RoJo Sends Fourth Of July Thoughts - From Russia

Ron Johnson, our dumb senator from Wisconsin, tweeted a jingoistic message for the Fourth of July.

What does July 4th mean to me? Freedom. Every American should jealously guard their individual liberty and freedom. Happy #4thofJuly pic.twitter.com/XwKMLH2Evs

— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) July 4, 2018

But before you start to cheer and wave those little American flags that were made in China, you ought to know that he sent this tweet from Mother Russia, where he and other Republican lawmakers are currently laughing it up and toasting the real president, Vladimir Putin, with shots of vodka:

Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard C. Shelby told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Tuesday that he hoped for an improvement in relations between the United States and the Russian Federation.

“We have a strained relationship, but we could have a better relationship between he U.S. and Russia, because there’s some common interests around the world that we hopefully can work together on,” Shelby said, according to video from the meeting in Moscow. “We can be competitors. We are competitors, but we don’t necessarily need to be adversaries.”

“So, we’re hoping that coming out of the Putin-Trump meeting in Helsinki we will see the beginning, maybe of a new day,” the Alabama Republican said. “The world’s better off, I believe, if Russia and the U.S. have fewer tensions.”

Shelby has been leading an all-Republican congressional delegation to Russia, of mainly appropriators. The lawmakers were joined for the meeting with Lavrov by U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman.

[...]

GOP lawmakers on the trip with Shelby include Sens. Steve Daines of Montana, John Hoeven of North Dakota, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Jerry Moran of Kansas and John Thune of South Dakota.

That's a far cry from what RoJo was saying just a few months ago, when he said that world needed to unite against Russia:

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson said Sunday that the U.S. and Western allies must stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the face of “aggression” and “provocations” from Moscow.

“We have to have the resolve, I mean, we have to,” said Johnson, R-Wisc., the chairman of the Senate's Homeland Security Committee, in an exclusive interview on "Meet The Press.”

“I wish Russia were no more than a friendly rival,” Johnson said. “But unfortunately, they're an unfriendly adversary. And it's been their aggression, their provocations, that have really resulted in a relationship that is not healthy for the world, for world peace.”

What a difference a few million dollars from Russian can make!

Ironically, RoJo did tell the truth in his message. We are indeed losing our freedom.

The good news is that the Republican majority will soon be washed away by the coming Blue Wave of 2018. Once we clean out the miasma the Republicans have created, we can start restoring our freedoms.

With Friends Like Cory...

By Jeff Simpson

We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately. Benjamin Franklin

In this very important race for Governor, one of the key issues will be the Foxconn debacle.  Every person running, has addressed in their key issues, how to minimize the damage to Wisconsin.

That is why it was so surprising to see Mayor Cory Mason, the former Democratic Assembly Rep, take the time out of his busy schedule, to help Scott Walker write a re-election ad to praise this awful company. 

There are challenges to overcome, and there is work to be done, but I believe that the arrival of Foxconn creates the best opportunity in my lifetime to rebuild our middle class and build a stronger community for all of us.

Apparently this is Mr. Mason's view of the ideal middle class in WI.

At least Scott Walker is very appreciative(Hopefully Mason at least got an official pen):

 I thank all the Republicans and Democrats who supported this bill and made the right call. 

 However, beyond a bunch of Republicans who know nothing of economics, and a few self serving "Democrats", not everyone is on board with the FoxConn Debacle.

The 2800 acres of privately held land in the Mount Pleasant area, was declared blighted so that the local officials could take land(and houses) held by Wisconsinites so they could then hand it to a foreign company, that turned a profit of $70+ Billion last year in the fourth quarter alone. 

A local resident, Kimberly Mahoney, who recently built her dream home, only to have the Village Board declare it blighted and take it from her. 

“I was like ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ ” James said. “How can you tell us they’re taking our property? This is our property. We bought this property. How can you be taking our property with our brand new house?”
Their daughter Reese came home from school to celebrate her 12th birthday and asked her parents about it saying, “what happened with Foxconn?”
“She thought we were kidding when we told her we had to move,” Kimberly said. “She just started bawling.”

What is a dream house to one family, when it means keeping the Walker family in the Governor's Mansion and Alex free access to all state vehicles?

To be fair, not everyone hates Foxconn, some people heart it!

We have not even covered the 7 million gallons of water a day, that Foxconn will be taking from our greatest natural resource, Lake Michigan! 

Whats 7 million gallons of freshwater from one of the biggest money making, life sustaining, tourist attractions in WI? 

"It's tough to know the value of water until it's gone." Mark Udall 

Well at least Cory Mason can sleep well, they did not declare his dream home blighted, he just used us all for his personal ambitions and goals, and made it that much harder to defeat Scott "John Doe" Walker in November. 

I guess Mayor Mason is just trying to make Wisconsin Better!

 “Better never means better for everyone... It always means worse, for some.”― Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale

Look Elsewhere For Your Jingoism...

...for you shan't find it here.

I'm not in a patriotic mood right now.

We have the Trump Oligarchy, aka the Fourth Reich, that sold our democracy to Putin and the Russians.

We have Hair Furor embracing and pandering to Nazis and white supremacists, spitting on the graves of our forefathers and foremothers who fought these degenerates for the freedom of all people.

We have seen freedom of religion usurped by worship of the Almighty Dollar.

We have seen the Fourth Reich commit unspeakable cruelties upon a whole race of people because of the color of their skin.

