The Bitch Deserved It

By Jeff Simpson

Most everyone not living under a rock, or in Waukesha, has seen the so called "pussy tape" of Republican Presidential Nominee The Donald, telling little Billy Bush how he likes to treat women he finds attractive.  

Our friends on the right's first line of defense was, that the Donald never actually did it but just liked to brag about committing sexual assault on random women(plus nothing like sexual assault to make little billy laugh his head off).  

However, as everyone could expect, this gave an opening for women, who Trump has actually sexually assaulted, to come forward with their story and come forward they did.

One in particular stood out, Adult Film Star Jessica Drake.  This accusation was different, because Trump did not deny doing it, he just basically said - The bitch deserved it:

Donald Trump on Monday addressed the latest accusations of inappropriate sexual contact made against him, saying of the accuser, an adult film performer, "Oh, I'm sure she's never been grabbed before."

Since she is an adult film star, The GOP Presidential nominee felt that he did nothing wrong because he is certain others have done the same.   If she chooses to do adult films she chooses to make her body public for anyone who wants to grab her.  

That is the man you are going to vote for for President?

Also, "#nevertrumper" Jimmy Wigderson finds common ground with his nemesis on the issue of attacking women whenever you feel like it,...

2. James Wigderson ‏@jwigderson Oct 22

   @TheRickWilson Apparently they've run out of women who Trump grabbed if this is the latest complaint. http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/03/07/haggling/ …

   
   
3. Charlie ‏@charlie Oct 22

   @jwigderson @TheRickWilson there will be more.

   
   
4. James Wigderson ‏@jwigderson Oct 22

   @charlie Possibly. But even a #neverTrump person like me is having trouble finding the outrage with this one. @TheRickWilson

Wiggy just cant seem to be bothered that Trump has attacked Ms. Drake, of course we know from past instances within the WISGOP, that they have always put politics over sexual assault.  

 Wiggy being a "#nevertrump" person shows it is not politics with him, he just does not care about women.   

Finally we at CogDis are checking to see if the rumor is true that Alec Cook is in line to be The Donald's Chief-of-Staff or would rather run for Waukesha Assembly Rep.   

Christian Schneider Rides To The Rescue

 By Jeff Simpson

We brought you the story of how friend of Scott Walker, Bob Westman was charged with fourth degree sexual assault for his unwanted advances on a woman at the Governors Inaugeral Ball.   Which came on the first day that the Wisconsin taxpayers were no longer paying the salary of Republican leader and sexual predator Bill Kramer.

As if right on cue, Republican insider and apologist Christian Schneider writes an op-ed explaining that if women do not let any man that wants to kiss them, kiss them, it will be the end of romance.

Apparently in Republican insider view, if only the women would do what the Republican alpha male wants, then we would not be having these problems.

Instead of taking a pull quote from Schneider's column, and because Mr. Schneider has a habit of deleting his ridiculous columns as if nothing ever happened, here it is in its scary entirety:

(Edit Note:  Because Dave Blaska felt that as few people as possible should read the blatherings of Christian Schneider, I will decided to just use a couple pull quotes.).

"Stolen sweets are always sweeter,Stolen kisses much completer"— Leigh Hunt, 1784-1859

Schneider:

Itseems like a rare situation when a woman is kissed when there's absolutely no warning whatsoever. If a man (or woman) is standing within a foot of your face, there's at least a better than 50-50 chance that they're going hunting for treasure. Unless your attempted paramour is a kissing ninja, it seems unlikely that you're going to suddenly be caught in the middle of a lip blizzard.

 Apparently Mr. Schneider has never been around a Republican party.

Schneider: 

Maybe it's easy to dismiss the "kissing permission" stance as merely extreme feminist ravings. But they are not alone. Last year, universities often cited a statistic that showed one in five women on campus had been sexually assaulted. But, among other problems, that number was inflated by women who had been subjected to "unwanted kissing."

Ladies, Christian Schneider knows what is best for you.  If you dont want to be kissed, then your just a stuck up ornery liberal.  

Schneider:

But the unexpected kiss should remain the property of romance and not of the courts.

Free Bob Westman!

Schneider:

Or, as Robert Browning once said, "What of soul was left, I wonder, when the kissing had to stop?"

Not sure why you would insert a quote from a poem about mortality and death.

Christian Schneider is a Journal Sentinel columnist and blogger. Email cschneider@jrn.com. Twitter:@Schneider_CM

Wild Bill Kramer Gets Slap On Wrist For Sexual Assaults

In March 2014, Republican Wisconsin State Representative Bill Kramer, who also was the Assembly Majority Leader, was charged with two counts of Second Degree Sexual Assault for violently sexually assaulting a GOP congressional staffer:

In the parking lot of the High Tide, Kramer shoved the woman against a car, kissed her forcibly and put his hands up her shirt, according to the complaint.

