rare moment of lucidity:

Hagedorn, who worked as chief legal counsel for former GOP Gov. Scott Walker, wrote in another dissent that the court should not be a referee between the warring parties controlling the other two branches of state government.

"We are a court of law. We are not here to do freewheeling constitutional theory. We are not here to step in and referee every intractable political stalemate," Hagedorn wrote."In striking down most of (the order), this court has strayed from its charge and turned this case into something quite different than the case brought to us.

"To make matters worse, it has failed to provide almost any guidance for what the relevant laws mean, and how our state is to govern through this crisis moving forward. The legislature may have buyer's remorse for the breadth of discretion it gave to (the Department of Health Services). But those are the laws it drafted; we must read them faithfully whether we like them or not," he said.

But here's the kicker - the Republicans had no plan of their own to deal with the pandemic. They belatedly realized this and had asked the court to order a six-day stay so that they could cobble something together but they were denied. Now they are begging Evers to give them a plan for them to approve.

Meanwhile, the state has been thrown into a pandemic pandemonium. With no statewide order in place, many counties and cities have quickly rigged up their own versions of stay at home. But these are different from county to county and even from city to city. Some places already had their orders in place so nothing changed. Many others did not.

Thus one can expect that the state will become one giant COVID-19 hot spot as bars across the state opened up within an hour of the ruling.

Laughingly, Robin "Full PPEs" Vos made this statement about the ruling:

“Republicans believe business owners can safely reopen using the guidelines provided
by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. We urge our fellow small
business owners to utilize the suggestions as a safe and effective way to open up our
state.

“Wisconsin now joins multiple states that don't have extensive ‘stay at home orders’ but
can continue to follow good practices of social distancing, hand washing, hand sanitizer
usage and telecommuting. This order does not promote people to act in a way that they
believe endangers their health.

Reality did not support this inanity:

I have to wonder how many of these bars are having Corona specials, since that is what they are mostly serving up.

The really ironic part is that the Republicans, on behalf of their Big Business masters, think that they have won. But it will be a Pyrrhic victory at best. Sick and/or dying workers aren't very productive and sick and/or dying consumers don't buy a lot of things.

Did Republican Sh*tshow Elections Cause Uptick In COVID-19 Cases?

Image courtesy of Crooks and Liars

As the gentle reader is aware, Wisconsin Republicans were hoping to suppress the vote in the spring elections by forcing it to be held last Tuesday, during a pandemic, in spite of the advice of health experts and common sense. They were hoping to keep as many people from voting as they could so that they could keep the Scott Walker appointed Dan Kelly on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

And what a shitshow it was!

In Milwaukee, instead of the customary 180+ polling stations, there were only five. There were so many demands for absentee/mail in ballots that many counties ran out. Hundreds of thousands of people never received them because county clerks were overwhelmed. To make matters worse, the post office managed to not deliver hundreds of ballots. The people denied their ballots ended up risking their health and lives as well as the health and lives of their family to exercise their right to vote. People stood in line for up to two and a half hours, sometimes in pouring rain or hail, for the opportunity to vote.

Pretty much, the sentimentality of the voters were the same:

Fuck you, Wisconsin GOP. #WisconsinPrimary #WisconsinPandemicVoting pic.twitter.com/Vlpq72Ez7b

— Gretchen (@mkeGingerGal) April 7, 2020

Despite the Republicans best efforts to suppress the vote, it was a massive turnout by Democrats - much higher than for the past few years. Their cherished Kelly lost to the challenger, Jill Karofsky. In a delicious irony, the Republicans immediately started mewling that the election had been rigged. No, really.

Unfortunately, we are now starting to see the other results of that poor decision to force the elections. While Wisconsin was starting to see a flattening of the curve and it looked like things were going to be better than expected, there is a new uptick in confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Here are the state numbers on April 14, one week after the election:

And here are the numbers from the very next day:

As the gentle reader can see, there was a jump of almost 170 confirmed cases. While that is low compared to hard hit areas like New York, it is significantly higher than the average daily increase in new cases in Wisconsin as the curve was starting to plateau.

I'll admit that one day does not mean a trend, but it apparently was enough to cause Governor Evers to extend the "safer at home" order for another month, until May 26. Of course, the Republicans are in such denial that they refuse to see the cause and effect of their piss poor decision making. They, like so many others around the country, are pushing to lift all the restrictions because of MONEY!! The Republicans still can't fathom that dead people don't work and don't help keep the economy going.

Republicans to Wisconsin: You Vote, You Die!

Like many other states, Wisconsin's elected leaders were befuddled about what to do, if anything, regarding the general spring elections and presidential primary, which is scheduled for tomorrow, April 7. However, thanks to the Republican-controlled legislature, the election has become a full-fledged clusterfuck.

Weeks ago, Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, started pushing for the election to be held as scheduled but asked for the Republicans to change the law to allow it to be all done with mail-in ballots.

The Republicans refused, stating that they didn't wan't think that COVID-19 was all that contagious. Despite the Republicans official stance, officials and politicians of both parties started pushing for voters to request an absentee ballot. The system became overwhelmed with more than a million people asking for their mail-in ballots, and counties ran out of ballots, creating a backlog where several people have not received their ballots weeks after making the request. (My wife and I made our requests early on and have already returned the completed ballots.)

In the meantime, the County Clerks for both Milwaukee and Dane Counties, in an effort to make voting even safer, ruled that people didn't need to have a witness sign the ballots. Predictably, the Republicans had a meltdown about this because both counties are Democratic strongholds and sued to stop this. After a series of hearings, it was decided that the witness signature was indeed needed but they had an extra week to return the ballots.

Rather belatedly, Evers called for a special session for the state legislature, scheduled for this past Saturday so that the Republicans could postpone the election date. The Republicans, led by Speaker of the Assembly Robin Vos and Senate leader Scott Fitzgerald, gaveled in and immediately gaveled out of session, postponing any decision to Monday, the day before the elections. On Monday, the refused to postpone the elections. They'd rather needlessly expose poll workers and voters to the COVID-19 virus rather than allow people the ability to safely exercise their right to democracy.