We have seen the Fourth Reich try repeatedly to strip us of our freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

No, there is not much to celebrate this Fourth of July.  Today, as every other day, will be another day in the ongoing effort to win our independence back again.

If you don't like it, go shove a sparkler up your ass.

Unhinged Vukmir: The Majority Doesn't Like Unhinged

Meet Wisconsin State Senator Leah Vukmir.

Vukmir is the GOP establishment candidate that wants to run against U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin. She is also an esteemed member of ALEC, currently sitting on their Board of Directors.

She is running a particularly nasty and negative campaign against both Baldwin and her primary opponent, Kevin Nicholson.

Not only has her campaign been nasty but she regularly takes dives off the deep end, such as the commercial that she's been running with a handgun sitting on her dining table like a centerpiece. She reportedly has the gun because she feels unsafe due to people being upset that she and her fellow fascists have been taking away people's rights for eight years.

Alrighty then!

Vukmir also irresponsibly and visciously attacked Baldwin because Baldwin wouldn't blindly approve Gina Haspel as the CIA director, even though Haspel is all for torture, going so far as accusing Baldwin of teaming up with terrorists. Or maybe Vukmir likes Haspel because they're both all in for torture. Either way, Vukmir accused Baldwin of teaming of with the terrorists because of it, a stance she refuses to apologize for or even walk back today.

Alrighty then! But wait, with all things Vukmir, there's more. There's always more.

In case voters weren't sure that Vukmir was as crazy as an outhouse rat, she made sure she jumped the shark in the column in the right wing Daily Caller. It is breathtaking in its hypocrisy and utter lack of insight:

The national Democratic Party and liberal members of Congress who are allies of Senator Tammy Baldwin, such as Maxine Waters, are openly advocating for violence against citizens they disagree with. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also learned this past week it is no longer acceptable to dine in public with your family if you aren’t OK wearing one of those pink hats or raising your fist in the name of Resistance.

While Democrats whine about the demeanor of President Trump, their party is led by intolerance fueled by anger and hatred. It’s obvious that they failed to learn the lessons Wisconsin Democrats suffered through in 2010: The majority doesn’t like unhinged.

[...]

Unfortunately, we learned firsthand that when the unhinged cannot win on the issues, they will attempt to win through the politics of personal destruction.

America is winning in so many ways with President Trump — from appointing judges who believe in the Constitution and delivering historic tax cuts to cutting regulations that strangle our small businesses and telling foreign nations that we will not bow to them. Because they can’t battle these wins, liberal ugliness will get worse before it gets better; desperate liberal politicians like Tammy Baldwin know no other way.

Maxine Waters’ fiery diatribe, the restaurant owner in Southwest Virginia, Twitter trolls who hide behind their phones and keyboards are only the beginning.

Conservatives have stood up to the unhinged left before, and we cannot be afraid to do so again. Intimidation, scare tactics and threats of violence didn’t stop the Walker-GOP agenda in Wisconsin, and it will not stop President Trump from draining the swamp, either.

Vukmir has already come out in favor of torture, of gutting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and kicking millions of people out of health care coverage. Is it any surprise she is equally OK with ripping babies from the arms of their mothers and keeping them in cages in ungodly environments? I mean, what does she care? Those babies are neither white nor wealthy.

I just hope that she is correct on this one occasion and that the voters do not like unhinged. Then she can go back under the rock she crawled out from underneath.

The Myth of School Chaos

By Jeff Simpson

In 2011, President Obama's Administration wrote what is known as a "Dear Colleague" letter.  This letter was by no means a guideline but was a well thought out and researched memo to help America's public schools address the opportunity gap and work on ending systemic racism. 

The U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice (Departments) are issuing this guidance to assist public elementary and secondary schools in meeting their obligations under Federal law to administer student discipline without discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin. The Departments recognize the commitment and effort of educators across the United States to provide their students with an excellent education. The Departments believe that guidance on how to identify, avoid, and remedy discriminatory discipline will assist schools in providing all students with equal educational opportunities.1
The Departments strongly support schools in their efforts to create and maintain safe and orderly educational environments that allow our nation’s students to learn and thrive. Many schools have adopted comprehensive, appropriate, and effective programs demonstrated to: (1) reduce disruption and misconduct; (2) support and reinforce positive behavior and character development; and (3) help students succeed. Successful programs may incorporate a wide range of strategies to reduce misbehavior and maintain a safe learning environment, including conflict resolution, restorative practices, counseling, and structured systems of positive interventions. The Departments recognize that schools may use disciplinary measures as part of a program to promote safe and orderly educational environments.

This was a letter that was jointly drafted by the US Department of Education and the US Department of Justice.  It was a well documented, and well thought out response for a very real problem in America....a huge racial disparity and opportunity gap in our schools. 

There is a problem with the letter though, it came from President Obama(we are in an era where the number one priority of the Donald and the hard core far right, is erasing anything that President Obama might have done to create a legacy).  Secondly, this guideline, is meant to help address racial disparities, another taboo issue for what passes as conservatives these days.  In their mind, there is no problem and people of color get in more trouble and have lower grades because they get the grades and punishment they deserve.

See it is important to trust the teachers and the schools when punishing kids of colors, but if they have any other complaints or questions about their working conditions - they need to "shut up and teach" and " stop indoctrinating " our children.

Now that we have established what our friends on the right are so upset about, and the pure hypocrisy of it, lets dig a little deeper into their complaints.

