Caption This!

From Tweets of the Damned comes this little beauty:

Apparently, that's Tonette taking a break from making chili and drinking boxed wine underneath that mask.

Wisconsin, I hardly recognize you!

At the turn of the 20th century, Wisconsin government was rife with corruption. Big business and wealthy plutocrats controlled the politicians and thus controlled the government. They had their puppet politicians pass laws that benefited them regardless of who might be hurt by them.

This high level of corruption gave way to a progressive movement led by Fighting Bob LaFollette. LaFollette, who was a Republican, led the way to clean up the government, enacting laws that returned the government to the control of the people. He led the way to busting trusts, enacting election reforms and creating the Wisconsin Idea. The changes brought on by LaFollette and other progressives have well served the people of Wisconsin for over a 100 years.

Ironically, LaFollette was a Republican.

It's ironic because this week, modern day Republicans are in the process of removing the last remnants of LaFollette's legacy of good government.

This week, Scott Walker and his fellow Republicans have started pushing through three bills that would end good government.

The first bill would change campaign finance laws, opening the flood gates for dark money to come pouring in:

The legislation would double the amount of contributions that state and local candidates could receive from individuals, and would adjust that limit for inflation every five years.

[...]

Under the bill, political parties and legislative campaign committees could make unlimited donations to a candidate committee.

The bill would allow legislative campaign committees and political parties to receive unlimited contributions, with the exception of a $12,000 per year limit on PAC contributions to those committees and parties.

The legislation would allow unlimited contributions to be made to and transferred between political action committees. Recall committees and referendum committees could also receive unlimited funds, and unlimited funds could be donated to pay expenses related to a recall or recount. Candidates could also make unlimited personal contributions to their own committee.

The proposal would ban candidates from coordinating with outside groups on express advocacy — calls to vote "for or against" a candidate — but would place no restrictions on coordination on issue advocacy.

In an interesting twist and a brilliant maneuver, each and every Democrat recused themselves from the vote, pointing out that they have a conflict of interest because it would directly affect their own campaign committees. The Republicans were at a loss at having their blatant corruption and greed exposed like that, but not enough so to keep them from passing the bill anyway.

Now, obviously, by opening the flood gates for dark money like that, it also opens the door to even more corruption and ethics violations.

To deal with that, the Republicans are also set to dismantle the Government Accountability Board (GAB), a nonpartisan panel of former judges that investigate campaign finance and ethics violations. The Republicans want to replace the GAB with two partisan panels - one for campaign finance violations and one for ethics violations - each consisting of three Republicans and three Democrats. This will leave the committees at stalemates on almost every issue.

On top of that, each committee is given a very small budget to use to conduct their investigations. If the committee would need more money, they must ask the Joint Finance Committee for that extra funding. Of course, the Joint Finance Committee has a huge Republican majority, making it highly unlikely that they would approve any funding to investigate themselves.

It was this kind of set up that allowed the caucus scandals of fifteen years ago to happen. In that scandal, both parties were using their government offices as campaign machines, having government staff spending most of their time fundraising and performing other political operations.

As the gentle reader might have guessed, many of the people caught up in that scandal are also behind the legalization of corruption now.

The only and very small ray of hope is that it appears that some Republicans in the state senate haven't had their moral compasses totally destroyed and are balking at this measure.

Just in case the Republicans might have missed something that still might allow one of them to get caught with their hands in the dark money cookie jar, they added one another safeguard for their crimes - the killing of John Doe probes for political crimes. Walker, who was the subject of not one, but two, such probes, is very eager to get that on his desk before he gets subjected to a third investigation.

Now, there are probably lots of folks that are thinking what Wisconsin needs is another Fighting Bob LaFollette to come and restore good government. In a way they are right.

But what we really need here in Wisconsin is for us to realize that we are the next Bob LaFollettes and reclaim our state.

Meanwhile, if you happen to be in Wisconsin, listen real carefully and you'll hear a whirring sound. That's Fighting Bob spinning in his grave.

Report: Paul Ryan Now Considering Speaker Of The House

For weeks, Paul Ryan was adamant that he did not want to be Speaker of the House. He had a sweet gig that he didn't want to give up and he did not want to expose himself to all sorts of investigations and investigative reporting.