"(The victim) states she continued to tell him 'no and don't' as she turned her head away from him and pushed at his hands," the complaint says.

The woman was "shocked, numb and not thinking clearly" and drove Kramer to another part of the parking lot. When they arrived, he locked the car doors, kissed her again, grabbed her groin and tried to look down her shirt, according to the charges.

The incident "severely impacted" the woman emotionally and led her to seek professional help, the complaint says.

Fortunately for Kramer, the Waukesha County District Attorney was fellow Republican Brad Schimel, who was running for Wisconsin Attorney General. Schimel let Kramer off the hook by giving him a generous plea deal:

Just days ahead of a scheduled jury trial, state Rep. Bill Kramer (R-Town of Waukesha) Thursday pleaded no contest to reduced charges of two misdemeanor counts of fourth-degree sexual assault.

Kramer entered the plea during what was to have been a status conference on the case, stemming from felony sexual assault charges filed in March against the former No. 2 lawmaker in the Assembly.

Assistant District Attorney Debra Blasius said her office will recommend three years of probation, with a variety of conditions, including nine months in jail with work-release privileges.

Kramer, 49, will not have to register as a sex offender, but must undergo a sex offender assessment and any recommended treatment. Sentencing is set for Nov. 25 before Reserve Judge Neal Nettesheim.

The plea deal ended up being better than what Kramer and Schimel had hoped it would be:

State Rep. Bill Kramer (R-Town of Waukesha) was sentenced Tuesday to five months in jail, after pleading no contest last month to reduced charges of two misdemeanor counts of fourth-degree sexual assault.

The jail term is a condition of a three-year probation sentence.

He will begin serving his jail time, with work-release privileges, on Dec. 4.

Reserve Judge Neal Nettesheim also imposed several other conditions on Kramer: He must get a sex offender and alcohol assessment and complete any required treatment.

He may have no contact with his victim. He must maintain absolute sobriety and avoid entering any bars or other establishments whose primary business is serving alcohol. He must pay $216 restitution.

He will not have to register as a sex offender.

Because he was ultimately convicted of a misdemeanor, not a felony, Kramer can serve the remainder of his term in the Assembly.

Not only does Kramer escape any meaningful punishment and keep his job, he will also get to keep his lucrative pension.

Not a bad return for a $500 campaign donation that was given back to him in the end anyway.

It should be noted that his fellow Republican lawmakers did strip him of his leadership role in the State Assembly, but took no further actions against him. They're real law and order types alright.

Cross posted at Crooks and Liars

Brad Schimel Gives Wild Bill Kramer A Sweetheart Plea Deal

Wild Bill Kramer, eyeing
up a young intern

Wisconsin Republicans have known for a long time that one of their own, Wisconsin State Representative Bill Kramer (R-Groperville) has a history of being inappropriate around women. Despite this knowledge, they stillelected him to be the Assembly Majority Leader.

That decision came back to bite them in the collective ass when Kramer was arrested and charged with two felony counts of second degree sexual assault. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

In the parking lot of the High Tide, Kramer shoved the woman against a car, kissed her forcibly and put his hands up her shirt, according to the complaint.

"(The victim) states she continued to tell him 'no and don't' as she turned her head away from him and pushed at his hands," the complaint says.

The woman was "shocked, numb and not thinking clearly" and drove Kramer to another part of the parking lot. When they arrived, he locked the car doors, kissed her again, grabbed her groin and tried to look down her shirt, according to the charges.

On Thursday, it was reported that Kramer entered into a plea deal, swapping out the felonies for two misdemeanor counts. He now faces a relative slap on the wrist:

Just days ahead of a scheduled jury trial, state Rep. Bill Kramer (R-Town of Waukesha) Thursday pleaded no contest to reduced charges of two misdemeanor counts of fourth-degree sexual assault.

Kramer entered the plea during what was to have been a status conference on the case, stemming from felony sexual assault charges filed in March against the former No. 2 lawmaker in the Assembly.

Assistant District Attorney Debra Blasius said her office will recommend three years of probation, with a variety of conditions, including nine months in jail with work-release privileges.

Kramer, 49, will not have to register as a sex offender, but must undergo a sex offender assessment and any recommended treatment. Sentencing is set for Nov. 25 before Reserve Judge Neal Nettesheim.

By avoiding a felony conviction, Kramer will be able to serve the remainder of his term in the Assembly, which ends in January. He is not seeking re-election this fall.

The District Attorney for Waukesha County, where Kramer received this plea deal, is none other than Brad Schimel, the Republican candidate for Wisconsin Attorney General. I'm sure that the fact that Kramer had given Schimel a $500 campaign contribution had absolutely nothing to do with the very lenient plea deal.

