Senator Ellis Vs. The Constitution - The Movie

From a Facebook friend:



Ellis: "See. The place is going to Hell."

Indeed.

Walker Thinks US Constitution Is "Backwards"

Like most of the freedom-loving people of Wisconsin, I was celebrating the glorious news that our constitutional rights still mean something.

But not everyone was celebrating.

Scott Walker, the Grinch that would have stole Christmas and everything else not nailed down acted like an immature little brat at the news:

The people of Wisconsin clearly spoke on June 5th. Now, they are ready to move on. Sadly a liberal activist judge in Dane County wants to go backwards and take away the law making responsibilities of the legislature and the governor. We are confident that the state will ultimately prevail in the appeals process.

First of all, the case had nothing to do with the bought election. It had to deal with our constitutional rights.

The decision by the Honorable Juan Colas was quite clear that Walker's union-busting law was unconstitutional as that it violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments of Free Speech, Freedom of Association and the right to Equal Protection.

Apparently, Walker thinks people having rights is "backwards."

Then Walker shows how little he understands on how government is supposed to work. The governor is part of the executive branch of government and thus has no responsibility or even authority to make laws. The governor's job is to enforce the laws that are in place, like the Constitution, not to make them.

This mentality had been a problem throughout Walker's career as Milwaukee County Executive and obviously has continued into the governor's office. Instead of acting like an elected executive, he has treated both of these positions as an omnipotent position of being a king or emperor.

Fortunately for us in Milwaukee County, we had a County Board which, more or less, understood the roles of the different branches of government and kept Walker, again, more or less, in check.

Unfortunately for the state, Walker doesn't have the adults needed to keep him in check and thus we have things like him again overreaching his authority and costing the state hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs.

Thirdly, the ruling does not infringe on the legislature's authority to create laws. Judge Colas did his job by making sure that the laws that the legislatures did pass is constitutional and voiding the ones that aren't.

Again, Walker is merely expressing his annoyance and frustration of the whole checks and balances design of our government that helps protect citizens like us from would-be despots like him.

Sad to say, I think Walker is correct in his line about the appeals process. The Republicans will try to ramrod this through to the State Supreme Court as soon as they humanly can. And there, Judge Colas' ruling will be overturned. However, it won't be overturned because his decision was wrong in any way, but because the Prosserized Court will just rubber stamp it like they did with the first ruling against Act 10, where Prosser didn't even read the decision or do any research on the law before he denied the public their rights.

I tell you this, gentle reader, not to depress you or to rain on your parade. But you deserve to know the truth. Just as you deserve to know that it won't end with the State Supreme Court.

Once Prosser does his rubber stamping, the unions will be free to take it to Federal Court (which they probably should have done in the first place). And that is where one of Walker's greatest shamings will take place (the other being his indictment hearing).

So celebrate the moment for as long as you can, as I plan on doing, but be prepared for more, albeit temporary, disappointment.

Also, be ready to keep on fighting. This war is far from over.

The Substitute Teacher

Image courtesy of
Shepherd Express

The following was forwarded to me this evening. It reads like something that came out of The Onion. I wish it had, but sadly, it's all too real. It's a letter that was sent home from a local elementary school, which I shall transcribe here, with some names redacted to protect the innocent:

Dear Parents of 4th Grade Students:

I am writing to inform you that Governor Scott Walker is coming to visit [name redacted] School on Thursday, September 13th and will speak with all of our 4th grade students! Governor Walker and a professional from the Wisconsin Historical Society are coming to [this school] to celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution. They will present a lesson to all of our 4th grade students from 9:15 am until approximately 10 am. Students will hear about the signing of the Constitution and be able to ask the Governor some questions they may have for him.

There is then a paragraph regarding the need to sign a permission slip because the media will be there and will be taking pictures that could end up on TV and/or the paper.

What? Did you expect Walker to do anything that wasn't a photo op and something he could use to further his political career, as short lived as that might be due to Walkergate?

The letter then goes on:

I also want to let you know that this activity is one that is not open to the public. Therefore, parents will not be allowed to attend. Please understand that the Governor is requesting time with your children rather than speaking to a large audience. In addition, the security that is necessary will require us to be strict about who is allowed on the school grounds that day. Please understand the need for that security.

It is an honor to have the Governor of the State of Wisconsin visit [our] school! The students are truly excited to have the opportunity to learn from him! If you have any questions or concerns regarding Governor Walker's visit, please fell free to contact me at your convenience.

Sincerely,

[Your friendly neighborhood principal]

I have since found out that Walker is supposed to be visiting a number of schools who are named after one of the founding fathers. I wonder if he has found an aide with more than the usual level of incompetency of the Walker administration to help with this. Left to his own devices, I could see Walker going to Custer High School or Lincoln Elementary.

As I mentioned above, this is obviously nothing but a photo op, using the children as political props.

It takes some serious brass balls for him to even show his face in a public school after all the damage he has done to the public education system. But then to act on the pretense that he is going to give a lesson about the Constitution?!

I mean, really?! This college flunky can't even spell, for crying out loud!

But if the irony hasn't reached toxicity levels yet, I have learned that Walker's people have already told the schools that the children are not going to be allowed to ask questions unless they are strictly related to the Constitution. This wipes out the question, "Why do you hate teachers?"

But it still leaves wide open the question: "Why do you continue to violate the First Amendment? Why do you hate Free Speech and the Right to Assemble?"

I know at least one parent who was going out tonight to buy their child a red t-shirt just for this occasion, to show support for the Chicago teachers. Wouldn't it be grand to see Walker surrounded by a sea of kids wearing CTA red? Of course, he'd be too self-centered and too dense to pick up on the meaning, even if they did do that.

Although, as I think about it, this stunt just might give the children a real lesson. They will get a first hand glimpse of the almost perfect, living example of what Walker's privatized education system will look like - an unqualified, uneducated person telling them what they should think instead of how to think. The only difference is that instead of being underpaid, Walker is being way overpaid for his job performance, and that's without the deck being stacked against him.