Per CBS News, Ryan has stopped playing hard to get and is now trying to negotiate an even sweeter deal with himself. One thing is clear though, Ryan will not negotiate with terrorists, er, I mean the House Freedom Caucus:

After weeks of insisting he would not run for Speaker, Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan - according to those close to him - is now open to leading the fractured Republican conference, and seriously considering launching a bid for speaker of the House.

But there's a caveat. And it's a big one.

Ryan's confidants tell CBS News he will not horse trade with the House Freedom Caucus, a group of 40 or so deeply conservative members who have been demanding changes to House rules and other very specific promises from candidates for Speaker in exchange for their support. Ryan's confidants say he is not going to negotiate for a job he never sought, and that he has a record of conservative leadership that should be clear to every member of the GOP conference.

They say Ryan hasn't ruled out meeting with the House Freedom Caucus if asked, but "he's not going to go to the Freedom Caucus and say, 'I'll do this and this'...otherwise you've sold yourself to them from the very beginning, and set yourself up for failure" said someone with knowledge of his deliberations.' "He still really, really does not want to do this. He has his dream job. If he's Speaker, his whole career path changes. He's not going to make concessions to get a job he didn't want in the first place."

Either members believe in his conservative leadership, or they don't - and if Ryan concludes that he's unlikely to get a near-unanimous vote of support from republicans, his allies say he is happy to stay exactly where he is as the chair of the House Ways and Means committee.

Hmmm, maybe Ryan was just stalling for time to cover up the paper trail of his investments and those of his wife.

The fact that some Republicans are worried that Ryan isn't conservative enough is laughable and shows just how far to the fringe the GOP has gone. A look at Ryan's voting record shows that he would be the most far right wing nut job speaker in the past several decades.

No one is talking about what kinds of things Ryan is looking for in making his decision, but some possibilities include:

• Changing the title to Speaker , Policy Wonk and Grand Poobah of the House
• Free hunting and fishing licenses in all fifty states
• A formal resolution that kissing fish is not strange
• An unlimited per diem for expensive wines
• Never having to speak to people that aren't worth at least a million dollars

Whatever Ryan is holding out for, I hope it's worth it to him because it's going to cost him dearly in the end. Then again, it's not the first time Ryan has shown that he has poor decision making skills:

Walker Used Personal Email To Conduct State Business

During his very short-lived presidential campaign, Scott Walker repeatedly attacked Hillary Clinton for conducting government business through her personal email address. Given that there were tens of thousands of pages of emails showing that Walker did the same thing as Milwaukee County Executive, the hypocrisy was enough to make one's hair hurt.

It turns out that even though Walker and his staff were under a criminal investigation for this, Walker continued to do it as governor.

In a rare moment of flagrant journalism, WKOW News did an open records request regarding the use of private emails to conduct state business. The records showed hundreds of personal emails were used. Their investigation also raised questions about how those emails were being handled:

But a 27 News investigation by Greg Neumann into the use and disclosure of personal emails by the Governor's office is raising questions about just how those records are handled.

On May 28, 27 News asked Gov. Walker if he knew whether former Chief of Staff Keith Gilkes, former Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch or other members of his administration had used personal email for government business.

"I don't know," said Gov. Walker. "I mean, not that I'm aware of."

But we now know the Governor was aware of it at the time that exchange took place.

Just a few days before we asked those questions, 27 News requested all of the emails sent to or from the personal email addresses of Gilkes, Huebsch, and Walker's second Chief of Staff Eric Schutt - that contained official state business communications.

Their personal email addresses were provided to 27 News by a tipster.

The Governor's office ultimately sent 980 pages worth of the emails to 27 News on Monday, October 12, nearly fourth months after our initial request.

"We have a strict policy in terms of our office or our administration that information regarding state business - conducted on state email - which would be our preference," said Gov. Walker.

But in the first year of the Walker administration, state business was conducted through more than 300 personal emails.

Much of it dealt with planning and strategy. A March 2011 email sent from from Gilkes to other senior staffers, included a memo detailing the self-described weaknesses of the Walker administration's first 100 days in office - mentioning Gov. Walker's overexposure to the media and long winded speeches.

Personal email was used to discuss big policy moments as well. One thread showed a discussion among senior staffers on the day after the State Senate passed Act 10. It includes the statement Secretary Huebsch ultimately released to the media on it being published and becoming law.