Schimel's generosity goes beyond the fact that Kramer is facing much lighter consequences. Not only does Kramer get to stay on the job through the end of the year, getting paid for doing nothing, but Kramer is able to keep his lucrative pension and other benefits.

Apparently the Republican mantra of being tough on crime does not apply to other Republicans.

Addendum: To make things even worse for the poor woman, her boss is US Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin. RoJo and his chief of staff knew of the assault when she told him, but did nothing to help her.

Cross posted at Crook and Liars.

Scott Walker's Priorities

By Jeff Simpson

Wild Bill Kramer, republican leader from Waukesha, was in court yesterday and pleaded "not guilty".   His Lawyer also let it be known that he would be attacking the victim publicly.  

We also know, thanks to police reports, that the republican leadership and our own US Senator Ron Johnson knew that Bill Kramer was a menace to women and their response was to keep quiet and tell no one.   This, of course, led to more women becoming victims and Bill Kramer becoming a rising star in the republican party!  

While not in the best interests of the people of WI, it was in the best interest of the republican party so they did nothing, even though they had an alleged predator in their midst! 

Now let's compare the scenario from the other side.  

While Milwaukee County Executive, Scott Walker and his county staff, freely shared names and details of a developmentally disabled sexual assault victim with his campaign staff.  

While Scott Walker was Milwaukee County executive, his staff freely shared the name of a sexual assault victim and details about her case with political operatives, recently released emails show.

The revelation comes as the governor has authorized a probe to determine whether a state disability rights organization violated patient confidentiality rules in its report on four deaths at the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex.

Kelly Rindfleisch, Walker's deputy chief of staff at the county, sent copies of an Aug. 19, 2010, email to Walker and his chief political consultants, RJ Johnson and Keith Gilke.

The email included the name of a developmentally disabled woman who became pregnant after having sex with another patient at the complex. She included a second email from a lawyer representing the county marked: "Confidential Attorney Client Information."

The gubernatorial election was less than three months away, and the problems at the complex were proving problematic to Walker's candidacy.

When JSonline asked for specifics of the case, they were shut down(emphasis mine):

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had written an email the day before to administrators at the Behavioral Health Division and to Mark Cameli, a private lawyer hired to defend the county. The email sought comment for a story about the case, noting that the woman would not be named.

The man who had sex with her had been charged with sexual assault, and the woman's guardians had told the Journal Sentinel that they had not been informed of the pregnancy for weeks after it was confirmed. The guardians complained of other errors with the woman's case, including that she continued taking heavily sedating psychotropic drugs found to be harmful to developing fetuses.

Cameli wrote a draft of a reply to the reporters' request and sent a copy to John Chianeli, then the director of the Behavioral Health Division, and Geri Lyday and Joan Hansen, county administrators, for their input. In the draft, Cameli explained to the reporters that the county could not reply to specifics of the case.

"They and I are bound by laws and regulations governing, among other things, the confidentiality of certain information," Cameli said. "What should we do? Should we disregard the rights of patients? The legal and ethical obligations imposed upon us?"

Then something interesting happened(emphasis mine):

Lyday then sent Cameli's reply to Rindfleisch, who forwarded it to her personal email account. From there, Rindfleisch sent the email — including the patient's name — to Walker and his political advisers to see if the lawyer's reply met with their approval.

"I wanted you to give it the OK to sign off on it," Rindfleisch wrote to Walker and his campaign advisers.

The next day, Cameli sent his response to the Journal Sentinel.

"Please — please consult with someone familiar with the laws and regulations governing the disclosure of the information you seek," Cameli wrote then.

 Does anyone read the employee handbook anymore?  I guess ethics and morals get thrown out the window when there is an election to win.  


 

We know the priorities of Scott Walker and his party.

 Win the election at all costs! 

James Wigderson - Ladies Man

By Jeff Simpson

While the main stream media begrudgingly covers the Wild Bill Kramer saga, we at CogDis have covered his despicable actions extensively.   Heck our friends all over the blogosphere have also covered it very well. 

A quick rundown, Bill Kramer (R-Waukesha) was recently elected by the republicans to be their leader.  Despite very strong objections from one of their members, who pointed out that he had a serious habit of acting inappropriately in public.  Despite the republicans in the assembly being fully aware of his behavior, Bill Kramer was overwhelmingly elected to be their leader.  Recently the Assembly fleebaggers fled to Washington DC to attend a $50,000/plate fundraiser in their honor.