Following the Republicans absolute refusal to do their jobs, Evers issued an Executive Order postponing the in-person voting until June 9, citing the health risk of having it as scheduled while confirmed COVID-19 cases are spiking.

Guess what the Republicans did? Yup, they had another temper tantrum and immediately started to file an appeal with the State Supreme Court, saying that Evers didn't have the authority to issue such an order. Again, because this cannot be overemphasized, the Republicans are saying that they would rather see democracy and voters die rather than be adults about the whole thing.

Even if Evers' order stands, it presents a new set of issues, since many of the races in the general election were local races and the winners were to be seated later this month or in early May. Again, this is an issue that could have been resolved if the Republicans chose to do their jobs instead of turning their grandstanding into a shitshow.

All that said, the Republicans haven't been just sitting on their butts but are concerned about things that are more important to them, such as lifting the ban on many non-essential business because MONEY. At the same time, they want Evers to open up the golf courses and attend Easter and Passover services, because nothing says fellowship like contaminating each other with a potentially deadly virus.

And of course, while they want all these things to get opened, the Republicans also want Planned Parenthood to be classified as non-essential and the clinics closed. In other words, golfing is a necessity in life, but women's healthcare is just a trivial nicety.

I certainly hope that the voters will remember all this when the spring elections are held as well as in November, when we get to decide which is more important - our very lives or their political careers.

ADDENDUM: The Republican controlled State Supreme Court just issued a possible death sentence for Wisconsin voters, the rat bastards that they are.

WISGOP Suffer Major Setback In Their War On Democracy

Wisconsin Republicans probably won't be able to silence the voices of over 200,000 people in the spring elections.

At the end of last year, a right wing front group for the Bradley Foundation filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Election Commission, demanding that nearly a quarter of a million people be purged immediately from the voter registration. The Republicans were in a panic because the spring elections were just around the corner and they know that when people vote, the Republicans lose.

But the Republicans thwarted themselves while creating the election commission so that it was very partisan. The commission decided to hold off doing the purge due to an appeal filed by Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul and a federal lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters.

The Republicans, in an state of utter desperation, launched a three prong attack against democracy:

• The front group filed a motion with the original court to find the election commission in contempt
• They also filed a petition with the Wisconsin Supreme Court to bypass the appellate court and take the appeal directly, since they had a 5-2 conservative majority
• Republican legislators filed in the federal lawsuit, asking for it to be dismissed, even though the legislators have no standing in the lawsuit

On Monday, the original court sided with the Republicans, finding only the three Democrats on the commission in contempt. He ordered the commission pay a $50 a day fine and that the three Democrats need to pay a $250 per day fine. But because the commission consists of appointed citizens who were acting in their official capacity, the taxpayers will be the ones ultimately footing the bill for this blatant act of partisanship.

The ruling was not a complete surprise since the judge presiding on the matter, Paul Malloy, was appointed by former Republican Governor Scott McCallum. Malloy also has a history of controversial statements and stunts, trying to present himself as a tough on crime type of judge.

Also on Monday, the state supreme court decided not to intervene in the appeal, leaving the matter to go to the appellate court first, despite the conservatives majority. This happened because on of the judges recused himself because he is up for reelection in the spring and would be directly affected by a decision. A second conservative justice betrayed his special interest masters by siding with the two impartial justices in deciding against the case.

State Republicans were outraged that justice was being done, demanding to know what kind of service they were getting after spending so much money on them.

On Tuesday came the major blow. The state appellate court issued an order to immediately stay the circuit court order, meaning that the targeted voters will remain in the registration for now. Furthermore, because the spring primary elections are only a few weeks away and the general elections - including the presidential primary - is on April 7, it is extremely unlikely there will be any changes before then.

And even if the Republicans prevail when it gets to the Wisconsin State Supreme Kangaroo Court, there is still the federal lawsuit hanging over their heads, so there is a change the voters will get to keep their voices through November as well.

In summary, the Republicans lost two major battles in the past two days and will get to pay for it with their tax dollars. Now excuse me while I go savor this moment and wait for the Republicans' heads to start popping.

WISGOP Thwarts Themselves Again

After taking over all the branches of government in Wisconsin in 2011, the Republicans immediately got to work to secure their power and punishing those who tried to hold them accountable. Unfortunately for them, their incompetence has sprung up on them time and time again.

In 2018, Scott Walker lost his bid for reelection by a narrow margin. Normally, he would have been able to call for a recount, but the Republicans had changed that law, making it more difficult to get a recount. And thus, Walker was unable to challenge the vote and is becoming more and more irrelevant every day.

Another thing that the Republicans changed was abolishing the Government Accountability Board (GAB), which acted as a watchdog on Wisconsin elections and investigating any possible infractions of election laws. The Republicans had their undies in a bundle because it was the GAB that approved the John Doe investigation into Walker. They cried that it was all political and a partisan attack. What they wouldn't admit is that board consistent of retired judges, all of whom were Republican.

To replace the GAB, they created the Wisconsin Election Commission, which was comprised of six people, three Democrats and three Republicans. So much for not wanting the watchdog to be political.

This has become an outstanding issue now which again is biting the Republicans in the ass.

The Republicans, through a front group, filed a lawsuit to have nearly a quarter of a million people purged from the voter registration because they might have moved, based on a voter caging stunt. It was purely coincidental [end sarcasm] that the majority of the caging happened in areas that vote Democratic.

The judge granted the petition and went a step further, saying the purge should happen immediately.

Unsurprisingly, the three Democrats on the elections commission are blocking the purge from happening, citing an appeal by the commission and the fact that the League of Women Voters have filed a federal lawsuit to stop the purge:

The Wisconsin Elections Commission deadlocked Monday over whether to remove the voter registrations of more than 200,000 people in response to a judge's order.