Others dealt directly with the strategy surrounding Act 10 and the concern caused after Judge Mary Ann Sumi blocked the law.

Some of the emails were sent to or from Governor Walker's own personal address, but we aren't sure how many due to the fact that both his personal and official email addresses are redacted in the records.

"All identifiers of the non-public official direct email address of the Governor have been redacted pursuant to the balancing test," David Rabe, assistant legal counsel to Gov. Walker, wrote to 27 News in a letter accompanying the records. "We have determined that the public interest in avoiding potential disruption of the Governor's ability to carry out his responsibilities without unnecessary interruption if his direct email address became common knowledge outweighs any public interest in disclosure."

Wisconsin law does not explicitly forbid conducting state business through private emails. However, Walker claimed that it was his administration's policy that these emails be sent to their official accounts to keep them for prosperity.

That turned out to be another lie, which leads to even more disturbing questions (emphasis mine):

"Our office also routinely trains staff to forward any emails related to state business to their official accounts for the purpose of retention," said Gov. Walker's Press Secretary Laurel Patrick.

But dozens of the emails 27 News received were never sent to an official state account until they were forwarded to the government email address of Gov. Walker's Chief Legal Counsel Brian Hagedorn on July 31, 2015. That date comes four years after the emails were originally written and two months after our open records request.

"Yeah, I think it's an issue to be sure and apparently and potentially a serious one," said Drechsel, who believes that delay and lag time raises questions about whether 27 News even got all of the personal emails that ever existed, or if some were permanently deleted from personal accounts long ago.

"To me, the policy that you described of forwarding those emails so they get into the state system is a very good one. But again, it all falls apart if people don't - in good faith - comply with the policy," said Drechsel.

The reason that the emphasized section should raise a red flag for the gentle reader is that on the very same date that Hagedorn had received these emails is the same day that Walker announced that he was politically appointing Hagedorn to an appellate court seat despite that Hagedorn had no experience or qualifications for that position.

Was that appointment made to reward Hagedorn for his political operations, as a form of hush money to buy Hagedorn's silence or both?

It is also worth noting that Walker didn't release those emails until well after he dropped out of the GOP presidential clown car. It should give one pause to wonder if money problems was the only or the real reason Walker dropped out of the race.

Where Will Scott Walker Be On November 10th?

Fox Business News and the Wall Street Journal will be hosting the next GOP presidential debate right here in Milwaukee on November 10th.

As the gentle reader is well aware of, Scott Walker's presidential campaign failed in spectacular fashion just last month.

This lead me to ponder what will Walker be doing on the night of the debate, since he won't be a participant.

Will Walker:

A)  Stay in Madison, curled up in a fetal position under his desk, mumbling to himself on how he should be president because he was the chosen one?

B)  Stay in Madison, sitting in a darkened room with Tonette watching the debate, crying that David Koch promised him that he was going to be president and asking why the Koch Boyz had forsaken him?

C)  Be at the debate, drawn to the media attention like a moth to a flame, at the cost of reminding the state and the nation what an absolute failure he is both as a governor and a presidential candidate?

D)  Given who is hosting this stop of the GOP circus, will Walker be attracted to the media attention by agreeing to be "an expert commentator" so he can compare the failure of the remaining candidates to his own failure and so that he can again repeat his unheeded advice to the other wannabes that they should follow his lead by dropping out of the race.

E) Something else?

I like to think that I am pretty good at knowing what Walker will do in any particular situation but this one truly has me stumped.

What are your thoughts?

Quote of the Day - Scott Walker Edition

The gentle reader is well aware that Scott Walker's hypocrisy knows no bounds, but he still has the ability to come up with things that leaves even the most cynical of us astounded by just how far he can go.

A prime example was his review of the Democratic debate and Hillary Clinton's performance (emphasis mine):

The governor also praised the performance of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Tuesday's Democratic presidential debate, saying she came across as "surprisingly very confident and, I thought, relatively pleasant." But he panned her policies and those of her Democratic rivals as socialism.

"I was just overwhelmed with how much stuff they're willing to give away," he said.

This is coming from the guy who was in charge of the WEDC - until a few months ago when he got fired from the job - and led the way of giving away hundreds of millions of dollars to his biggest campaign donors.

The man really has no shame at all.