Recently, a group of people on the far right drafted a letter and sent it to Secretary of Education Betsy "Amway" DeVos.   The main signator on this letter, was Rick Esenberg, the face of the Bradley Foundation's Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty(WILL). 

There were others who signed, but it really is just a formality.   The group think of worker drones for the monied interests of the far right, is as indistinguishable as a harem of seals on the shore. 

Let's take a quick peek at the letter:

The baseless demands of the Dear Colleague letter are having real world consequences throughout the nation. Milwaukee is a case in point. The Resolution Agreement requires MPS to “assess whether [it] is implementing its student discipline policies, practices and procedures in a non-discriminatory manner” by collecting “data regarding referrals for student discipline and the imposition of disciplinary sanctions at all District schools” and evaluating, among other things, “whether black students are receiving more removals, referrals or discipline than students of other races,” “whether black students are receiving more expulsions than students of other races,” “whether certain teachers and administrators refer disproportionately high numbers of students of a particular race for discipline,” and “whether black students are disproportionately referred for offenses in which subjective judgment is exercised.”  MPS must provide these evaluations to OCR along with “a description of actions it proposes to take in response to these evaluations.”21 If the data “suggests . . . disproportion,” in other words, MPS must “explore possible causes for the disproportion and consider steps that can be taken to eliminate the disproportion to the maximum extent possible.”22 

Esenberg, is arguing here that it puts a burden on the school systems to try and figure out why, and eliminate the disproportionality in discipline for the students of color. 

Esenberg and friends understand why the kids of color have more discipline problems and lower GPA's, etc... They are not white.   They are telling Ms. DeVos, that the problem is solved, there is no fixing it and it is time to focus on the white kids. 

Of course the red polo/khaki crowd eats this stuff up.  To perpetuate the myth that our public schools are failing, that the inner city (larger population of minorities) are out of control and they are interfering with the white kids who want to learn. 

It does not take a field full of tiki torches to see it!

Just check out some of the bit players in the right wing echo chamber:

Dave Blaska for instance:

The greater irony is that it was President Barack Obama’s administration that forced districts to set what amounts to racial quotas in school discipline. Thankfully, a Wisconsin-based conservative action group is moving to restore order in the classroom so that children of all colors can succeed.

The National Review weighed in:

As a policy matter, there is overwhelming evidence that Obama-era policies culminating in this “Dear Colleague” letter pushed schools to avoid disciplining students who needed to be disciplined. It made avoiding politically incorrect numbers more important than maintaining school safety.

Actually that is ridiculous, there is zero evidence that the "guidelines" (not regulations), pushed anyone into anything and in no place in America have they "avoided disciplining students who need disciplining"(that distinction is aimed for the Walker Admin who thanks to the far right activist judges, have made sure there is no disciplining of people who need it - but that is another post).

The Moonie publication Washington Times even weighed in via Marco Rubio:

Mr. Rubio said the guidance should be revised “to ensure that schools appropriately report violence and dangerous actions to local law enforcement,” while others have encouraged Mrs. DeVos to repeal it outright.   In the tragic aftermath of the murders in Florida, which were preventable, we simply cannot take the chance that other school districts, in response to a Dear Colleague letter issued in 2014 by the Obama administration, will continue to enforce or will implement the disastrous race-based, discipline-free program put in place in December of 2013 by Broward County,” William Perry Pendley, president of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, said Friday in a letter to Mrs. DeVos.  

Now that we see how shallow the echo chamber is in Wisconsin, let us take a quick look at actual reality.

1.  The Dear Colleague letter was a guideline, not a regulation.   There as no - do this or else attached. 

2.    Yes there is an imperative to look at discipline in our schools along with the opportunity gap.  It does not make logical sense, that children of color are the ones causing disruptions or are incredibly more of a discipline problem, than the white kids.  Anymore than it makes logical sense that there are more unarmed black men who get shot by police than any other race.  Yet the results speak for themselves. 

Should we accept institutional racism?  Or should we just not be surprised that a subsection of people who have waged a war on science would also have no interest in logic?

3.  The only people in Wisconsin who have been advocating for a "consequence-free environment" are the people knee deep in Walkergate and the John Doe investigation, and while that turned into a consequence free work place for our Governor and it only cost $1,000,000,000 in legal fees for Mr. Walker.   

4.   Unfortunately, the students in Wisconsin face consequences every single day.   When Scott Walker and his crew in Fitzwalkerstan, cut almost $2 Billion dollars from public education, the children have faced daily consequences.   The consequences from a massive teacher exodus of veteran teachers, who took not only years and years of institutional knowledge with them but also the ability to mentor younger teachers on the finer points of the job that they do not get in college.   

Our children have faced the consequences of a poorly funded public education system that hurts children in terms of higher class sizes, less Educational Assistants, less professional development, fewer of our best and brightest college students majoring in education, crumbling buildings and longer bus rides, among other things.   

Our children also have had to suffer the consequences of less needed services in the community, their parents being forced to work more than one job and spending less time with the kids, the increased cost of and lack of healthcare causing more stress and worse sickness and disease amongst families.   

5. I am not blind, I understand when our friends on the right talk about children needing "discipline" they mean punish the kids of color.   However, for most of us, "discipline" means -

: training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character

Training, not punitive punishment, is how you make long term change.   It is why the recidivism rate in our prisons is almost 70%.    The days of the old wild west are gone for a reason.