The commission's inability to reach a consensus means the voters will stay on the rolls for at least the time being. An appeal in the case is ongoing and the commission faces a separate lawsuit that is trying to make sure people are not pulled from the rolls.

The three Republicans on the commission sought to take many of them off the rolls, but they were blocked by the three Democrats on the commission.

It was the second time in as many weeks that the commission broke down along party lines over the lawsuit, which has drawn national attention because of Wisconsin’s top-tier status in the 2020 presidential race.

As one could expect, Republicans are having meltdowns all across the state, accusing the Democrats in general, and specifically the three on the commission, of breaking the law, being anti-democratic. etc.

At the rate they're going, it won't be long before the Republicans end up suing themselves.

Democracy Returns To Wisconsin, WISGOP Has A Meltdown

Sean Duffy's officially left Congress on Monday. He was resigning reportedly to stay home with a baby he and his wife were expecting in October, which had already been diagnosed with special needs.

On the same day, Governor Tony Evers set the special election to replace Duffy:

Gov. Tony Evers on Monday called for a special election in January to fill the vacancy in northern Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District. The announcement came the same day U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Weston, resigned the position.

“Our rural communities have been directly affected by unproductive trade wars, political attacks on health care and public education, and economic uncertainty because of the volatility we’re seeing in Washington, D.C.,” Evers said in a statement announcing the Jan. 27 special election. “The people of Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District deserve to have a voice in Congress, which is why I am calling for a special election to occur quickly to ensure the people of the 7th Congressional District have representation as soon as possible.

If a primary is needed, it will be held on December 30.

The Republicans immediately sprung into action by mewling about it, making broad and baseless accusation and, of course, fundraising:

While Evers said the special election date was chosen in order to fill the open seat as soon as possible, Mark Jefferson, executive director of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, was critical of the governor’s selection.

“(Evers) called for a special election on a Monday over the holidays in order to shield his party from rural voters during the spring election,” Jefferson said in a statement. “Governor Evers knows the problems that come with holding an election in 26 counties during the holidays, but he doesn’t care. Clerks are already burdened by existing end-of-year priorities such as budgets and property taxes, along with reviewing nomination papers for local offices.”

They also added gripes about the cost of having the special election.

Their complaints is foolish. The spring elections would be actually more beneficial to the Democrats, since that is when Wisconsin's presidential primary is. There is guaranteed to be a much bigger turnout in the spring than over the holidays (if a primary is needed) and in the dead of winter.

But not all Democrats are pleased about the choice either, as Ruth Conniff of Wisconsin Examiner, reports:

The January election date is not ideal, according to at least one Democrat, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Black Earth).

“If you have a primary or a general around Christmas … you get terrible turnout because real people don’t think about primary elections, they think about the holidays,” Pocan said in a conversation with reporters on Sept. 4, during which he was asked what would be the best election date in the 7th district for Democrats.

The best way to schedule the election, he said, was to “piggyback” the dates on already-scheduled elections, with a primary in February and a general election in April. “You don’t want to add elections,” Pocan said. “We like elections; most people don’t.”

“If you start putting a bunch of elections, especially at Christmas time or in other months, you’re not going to get turnout and that doesn’t benefit anyone,” Pocan added. “You should want as many people as possible to participate.”

One of the real reasons that the Republicans have their undies in a bundle over this special election is because they know that the party choice to replace Duffy, State Senator Tom Tiffany, is a strong Trump supporter and with Trump failing and flailing fast, they're afraid it's not going to go well for them because it would be an early referendum on Trump.

The other reason they're upset is because they are pining for the good old days, when they didn't have to worry about the voters. Y'know, like that time that Scott Walker was so scared of giving the people their voice that he refused to hold special elections in the beginning of 2018, until he was ordered by the courts - numerous times - to set the dates.

WISGOP Sends Mixed Messages About Trump

The Republican Party of Wisconsin (RPW) held their statewide convention this weekend - yeah, because nothing says like respecting the women in your life like leaving them at home while you go off to plot how to attack women's rights next.

They tried to present an upbeat message and show defiance to the Blue Wave that is sweeping the nation but lost the message by pissing themselves every time a new story or poll about their hand-picked president comes out.

The convention started with RPW chair Brad Courtney advising the loyal establishment voters to vote for the candidate, like Scott Walker, and their abysmal records and not based on Trump and his even more abysmal record:

Dems also see the Trump’s poll numbers as one reason to believe a blue wave is headed to Wisconsin this fall.

Courtney, though, argued Walker’s record, not Trump’s, will be on the ballot in November for Republicans to run on.

Still, he said the president needs to do a better job of selling the benefits of the GOP tax overhaul. Courtney, the president of Courtney Industrial Battery, said he signs 31 individual paychecks and with the overtime many hourly employees make, they aren’t necessarily noticing the impact of the tax cut.

“There is obviously frustration in Washington,” Courtney said. “But we’ve done a lot of good things in Wisconsin over the last eight years, and we’ve delivered on really everything that Gov. Walker has ran on.”

Not all Republican leaders must have got that memo, since many of the electeds spent their time singing Trump's praises. Most notable was when Lyin' Paul Ryan broke out his kneepads:

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) called President Trump an asset in the upcoming 2018 midterm elections, saying he has resonated with voters in key states.

"The president is strong in these states," Ryan said on Saturday at the Wisconsin Republican convention, according to The Associated Press.

"He's an asset...Whether I'm running around southern Wisconsin or America, nobody is talking about Stormy Daniels. Nobody is talking about Russia. They're talking about their lives and their problems. They're talking about their communities, they're talking about jobs, they're talking about the economy, they're talking about national security," he continued.

In other words, who cares about Trump's womanizing, adultery, overt racism, ties to Russia or scandal plagued administration - as long as the rich get their massive tax breaks and we get to kick millions off of Medicare, life is good!