There must have been an open bar, because Wild Bill got drunk and groped on a lobbyist. Tip one;  Lobbyists can screw the people of WI unwillingly but that is as far as it goes.  Kramer, being from Waukesha felt a true sense of entitlement and persistence after being turned down the night before.  Kramer then proceeded to "allegedly" prey on a woman on the plane ride home. 

The feces hit the fan after this, as there were many witnesses, and when another woman found out what he did, she also filed charges.   That is where this story took an interesting turn for the worse when we found out that the woman who Kramer "allegedly" assaulted three years ago told US Senator Ron Johnson, who could have stopped this sexual predator in his tracks, but decided that the good of the republican party trumped the safety of women in his party.  

I thought I had seen every angle there was to cover on this story so far, then I read Wiggy!  Remember,  Minor league blogger from Waukesha James Wigderson, was the one who vehemently endorsed the predator to be the leader of the Assembly republicans:

Kramer’s style may not endear him to Madison liberals; it does represent the conservative nature of Waukesha County. As majority leader, Kramer can lend some much-needed spine to Republican leadership who are hoping to coast through the next elections without offending anyone.

Just when you think he could not be anymore ignorant and disgusting, comes this!  

Which party is waging the supposed “war on women?” Because women voters might want to remember which party is willing to let a possible rape victim be victimized again to score political points.
Is it any wonder the alleged victim did not want to step forward before now? The Democrats’ actions will certainly discourage women in the future from complaining about predatory behavior by members of the Legislature.
Fortunately, more reasonable minds in the Assembly Republican leadership are prevailing – for now.

Jimmy Wigderson is saying that while Kramer is "allegedly" a sexual predator, AND the republicans know about it and elected him their leader AND Repubican Senator Ron Johnson knew about the attacks of a woman three years ago and did nothing, AND while Kramer is supposedly in "rehab", he is still collecting a full paycheck and sweet benefits all provided by the wonderful taxpayers of WI.  

Despite all of that, the true people preying on women are the Democrats because they want to expell Bill Kramer.  

Fortunately more reaosnable minds have prevailed and keeping Bill Kramer on the taxpayer dole, is the way to go(but only if you truly care about women)!

Ladies and Gentlemen, your republican party.  



(image borrowed from Wiggie's public blog).

So, Just How Upset Are The Republicans With Bill Kramer? Not Much

The Bill Kramer affair has grown to become an epic problem for the Republicans.

As the gentle reader already knows, it all started earlier this year when it was reported by Dan Bice that Kramer was accused of  sexually assaulting and harassing a legislative aide and a lobbyist at a fundraiser event in Washington, D.C.  This, of course, wasn't surprising since another incident of sexual misconduct - this time at a ALEC event - had been reported just before the Republicans voted Kramer in as Assembly Majority Leader.

Since then, we've learned that there was a third incident that happened on April 8, 2011, well before the other two incidents.  It was for this incident that Kramer is now facing two counts of Second Degree Sexual Assault.

After the February incident, Republican leaders couldn't act fast enough to remove Kramer from his leadership position.  Since the criminal charges, there's been calls for Kramer to resign or be impeached.

Kramer won't resign because he's not going to give up the money.  He needs that for his legal defense.  The Republicans aren't going to impeach him because they're still trying to keep the lid on things and prevent more damage from happening.

Not only that, but Kramer hasn't even been convicted of anything yet.  Just how scared are the Republicans?

But there's more.  There's always more.

The victim of the assaults in the criminal case was an aide to Senator Ron Johnson.  The victim had gone to her supervisor, RoJo's Chief of Staff, Tony Blando, who in turn told RoJo.  Yet neither man did anything to help her and kept it hushed up.  Worse yet, they have since blamed their silence and lack of action in protecting the victim or offering her aid on the victim herself.

Per the article, the victim also told one other person of the incident, Keith Best, the Waukesha County GOP Vice Chairman, who was also at the events where the assaults were supposed to have taken place:

At the time of the alleged assault, the woman also told Waukesha County GOP vice chairman Keith Best, who had witnessed Kramer and the woman at the bar. Best didn't witness the assault but did confirm later to Muskego police that the woman and Kramer had been present at the bar that night and that the woman had later been distraught.

Best told a police officer that the incident "had been difficult for him" because Best was friends with both the woman and Kramer. He said he had seen Kramer drink too much and make inappropriate comments in the past but not be physically inappropriate.

Best told the officer that he never spoke with Kramer about the incident and that despite the alleged sexual assault, Best hoped Kramer's promotion to Assembly majority leader would "give Kramer the motivation to 'clean up his act,'" according to the police report.

Best did not respond to requests for comment.

So Best knew of the incident on the date it happened, but did nothing? I would think just as a human being, much less an officer of his party, he would have had to taken some action. But Best, who is also known to be a member of the extremely hateful group of knotzies, did not take any action.

Well, I take that back.