Scott Walker Flip Flops On His Last Remaining Position

BY Jeff Simpson

August 26, 2015

Walker has maintained the travel has not affected his ability to govern effectively and communicate with lawmakers as they amend his budget proposal, noting he carries two cellphones.
“When you look at the bigger issue, the work every week, I meet with the Speaker and the Majority Leader, and their counterparts in the opposing party when they’re in session,” Walker told reporters during a recent conference call from Spain. “The record clearly shows we’re just as engaged today as at any point over the last four years.”

 October 14, 2015:

Walker made moves to run for president shortly after being re-elected to a second term in November and dropped out last month. His current term runs through 2018, which will be midterm for the next president.
Walker said, "It is difficult to run your state and to run for president at the same time."

Of course Mr. Unitimidated had to go in front of Chuck Sykes where he knew he wouldnt be challenged on his flip flops or lies.  

I think for Scott Walker to continue running our state, he should have a mandatory psychological evaluation.    He has not stayed consistent on an issue in years.  The people of WI deserve so much more/

 

Walker's Kangaroo Justice Jumped The Gun

As I reported, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice N. Patrick Crooks passed away in chambers in September, on the same day that Scott Walker's presidential bid was pronounced DOA. Walker gave a deadline of October 2 for applicants to ask to be appointed, One week later, made a political appointment of his crony and fellow right wing extremist, Rebecca Bradley.

This may come as a shock to the gentle reader, but it looks like the appointment just might have been rigged.

It turns out that Bradley was calling herself Justice Bradley even before she announced that she was an applicant, much less had actually been appointed or sworn in:

Rebecca Bradley, whose first day as a justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court was Monday, registered a website domain name identifying her as a justice even before applications were due for the interim position she was appointed to.

Bradley was widely — and accurately — seen as the favorite to be appointed by Gov. Scott Walker to fill out the final nine months of Justice Pat Crooks' term; Crooks died last month. Walker had twice selected Bradley for judicial openings previously and her candidacy for a full 10-year high court term had the conservatives' backing.

Her nine-month appointment gives her the advantage of incumbency as she runs for a full 10-year term on the court in the April 5 election. She faces 4th District Appeals Court Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg and Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Joe Donald — neither of whom applied for the Supreme Court appointment.

Bradley campaign spokeswoman Madison Wiberg said the website domain name of "justicerebeccabradley.com" was reserved a day before the Oct. 2 application deadline by a vendor "in anticipation of the application process."

Adding to the shenanigans is the fact on Friday, when Walker announced the appointment, he said that they were still working out when Bradley would be formally sworn in. Apparently, they were not expecting the backlash they had gotten, since she was sworn in in a quick, private ceremony Monday morning. One would think that how this appointment was made to bolster her chances in the election next year, she would have wanted all of the pomp and circumstance.

Larson To Take On Boss Abele!

Chris Larson (the good Chris)

In 2010, Chris Larson sent a shockwave thought the state's Democratic Party when he defeated entrenched incumbent Jeff Plale for his seat in the state senate.  It proved to be a smart move by the voters of that district.  After Plale was ousted, he showed his true nature by accepting his 30 pieces of silver from his pal, Scott Walker.

It is being reported that Larson has decided to take another Corporate Democrat, Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele.

To show that Larson isn't taking on this challenge as the odd man out or without support, Congresswoman Gwen Moore will join Larson when he makes his announcement. Comments she has already made is very telling:

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, a Milwaukee Democrat and former Abele backer, is putting her support behind Larson, giving some heft to his campaign and a potential draw on Milwaukee's African-American vote.

In an interview, Moore said that Abele had focused too much time on amassing power and undermining enemies on the County Board, rather than working with other Democrats to uplift the county's deeply impoverished core.

"I've been very, very disappointed that Chris Abele has really not met my expectations in terms of providing these (social) services and doing it in a democratic way," Moore said. "It pains me because I like Chris Abele. He's smart, but I think he's a benevolent dictator."

Moore has always been diplomatic when it comes to other Democrats, but she really understated the damage that Abele has inflicted upon himself.  But it rather telling in itself that Moore, a Democrat, is supporting Larson while Abele's only defender is County Supervisor Deanna Alexander, a rabid Republican.

Abele has alienated a lot of people in the past five years.