What I really don't understand is that they've seen for the past year dozens of Trump-loving Republicans get swept away, yet they're still clinging to him. It's like tying yourself to the railing on the Titanic as its going under. It just makes no damn sense.

Screnock The Supreme Sham

By Jeff Simpson

Next week, we get a chance again to tweak our Wisconsin Supreme Court.  The choice is down to Hard Core right winger Mike Screnock and Rebecca Dallett.   While Dallett has run an all over the board, low road campaign, she has to be the choice. 

Screnock, who likes to pretend he is nonpartisan and will follow the rule of law to a T, yet his whole career has proven the exact opposite.

When Screnock was younger, he took time away from playing tennis and the tuba for the Baraboo Thunderbirds:

To get himself arrested twice for blocking women's access to healthcare and refusing to give his name to the police when arrested. 

It is always nice when the Supreme Court Justice can share his mugshots. 

But wait there is more, there is always more:

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC), Scott Walkers boss, have spent north of $600,000 to elect Screnock.  The Republican Party of Wisconsin, is in for about $150,000, The NRA has given him their strong endorsement and Right Wisconsin gives him unlimited free press because he is their largest advertiser.

Screnock has hired some of the worst of the worst right wing extremists to run his campaign:

 His campaign is staffed by longtime Republican operatives including Sean Lansing and Luke Hilgemann, both formerly with the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity, and Nathan Conrad, formerly a spokesman for the state GOP.

To make matters worse, Screnock knows that he is running as a GOP Justice and has unlimited funds trying to get him elected.   That means he has no interest in even attempting to do the work needed to win grass roots support!

Screnock has blown off candidate questions from the League of Women Voters. He avoided some joint appearances prior to the primary and backed out of a March 13 debate before the Dane County Bar Association, after originally agreeing to take part. The group’s treasurer, David Friedman, says that “to the best of the DCBA’s knowledge,” no other major candidate for state Supreme Court has ever failed to appear at its candidate forum. 

Screnock has even engaged in artful dodging to avoid discussing his own actions in court.

While Mike was in Mock Trial his senior year, it seems that all he has learned to mock are the citizens and voters of Wisconsin.

It is time to upgrade our Supreme Court even if it is only slightly.

Please do not vote Screnock! 

QOTD: Charles Pierce

The esteemed and renowned columnist Charles Pierce hits it right on the head with this paragraph:

They [the Republicans] aren’t going to pull back. They aren’t going to stop. They aren’t going to do their jobs. Their patriotism extends only as far as a donor’s wallet and their devotion to the Constitution can be measured with an eyedropper. Nobody truly can be said to be NeverTrump anymore who is not also NeverMcConnell, NeverRyan, and, frankly, NeverGOP, at least in its current manifestation. The prion disease has triumphed completely. The patient is brain-dead, but still deadly in its contagion.

And since I'm quoting Pierce, I feel obliged to gratuitously share this picture of the time I got to meet him:

And yes, that's Randy Bryce photobombing us.

Republican Hypocrisy On Parade

For many long years, we got to see Republicans and their supporters show their true nature - being bullies.  There are countless pictures of them hanging President Barack Obama in effigy. There have been all the baseless accusations against Hillary Clinton and chants to "Lock her up!" There have been intimidation and smear tactics against your average citizens that dared to ask questions or tell truth to power. The list goes on and on.

One of the poster children for this bullying is Greg Gianforte, a Republican in Montana, who didn't like a question a reporter was asking. So Gianforte picked the reporter up and body slammed him to the ground.

Gianforte then told lie after lie, denying and then minimizing, the incident.  He went on to win the special election he was running in.

Even now, Gianforte is fighting a judge's order that he be booked like the criminal he is, afraid that political opponents might use his mugshot against him.

Then this past week, the unthinkable happened to the Republicans.  An idiot (legally) got his hands on some guns and went on a shooting spree in Arlington, hitting five people, including fellow Republican Representative Steve Scalise.

So how did the Republicans and their irresponsible rhetoric, laws and behaviors act?  Did they pass responsible gun control laws?  Did they apologize for all of the behaviors they helped provoke against women, against minorities, against Muslims and against the left?

HELL NO!

Instead of acting like mature adults, they reaffirmed their bully personalities by now and only now saying that there needs to be more civility in political discourse.

Let's look at Macho Man Gianforte now:

But he is eager to put the episode behind him, and he is now adding his voice to the growing chorus calling for better political discourse.

Gianforte said there is an obligation for members of Congress to ratchet down the vitriol in politics, especially after this week’s shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise during a Republican congressional baseball practice by a man who volunteered for Bernie Sanders’ Democratic presidential campaign.

“I believe that good things can come out of bad,” he said. “It’s important to make sure we reach out to all parties and hear their voice. I think the other parties have an obligation, as well, to be respectful and in that dialogue.”

The hypocrisy! It burns!

It is unsurprising though.  This is what bullies do.

So the next questions is how long will this new found call for civility last?

Answer: It has already ended.

Republicans are still eager to push through Ryancare, which will harm more than 24 million people.  This is not the behavior of a civilized group.  It is the behavior of a bunch of petty, hypocritical, hate-filled bullies.

People, we can - we must! - do better than this.

The Mighty Text Battle Of 2017

By Jeff Simpson

JSonline recently broke a story of a text message battle between Governor Scott Walker and Republican Assembly speaker Robin Vos.

The tension took on a bitter tone in text messages between the two last week that were released Friday under the state's open records law. The raw private exchange between the governor and Assembly speaker — in which both men blamed the other for infighting over the state budget — underscores how the top Republicans have been at odds in recent actions.

Blind ambition can do strange things to people.  Both career politicians have started to believe their own hype.   The fight stems from both wanting more.  Vos and Walker, based on their winning previous elections (massive amount of dark money and unethically gerrymandered lines not withstanding) the two evil twins had an agenda.  