Best did indeed take action. Since the time of the April 8, 2011 incident, he donated at least four times to Kramer's campaign fund:

• 8/24/11 - $100
• 7/27/12 - $75
•  7/6/13 - $50
• 7/31/13 - $100

Contrary to Best's statement in the article, he wasn't having to much difficulty about Kramer's behavior now, was he?  Seems like he was rather OK with it, in fact.

Now, anyone with any experience in politics know that gossip is a staple for any political group or organization.  It would be a pretty safe bet that this story had made its rounds through the party and back, especially within the Waukesha County GOP.  So here is some of the more notable donations made to Kramer since the incident in April 2011:

• John Macy, Chair of the Waukesha County GOP gave Kramer $250 each time on 9/6/11, 6/15/12 and 6/3/13;
• Don Taylor, former Chair of Waukesha County GOP and who is credited for deepening the red in the 262 area code, gave Kramer $250 on 7/27/12 and $125 on 7/25/13;
• John Hiller, Scott Walker's former campaign treasurer, gave Kramer $500 on 12/2/11;
• Shawn Reilly, who was just elected as mayor for the City of Waukesha, gave Kramer $250 each time on 9/23/11; 7/18/12 and 6/3/13;
• Margaret Farrow, former Lieutenant Governor, gave Kramer $250 each on 10/28/11 and 8/14/12 and another $50 on 7/25/13;
• James Klauser, major power broker with WISGOP, gave Kramer $100 on 7/24/12 and $50 on 7/6/13;
• Steven Foti, known for his involvement with the original caucus scandal, gave $500 to Kramer on 8/21/12;
• Daniel Le Mahieu, Assembly Representative from the 59th District, gave Kramer $50 on 8/26/13; and
• Michael Grebe, head of the Bradley Foundation and Chair of Scott Walker's last to campaigns, gave Kramer $250 on 6/3/13.

Also of interest is that the Koch Industries PAC gave Kramer $500 on 2/24/12.

Not only were a number of Teapublicans were happy to give Kramer money, they were even happier to take money from him.  Some of the groups benefiting from Kramer are listed below. Please note that they have all kept the money, to the best of my knowledge:

• Marquette University's College Republicans received $100 each on 4/11/11 and 9/32/12;
• WISGOP received $7,500 each on 1/19/12 and 10/10/12;
• Waukesha County GOP received $300 on 9/20/11, $1,000 on 3/9/12, $250 on 10/1/12; $1,000 on 2/8/13 and $300 on 9/20/14; and
• The 1st District Republican Party of Wisconsin received $250 on 7/21/13 and $125 on 10/818/12.

Irony alerts on the next two!

• The Wisconsin Federation of Republican Women received $150 on 3/21/12; and 
• The Marathon County Republican Women received $500 on 10/18/12.

The following are donations Kramer made to individual campaigns. Those that were guilted or savvy enough to return the money are noted. All others kept their loot:

• Dan Trawicki, Waukesha County Sheriff got $75 on 9/30/11, which he returned;
• Representative Mary Czaja received $500 which she returned. (Interestingly, she returned it on 10/11/12. What did she know and when did she know it?);
• Representative Rob Swearingen received $500 on 7/14/12 and returned it;
• Representative Alvin Ott received $500 on 7/24/12;
• Representative John Jagler received $500 on 8/15/12. He returned it 8/15/12. Again, what did he know that he returned it so fast?;
• Former candidate Pat Snyder received $500 on 8/15/12 and returned it;
• Representative Rob Hutton who received $500 on 8/15/12;
• Representative Joe Sanfelippo received $500 on 8/15/12 and has returned it;
• Representative Mark Born received $500 on 8/15/12 and has returned it;
• Candidate Nancy Vander Meer (rerun candidate for the 70th AD) received $500 on 8/15/12;
• Representative Adam Neylon received $500 on 2/20/13 and has returned it;
• Shawn Reilly, Mayor-elect for the City of Waukesha, received $250 on 9/16/13;
• Representative Jessie Rodriguez received $500 on 10/24/13;
• Representative Robert Kulp received $500 on 10/24/13;
• Lieutenant Governor Becky Kleefisch received $50 on 8/12/13; and 
• Brad Schemel, Waukesha County District Attorney and candidate for Wisconsin Attorney General received $500 on 11/22/13.  He later returned the money.

I find it very interesting that Mary Czaja and John Jagler returned their donations early on. What did they know and when did they know it?  And while many of the people that returned it did so only after the fecal matter struck the air circulation device, they had at least returned it.  What does it say about the people that kept that loot? 

It seems to me that a lot of people in the Republican Party, especially those in Waukesha County, has a lot of explaining to do to their voters and members.  