6.  Finally, and this is the biggest, is that ACT10 absolutely plays a big part on the chaos in the schools now.  As Dave Zweifel says, it absolutely IS the issue.   

The far right Walkerites, first order of business when they were elected was to make sure that their biggest opposition, the public workers unions, and more specifically the teacher's unions.  So they had to be punished. 

Act10 was secretly forced upon us as a way to make sure that the teachers had no say in their workplace.   If they made less money, they would have less money to send to the Democrats running for election, which would in turn help the Republicans stay in office. 

However, the biggest problem is that Republicans have no idea what unions actually do.  Whole they for sure do help their members to have a fair wage, they also advocate for better working conditions, safer classrooms, well being and safety of members, the rights of students, especially individual students and those who need more advocacy, because they spend every day with the kids. 

When Scott Walker forced a pay cut on the teachers, he also silenced their voice in every aspect of the school system. 

Now it is more than ironic that they are trying to tell everyone that we should listen to the teachers, they know what is best in the classrooms. 

#7 - Extra Credit - There will be talk that restorative justice was the reason a teenager was killed in a school in New York, based on a "report" by some right wing extremist group T74.   There is no more casual relationship between this death and Restorative Justice as there is between this death and algebra. 

I am not here to say that our public school system is perfect with no room for improvement.   That is not realistic, nor is it a prevailing thought anywhere. 

However, our public school system is the best thing we have, is the one equalizer in our society and has proven it not only works, but it works well. 

It just needs to be fully funded and tweeked. 

The best first step for that would be to realize that the WILL's, Blaska's, National Review's, Betsy DeVos's of the world have no interest in anything but their own bank account and ruining public education. 

They are on the wrong side of America and the wrong side of history. 

Vote PUBLIC EDUCATION in November! 

Trump Still Suffering From Electile Dysfuntion

Trump came to Wisconsin last week to hold a fundraiser for the Republicans and pose for holy pictures with Scott Walker and Paul Ryan at the groundbreaking for Foxconn, one of the largest acts of corporate welfare in this country's history.

After posing with their gold-plated shovels, the politicians scurried in to an air-conditioned building where they performed a circle jerk, praising each other for again ripping off the taxpayers.

In the midst of it, Trump, succumbed to his fierce insecurity and started spewing alternative facts regarding his election. Nearly two years later, and he can't get over himself and asterisk that follows his name regarding the election. It wasn't until well after the fact that the media got around to doing the easy fact checking to see what a huge liar Trump really is.

From Politifact Wisconsin, which gave him a pants on fire rating:

In the midst of it all, Trump took a moment to hail his own 2016 victory in Wisconsin, a win that was vital to securing the presidency.

Wisconsin, Trump said on June 28, 2018, "hadn’t been won by a Republican since Dwight D. Eisenhower, in 1952."

He went on:

"And I won Wisconsin. And I like Wisconsin a lot, but we won Wisconsin. And Ronald Reagan, remember, Wisconsin was the state that Ronald Reagan did not win."

(He made a nearly identical claim the night before, at a rally in Fargo, N.D.)

Say what, Mr. President?

A look at the numbers

According to the American Presidency Project, the following Republicans have won Wisconsin’s presidential vote since 1952:

1956: Dwight D. Eisenhower

1960: Richard M. Nixon

1968: Richard M. Nixon

1972: Richard M. Nixon

1980: Ronald Reagan

1984: Ronald Reagan

2016: Donald Trump

The Republican presidential dry spell stretched from the 1988 election, when Democrat Michael Dukakis won Wisconsin, through 2012 when Democrat Barack Obama won Wisconsin.

But it did not stretch back to Eisenhower.

And, for the record, the one state Reagan lost in 1984 was neighboring Minnesota, not Wisconsin.

Interestingly, neither Walker or Ryan said a word about it. Maybe they just didn't know the truth themselves.

Happy Tenth Blogbirthday To Us!

Eleven years ago on this date, my friend and mentor, Jay "Folkbum" Bullock gave me a chance to learn how to use my voice in the cyberworld by inviting me to join his posse of writers.  The Cheddarshpere hasn't been the same ever since.

After a short stint at Whallah!, and with the patience and help of Illy-T, Cognitive Dissidence came to be ten years ago on this date.

Just when the right wing nut jobs thought it couldn't get any worse for them, it did.

Of course, it couldn't have all happened without the help of my coauthors, including first and foremost, my brother-in-blog, Jeff Simpson.  There is also Keith Schmitz, Shane Bakken, Meg Gorski and a whole community of others.

The most important part of our continued and growing success is due solely to you, our gentle readers.  Without your readership and sharing our posts, we wouldn't have been able to make the world see what a pathetic weasel Scott Walker really is.  Most notably is how you helped get the word out worldwide about Walker's infamous Grinch fundraising email, in which he told people to forego Christmas presents for their children and to give him the money instead.

Likewise, this blog wouldn't even be here anymore if it wasn't for your generosity in helping get The People's Computer as my family was reeling from the devastation of Act 10.

Yes, it's been a fabulous and amazing ten years.

But, gentle readers, I need to ask for your help again.  If you can find a few bucks to spare, we would appreciate your donations.  There are costs to running a stand alone blog, especially in these days with the loss of net neutrality and tighter privacy for our readers.

However, your donation could also help you, gentle reader.  I vow that if we raise enough money, I will buy Jeff Simpson a spellcheck and get him some html lessons to help make his posts even better.