Scott Walker was certain to be President now and Robin Vos would be getting ready to unseat Rebecca Kleefisch as Governor of Wisconsin.   With Reince playing a major role in GOP politics and Paul Ryan Speaker of the House, the Four Horsemen would ride again.  

A huge wrench was thrown into those plans though when Scott Walker, after running for President for four straight years was soundly and thoroughly rejected by the base of the Republican party for an overweight, bad haired, TV reality "star".  

That left Walker without a path forward and since he has done nothing but suck off the public teat, he has no intentions of going anywhere.   While Scott holds the Governor's office, Robin can not run for it.   It is not looked upon very well if someone within a party challenges an incumbent(See Nehlen, Paul) without express consent of the party leaders(See Marklein , Howard).  

At the moment Walker can not be President and Vos can not be Governor.   That means there is conflict between the two and it boiled over in a series of text messages.  You would think that since they both are paid full time wages to work, they could just have sat down together in the Capitol and ironed it out.   That would of course mean that they would have to actually be working and in the Capitol.  Which we know is a rarity.

Now that we have the background out of the way, there was a text that was given some attention but not in context and not enough.

Robin Vos asked Scott Walker :

"do you think it's responsible not to make any interest or debt service payments (on) transportation over the next couple of years?"

Anyone who knows and has followed Scott Walkers career, knows that he is absolutely ok with it.  When your plan is to move on quickly, then he can blame his predecessor on all problems.   The problem is while Walker might have assumed it to be a Democrat, Robin Vos is certain he is that predecessor.   That is the ONLY reason Robin Vos would ask that question.  

The most telling text though, that has been completely ignored in all news stories is Scott Walkers answer:

Scott Walker: I believe we will have decent growth in the future. 

500 bonus points to anyone who can say where they have heard that one before:

  4/30/2012: Once June 5 hits and Gov. Scott Walker is securely re-elected, “our economy is going to take off like a rocket,” state Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said Monday during a meeting with The Journal Times Editorial Board.

Ouch,  he actually had people believing that and now we have dropped to 37th in the nation in job creation and are carrying more long term debt than we ever have.  

Dueling Legislators who are hoping for pie in the sky economics, while legislating from a position of ignorance and personal ambition.

Heaven help us!  

**PS:  We at CogDis have confirmed that no pocket protectors were injured in this battle!  

Happy New Year, I Think

A couple of days ago, the nation let out a collective sigh of relief as 2016 finally drew to a close.

To say that the year was a shitshow would be an understatement.

Politically, the nation saw the most undemocratic election ever held in the history of the country.  The Republicans were thrown into disarray when Donald Trump sucked all the air from the room and ran roughshod over the party and all of its establishment candidates.  It's not that the Republicans disagreed with Trump's misogyny, his bigotry or racism.  It's that they were taken aback by Trump openly speaking what they were all thinking.

Amazingly, these same people that spent the last eight years ripping into President Barack Obama for not being strong enough against Vladimir Putin and the Russians, chose to elect a man that not only embraces Putin, they don't mind that the Russians actually interfered with our elections.

Meanwhile, the Democrats, who had the presidency and so many other elections laid at their feet by the Republicans, once again turned a deaf ear to the people and chose to run the only person in the country that could have conceivably lost to to Trump, Hillary Clinton.  And not only did the Democrats manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, they manage to screw up almost every down ticket race, such as Russ Feingold or the state legislature.

Socially, way too many people decided that it was suddenly appropriate and acceptable to openly express their hatred to anyone that wasn't a white, wealthy male.  It became all too common to hear or see people openly express their racism, their bigotry and their misogyny to anyone that disagreed with them or was the wrong color, the wrong religion or the wrong gender.

Not even the world of entertainment was spared from 2016.  We saw a seemingly endless announcement as many iconic figures left this plane of existence.  From David Bowie to Prince to Keith Emerson and Greg Lake to George Michael died.  Actors such as Doris Roberts and Abe Vigoda and Carrie Fischer and her mother, Debbie Reynolds all left us.

It wasn't the loss of these entertainers that impacted us as much as that, for many of us, they took our childhoods and our youths with them.  Many of us grew up listening to their music or watching them on the screen.  With their loss, we were forced to face our own mortality.

So yes, we felt some hope that when 2016 ended, so would the shitshow.  Sadly, 2016 was just a precursor of what is yet to come.

While the world might have seen turned upside down by the elections, we still have to contend with the reality of the rise of the Fourth Reich as Trump is sworn in later this month.  The Republicans, who control both houses, couldn't even wait to start on their agenda, and secretly voted to do away with any sense of ethics.

In Wisconsin, Scott Walker, in his perpetual campaign mode, has already kicked off his 2018 gubernatorial reelection campaign and his next failed attempt for a presidential run.  If the gentle reader has learned nothing else in the past six years, it should be that when Walker campaigns, it's always off the backs of the people.  One should fully expect that Walker and his fellow corporate meat puppets will continue to do the bidding of their corporate masters, in order to be able to buy more elections.

With the Republicans controlling everything from all branches of the federal and state government as well as the Milwaukee County Executive's office, even if they only meet half of their bucket list, it will cause decades of damage, if it can be repaired at all.

I would also expect that we will also see an uptick in racial violence and open bigotry.  As people get hurt by their choices for public leaders, they will have to deal with this somehow.  They won't be able to blame the Democrats, who couldn't stop any of this, even if they wanted to.  Instead of admitting they screwed up and chose poorly, they will take their cognitive dissonance out on other victims, such as women, minorities and anyone else different from them.

And, sad to say, expect more icons to pass away.  What we are seeing is the Baby Boomers hitting that age where there will be an increase in deaths.  It's just a sad fact of life that no one can change.  To make things worse, there aren't really any younger celebrities that show any promise of making marks on our society like their older counterparts did.  I mean, really, do you think anyone is going to be influenced by Justin Bieber, Paris Hilton or the Kardashians?