It also seems to me that some of these people, like John Macy and Keith Best should just resign from their positions now.  Macy is a municipal attorney for several communities and knows the laws.  They are both officers of the party and know their bylaws better than anyone.

And if they don't step down and the party takes no action, well, that will only mean that they are OK with the sexual assaults and harassment done by Kramer.  Then again, as Jeff Simpson pointed out, Kramer has already been portrayed as the face of the Waukesha County GOP.

Then again, that should surprise no one either, given their acceptance of the rape culture.

Be On The Lookout!

 

By Jeff Simpson

While the Cancer Treatment Bill passed yesterday in the Senate 30-2(with the coward Scott Fitzgerald voting for it - Leah Vukmir and Paul Farrow casting votes against(and should be severly punished the next time their name is on a ballot).  

Now it goes to the Assembly where thrice divorced and dating a lobbyist speaker Robin Vos has taken enough campaign donations from Big pharma to block this bill from coming to a vote.  

Mike McCabe wrote the following on Facebook this morning.
The cancer drug bill is being blocked in the state Assembly too, despite the fact the legislation is supported by at least 61 of the Assembly’s 99 members, including all 39 Democrats and 22 Republicans.
Assembly Republicans have received nearly $287,000 in political donations from interests opposing the legislation. The top recipient is the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee ($43,700), the leadership PAC controlled by Speaker Robin Vos. Vos himself is fourth on the list of leading recipients, with $16,400 in donations from bill opponents to his personal campaign committee. Another opponent of the cancer drug bill, Representative John Nygren, who is co-chair of the powerful Joint Finance Committee, is second on the list of recipients

There you go Cancer victims from WI.  Robin Vos has officially valued your life at less than $16,400.  People in the 63rd District must be so very proud of their rep.   

The rest of the republicans in the Assembly are such cowards, that they refuse to state publicly if they support the bill or not!  

When asked in the Capitol Tuesday, here's a sampling of those who wouldn't say if they were for or against the bill.
Rep. Mike Kuglitsch (R-New Berlin): "I really don't have an opinion."
Rep. Daniel LeMahieu (R-Cascade): "I'm not saying anything about oral chemo."
Rep. Duey Stroebel (R-Saukville): "We're still working that out."
Rep. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green): "We'll talk about it Thursday."
Rep. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield): "I'm still discerning it."
Rep. Mary Williams (R-Medford): "Uh, I'm not going to talk to you."
Rep. Tyler August (R-Lake Geneva): "I have to take a look at it."
Rep. Rob Swearingen (R-Rhinelander): "I'm going to wait for caucus on Thursday."

Nothing says conviction and backbone like "I am going to wait for caucus."   Swearingen needs to be told how to think behind closed doors apparently.

One person notably absent(I wonder if Vos is threatening to hold his paycheck or sending State troopers to his house?) is the face of the republican party, former majority leader, Wild Bill Kramer (R-Waukesha).   

Kramer is AWOL and collecting taxpayer money and benefits!   Must be nice to not have to show up to work and still get full pay and benefits! 

Seriously though, just in case there is something seriously wrong with Mr. Kramer beyond the normal republican sense of entitlement and lack of personal responsibility, we at CogDis want to help.  

We will be rolling these out statewide soon(H/T Phill Scarr): 

If you see republican representative Kramer, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO APPREHEND OR CONVERSE WITH, as he is known to be drunk and dangerous.


Please call republican moral leader Robin Vos:

Toll Free:  888-534-0063

Madison Office:  608-266-3387

Home Phone:  262-514-2597

 

 

 

 

 

Steineke - Witness to A Crime.

By Jeff Simpson

Capper did a great job of pointing out the deep rooted Misogyny that runs in the Wisconsin Republican party. 

“She’s innocuous, she has no record to beat him with and now that she’s had her makeover, she’s attractive, she’s a woman.” Kramer said on Jan. 31. “But maybe it doesn’t matter who she is. People already know what they think of Walker: love or hate.”

 Again, this is nothing surprising. Kramer has a well-known history of making misogynistic and sexist remarks.

Nor is this the first time that the right wing has gone after Burke for her appearance.

Which proves the theory that it is not WHAT Kramer did but WHO he did it to, that set Robin Vos off.  Some inappropriate comments  aimed at his mistress perhaps?     The above comments, by supposed republican "leadership" did not draw even a sneer amongst the party.

That is because this is who they are.   They see nothing wrong whatsoever with judging a woman strictly on her looks, its not like they consider women peers.  Besides if these guys aren't qualified to judge a woman's appearance, who is?

However, I will let their actions speak for themselves.  They do not feel that women are equals so if you feel the same way, then feel free to continue voting republican.

What I wanted to point out, was the last throw away line of Bice's article.