Regardless if you can give or not, thank you again, gentle readers, for this amazing trip.  I'm looking forward to the next ten years together, especially as we take our state and our country back from the current regime of fascists and their dark money overlords.

Glenn Grothman - Comedy Gold

By Jeff Simpson

"Our country is not going to survive if we continue this war on men," he told a tea party rally in 2010.

In the Bizarro world, where we have elected a serial adulterer and reality star as President, I recently liked a tweet by Brian Fraley and George Will is telling people to vote against The Donald in the upcoming elections.

While I have been keeping an eye out for locusts, I came across a video and am now certain the end is near. 

Glenn Grothman signing a letter approving civility in politics.

You just can not make this stuff up.  When Grothman loses to Dan Kohl in November he can take his stand up on the road. 

If you dont know who Glenn Grothman is, lets take a quick look.

No word on if he will now end his war on Kwanzaa! 

Paul Ryan Tells Uppity Black Woman To Apologize

Paul Ryan, that profile in courage, took a break from his fundraising and planning to dismantle every social safety net we have left to reprimand Congresswoman Maxine Waters for standing up for American values:

House Speaker Paul Ryan blasted Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters on Tuesday, saying she should apologize for calling on those who opposed the Trump administration's policy, that has resulted in family separation, to "harass" members of the administration in public.

"There is no place for this," Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, said a news conference. "She obviously should apologize."

He said the comments are "dangerous" for society.

"When we, in this democracy, are suggesting that because we disagree with people on political views, on policy views, on philosophical views, that we should resort to violence and harassment and intimidation that's dangerous for our society, dangerous for our democracy, and she should apologize and there's just no place for that in our public discourse," Ryan said.

Over the weekend, Waters called on her supporters to publicly confront and harass members of the Trump administration in response to the "zero-tolerance" policy that led to the separation of families at the border.

In other words, Ryan is more worried about hurting Cheetolini's fee-fees rather than the lifelong damage being done to thousands of innocent children. See? I told you he was a real profile in courage.

It does remind me of other examples of when he fearlessly led on the behalf of Republican-style civility.

Think of how many times Ryan selflessly turned a blind eye and deaf ear to when Rep. Steve King (R-KKK) would say some breathtakingly inane and offensive thing, such as promoting white supremacy.

Side note: Is there any other terminology that contradicts itself as thoroughly as white supremacy? White supremacists are living, breathing examples of why that's a false term.

Anyway, back to examples of Ryan earning his boy scout badge of civility.

How about that time when Ryan courageously pretended to have to tie his shoe when Greg Gianforte physically slammed a reporter to the ground?

Or all those times when Ryan gazed unblinkingly forward with his zombie eyes when Trump would talk about grabbing a married woman's pussy or calling Nazis "fine people." It should be noted that Ryan is only human and did let his control slip a little when Trump mewled about people from shithole countries coming here and said that comments were unfortunate and unhelpful.

It's easy for Ryan to be the civility police. He just uses himself as the yardstick of behavior, like when he mocked a 71 year old man being dragged out of a townhall meeting (when Ryan used to have townhall meetings) and being slammed to the ground by some cops:

A parable for those that need a little help understanding

It's been a while since I've submitted anything. Life and all that. However, there’s something I've been wanting to share, and now feels like the appropriate time to share it. A while ago, I bought a wine bar. I know, "What does this have to do with CogDis?" Let me share the story with you and I think you'll understand.


For a long time, I was a regular at a long established wine bar. Probably the oldest, if not the top wine bar in the state. It was well run, and grew quickly. I became a regular. I got to know the other patrons there. Most were from the neighborhood. After a while, I noticed more and more clientele from outside of the area coming in. Now, this bothered a lot of the regular patrons. They were coming from areas that weren’t as nice as this. What if they were criminals? Would these new patrons rob the place? Steal from the regulars? These outside areas weren’t sending their best. Many of the regular patrons were afraid. Additionally, these new patrons never had any money to spend and only wanted to freeload off of the existing clientele. They would beg and mooch, use the bathrooms for free, eat the complimentary cheese, etc. Impossibly though, the other patrons said that these new people would also always take the best wines so there wasn’t any for them to drink. I don’t know how that worked actually, being that they also didn’t have money and would freeload but they said it, so it must be true. Now, even more than this though, they intimated to me that they were uncomfortable with these new patrons. These new patrons sounded different, they dressed differently, they acted strange, and looked different than us. A lot of the regular patrons were beginning to worry that the wine bar would change what it was that they loved about it; that they’d lose their wine bar. The wine bar we loved was changing, and we didn't think in a positive way. We wanted our wine bar back!


So, I made a decision. I would make the wine bar great again! I bought the place. Now, a change of ownership alone wouldn’t fix the perceived issues. So, I made a few terrific, beautiful changes. I made it into a private club. The people that lived in the community, they automatically became members. For everyone else though, there was an application process. It was a $1000 application fee with no guarantee of membership, an intensive vetting process including a credit and background check, and a two year waiting period to prove that prospective members were serious. This may seem extensive, but you have to understand; this is the premier wine club in all of the state. Everyone wanted to be a member so we had to have stringent criteria for membership. We do everything right, and want to make sure our members are committed to maintaining that level of quality. How else could we make sure prospective members were worthy? So far, it’s been an amazing success!