Chris Abele (the bad Chris)

Abele has waged a war on workers.  Not many people realize it, but the things that have them up in arms about Scott Walker - such as gouging the workers even more and attacking civil service laws - are things that Abele has already done to county workers.  Abele has also attacked and fought living wage laws to the point of trying to have those laws killed statewide.

There is also his ongoing war with the transit workers.  Instead of sitting down and negotiating in good faith, Abele is still creating unnecessary and unwanted labor strife with his anti-union tactics.  The only reason that Abele is even starting to budge now is to avoid a strike this close to the election.

Abele has also alienated the teacher's unions - as well as many parents and members of the black community - by extending his power grab to the Milwaukee Public Schools, eagerly agreeing to become the MPS Privatization Czar.

Abele really put his foot in it with the black community last week when he said he wanted to help blacks by giving them more programs in jail, more child support enforcement and more mental health services.

Abele also has insulted veterans by saying that support for the War Memorial Center was "bullshit."

Abele showed his disdain for taxpayers and vulnerable citizens with his mental health debacle.  Not only did he get the state to go along with his plan to create an unelected taxing body to take over the mental health system, but then started to kick people out of the mental health complex with insufficient protection and support.  This has led to people getting seriously injured and even dying becaue of Abele's negligence.

Perhaps Abele's greatest act of maleficence was the gutting of representative government and concentrating that power in his hands.  That's isn't being progressive. That's being a petty tyrant.

In fact, the only chance Abele has is using his daddy's checkbook as leverage with the few Corporate Democrats and Republicans that are willing to turn a blind eye to all of his misdeeds for a check cut out to their campaign.

Abele likes to say it shows that he can be "bipartisan."

Methinks he uses that word on purpose, but really means "buy-partisan."

Either way, it spells that it's time for Abele to go.

Paul Ryan Plays Hard To Get

With the GOP running around like the fools they are as they seek a new scapegoat for when things go wrong, er, I mean, Speaker of the House, an increasing number of them have set their eyes on Rep. Paul Ryan. But Ryan is being coy about what his intentions are.

Per the national press, Ryan is privately talking about running for it:

Rep. Paul Ryan is telling House Republicans privately he is considering running for speaker, several members say.

Ryan informed several members on the House floor of his deliberations, Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, told CNN. Stewart added that he urged Ryan to run, with the Wisconsin Republican replaying that he was "thinking and praying on it."

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who shocked Capitol Hill by deciding Thursday not to try and succeed retiring Speaker John Boehner, also said Ryan is weighing a run.

"Paul's looking at it but it's his decision," McCarthy said on CNN. "If he decides to do it, he'll be an amazing speaker but he's got to decide on his own."

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, said that Ryan told him privately he is thinking about it as well. "I think he's gone from a 'hard no' to he knows he has to consider it," he said.

But back at home behind the Cheddar Curtain, the press is reporting that Ryan is rebuffing the pressure and is firm on not running:

"He needs to do this for the team," said House Republican Fred Upton of Michigan.

That appeal came after a Ryan spokesman issued the latest in a series of statements saying Ryan remains out of the running for the office of speaker being vacated by John Boehner.

"Chairman Ryan appreciates the support he's getting from his colleagues but is still not running for speaker," said the statement.

Ryan himself made no remarks to his GOP colleagues at a closed-door session Friday morning to discuss the party's leadership crisis. And he walked past reporters in the Capitol hallways throughout the day saying he had nothing to add.

[...]

Ryan has been emphatic in the past about not wanting the job, citing both the time and travel demands and his desire to continue chairing the House Ways and Means Committee.

If the Republicans really want Ryan to even seriously consider being the Speaker of the House, they are going to have to find a way to really sweeten the pot.

Ryan has got it good right now. He doesn't have to do anything. He introduces some bills that his dark money overlords give him, gets them passed and then sits back, watching the money roll in. Why would he give that up for a job where he actually has to work?

Not only that, he's the last one of the "Young Guns" that hasn't been completely disgraced. Why in the world would he want to risk being proven the fraud that he is by exposing his incompetence to the world?

Fearful 78 Year Old Woman Second Amendments Herself

A 78 year old woman in Burlington, Wisconsin got scared and instead of calling for help, she helped herself to a loaded handgun. Well, Dirty Mary she ain't:

A 78-year-old Burlington woman accidentally shot herself Friday after arming herself with a handgun when she became afraid, according to the Racine County Sheriff's Office.

