Wisconsin Judge Says “Did I Stutter?”
And the wingnut Attorney General tells her to eat a bag of dicks:
A Dane County judge Tuesday blocked the state from implementing Gov. Scott Walker’s collective bargaining measure.“Further implementation of the act is enjoined,” said Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi.
Sumi noted her original restraining order issued earlier this month was clear in saying that the state should not proceed with implementing the law. The Walker administration did so after the bill was published Friday by a state agency not included in Sumi’s earlier temporary restraining order.
“Apparently that language was either misunderstood or ignored, but what I said was the further implementation of Act 10 was enjoined. That is what I now want to make crystal clear,” she said.
But minutes later, outside the court room, Assistant Attorney General Steven Means said the legislation “absolutely” is still in effect.
Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) balked at that statement.
“It’s just startling that the attorney general believes you should not follow court orders anymore,” he said.
I don’t know what to say, really. I guess the message the chief law enforcement officials in Wisconsin are sending is that you only need to follow court orders if you want to. Otherwise, screw it. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Walker’s next move to be defunding the judiciary so they can’t get in his way.
We’re going to need a no-fly zone in Madison before these lunatics are done.
March 29, 2011 7:42 pm
Posted in: Activist Judges!, Assholes, I Can't Believe We're Losing to These People, I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own, IOKIYAR
150 Comments
150 Responses
bemused - March 29, 2011 | 7:45 pm · Link
I was just reading this to Mr. B and we said together it’s time for them to be held in contempt and jailed.
djork - March 29, 2011 | 7:46 pm · Link
ACTIVIST ATTORNEY GENERAL
!
sfinny - March 29, 2011 | 7:46 pm · Link
I don’t know what to say, really.
Yeah, it just seems like so many norms of behavior have just been thrown out the window. I’m just speechless.
Art - March 29, 2011 | 7:47 pm · Link
Who enforces the WI Supreme Court Rulings? State Police?
Who is going to enforce the rule of law?
syphonblue - March 29, 2011 | 7:47 pm · Link
Remember, everybody: Republicans hate, HATE, fascism
beltane - March 29, 2011 | 7:47 pm · Link
Maybe NATO will intervene to protect Wisonsinites from their crazy dictator and his brutal henchmen.
Comrade Luke - March 29, 2011 | 7:48 pm · Link
Isn’t it kind of serious that they’re ignoring a judicial ruling? Isn’t there some recourse? Or would that result in a squirmish?
At a loss here.
malraux - March 29, 2011 | 7:49 pm · Link
Obligatory Louis CK link.
Brachiator - March 29, 2011 | 7:50 pm · Link
The GOP loves states rights to ignore the federal government. Now, they seem intent on inventing some rule to let them ignore “librul activist judges.”
Rule of law: the GOP makes the rules and they are the Law.
This is gonna be fun.
Commish - March 29, 2011 | 7:52 pm · Link
Rule of law is a soshulist conspiracy.
Barb (formerly Gex) - March 29, 2011 | 7:54 pm · Link
Will Canada offer political asylum to Wisconsin-Americans?
JPL - March 29, 2011 | 7:55 pm · Link
Well just f@@k the Constitution whether it be State or Federal. Well at least we know where the repubs stand.
beltane - March 29, 2011 | 7:56 pm · Link
Citizens’ arrest?
Omnes Omnibus - March 29, 2011 | 7:57 pm · Link
Judge Sumi has threatened sanctions, i.e., contempt fines and/or jail, if further implementation actions happen.
ppcli - March 29, 2011 | 8:00 pm · Link
This was already prefigured in the Rove et. al. refusals to respond to Congressional subpoenas. It’s a new page in the Republican playbook, no doubt worked out in one of these Koch-funded coordination institutes. Unless they actually have an armed force or police with the capacity to force you to play ball, ignore them. The rule of law is for losers.
Comrade Mary - March 29, 2011 | 8:01 pm · Link
Put them in shackles, perp walk them to the public stocks, and give the populace some rotten fruit.
Comrade Mary - March 29, 2011 | 8:04 pm · Link
I did not know this:
joe from Lowell - March 29, 2011 | 8:04 pm · Link
A judge whose orders are repeatedly ignored can hold the offender in contempt of court, and order him held in custody.