Well, you may not realize this, but the weather has been kind of crappy here lately, and getting worse. There was an F4 tornado that touched down right near our club. Don’t worry, we were all fine. As I mentioned, this club is the best! Steel and concrete construction that can withstand any force of nature. Outside though, well, that was another story. Dangerous would be an understatement. Anyway, during that tornado, a family that was driving by got caught up in it. They were from one of those crappy neighborhoods outside the area. They tried to get away from the danger of the tornado by coming into our club! Can you imagine the audacity? A husband and wife with their two kids. All of them in soaked, dripping clothing and wind blown hair. They looked absolutely appalling in our beautiful club! Worse yet, NONE of them were members, they just strolled right in thinking that they could take shelter in our private club that we’d worked so hard to build into this sanctuary!


Well, needless to say I wasn’t having it. I told them that they aren’t members and they don’t belong; they had to leave immediately. The father started trying to argue about how there was an F4 tornado outside and his family could die. The wife chimed in too. They were resisting my very polite, and reasonable instructions to leave. So, my hand was forced. They broke the rules. I kicked the shit out of him and his wife. How could I not? This made their children cry. I realized then, that they too were breaking the rules. This infuriated me. Why would their parents be so selfish? Why would they be so irresponsible? Why wouldn't they make better choices? Why would they put me in this position? I had no choice. I had to slap the children around a bit too. Now, of course I reassured the children that everything was going to be okay as I did it. It was a very careful, humane, (but strong, always strong) beating. I even gave them coloring books and candy as I threw them out the door into the waiting gale.


Now, I’m not a monster. I didn’t want to do this you see. I hated having to. It was their parents who were so irresponsible for bringing them along while they broke rules. Why didn’t they just apply for membership like everyone else? How would it have been fair to everyone that followed the rules and applied like they were supposed to if I just let this family in? It obviously wouldn’t. No, my hands were clean of any wrongdoing. The parents are the ones at fault, they made me have to do it. I hated having to.


Also, if I'm being totally honest here, it really is the city that tied my hands on this. I mean, they’re the ones that made the ordinance saying that private establishments have the right to refuse to let non-members in. I had to kick the shit out of them as a result of that law. I mean, it is the law, and we’re a law abiding establishment in a community that always follows the laws. The city could stop this at any time by changing that law. I really wish they would so I don't have to do this in the future. So, while this may have seemed harsh, it really was compassionate. We have to look out for our members that follow the rules or we will lose our club and what makes it great.
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For the Trump supporters out there... No, I don’t really own a wine club. Yes, your justifications for tearing children from their parents arms sound exactly that fucking hollow and stupid. Be better human beings. If you're even capable at this point.

Special Special Election Tomorrow

By Jeff Simpson

Tomorrow there are some special special elections.  It is a special special election because Scott Walker needed to be sued to follow the law and declare the elections.  After an incredible waste of taxpayer money by Scott Walker, the elections were called(as we all knew they would be) and tomorrow they will actually happen.   

The first election is Senate District 1 where Republican Andre Jacque, the candidate of Julainne Appling, will face Caleb Frostman, the former Door County Economic Development Executive Director and Democratic challenger. 

The race has come down to Jacque - a current Aseemblyman, who has waged a war against women's healthcare and access to birth control:

Over the years, André Jacque has made it his mission to eliminate women’s health-care options, taking stances so extreme it even caused fellow Republicans to distance themselves from him. As a state representative, Jacque introduced a constitutional amendment to make all abortions illegal with no exceptions for victims of rape and incest or women whose life was at a risk. He’s even voted to curb women’s access to birth control, going so far as seeking to ban all forms of hormonal contraception.
Jacque’s attacks on women’s health care options extend beyond a woman’s right to choose. Jacque introduced a bill last year that would have exacerbated Wisconsin’s ob-gyn shortage by causing the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s ob-gyn program to lose accreditation. According to the American Medical Society, 20 counties in Wisconsin do not have even one ob-gyn doctor, forcing women to    travel and miss work for essential services like routine exams, prenatal care and cancer screenings.
Jacque even went so far as to author legislation that would have ended life-saving research being done in Wisconsin. Groundbreaking research on cancer, heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, blindness and diabetes could have ground to a halt under Jacque’s anti-stem cell bill. And Wisconsin’s biotech industry, including the many jobs it supplies, would have been decimated.  A UW dean said the bill would make these researchers “criminals” and their “research would be shut down. It’s quite chilling.”

It would seem that being against, birth control, healthcare for women and research for debilitating diseases, would not completely mesh with being anti-abortion but no one ever accused Andre of being the brightest bulb on the tree. 

Caleb Frostman has other priorities:

What are the most important issues you would work on if elected?
Making sure that jobs pay a living wage; adequate job training for people entering the workforce and also those seeking to advance their careers; public education; groundwater quality.

The choice in SD1 is very clear, do you want someone that treats women as second class citizens and property or do you want someone who wants to advance the career of everyone in his district! 

The other race is AD 42:

In AD-42, Republican Jon Plumer is running against Democrat Ann Groves Lloyd. 

Plumer is a newcomer,  who for some reason has decided to run one of the most unethical ridiculous campaigns in recent history, is known for one thing....fighting with his wife and daughter. 

According to police reports, Plumer and his family were living in Sun Prairie in October 1997 when Plumer kicked his 18-year-old daughter, Jennifer, out of the house during a family argument.

