A Sinking ship

Stuck on a Sinking Ship

Too many Wisconsin Republicans still feel the need to kiss the ring of the former president in order to see a path to electoral victory.

All of the GOP candidates for governor have made the public pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago, except Kevin Nicholson, so they can say they went. Some have embraced the “Big Lie” that the former occupant of the White House really won the 2020 election and none of the rest have publicly renounced the claim, except Nicholson, who agrees that President Biden won the election.

Further down the food chain, our GOP Assembly Speaker, Robin Vos, continues to bend to pressure from Florida. After Vos appeared to put the Gableman fiasco behind him, the King of Mar-a-Lago threatened to find Vos a primary challenger if he did not continue Gableman’s “investigation” into the 2020 presidential election. Vos did an about-face and announced that Gableman could continue his work to enforce subpoenas for documents and depositions currently tied up in litigation while taking an unspecified pay cut. Gableman’s work has drawn bipartisan criticism as a “witch hunt” that has yet to find and document any fraud in the last presidential election after spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars looking.

With national polling showing ever decreasing support for the “Big Lie” and those who perpetuate it, it is surprising that those in the GOP leadership still cling to it and seek the support of its main proponent.

Seeking support from Mar-a-Lago carries other risks. The continuing fallout from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, both through criminal convictions and congressional investigations, casts a pall over the legitimacy and patriotism of the former president and his supporters. As more information emerges about the roles of former administration officials and GOP members in the House of Representatives in fomenting the insurrection and failing to call off or condemn the violence at the Capitol, more and more Americans are coming to recognize just how close we came to losing our democracy. We just do not use martial law to stay in power after losing an election.

Alt-right support for Russia’s President Putin and his democracy-destroying invasion of Ukraine has been whipped up by the former president. His ties, financial and political, to Putin and his oligarchy put him squarely on the wrong side of history. Authoritarianism is not a path to victory in American elections. Support for war criminals does not gain traction in our electorate. Polling clearly shows that a vast majority of the American public support President Biden’s support for the Ukrainian democracy and people, both militarily and diplomatically, as Biden unites Europe against the Russian invasion.

After being thrown off of social media platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter, the former president backed another platform, Truth Social. It is run by former legislator Devin Nunes and has struggled to gain much traction. Its stock took a 44% hit after Elon Musk agreed to buy Twitter. Trump, having only posted once on the new platform, has not helped its cause.

The former president’s financial woes continue as the New York attorney general convinced a judge to hold him in contempt and fine him $10,000 per day for failing to produce documents for the state’s investigation into his business dealings there. We will see which hurts more, the payment of the fines or the disclosures that will be made if the documents are produced. It is already public knowledge that the businesses run by the family allegedly used two sets of figures, one inflated asset values to obtain loans and the other deflated those same values for tax purposes. You cannot have it both ways.

I cannot see why GOP politicians still think it important to have support or endorsements from such a loser. He has an ever-dwindling base of support which will wither away over time. His endorsement will be seen by more and more as the kiss of political death to be avoided at all costs.

Until the GOP finds a new course with a positive message and a bold leadership, the former president will still be able to command center stage. Fortunately, that stage will get smaller and smaller as we continue to restore our democracy.

Don Kriefall, Well Done

 Well Done Don Kriefall 

Michalak Must Go

Washington County Board Chair Donald Kriefall and I do not agree on a host of issues, policies, and laws, but his recent call for Supervisor Timothy Michalak to resign from the County Board was the correct and responsible thing to do. Michalak brought a concealed firearm to a County Board meeting in a secure area of the Justice Center where it dropped to the floor in violation of state law. He carried the concealed firearm while his concealed carry permit had expired. Those transgressions more than justify Kriefall’s call for Michalak’s resignation and plan to oust Michalak from the Board should he refuse. 

Kriefall posted his official statement on the County’s Facebook page and the comments posted clearly show just how divided our community has become. Many applauded Kriefall’s statement, echoing his recognition that no one is above the law and that Michalak’s actions have cast a shadow on the whole Board. On the other side some Second Amendment purists have taken the opportunity to suggest that Michalak had every right to carry his gun anywhere he wanted and even drop it because restrictions on where one can conceal, or even open, carry are all unconstitutional. The back and forth between the moderate and ultra conservatives that followed shows just how fractured they have become. 

Michalak should resign both from the County Board and as Mayor of the City of Hartford. He had a similar incident dropping his concealed gun in a City Council meeting there. Even though Michalak recently won re-election as Mayor, he did so with less than 50 percent of the vote due to the splitting of the rest of the votes among the several write-in candidates. Should Michalak refuse to resign, the Common Council should take the steps necessary to remove him from office. 