But things don't have to be all doom and gloom.

The people still have the power, if they remember how to use it.  If the Democrats and the unions are smart about, work on changing their messaging and remember what they are supposed to be all about, the people are getting more and more ready to get organized and fight the madness and corruption.

There are glimpses of this starting to happen, such as the DPW hiring Jason Sidener, of AFSCME, to be their political director.  That is a definite change from the kowtowing to the corporate special interests that have become way too commonplace, especially under the leadership of Mike Tate.

I'm not trying to kid the gentle reader.  It's not going to be easy.  Once the special interests get the least bit of control, they are unwilling to cede any of it back to the people.  It will have to be wrested away from them, just as our forefathers had to do.  But since we allowed this circus to go on, we owe it to ourselves - and our children and grandchildren - to end the fiasco and start putting it to rights.  We need to be the change we seek.

So while we of course wish each and every one of our gentle readers (all 4.3 of them) a prosperous, happy and safe new year, we also implore them to make it so.  Let's all work together to get ourselves out of this handbasket before we go any further into this hell.

Penzeys Spices CEO Rips Trump Brand Of Hate, Business Soars

Shortly after the election, Bill Penzey, the CEO of Penzeys Spices, sent out an email decrying the results and the Trump brand of racism and hate that swept the country. It read, in part:

"The open embrace of racism by the Republican Party in this election is now unleashing a wave of ugliness unseen in this country for decades. The American people are taking notice. Let's commit to giving the people a better choice. Our kindness really is our strength."

Since I ask you to read my emails, I feel it's only right that I read each of your replies. In sifting through those replies it was clear that, though not intended, a good number of people seemed to sincerely believe in my statement I was calling all Republicans racists. In the emails of those Republicans who voted for someone other than the party's nominee, I sensed genuine pain at having the strength of character to not go along with what was happening, but nonetheless be grouped in with those who were. I apologize for writing something that caused you pain; that is not the person I want to be. You are your party's future, and you deserve my admiration and respect, and your country's as well.

For the rest of you, you just voted for an openly racist candidate for the presidency of the United States of America. In your defense, most of you did so without thinking of the consequences of your candidate's racism because, for most of you the heartbreaking destruction racism causes has never been anything you or your loved ones have had to experience. But the thing is elections have their consequences. This is no longer sixty years ago. Whether any of us like it or not, for the next four years the 80% of this country who did not just vote for an openly racist candidate are going to treat you like you are the kind of person who would vote for an openly racist candidate.

You can get angry at everyone else for treating you like you just did the thing you just did, or you can take responsibility for your actions and begin to make amends. If you are lucky and younger family members are still coming over for Thanksgiving, before it's too late, take a moment and honestly think about how your actions must look through their eyes. Simply saying "I never thought he'd win" might be enough. But if you have the means, leaving a receipt from a sizable donation to the ACLU or the SPLC accidentally laying around where you carve the turkey, might go over even better.

Right wing Trump apologists were beside themselves in fury and rage. They threatened to bring on a huge boycott and destroy the business.

And they failed miserably.

Apparently, Penzey's email struck a chord with many Americans because business went through the roof:

According to that Dec. 1 email sent to customers, online sales are up 59.9 percent and gift box sales are up 135 percent since those remarks. Apparently, customer loss — even though there were promises of boycott on social media in protest of Penzey's comments — wasn't much of a problem for the spice maker.

"Willing to take a hit for what is right, we did what we did," the company said in Thursday's email. "In the two weeks since, online sales are up 59.9 percent, gift box sales up 135 percent. And we didn't have a catalog arrive in this window this year, while last year we had 1.1 million!

"Yes, maybe for the moment we have lost 3 percent of our customers because of the so-called 'right wing firestorm.' And, yes, they send emails of rage, and ALL CAPS, and bad language with the hope of creating the perception that they are bigger than they really are. But what we learned is that, in terms of retail spending, Donald Trump simply has no one supporting his views for America. He has no constituency."

Looking at the company's Facebook page, the gentle reader can see that the accolades are continuing to pour in, supporting Penzey for his courageous stand.

When I was but a boy, my dear late mother made sure that I knew how to cook so that I could take care of myself when the need arose. Besides teaching me the basics, she also taught me the importance of using the proper ingredients. This included fresh spices from Penzeys. Since then, I refuse to use anything but in cooking my meals. It really is that good.

Kudos to Bill Penzey for putting his personal reputation and his business on the line in order to take a stand for Americans and American values. If only we had more business and civic leaders who show real leadership like he does.

When Did This Become Acceptable?

By Jeff Simpson

This was a shirt worn at a Trump rally.  This is what Reince, Paul Ryan, Scott Walker, and the rest of the Republican Party have made mainstream.  

How did we get to a point in 2016 that someone would print this up, much less wear it?  Imagine if you switched the word "Journalist" with teacher and wore it to school, or pilots and wore it on a plane, or republicans and wore it to a public venue, or Police, or firefighters, or women etc....

Yet this guy wore this loud and proud at a Donald Trump rally!  

I get the anti establishment feeling running through the country now, but this is not ok.  It should never be OK, there should be some consequences when bringing this message in public.

You can start today by voting AGAINST Donald Trump and anyone who endorses Donald Trump!  

Rush Limbaugh - The Anti Cupid

By Jeff Simpson 

Rush Limbaugh, the voice of the Republican Party. has a problem with women.   He called a college woman who had the gall to say she wanted access to birth control. a slut.   It does not stop there,  Now El Rushbo is in full crazy, defending The Donald, who was bragging about sexually assaulting anyone he feels.  