Neighbor Darwin Dobson told police that the teenager showed up on his doorstep and told him that Plumer had physically pushed her out of the house. She said he tore a phone off the wall and pushed her mother, Christine Plumer, to the floor.
Dobson told police he went over to the Plumer house to check on Christine Plumer. When she opened the door, her eyes were red and puffy from crying, Dobson said.
She said she was all right, but Dobson said Jon Plumer then confronted him in the driveway to accuse him of prying. He said Plumer challenged him to step closer so Dobson could see what he was really like. Dobson told police he went home, noting that Plumer was a black belt in karate.

Interesting candidate the Republicans have decided to run.    Robin Vos has personally decided that Plumer is the one person that should represent the 42nd, and cleared the field for him.   

I guess the campaign slogan Plumer has decided on really appealed to Robin:

If I can fight my wife and daughter, I can fight for you!  

His opponent Ann Groves Lloyd however, contrasts well with her uneducated opponent while Ms. Lloyd has her PhD from UW- Madison.  Ms. Lloyd grew up on the farm and has been working hard to represent her constituents in Madison. 

The Assembly district 42 has been unrepresented for so long the good people there deserve to finally be represented in our Government!

Please vote for Ann Grove Lloyd tomorrow! 

PS:   I will not tell you to take ten friends to the polls, but I will say, call one person and remind them to vote tomorrow.   This June election, turn out will be key!   

The Silly Season Has Begun & The GOP Thinks You Are Dumb

By Jeff Simpson

Now that both the D and R conventions are over, the silly season of political campaigns has officially begun.  This year starts out a bit differently because there are two races (June 12) right off the bat. 

It also reminds me instantly of one of my biggest pet peeves.  When pundist/politicians/media etc... tell us that candidates "want to get their issues out"  or after an election when the winner says " the voters agreed with our issues".  An issues based campaign these days, is as rare as a true statement from The Donald. 

There is no better example than the special election between Ann Grove Lloyd (D) and Jon Plumer (R) in the 42nd District.

The Repubs are running what might be the worst written and acted TV Commercial ever (Guiness is reviewing it) where the whole idea, as far as anyone can tell, is that Plumer's opponent is a socialist who wished she lived in North Korea.

"She's really extreme, said she's a socialist and that she thinks that the United States are terrorist and that we're like North Korea," a woman pictured in the RACC ad says to a friend. 

The proof that Lloyd has a poster up of Kim Jung Un, is based on Ms. Lloyd supposedly liking a tweet by John Nichols(true story).   The problem with that is her tweets are protected, and as someone who is "friended" by her on Twitter, I can not find the tweet referenced in the ad. 

For those of you scoring at home, the ad that Republican Plumer kicked off his campaign with, is an ad to make us fear  his opponent that is based off of a tweet she supposedly 'liked' but there is no evidence that that actually happened. 

Yes anyone who votes for Plumer really agrees with him on the issues. 

But wait there is more.  A GOP dark money group has been running ads for Republican Kevin Nicholson, who wants to take on Tammy Baldwin.   

The theme they are running is that some of the most respected people in GOP history have switched from Democratic affiliation to Republican(Nicholson was a Democrat in college).  The ad mentions Ronald Reagan, and then the Governor of Missouri. 

Quick aside as to who the Governor of Missouri, Eric Greitens is.   Greitens switched from Democrat to Republican because

“All of those things made me a conservative, not by birth but by conviction.”

Speaking of conviction:

 ST. LOUIS, MO — St. Louis prosecutors on Friday charged Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens with a felony for using a charity donor list for his 2016 political campaign, adding to the woes of the first-term Republican governor who responded by calling it another effort to "smear" him.
The charge of tampering with computer data is in addition to an earlier charge alleging Greitens took and transmitted a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman with whom he had an extramarital affair in 2015. The new charge accuses Greitens of obtaining the donor list without permission from The Mission Continues, a St. Louis-based charity that Greitens founded. He previously paid a small fine to the state Ethics Commission for failing to report the list as a campaign contribution.

It is actually a good comparison for Nicholson, because Scott Walker's good friend Eric Greitens recently resigned.  Like Greitens, Nicholson is not an elected official and never will be.   

 But wait....there is more! 

Back to Jon Plumer.  The Republicans just sent a mailing to everyone in his district, with the tired old line(forgetting actual issues again) of Ann Groves Lloyd will take your guns. 

 

When you have tea and krumpets with The Un's on a regular basis, of course you do not believe in the Constitution.  Luckily Ms. Groves has a voter list, so she knows where to go to confiscate everyones guns. 

Anyway, if anyone actually reads this garbage mailing, they will be sure to vote on June 15. 

The election is June 12. 

The Republican Assembly Campaign Committee is run by Jenny Toftness.   You can forgive Ms. Toftness for this glaring and blatant mistake, it is not like she has held major jobs in the past or is an English major. 

D'oh:

Toftness used to be chief of staff for Speaker Robin Vos(checking to see if her husband made her leave the clutches of Robin Vos and his penchant for married women)  and graduated in 2002 from UW- Madison with an English major.    

The Republicans lack of any effort for facts, or even clarity shows how little they respect their voters.  They know that if they can just show you that the Democrats are the enemy you will run to the polls in fear and keep them in charge. 

Maybe it is time if you are an R voter to take a look in the mirror and demand respect and accountability from your elected officials! 

Edit note:  In Assembly District 42, both candidates are from Lodi, WI - population 3050.  Together, they have spent over $200,000 to try and win this seat that pays about $50,000/yr. 

In a small town in WI, that recently passed a five year operating referendum for $1.7 million/yr, this kind of money would make a huge difference in communities like theirs. 

We really need to get money out of politics! 