Maude - March 29, 2011 | 8:05 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus:
What I wait to see is if they continue to implement the law.
Barb (formerly Gex) - March 29, 2011 | 8:05 pm · Link
@ppcli: This strategy can only work until people make changes at the ballot box. So expect even more disenfranchisement, voting irregularities. That is, if they even respond to election results. I mean, who’s going to make them leave office?
Southern Beale - March 29, 2011 | 8:11 pm · Link
You know, just 5 years ago Gaddafi was “a good guy” and America loved him:
It just seems to relate somehow to the “you only need to follow court orders if you want to. Otherwise, screw it” philosophy. I’m not sure I can articulate it but it seems like the American ethos right now is one of incredible moral ambiguity. Whatever works for me, now, fine. So be it. We no longer have a solid foundation on which to operate, everything is shifting sand. Some laws can be obeyed, others not. Some court orders stand, others not. Some foreign dictators are oppressors, others not so much.
I don’t know how we got here but this is what has so many people feeling such unease.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal - March 29, 2011 | 8:11 pm · Link
well, walker and co, have already decided this was the hill they were going to die on(or retire with a full and rewarding wingnut pension, that allows them to make more than when they were working) so it isn’t surprising that they would continue to defy all the conventions of their offices.
for them the faster they make it onto the pension plan the better. obviously the fight to repeal the law is well-enjoined, the key now seems to be, making walker and co, so toxic, even the accustomed to working with toxicity kock bros, and their ilk, find them radioactive, and thus their pensions get cut, or wiped out.
RAM - March 29, 2011 | 8:12 pm · Link
I’d say the rule of law is no longer operational in the United States. From the torturers and murderers in Iraq that couldn’t be touched because, you know, we’ve got to look ahead and not back, to the financial industry criminals that destroyed the world’s economy, to the absolute contempt for the law shown by Walker and his goons in Wisconsin and Rick Scott in Florida it’s been a steady march to lawlessness since the election of 2000. Good thing Walker isn’t an illegal immigrant caught smoking pot in Milwaukee or he’d be so far in the can he’d never see the sun again.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q) - March 29, 2011 | 8:13 pm · Link
Well, to be fair, there is pink Himalayan salt on that bag of dicks. I’d love to see the leaders of Fitzwalkerstan frog marched into court. I’d pay to see that, in fact.
Scott - March 29, 2011 | 8:14 pm · Link
So where does this ultimately end? I’m assuming even if the judge orders fines or jail, the governor can order the state police not to make any arrests. What happens then? Does it get handed up to the appeals courts? And when it eventually hits the Supreme Court, are any of them other than Thomas or Alito likely to vote for the “Yeah, feel free to ignore the courts” option?
quaint irene - March 29, 2011 | 8:14 pm · Link
Walker and his crew could star in a remake of ‘Goodfellas.’
: For us to live any other way was nuts. Uh, to us, those goody-good people who worked shitty jobs for bum paychecks and took the subway to work every day, and worried about their bills, were dead. I mean they were suckers. They had no balls. If we wanted something we just took it. ”
Socratic_me - March 29, 2011 | 8:15 pm · Link
Shouldn’t this open up the AG and the state of Wisconsin in general to lawsuits from those who are negatively affected by their Implimentation. I know that f my paycheck just decreased because more of it was being diverted to healthcare and such even after a court-ordered injunction to stay the law, I would be suing for every dime I lost plus a healthy dose of pain and suffering caused by the sudden and unexpected drop in income.
FlipYrWhig - March 29, 2011 | 8:15 pm · Link
Remember when, during Schiavo, there was a worry that the governor’s armed forces could end up clashing with the cops? It seems like FitzWalker is pulling the “you and what army?” strategy. Airstrikes could soften ‘em up.
BombIranForChrist - March 29, 2011 | 8:16 pm · Link
If they throw someone in jail, who exactly would it be? The poor attorney arguing the case?
My .02: There are a WHOLE LOT of problems that would go away if we started putting rich white people in jail again.
arguingwithsignposts - March 29, 2011 | 8:18 pm · Link
Shorter Judge Sima: Do they speak English in What?
arguingwithsignposts - March 29, 2011 | 8:18 pm · Link
Shorter Judge Sima: Do they speak English in What?