Elected officials must set a high standard as law abiding citizens if they expect the rest of us to follow the laws those officials swear to protect and defend when they take their oath of office. When an elected official violates the law or engages in dangerous behavior and refuses to acknowledge their violations, public trust is eroded and the official’s ability to govern vanishes. Apologies for these violations are just not sufficient. 

We can and will debate the meaning and reach of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, but in the end, the nine justices of the United States Supreme Court have the last word. As it stands now, the Court allows some restrictions on where, when, and how citizens can possess and use firearms. There are other restrictions on the type of firearms and ammunitions citizens can possess or own. We cannot have machine guns, fully automatic firing guns or military weapons like canons or rockets. States are allowed some leeway in enacting laws on concealed and open carrying of firearms. Wisconsin passed laws restricting where firearms will be allowed and requiring permits for concealed carry. Some may believe these restrictions violate the Second Amendment, but until the Supreme Court says they do, they must be followed. 

Unfortunately, in our polarized political environment there are too many who have come to believe that their views of what the Constitution requires allows them to do anything that comports with those views, even if specific laws and court rulings differ. The end result of this kind of thinking leads to societal chaos. We are a society based upon laws enacted by legislatures and enforced by law enforcement and courts. We cannot allow individuals to pick and choose to follow just those laws they like or to interpret the laws as they see fit. 

Let us hope that Supervisor and Mayor Michalak sees the error of his ways and does the correct thing by resigning his positions. If he does not, we need to urge the County Board and Hartford City Council to take all necessary steps to remove him from his offices and restore public confidence in our institutions of government. 

Just Obey the Good Laws

 Just Obey the Good Laws

The GOP law and order crowd does not get it. They are supposed to follow the law, not ignore the ones they do not like or might make them look foolish. 

Most recently, the former President of the United States was completely surrounded by advisors and lawyers telling him the requirements for his duties and obligations in that office. On January 6th, after the former president incited the crowd of supporters to storm the Capitol to stop the certification of the 2020 election he lost, he stopped using his official phones for over 7 hours while that insurrection took place. The official White House phone logs for January 6th turned up the seven plus hour gap. We learned from the investigation by the House Select Committee that the former president received and made many calls during that seven-hour period including to or from the House Minority Leader, GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy. John Bolton, one of his advisors, tells us that the former president spoke often of using “burner phones,” the same kind drug dealers and other criminals use to hide their calls. This is not like the short gap in former President Nixon’s recorded phone call during the Watergate scandal. It is much more serious and shows a complete disregard for what the law requires of a sitting president. 

Closer to home, GOP Wisconsin Assembly Leader, Robin Vos, was just held in contempt of court by a Dane County judge for failing to turn over documents relating to former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gabelman’s “investigation” into the 2020 election which, by law, Vos was supposed to maintain and produce under our open records laws. In related proceedings, Vos claims that he has “lost” or “deleted” other records and emails he is required to maintain and produce on demand. Vos too is surrounded by advisors and lawyers who presumably have told him what his legal obligations are under our open records laws. This is not merely an administrative oversight. It is clearly an attempt to avoid disclosing information that will make him and Gableman’s efforts look bad, if not outright illegal. 

Locally, a county board supervisor who is also the mayor of a city in the county carrying a concealed firearm and dropping it in meetings where it is illegal to have a concealed weapon, all while his concealed carry permit had expired. His excuse is that he thought he was exempt from the requirements as a public official. What about basic “keep you weapon safe” rules learned in concealed carry permit classes or hunter safety courses?

We expect much more from our elected officials. Those charged with passing and enforcing the duly passed laws have a duty not only to make sure they know what those laws are as applied to them and their offices, but to follow them to the letter. Anything less sets a terrible example to others and emboldens disregard for those laws they do not like or do not want to follow. 

Our republic is one of laws which all are required to follow. Being elected to office does not give anyone carte blanche to pick and choose which of those laws they will follow and which they can ignore. 

I remember vividly a political candidate in Madison in the 1970s who was running for District Attorney on a platform of “just obey the good laws.” He meant it as a joke as he protested draconian laws enacted as part of the marijuana prohibition and most of us took it that way. Unfortunately, that message has continued tacitly to the present day in the GOP.

Public service in an elected office should carry a more serious approach to following the law. Once elected, officials should work to change those laws they feel are unjust or just plain wrong and not just ignore their commands. If those efforts at change are unsuccessful, then the official needs to obey, not ignore.