PSS:  In light of all of this, PLEASE vote for Ann Groves Lloyd on June 12! 

Scott Walker - Standing Up For The Children(Finally)!

By Jeff Simpson

The 2018 Democratic Convention was this weekend, and except for a handful of political junkies and some consultants looking to cash in, the person in WI watching this the closest was Scott Walker. 

Walker knows that his re-election this year is anything but certain, and is desperate to attack the Democrats ruthlessly to keep people from focusing on himself.   

After a weekend of speeches etc.... This is the one thing Scott Walker was able to find to pull and try and make some hay with and this is what he came up with:

Scott Walker3 hrs · It’s pathetic seeing what has become of Madison bureaucrat Tony Evers since he became a candidate for governor. He used the Lord’s name in vain this weekend during his speech to the liberal activists at the state party convention this weekend. What a horrible example for children, coming from a man who is responsible for educating students all across Wisconsin. Apparently this is part of his appeal to the far Left that controls the primary process and wants to hear rhetoric driven by anger and hatred.

For those of you scoring at home, "Madison Bureaucrat Tony Evers" = Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers, who in his Constitutionally mandated position has won statewide election numerous times.

It is nice that this guy now worries about examples to children.  In case you didnt know, his good friend who let him sit in his seat and play President, had this to say:

Trump: I did try and fuck her. She was married.Trump: I moved on her like a bitch. But I couldn’t get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look.
  Trump: Look at you, you are a pussy. Trump: Yeah, that’s her. With the gold. I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.

That was locker room talk to Scott Walker, as he has never denounced that or worried about the example it set for the children. 

Scott Walker also recently was a main speaker, and only elected official, that spoke at a white power conference for Turning Point USA, in Florida. 

In case you have not heard of Turning Point USA, this picture describes them well. 

Seems they do not like colleges having "safe spaces" so they decided to drop their pants and show everyone who they are.  GOP Senator David Vitter would be proud. 

Hmmm I bet they had some great parties after Walkers Speech.   I am sure they know he likes to drink! 

However, we are not without empathy.  I would like to give Scott Walker the benefit of the doubt.  Since Walker's blind ambition has gotten in the way of raising his sons, he wants to make amends.   It is important to him that the good folks of WI do not also raise a son, who grow up to steal vans!   

Just remember, while he may have failed as a father, and has definitely failed while handling money, because he ran through the tunnels during the protests of 2011, ISIS fears him.   

I want a commander-in-chief who will do everything in their power to ensure that the threat from radical Islamic terrorists does not wash up on American soil. We will have someone who leads and ultimately we’ll send a message that not only will we protect American soil, but do not, do not take this upon freedom-loving people anywhere else in the world. We need a leader with that kind of confidence. If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world. Scott Walker.  

 

There's Meeting The People And There's Meeting The People

The conservative Racine Journal Times ran a story about an event Cathy Myers held in the Racine area.  She didn't hesitate to take a few more false swipes at the front runner in the primary, Randy "IronStache" Bryce:

Hononegah High School in Rockton, Ill., is out for the summer, and so is one of its teachers who also happens to be a Democratic congressional candidate in Wisconsin’s 1st District.

That candidate, Cathy Myers of Janesville, held a meet-and-greet session Tuesday with about a dozen potential voters at The Branch, 1501 Washington Ave., during which she gave a speech and answered questions on a broad swath of issues. It is one of many such events that Myers said she has planned for the summer.

[...]

During the speech, Myers, who serves on the Janesville School Board, highlighted her upbringing, past political involvement and 24-year history as a teacher. She also emphasized her focus on meeting with voters and listening to their issues.

“So many campaigns are just about inundating people with ads and flyers — which is a component, definitely — but they avoid the conversation with voters,” Myers told The Journal Times before the speech.

[...]


Bryce has been running an aggressive campaign that has included television commercials.

Still, Myers said she is undeterred.

“If money was the only factor, I guess I would consider myself an underdog,” Myers said. “Money is important to a campaign —of course it is — but I wasn’t afraid of Paul Ryan’s money, so why should I be afraid of Randy Bryce’s money?”

The gentle reader should note that Myers was implying that Bryce doesn't meet with the voters like she does so that means she has a chance to win.

There would be a certain validity to that argument - if it was true.

But for the sake of discussion, let's compare the people factor then, using a couple of pictures shared on Twitter by James Livesey.

Here is a picture of the Myers event covered in the paper:

Methinks the paper was being generous by saying there were a dozen people there.  Still, it's better than a book signing event by Charlie Sykes.

Now, compare that to a Bryce event that was also held in the Racine area:

Oops! Looks like Myers is going to have to rely on something other than money or talking to a handful of voters. I don' know. She might want to try running an honest and positive campaign for a change.

CD1 - Quote of the Day

By Jeff Simpson

From the Journal Times on the Race to replace Paul Ryan(emphasis mine):

 “Republicans stand ready to support and elect another bold conservative reformer who will continue to carry-on Paul Ryan’s legacy of getting things done for hard-working Wisconsin families,” said Alec Zimmerman, spokesman for the Republican Party of Wisconsin. “Our candidates stand in stark contrast to the out-of-touch Democrats running on an extreme agenda.”

Speaking of their candidate:

Yes Alec your candidates do stand in stark contrast to the Democrats running. 

PS:  I know a select few have publicly denounced Nehlen(mostly for criticizing Paul Ryan) but things in private are much different.

I wonder where the extremism started??