The woman was walking in her house with the gun when she dropped it to the floor, causing it to discharge upward and wounding her in the abdomen, according to news release from the sheriff's office.

The woman was taken to a hospital, according to the release, which did not report the woman's condition.

The sheriff's office reminds people be extra cautious when handling any firearm.

The NRA likes to say that guns are the great equalizer and in a way they are correct. Whether it's a 78 year old woman, a three year old kid or a 20 year old young man, give them a gun and you just know someone is going to get hurt and/or killed.

Walker Adds Another Kangaroo To Wisconsin Supreme Court

On September 21, 2015 - the same day Scott Walker dropped his presidential bid - Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice N. Patrick Crooks died in his chambers. Crooks had previously announced that he was going to retire at the end of his term which would have been next year.

Three people - Joseph Donald, JoAnne Kloppenburg and Rebecca Bradley announced their candidacy for the seat. The primary will be in February and the general election will be in April.

As predicted, Walker announced today, just months before the election, that he was appointing his political ally, Bradley, to finish the rest of Crooks term:

Gov. Scott Walker announced Friday he is appointing to the Wisconsin Supreme Court conservative appeals court Judge Rebecca Bradley, who is already running to fill the vacant seat.

Walker made the announcement at a news conference at the Capitol.

Walker previously appointed Bradley to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court in 2012 and the 1st District Court of Appeals earlier this year. She won re-election to the circuit court position in 2013.

He said his criteria for the selection included integrity, an understanding of the law and recognition that the role of a justice is to uphold the constitution and laws of Wisconsin.

This is Bradley's third political appointment in as many years, despite her alarming lack of judicial qualifications.

The two years that Bradley served as circuit court judge was at children's court in Milwaukee, and she didn't even oversee all the types of cases that are there, much less any other type of court proceeding. She didn't even serve for five months as the politically appointed appellate court judge before Walker gave her another bump up today.

This is a blatantly political move to give Bradley the advantage in next year's elections by giving her the incumbent status. The only reasons for her meteoric rise over the past three years is that she has all the right right wing credentials - Federalist, John Bircher, and obedient puppet - and that Walker has to still kowtow to the special interests to get money to pay off his massive debts.

Although it will need to be seen as to how much advantage there really is to be the political appointee of a governor with only a 37% favorability rating.

Wild, Wild, West

By Jeff Simpson 

Recently in Houston, a man was carjacked, and (un)luckily for him, a "good guy with a gun" was handy to help him out.  However, as the saying goes, "with friends like this, who needs carjackers?". 

According to police, a carjacking at a gas station in Valero Saturday night left one man injured, but it wasn’t the intended target when an ammosexual attempted to go “full-Rambo” and stop the crime-in-progress. Rather than call police, the unnamed GGWAG leaped into action and opened fire on two men who jumped another man at the gas station. He didn’t manage to quite hit his targets, but the unnamed shooter managed to land one blow — to the victim’s head. The carjackers managed to escape with the unnamed victim’s pickup truck.
The  shooting (and carjacking) victim was taken to a nearby hospital, where he remains in stable condition. The stolen truck was located a mile away, but the suspects managed to escape and are still on the loose. In true “Good Guy With a Gun” fashion, the shooter did not wait around for police to arrive, and is being sought for questioning.

Now in Michigan, at a Home Depot store, someone allegedly was shop lifting, and we all know the punishment for possibly shoplifting is death.  That is if we are lucky enough to have "good girl with gun" handy to mete out the deserved punishment.

   Police say a customer witnessed two suspected shoplifters leaving the store and fired shot at their SUV.Police say the customer does have a concealed weapons license. Officers say she did shoot out one of the tires on the SUV.
It is not known if she will face charges in the incident.

How she does not get charged with two counts of attempted murder is beyond me,

In Portland, days after a mass shooting at a community college that left 9 dead, two men were walking around schools with assault rifles over their shoulders.  

The list goes on and on and on.

As the righty sooth sayer, Bradley Foundations own Christian Schneider says:

When Wisconsin passed concealed-carry, it became the 49th state to do so. And upon passage of similar laws in other states,exactly none of them became the open firing ranges concealed carry opponents feared.

Nope never happens.  As Schneider says:

The question is, how wrong do these people have to be before we stop believing them?

