Wednesday, Nov. 6th, is the one-year anniversary of the defeat of Scott Walker and his AG sidekick Bred Schimel by Tony Evers and Josh Kaul.
You surely remember what unfolded:
Walker never came out of his election-evening sanctuary to concede in front of his supporters.
Because he had a different idea, as he worked with his favorite legislative hench-stooges to roll out a package of 11th-hour, secretely-drafted, excessively-partisan, punitive and power-grabbing lame-duck laws which flew through the Assembly and Senate for his signature without a single veto - -
- - a legislature which Republicans had earlier gerrymandered and which, so far, have been upheld by a conservative State Supreme Court which had already granted itself the controversial but convenient authority to rule on cases even if a party or party involved had, as they had routinely done for GOP campaigns, donated money to the justices' campaign committees, too.
Wisconsin Republicans have shown no hesitation to change the rules to suit themselves when they have the opportunity, despite Walker's long-time DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp's laughably ironic blog (now taken down) about Democrats having done the same when science ruled the agency she and Walker dismantled:
* Walker quickly gave Schimel an available judgeship - - no need to let Evers fill it in a matter of weeks after the swearing-in - - and he did the same with a seat on the Public Service Commission and across state government with more than 80 appointments, too.
* The lame-duck rules greatly diminished the routine authority of the Attorney General, making Kaul subservient to a legislative committee controlled by GOP Majority Leader Fitzgerald and Assembly Speaker Vos; their repetitively breezy and pig-headed machinations since have also led to the destruction of a special legislation session on gun safety measures which Evers has called for Nov. 7th and which the GOP leaders say will be adjourned before anyone in the chamber can make a motion to proceed:
* And headlines like this close the circle:
This outcome is neither advisable, sustainable or democratic. If the losers in an election can maneuver and manipulate to remain like winners, the greater cause is lost.
Two more thoughts, with an alarm bell soundtrack:
* The stakes in the 2020 legislative elections could not be higher. It's either a Democratic sweep, or at least a flip of the GOP's 19-14 Senate majority, or there will be another gerrymander to extend for another decade the GOP's one-party, donor-driven, environmentally-destructive rule.
* Walker is busying himself, pledged to co-chair Donald Trump's re-election bid in Wisconsin while traveling widely on behalf of a Constitutional Convention which would do for the country which he and his party have done to Wisconsin.
You surely remember what unfolded:
Walker never came out of his election-evening sanctuary to concede in front of his supporters.
Because he had a different idea, as he worked with his favorite legislative hench-stooges to roll out a package of 11th-hour, secretely-drafted, excessively-partisan, punitive and power-grabbing lame-duck laws which flew through the Assembly and Senate for his signature without a single veto - -
- - a legislature which Republicans had earlier gerrymandered and which, so far, have been upheld by a conservative State Supreme Court which had already granted itself the controversial but convenient authority to rule on cases even if a party or party involved had, as they had routinely done for GOP campaigns, donated money to the justices' campaign committees, too.
Wisconsin Republicans have shown no hesitation to change the rules to suit themselves when they have the opportunity, despite Walker's long-time DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp's laughably ironic blog (now taken down) about Democrats having done the same when science ruled the agency she and Walker dismantled:
Just another example of the democrats game plan: Change the Rules to Fit the Players. Shout it with me, now: HYPOCRISY, THY NAME IS DEMOCRAT.And so:
* Walker quickly gave Schimel an available judgeship - - no need to let Evers fill it in a matter of weeks after the swearing-in - - and he did the same with a seat on the Public Service Commission and across state government with more than 80 appointments, too.
* The lame-duck rules greatly diminished the routine authority of the Attorney General, making Kaul subservient to a legislative committee controlled by GOP Majority Leader Fitzgerald and Assembly Speaker Vos; their repetitively breezy and pig-headed machinations since have also led to the destruction of a special legislation session on gun safety measures which Evers has called for Nov. 7th and which the GOP leaders say will be adjourned before anyone in the chamber can make a motion to proceed:
Fitzgerald says vote on gun-control legislation 'not going to happen' despite special session* Now we have another partisan, perhaps unprecedented power move being rolled out by Fitzgerald and Vos: the probable rejection of an Evers Cabinet nominee because special interests do not like rule upgrades the nominee is making which are entirely with the law and routine government regulatory procedures, but are opposed by the GOP's donor class.
* And headlines like this close the circle:
Wisconsin Supreme Court Sides With GOP Lawmakers To Limit Democratic Governor's PowerWhat's going on is the GOP's self-interested and systematic nullification of the 2018 election record which voters made.
This outcome is neither advisable, sustainable or democratic. If the losers in an election can maneuver and manipulate to remain like winners, the greater cause is lost.
Two more thoughts, with an alarm bell soundtrack:
* The stakes in the 2020 legislative elections could not be higher. It's either a Democratic sweep, or at least a flip of the GOP's 19-14 Senate majority, or there will be another gerrymander to extend for another decade the GOP's one-party, donor-driven, environmentally-destructive rule.
* Walker is busying himself, pledged to co-chair Donald Trump's re-election bid in Wisconsin while traveling widely on behalf of a Constitutional Convention which would do for the country which he and his party have done to Wisconsin.
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