You would think that rational people holding the title of "Justice" on a deliberative body with the word "Supreme" in its title would make sure they played no role in enabling the spread of a deadly contagion among the citizens who pay justices' salaries.
But the Wisconsin Supreme Court's so-called 'conservative' majority continues to do just that.
These Justices didn't let the most inert Republican state legislative leaders in America who lollygagged around their home districts for the last eight months absorb their pivotal, earned share of responsibility for the rampage of COVID19 which continues to flood hospitals and morgues with unimaginable numbers of victims.
Hey, we got this, the rightwing Justices said to the GOP legislative leaders: go ahead, partners, and play your games and feather your nests - and we'll break the Democratic Governor for you while you're at it.
Heck, what are friends for?
Note, for example, that the GOP-run Legislature has not had the political courage to come into session since mid-April and do anything, including voting up or down on the Governor's statewide masking order - a reality noted by an actual local judge in a Republican County -
Judge to Republican GOP legislators: If you want to end the Governor's mask mandate, do it yourself
Why did the GOP-run Legislature sit that one out?
Because they knew the public supported masking orders by a 40-point polling margin, so these self-preservationist - not 'conservative' - legislators preferred not to lug baggage stuffed with dirty laundry into the November election, or the court of public opinion.
So the Wisconsin Supreme Court's supremely callous 'conservatives' who are beholden to the same monied special interests which help gerrymander-protected legislative leaders maintain their power have since May took the lead and shut down Gov. Evers' 'Safer-at-Home' COVID19 mitigating order.
Not surprisingly, Wisconsin's COVID19 cases have since exploded by a factor of more than 33.
Of course killing statewide COVID-controls appears to dovetail with the WI GOP legislators' phony preference for local controls -
Top GOP lawmakers now want to leave virus plan in the hands of local officials
"As a Republican, I believe in local control," [GOP Assembly Speaker] Vos said Thursday.
Two things about that b.s.
1. Republican legislators had been doing the opposite for eight years when Walker was there to rubber-stamp their power grabs:
GOP lawmakers passed 128 measures limiting local control since 2011
2. The so-called conservative Justices aligned with Republicans just blocked Racine's local orders that suspended in-person classroom education because of spiking COVID tallies.
Remember when Speaker Vos said he preferred local officials set local COVID-related policies?
In case you forgot, here is that link and his sanctimonious verbiage:
As Wisconsinites try to understand what daily life is supposed to look like now that the state Supreme Court has eliminated the Evers administration's stay-at-home order, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said local officials should be able to largely handle the situation on their own.
"As a Republican, I believe in local control," he said Thursday.
And do you remember that Speaker Vos represents people in Racine County? You won't hear a peep out of Vos about the Supreme Court's obstruction of that local order and diminution there of local control.
Sidebar: Can someone point me to the State Supreme Court's science advisers? They must have some, since the Justices continue to hold their meetings via Zoom conferencing that 'masks' the from the pandemic.
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| Masking order ruling expected soon |
So the Court's so-called 'conservative' majority will continue to do the GOP Legislative leaders' dirty work for them, regardless of irony and respect for principles from local control to true separation of powers.
Why?
Because hacking away at Gov. Evers' credibility, the role of science, and the value of public health brought about by public officials is boilerplate GOP gospel.
It also allows Assembly Leader Vos to masquerade as a believer in normal, bi-partisan give-and-take and phony-up a reasonable persona for future campaigns.
And it helped outgoing GOP Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald spend the last eight months collecting full state legislators' public pay while campaigning and 'winning' an election to Congress in a district his own party had safely gerrymandered for the Republican Party.
That's the WI GOP and State Supreme Court's 'conservative' majority's joint agenda writ large: hold onto power, keep the line moving, undermine Democrats and the public sphere until and through the 2022 elections.
And if a lot more collateral or even regular people get sick, Republicans like Racine (again, Racine!) State Sen. Van Wanggaard have said, bring it on:
Leading WI GOP State Senator says 10x COVID cases not worth mask order
So when the final disease and mortality tolls are tallied, the failed businesses and their unemployed workers are toted up, and some value is attached to the damage done to children's educations and earning potential by a pandemic made worse by partisan inaction and abject stupidity, lets add “Official Death Panel” to the State Supreme Court’s mission statement.
And require COVID-coddling justices to trade their black robes for gravediggers' coveralls.
