Chris Abele Suspending Values Tour

By Jeff Simpson

Capper has well documented, the exploits of current Milwaukee County Exec Chris Abele.  Anything that happens with him should come as no surprise. 

We pointed out recently how Leadership MKE, the political arm of Abele, is working hard to temper the coming blue wave. 

The fake Democrat Abele's group, led by GOP allies George Aldrich(Abele's Chief of Staff) and Andy Suchorski(Abele's Political director), have been attacking progressives in Milwaukee.

Now "Leadership MKE" (who the hell named that), has jumped in the Sheriff's race by strongly backing Richard Schmidt.  Yes, we live in a Democratic Republic and you can back who you want to back, but when the person you are backing believes this:

The criticism surfaced Monday about comments Schmidt made last year during a podcast interview. Schmidt told domestic violence victims who are Christians to submit themselves to the Holy Spirit, adding that God would restore their relationships.
Schmidt also failed to criticize the podcast host, a minister who said the victim should change, not the abuser. 

But wait there is more - like an exact quote:

“If someone is struggling, and their marriage is just a disaster ... get off God’s throne, submit yourself to that person and love that person,” Schmidt said. “If we’re Christian we submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit ... get off the prideful ladder, [and] God can bless that marriage and restore those relationships.”

Yes, if your spouse is beating you, you need to be a better person.   As the saying goes in right wing wacko land

Q. What do one million battered women have in common?
A.  They just don't listen! 

What does the Milwaukee County Exec Chris Abele. the guy who paid to keep the courthouse open so our LGBTQ friends could get married, one of the main funders of Emerge, do about this revelation? 

Doubles down to support Schmidt!

Abele has sicced his political hit team after Lucas and supporting Schmidt.

There is a saying that you reflect your values in how you spend your money.  Abele has shown his by going all in with Schmidt.   Which means the next move is Emerge's.

Abele is a huge funder of Emerge, and everyone needs money:

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, $900,200. Abele, who was first elected county executive in 2011, is also a businessman and philanthropist who traditionally supports Democratic candidates and groups. Abele’s 527 contributions went to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, which backs lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender candidates nationwide, and Emerge Wisconsin, which helps elect women Democratic candidates.

EmergeWI has the following vision and mission:

Our Mission: To increase the number of Democratic women leaders from diverse backgrounds in public office through recruitment, training, and providing a powerful network.
Our Vision: To change the face of power, politics, and leadership in this country in order to have policies that are responsive to all Americans.

A great organization, dedicated to a great cause surely would publicly let everyone know that this was a bridge too far for them. 

Unfortunately no.   

When I contacted Emerge about it, I was told that he is just a donor and not on the board and that the money does not come with strings, so while they were disappointed they have no control over it.

Money ALWAYS comes with strings. 

Readers of CogDis, will remember, that when Diane Hendricks became chief fundraiser for the Donald, that I asked that my alma mater Beloit College remove her from the Board of Trustees(Here, here, here and here). 

I was given the same basic response from Beloit College, which can be interpreted as Money Changes Everything. 

But wait there is more.  Another person who has not weighed in on this horrible controversy is Kelda Roys, candidate for Governor? 

Why is this issue relevant to Kelda?  Because as a small business owner, she relied on investments.   One of her biggest investors?

Chris Abele! 

Research suggest that police officers have a much higher rate of domestic violence than the general population and since it is already very hard to get away and get help, what is the message you are sending to the community when the head acting law enforcement officer believes such incredible things?

While I admire Emerge WI and Kelda Roys for the positive difference they have made and are making in our state, their failure to publicly admonish Chris Abele in this instance, because he writes big checks, is very disappointing.

As Margaret Atwood says:

“Better never means better for everyone... It always means worse, for some.”

Milwaukee's New Sheriff, Same As The Old Sheriff

It is no deep secret that when David Clarke was Milwaukee County Sheriff, he didn't do much but shoot off his mouth and acted like a bully. It was not unusual to see stories of Clarke abusing the powers of his office to harass, intimidate or retaliate against anyone - deputy or private citizen - who would defy him, show him up or embarrass him

So it should be no surprise that he filled his command staff with loyalists who behaved much the same way as he did.

Before Clarke fled to Washington DC to become a top acolyte to Trump, he spent most of his time gallivanting about, collecting hefty speaker fees, stumping for Trump and/or schmoozing up to Russian spies. During these times, he would leave his right hand man, then Inspector Richard Schmidt in charge. These times included when six inmates died in the county jail, including one that was denied water for a full week.

When Clarke did finally make his exit stage radical right, Scott Walker appointed Schmidt to be acting sheriff. Now, a year later, Schmidt is running in his first election bid. Just as Clarke did, Schmidt is running as a Democrat even though he is anything but one.

While no polls have been done on this race, campaign finance reports indicate that Schmidt is running a distant second to the front runner, Earnell Lucas. Schmidt knows this too as shown by him becoming increasingly negative and pandering to special interest dark money to bolster his failing and flailing campaign.

Unfortunately for Schmidt, his past will continue to haunt him going into these final weeks before the primary, which is actually the general election since no one is running as a Republican. This would include his above-mentioned deaths in the jail he was overseeing.

Recently, a letter from three years ago has surfaced. The letter is a complaint against Schmidt, accusing him of harassment, retaliation, sexist remarks and defamation of character. It was filed by a woman captain that was denied a promotion and punished after suing to protect her rights.

Schmidt Complaint by Chris Liebenthal on Scribd

Some Schmidt apologists have tried to defend him by saying he was just following Clarke's orders, but that is a lame excuse. First of all, any person, but especially a law enforcement officer, should always do the right thing, even if it might make them uncomfortable. Secondly, it is sincerely doubtful that even Clarke would have ordered Schmidt to tell a woman that she just "find a rich guy, get married and quit."

Schmidt, like Clarke, is obviously unfit for office and needs to be voted out. Hopefully, Milwaukee County voters won't keep making the same mistake this time around.