The Republican Bully Squad

Jeff Simpson

As a member of the Monona Grove School Board, we are always in the process of updating our Policies and Administrative Rules.  We recently updated Administrative rule 411, Nondiscrimination Guidelines Related to Students Who Are Transgender and Students Nonconforming to Gender Role Stereotypes.

The key part here is this(emphasis mine):

Restroom and Locker Room Accessibility:  In most cases, students shall have access to the restroom or locker room that corresponds to the gender identity that the student consistently asserts at school and in other social environments. The following guidelines related to restroom and changing areas generally assume that the student has a special concern or is in some way uncomfortable with consistently using the facilities that correspond to the biological sex that the student was assigned at birth.

The District highly recommends, but does not require, transgender students and/or their parents/guardians create a “School Plan for Transgender/Gender Nonconforming Students” with a school counselor or other student services staff member, with the support of a school administrator, to address restroom/locker room choices. In any gender-segregated facility, any student who is uncomfortable using a shared facility, regardless of the reason, shall, upon the student’s request, be provided with a safe and non-stigmatizing alternative. This may include, for example, addition of a privacy partition or curtain, provision to use a nearby private restroom or office, or a separate changing schedule. However, requiring a transgender or gender nonconforming student to use a separate, nonintegrated space threatens to publicly identify and marginalize the student as transgender and should not be done unless requested by a student. Under no circumstances may students be required to use sex segregated facilities that are inconsistent with their gender identity. Where available, schools are encouraged to designate facilities designed for use by one person at a time as accessible to all students regardless of gender, and to incorporate such singleuser facilities into new construction or renovation. However, under no circumstances may a student be required to use such facilities because they are transgender or gender nonconforming. If a transgender student makes any request regarding the use of locker rooms or any similar type of changing area, the request shall be assessed on a case-by-case basis with the goals of: (a) facilitating the transgender student’s access to the district’s physical education curriculum and other relevant programs; (b) ensuring adequate student privacy and safety; and (c) minimizing stigmatization of the transgender student. The physical layout of the facility and the degree of undress required when changing for the applicable activity are examples of factors that will be considered in making the arrangements. There is no absolute rule that, in all cases, will require a transgender student to access and use only the locker rooms and other changing areas that correspond to the biological sex that the student was assigned at birth.

This is standard issue rule, with many other districts adopting the same/similar rule.   We adapted thsi rule because it is our responsibility as an elected school board.   We adapted this rule because we care about ALL of our kids and it is the best way to protect our trans-gendered and questioning youths. We adapted it to send a message to our youth that you are safe in our schools.

Unfortunately, we were mistaken.  

We have the ability to protect our children from threats inside the school.  We do not however. have the ability to protect our children from the legislators at the Capitol.

Transgender students would be barred from using school bathrooms or locker rooms assigned to the gender with which they identify, under a bill being proposed by two Republican lawmakers.
Rep. Jesse Kremer, R-Kewaskum, and Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, are proposing to require school boards to designate bathrooms and locker rooms as being for one gender exclusively, and to require the state Department of Justice to defend  school districts in lawsuits alleging the policy is discriminatory.

Less than a week ago, Madison lost one of its bright lights when 16 year old Skyler Marcus Lee, a local transgendered high school student and fierce LGBT activist, lost his battle with depression and took his own life.

Apparently Rep. Kremer and Senator Nass have decided to bully all transgendered children in Wisconsin.   Because no school board worth its salt, would ever pass such a bullying, regressive mean spirited rule, Kremenass knew they had to completely usurp local control (again).  To top it all off, knowing that their bill in mean spirited and discriminative, they also put provisions into the bill that the taxpayers of Wisconsin will cover all of their bill writing incompetence.  

While these are the faces of cowardice and evil:


This is the bright light that was too early extinguished.


The question is will the rest of the state of Wisconsin stand up to cowardly bullies like Kremer and Nass so that the Skylars of the world know that they are supported and loved?  Or do we continue with the Scott Walker signature, of Divide and Conquer politics?

We all have a choice to make....choose well Wisconsin.

Until we do:

If you are a trans or gender-nonconforming person considering suicide, Trans Lifelinecan be reached at 877-565-8860. LGBT youth (ages 24 and younger) can reach theTrevor Project Lifeline at 1-866-488-7386. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 can also be reached 24 hours a day by people of all ages and identities.