The hard core righty, and voice of the GOP. is heard on almost 600 radio stations.   Now we see why he is so popular amongst Republican(emphasis mine)s:

Addressing what he referred to as the “Donald Trump sex-talk scandal,” Limbaugh lamented America’s lack of moral standards, marked (it would seem) by the left’s willingness to let other people have whatever kind of sex they please, provided everyone involved wants it.
“You know what the magic word, the only thing that matters in American sexual mores today is?” Limbaugh asked no on in particular on his talk radio show Wednesday. “One thing.”
“You can do anything, the left will promote and understand and tolerate anything, as long as there is one element,” he continued. “Do you know what it is? Consent.”
This is stunning to Limbaugh.
“If there is consent on both or all three or all four, however many are involved in the sex act, it’s perfectly fine,” Limbaugh continued. “Whatever it is. But if the left ever senses and smells that there’s no consent in part of the equation then here come the rape police.”
“But consent is the magic key to the left,” he added.

 And the law of course, but that is a minor detail.    

I guess when you get arrested coming home from the Dominican Republic loaded with viagra,  and have been married four times, apparently there are deeper issues than his racism and sexism.

And people are surprised that Donald Trump burst on the scene?  

Republicans Write Off RoJo As A Lost Cause

Ron Johnson, who has consistently been trailing Russ Feingold in the polls and in fundraising, just got some more bad news this week:

As the National Republican Senatorial Committee rolled back its planned spending on Johnson’s behalf, it wasn’t clear Monday to what extent that would be offset by a new ad buy from a different wing of the same group.

NRSC spokeswoman Andrea Bozek confirmed Monday that the independent expenditure arm of the NRSC was canceling a planned ad buy in Wisconsin of about $830,000, slated to air from Oct. 17 to Nov. 7.

“Given this difficult political climate, we have to adjust reservations and strategy to ensure we are in the best position to protect the majority,” a NRSC aide reportedly said, according to Politico Pro, which first reported the news.

But that doesn't mean that Feingold will have an easy go of it for the last few weeks before election day.

The Democrats are scaling back their help as well. Even worse, dark money has started to flood Wisconsin with their smear ads:

As Senate Republicans and Democrats shift — at least for now — their focus away from Wisconsin, Johnson still stands to benefit from new spending by outside groups.

A new super PAC, Reform Wisconsin Fund, last week announced a major ad buy that slams Feingold for voting to allow partial-birth abortion. That buy amounts to about $365,000 in its first week, according to the fund.

With the Dems scaling back their help and facing a flood of dark money, I am sure that Feingold - and the people of Wisconsin - would be very grateful for any money that the gentle reader can throw his way.

The Alt-Right Is Not So Alt

By Jeff Simpson 

For some reason, someone felt it was a good idea to talk to Senator Steve nASS(R-Doesnt pay child support) about a new diversity outreach program at UW-Madison.  

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Republican state senator says a new diversity outreach program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is "sinister."
Sen. Steve Nass made the comments Thursday in reaction to UW announcing its plans to improve the experiences of minorities. The plan calls for having new students discuss social differences, a new cultural center for black students and increased opportunities to take ethnic studies courses.
Nass says university leaders "constantly complain about lacking money" but "they never lack money for advancing new and more sinister ways of liberal indoctrination of students.

Of course what is more sinister of liberals, than trying to reach out to people of different races, religions and backgrounds?  Especially when, as our friends at Political Heat point out, there are dire consequences for not reaching out:

Years ago,business leaders DID want a more diverse-friendly college campus in Madison. And when it was evident that was not what they were getting at UW, recruiters from major American companies were pulled from the university. From Pat Schneider of the Cap Times (Emphasis in bold added by me): 

 Diversity is good for business, which makes it an imperative for U.S. business schools, say Wisconsin School of Business administrators. 

If the business school community does not have a mix of students, faculty and staff that can prepare students for a global economy, students will go somewhere else and so will business recruiters. 
That has already happened at UW-Madison. A decade ago, big corporations like Procter & Gamble, General Motors and Alcoa stopped recruiting in Madison because of a lack of diversity among business school students.

 That is one way to stop the brain drain of Wisconsin students, make sure no one outside of Wisconsin will want to hire them.   

Of course since Wisconsin is already the worst state in the nation for African Americans, there is no incentive for us to have a diverse workforce or college student body.   

Let's not forget, it was career politician Steve nASS who famously said:



It is always entertaining when people who do not understand business, lecture the rest of us who do on what needs to be done.  

Steve nASS is also a career politician, whose one signature bill that earned him a promotion within the WISGOP, was to make sure that communities could discriminate against Native Americans. 

Now Charlie Sykes is going to pretend he has no idea that racism is running rampant on the right?  From the recent puff piece written in Politico about him:

“No, I’m saying, they’re talking about phasing out the breed because so many are bad. No one wants to phase out poodles! I mean, there’s no Lutherans doing this! We never know when one of these people are going to be radicalized.”

“One of these people,” says Sykes.

Sykes ends the call. He’s silent, broadcasting dead air. He looks upset, like he’s stopped breathing. He goes to a commercial break.

“OK, that doesn’t happen very often,” he says off-air. “I’m not usually absolutely speechless.” He says his listeners never talked like this until recently.

“Were these people that we actually thought were our allies?” he asks.

Is Senator nASS and Ally?  

On Tuesday, (Paul)Ryan rolled out endorsements from all 16 Republican state legislators who represent portions of the 1st Congressional District.

The endorsers include Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester and four state senators, Steve Nass of Whitewater, Chris Kapenga of Delafield, Mary Lazich of New Berlin and Van Wanggard of Racine.

In a statement, Nass said that he has known Ryan since the early 1990s and during that time the Janesville native's values, principles and integrity 'have not changed and they never will.'

So much for the Alt-right... As John Nichols has pointed out:

                                    

In Paul Ryan's WI district, the Trump-Ryan message is amplified by local Republicans. No degrees of separation. pic.twitter.com/UumlZ7dQqC

— John Nichols (@NicholsUprising) September 3, 2016

So when you hear talk of the "alt-right" just remember there is no difference between them and the regular WISGOP, except they have been empowered to speak their mind in public instead of in private.  The Ironic thing is the same people who are trying to run away and wash their hands of them, are the people who were the ones who empowered them!