 One GOP lawmaker, Rep. Jim Steineke (R-Kaukauna) has come forward to say he witnessed the incidents

 

Has anyone asked Rep. Steineke if he alerted the authorities? Is it not also against the law to witness a crime and NOT report it?  If it was bad enough to get him to unanimously voted out of his role as party leader then shouldn't the authorities be informed of exactly what happened and then let the proper authorities decide if it was a criminal act?  If it was NOT a criminal act, why would he lose his position?

So many unanswered republican questions as we head into election season!

Robin Vos Should Step Down Or Be Kicked Out As Speaker

Even though they knew that Representative Bill Kramer had personal problems and a long history of inappropriate behaviors, the state Teapublicans still chose to install him as their Assembly Majority Leader.  But when Kramer groped the wrong woman, WISGOP, led by Robin Vos, felt they had to spring into action.

Within a few scant days, the Assembly Republicans unceremoniously dumped Kramer on the side of the road and couldn't get away from him fast enough.

Apparently Kramer's behavior was so scandalous that even Scott walker had to chime in and give him a good swift kick:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker stopped short of calling for state Rep. Bill Kramer, R-Waukesha, to resign amid allegations of sexual misconduct Wednesday, but reiterated if the allegations prove true there is no place for that sort of behavior from someone in a "position of public trust."

“Again, as I said the other day, I thought it was appropriate for the speaker (Rep. Robin Vos) and others in leadership to move to have him out of office in the leadership position,” Walker told reporters following a speech at the Monona Terrace Convention Center Wednesday. “Assuming that what’s been alleged against him is accurate, I don’t think that he or anybody else like that should be in a position of public trust.”

What's remarkable about this story is not that Kramer has been accused of sexually assaulting and harassing women - misogyny is a plank in the GOP platform - but that WISGOP actually took action against him for it.

After all, Roger Rivard barely got a slap on the wrist and a 30-second time out for saying "some girls, they rape so easy."  Scott Suder, who has a history of roughing up and threatening women, had his transgressions overlooked and was richly rewarded for being a good foot soldier for the Koch Empire.

And Scott "Governor Ultrasound" Walker is an idol of the GOP even though he has passed or tried to pass every misogynistic bill imaginable from repealing pay equality laws to the ultrasound law.

The real mind-boggling aspect of all this is that Vos was leading this charge.  It is mind-boggling in the fact that Vos is as guilty as anyone of sexual harassment.

Cindy Kilkenny at Fairly Conservative has written that she feels that Vos should be removed from office.  However, her complaint is based on the well-known fact that Vos was and is having an affair with former Representative Michelle Litjens.

However, Vos' crime is more serious than having an affair.

One must remember that Vos was elected to be the Speaker of the House, a very powerful position.  And Litjens was a freshman representative.  To be blunt about it, he had power over her and he abused that power by having an affair with her.  It is not really any different than if a boss starts having an office romance with his secretary.  It is an abuse of his power and his office.

But the odd thing is that one doesn't hear Walker, Charlie Sykes or any of the Teapublicans calling for Vos to step down as speaker.  You don't see them rushing to vote him out of any position of authority.

But the gentle reader has probably already figured out yet that the Republicans are the masters of double standards as well as double speak,

And that is a shame.  For as Kilkenny said, "What's good for the gander is good for the other gander."

The Republicans were correct in finally holding Kramer responsible for his actions - something they should have done a long, long time ago.  But the fact that they won't hold Vos responsible for his actions - despite the similarity in the two - shows why all of them really needs to step down and why the voters should force them out if they don't.

The Real War on Christmas!

 

By Jeff Simpson

Recently fake journalist, and WPRI republican hack Christian Schneider wrote a column on the wonders of offshoring(in a defense of Mary Burke).   Apparently you have to be an adult to understand what a great thing it is:

But while the outsourcing issue is a Sheboygan-sized target on Burke's campaign, Republicans should avoid simply hammering her for the act of outsourcing itself. It is an easy tactic — and in the end, winning is all that matters, after all — but campaigns should be careful how they foment anger among voters. Especially if it means confusing the public about a nuanced issue that deserves an adult conversation.

First, a point of clarification: While Burke's detractors refer to "outsourcing," they really mean "offshoring." Companies "outsource" their operations to other businesses when it isn't cost-effective to do the work themselves. It's not as if Grimace and Mayor McCheese are at the McDonald's headquarters milking cows to produce the company's dairy creamers; they outsource that task to an actual dairy company.

"Offshoring," on the other hand, means moving jobs overseas, where products can be produced cheaper due to lower labor costs. For the workers whose jobs are moved to India, China or Mexico, offshoring — to use a technical economic term — "sucks."