(No) Justice Troupis

By Jeff Simpson

If you want to know just how far the State of Wisconsin has fallen since Scott Walker has taken over, it can be summed up in two words - Justice Troupis.  

Jim Troupis was the Republican lawyer, and taxpayer leech in Wisconsin for the first five years of Scott Walker's reign of errors.   Troupis was not only Justice David Prosser's lawyer(which he did much of pro bono), but also the lawyer for the Republicans during the redistricting, where every elected Republican in office signed a secrecy agreement while gerrymandering the state.  

A Troupis appointment would be the dictionary definition of political cronyism and show how little respect that Scott Walker has for the law or the state of Wisconsin.   

In true Crony fashion, Troupis, who was recently appointed to a judgeship, refuses to talk to anyone about his application to fulfill Justice Crooks open seat.  

Troupis was a longtime go-to attorney for Republicans and served as a lead attorney for Justice David Prosser's campaign in 2011 when there was a recount. Walker this May appointed Troupis to the Dane County bench, and Troupis said then he would not run for a full term on that court.
In an interview last week, Troupis declined to say whether he was considering running for the state Supreme Court next year. He did not return a call Monday.

Jim Troupis has went on a "freedom tour" of local bars, to discuss how Republicans love Freedom and Democrats hate freedom, and on these tours he has partnered with well known legal scholar and dog whistle expert, Vicky Pyzinski.    

THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF FREEDOM WITH VICKI MCKENNA AND JIM TROUPIS
Have you ever wondered WHY liberals seemingly reject the fundamental concepts of liberty while purporting to stand for freedom?
Radio talk show host Vicki McKenna and constitutional attorney Jim Troupis will answer that and many other questions at "The History and Future of Freedom", an event hosted by We the People of the Republic on Thursday, October 10, 2013.
Tracing the history and development of freedom that gave way to our Founder's visions, McKenna and Troupis will explain America's unique brand of liberty. From the Greeks to the recall elections, two opposite and competing ideas of liberty have been and remain at war for the heart and soul of western civilization. Which will emerge victorious? It depends on YOU!This event will take place at Rex's Innkeeper (301 North Century Avenue, Waunakee, WI 53597). Doors will open at 6:30 PM, with the presentation starting at 7:00 PM and lasting until 8:30 PM.
All are invited to attend this event. With FREE ADMISSION, there is no reason NOT to come! Bring your family and friends for a fun and educational night out!

Vicki Mckenna ‏@VickiMcKenna  Sep 23

BEST replacement for late Justice Crooks would be JUDGE JIM TROUPIS. his knowledge of & passion for the Constitution has NO EQUAL. #wiright

If that does not inspire certainty that Troupis will be impartial in the law and just "call balls and strikes", nothing will.   Apparently nothing says freedom like making elected reps sign secrecy agreements, or not letting the minority party in on how you are gerrymandering the state.  

While I am sure Troupis and his hate talk am radio echo chamber will be upset that anyone would dare question his qualifications, remember when Judge Sumi was considering a run for Supreme Court herself and Troupis felt the need to weigh in:

Troupis was disappointed Judge Sumi is considering a run. "It's obvious she was talked into it because of Act 10," Troupis said. "It should be about competence and qualifications, and clearly the only purpose of her running is to open that pro-union stuff."

Dismissing a highly competent and qualified woman because she does not do exactly as told, that has to please Scott Walker.  But wait, there's more:

It was Troupis, who gave Scott Fitzgerald the laughable advice of being able to legally arrest the 14 Senators who went to Illinois in 2011.  

First by filing a frivolous lawsuit in Oconoto County, saying that Senator Halperin's absence from the Senate chambers was hurting tourism.

Then following that up with the threat to carry 7 month pregnant at the time democratically elected Senator Julie Lassa "feet first" into the Capitol building to vote on ACT 10.  

Apparently arresting Democrats and assaulting women were the ideas that sparked Troupis "Freedom" conference.   I am certain the Founding Fathers would be right there wanting to arrest fellow legislators who left to make sure that a bill that was never campaigned on was passed with no discussion.   #freedom.

I miss the days when the Democrats were just incompetent and not out and out corrupt like the current batch of Republicans!  

It is really sad that they have such little respect for the people of Wisconsin and the Institutions that they have been charged with Governing.  

Here is Mr. Troupis' extreme partisan resume.