Republicans Try To Infiltrate Feingold's Campaign

The Republicans are in a panic.

Because they have the ever imploding Donald Trump as the face of their party, They know that their down ticket elections are in deep peril. This is especially true for Wisconsin's Dumb Senator, Ron Johnson.

Since they started polling, RoJo has been constantly trailing Russ Feingold, usually by 10 or more points. RoJo has consistently been named as one of the most vulnerable senators, if not the most vulnerable. RoJo has accelerated his nosedive in the polls by hitching his campaign wagon to Trump's, even though Trump got trounced in Wisconsin's primary.

So the Republicans do what comes naturally to them. They tried to cheat.

They sent in an incompetent woman to try to be a spy in Feingold's campaign. Yeah, that didn't work out too well:

An apparent Republican activist tried to join Democrat Russ Feingold’s team this week in what Feingold’s campaign suspects was a plot to dig up dirt on him.

In an interview with Feingold staff on Wednesday, she initially said she wanted to work on issues affecting women’s health care and unions, but clammed up when confronted about whether she had worked for conservatives and tried to infiltrate Democrat Hillary Clinton’s campaign in Iowa last year.

“I’m not going to be answering any questions, so if you want me to leave, I’ll leave. If you want me to stay, I’ll stay,” she responded, according to an audio recording provided by the Feingold campaign.

Told she needed to leave, she responded, “Cool! Well, it was great meeting you.”

The woman signed up to be a volunteer as Allison Moss on Tuesday, but was let go Wednesday after the Feingold campaign asked her if she was actually Allison Maass.

Maass is a writer with Campus Reform, a project of the conservative Leadership Institute aimed at exposing liberal bias at universities.

Not only had Maass already been busted once trying to worm her way into a Democrat's campaign, but tries it again with the most pathetic attempt to disguise her name. But Maass gave herself away before she even set foot in the door:

The Feingold sting apparently fell apart thanks to profiling on the part of the campaign. The would-be infiltrator was blonde and drove a big white pickup truck, which staff said was part of the tip off.

OK, I don't know what her hair color had to do with it. There are no blonde Democrats?

Anyway, congratulations to Ms Maass for temporarily taking the heat off of RoJo as being the laughing stock of this election..Maxwell Smart has nothing on you.

The Cowardly Ryan

The biggest problem is the cowardly Ryan is currently the Ringmaster.   

By Jeff Simpson

Paul Ryan has had a rough 2016.   Ryan has went from mega rich under the radar career politician, to Speaker of the House for the Republicans, to being completely shamed by the Republican nominee for for President, Donald Trump.

The problem with Paul Ryan's year/career can be pointed out in one glowing example.

A.  After FBI Director James Comey, strangely, held a press conference to say, he would not be bringing charges against Hillary Clinton over her email problems.   Big Government Paul Ryan (R-Wall St.) has decided he has seen all of the evidence he needs (the D behind her name) and wrote a letter to the Director of National Intelligence and ask that Secretary Clinton's access to classified information be revoked.

The letter can be read here.

B.  Now fast forward to July 28 and we see a completely different Paul Ryan.  One who is not so interested in holding up the Constitution or Rule of Law when  certain other people (anyone with an R after their name) break it.

 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he hoped Russian hackers would be able to find missing emails from competitor Hillary Clinton’s personal email server.“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you find the 33,000 emails that are missing. I think you’ll be rewarded mightily by our press!” Trump said during a news conference Wednesday.

Speaker Ryan recently called out Donald Trump for being a racist, but textbook racism did not seem to bother Mr. Ryan as he still strongly supports The Donald for President.

Surely, borderline treason will cause Paul Ryan to pause right?  Not so much!

Almost as soon as Mr. Trump spoke, other Republicans raced in to try to reframe his remarks and argue that Russia should be punished. A spokesman for Speaker Paul D. Ryan termed Russia “a global menace led by a devious thug.” The spokesman, Brendan Buck, added: “Putin should stay out of this election.”

A spokesman pointing a finger at Putin and completely ignoring The Donald's role in this is hardly courageous.  

In case you were wondering, The Donald will soon start receiving national security briefings.   I wonder if Mr. Ryan will call for an end to that(I am kidding, I know the answer)?

On this very day, Paul Ryan released a new campaign ad, laughingly called integrity. because he has a primary battle against a real conservative - Paul Nehlen.

The one real moment is where Mr. Ryan is praying.  Luckily at Cogdis we got an inside tip that Mr. Ryan is praying that people keep focused on the The Donald sideshow and not look at the incompetent circus he is running from the main stage!


Support Paul Nehlen August 9th!  

The WISGOP White Out

By Jeff Simpson 

As Capper wrote recently, Irony is definitely NOT in short supply in WI.   With the right wing hypocrisy and fake outrage, if could mine it, we could actually pay the massive debt that Scott Walker keeps running up.  

Unfortunately, we in Wisconsin are not able to make money off it, we just have to be embarrased by it. 

On the Charley Sykes website, Right White Wisconsin they have something new to be outraged today about.  

With the entire nation gripped by the horrors of the Dallas police murders and the shooting deaths of two black men, it's understandable for UW-Madison to hold meetings to allow its student body to discuss what happened.
What no one might have expected, however, was that the university held two meetings: One for white students. One for non-white students. Similar segregated meetings have been held at the University of Missouri and Oregon State University in response to past events.
Talk about taking the concept of the "Safe Space" to an entirely new level. 

Anyone see the hypocrisy here?

Check out Charley's list of contributors!   White As Can Be!!  No matter how hip Kev B is!



Speaking of safe places, I have not seen such segregation since I was at the Capitol!



Sometimes Chuck is so silly, these things write themselves.   I guess I will be heading to Right Wisconsin to get all of my racially inclusive news from now on.