 We at CogDis pointed out that Schneider is economic illiterate, which was of a surprise to no one.   What I failed to do though was point out the "real world"consequences of offshoring that no one seems to want to have an adult conversation about(hint: don't look to Schneider for adult conversations).  

 

1.  What is considered one of the most dangerous jobs in the world?  Bangladesh garment worker makes the list.    Who knew making your cheap T-shirt was so dangerous?  

In Bangladesh, there are 4 million garment workers — they’re getting starved to death too with pitiful wages, and they’re brutally overworked. And there are no health and safety standards. We saw the result of that in the Tazreen Factory fire on Nov. 24, 2012, which killed at least 117 workers. Less than a month later another factory, Smart Fashion, went up in flames.

 When we were in Bangladesh, a boy named Korshed —15 years of age — was working a night shift, all night long from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. during the monsoon season. It was July 17, 2012, when in the middle of the night at 3:00 a.m. a gigantic metal slab fell and crushed this young kid. Killed, dead on the spot. There’s no health and safety records whatsoever, the workers are just sitting ducks.

 2.  A lady in Oregon bought cheap crap Halloween decorations from China and found a letter:

"People who work here have to work 15 hours a day without Saturday, Sunday break and any holidays. Otherwise, they will suffer torturement, beat and rude remark. Nearly no payment (10 yuan/1 month)."
Ten yuan is equivalent to $1.61.
"People who work here, suffer punishment 1-3 years averagely, but without Court Sentence (unlaw punishment). Many of them are Falun Gong practitioners, who are totally innocent people only because they have different believe to CCPG. They often suffer more punishment than others."

Schneider did get that right....$1.61/month is definitely cheaper labor.  See what happens when you get rid of the unions, companies are free to prosper!  Time for ACT11 to cut teacher pay again.  

3.   A reporter tried to see where her shirt was made in India and was lucky to make it out alive! 

 As a child, Aruna dreamed of going to college. But by the time she was 15, when her government-subsidized schooling ended, she understood that she was too poor. Then, a stranger promised to change her life. He offered her a job at a textile factory that has supplied companies including, until recently, UK-based maternity wear maker Mothercare. Her pay would be about $105 a month—enough for food for her family, her further education, and most importantly, the chance to build a dowry.


When Aruna arrived at the factory, about 40 miles from her home, she found a vast facility where close to 1,000 girls, many in their teens, lived 10 or 15 to a room. From 8 a.m. till 10 p.m. every day, including weekends, she fed and monitored rusty machines that spun raw cotton into yarn. Her bosses often woke her in the middle of the night because, she recalls, there was "always some sort of work, 24 hours a day." Aruna made just a quarter of the $105 a month she was promised, about $0.84 a day.

Aruna shows me a scar on her hand, more than an inch long, where a machine cut her. She often saw girls faint from standing for too long. One had her hair ripped out when it got caught in a machine. Others were molested by their supervisors. "They said we would get less work if we slept with them," Aruna says. Sometimes girls would disappear, and everyone would speculate whether they'd died or escaped. Still, she needed the money, so she worked there for two years.

 Last April's building collapse in Bangladesh's Rana Plaza, which killed more than 1,000, briefly drew attention to the plight of garment workers. India is an even larger global player than Bangladesh: It's the third-largest textile and garment exporter in the world (after China and the European Union), with about $29 billion in 2012 sales. Between June 2012 and June 2013, the United States imported about $2.2 billion worth of cotton clothing from India, and that number is expected to grow as India ramps up its textile industry.

 4.  In Jordan a factory that produces products for WalMart, sexual abuse is a way of life:

In June, the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights released a report alleging that workers producing clothing for Walmart, Target, Macy's, Kohl's and Hanes at a factory in Jordan have been routinely beaten, underpaid and forced to work hours in excess of what the local law allows. The report added that workers have been forced to live in bed bug-infested dormitories that lack heat and hot water, despite the snow and ice that are a feature of local winters.
The report also alleged a pattern of widespread sexual abuse of female employees at the Classic Brands factory complex. The factory employs some 4,800 people, mostly guest workers from South Asia. One manager repeatedly raped female Sri Lankan workers, prompting a strike late last year, according to the report. Workers wanted the manager fired. Instead, the factory's owner sent the manager on a recruiting mission to South Asia as a means of temporarily removing him from the complex. The owner did not publicly discipline the manager or remove the man from his employment, said Charles Kernaghan, the institute's director, and the lead author of the study.

Whats a few rapes of 13 year old girls, they aren't in school anyway.    When your working a 17 hour shift, 7 days a week,  its the only way they get a break.  

5.  There there was this clown that people actually thought could be President of the United States. 

 And the one thing that gets you mad is someone saying "Happy Holidays"?