VidaLoca - March 29, 2011 | 8:18 pm · Link
Scott,
I’m not sure it goes to the US Supreme Court because I don’t see a federal issue here. As for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, they are (by a 4-3 majority) a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. So we can expect little relief there at the moment.
One of the 4 majority seats is up for election on April 5 however, and it may flip.
Kolohe - March 29, 2011 | 8:19 pm · Link
“Maryann Sumi has made her decision, now let her enforce it”
The real tragedy in this case is the the AG is not named ‘Sumi’; it doesn’t really scan as is. (as doesn’t ‘the ends justify the Means’)
MattR - March 29, 2011 | 8:22 pm · Link
@Socratic_me: This was my initial thought, but then I had the realization that the Republicans may actually want a lawsuit seeking damages to demonstrate how the public workers are trying to bankrupt the state.
VidaLoca - March 29, 2011 | 8:23 pm · Link
For those of you who are wondering if the State Patrol would be the agency to enforce a contempt citation against the Governor or the majority of the Legislature—it turns out that the Senate Majority Leader is one Scott Fitzgerald, and his brother Jeff is the Assembly Speaker.
Their dad is the Commander of the State Patrol.
WaterGirl - March 29, 2011 | 8:24 pm · Link
@RAM:
Wow. That is one fine paragraph. Sad, but true.
Mike in NC - March 29, 2011 | 8:25 pm · Link
Silly wabbits! The Rule of Law means nothing to the top 2% and the politicians on their payroll.
Davis X. Machina - March 29, 2011 | 8:25 pm · Link
If the WI GOP have the votes, why don’t they just take a legislative mulligan on the bill, and pass it again, satisfying the open meeting law requirements?
The judge hasn’t struck the law down, just the mechanism by which the egg moves through the snake.
They moot the present controversy, break the unions, and get on with the rape and pillage….
Evil, and stupid? Or would they lose a re-vote?
OzoneR - March 29, 2011 | 8:26 pm · Link
yes, but what’s important is that Tom Barrett would have been no different…or something
mclaren - March 29, 2011 | 8:29 pm · Link
Why are any of you people surprised?
This is what I’ve been predicting for years.
The fish rots from the head down. When the president of the United States ignores the law and tears up the constitution of the united states and wipes his ass with it, why should anyone else feel compelled to follow the law?
When it becomes a routine practice for the president of the United States to piss on the law and flout the constitution and flagrantly violate the basic law of the land day after day, then the congress will naturally feel free to follow suit. And from there on down, the governors will gradually lose their respect for the law, and from there individual police commissioners in big cities, and eventually the cop in the small town—they’ll all just smirk to themselves, “Fuck it, I AM the law!” And they’ll all simply ignore the law.
This is what happens, ladies and gentlement, when you throw out the rule of law. The entire respect for the rule of law from top to bottom, president of the united states right down to the local cop, gradually disintegrates and eventually disappears.
When George W. Bush ordered U.S. citizens kidnapped without charges and held forever in dungeons and tortured without a trial, the rule of law went away. Barack Obama had a chance to restore the rule of law, but instead he chose to trash the constitution and ignore the rule of law by ordering the kidnapping and assassination of American citizens without a trial and without charges.
When the rule of law goes away, we have a name for this.
We call it “barbarism.”
Welcome to barbarism, folks. Pretty soon you’ll be driving along down some county road and a cop will pull you over and he and his buddies will strip you naked and hang you from a tree and start tasing you to death. Why? Because he likes your car and he wants the money in your wallet and he’s bored. So now he’s torturing you to death, and nobody is going to do a goddamn thing about it.
Why?
Because when the rule of law goes away, you’re back in the jungle, baby.
Get used to it, people. This is what a society without the rule of law looks like.
Moonbatting Average - March 29, 2011 | 8:29 pm · Link
@arguingwithsignposts: Alternate shoter Judge Sima:
English, motherfucker! Do you speak it?!
PaulW - March 29, 2011 | 8:31 pm · Link
If I were that judge I’d be issuing contempt orders on the AG and the Governor and the Majority leaders of both houses.
VidaLoca - March 29, 2011 | 8:31 pm · Link
@Davis X. Machina:
Davis, a lot of people here are wondering that too. But consider the downside consequences for the Republicans—they’re desperate to nail the lid on this can of worms and get on wit’ bidness. Their haste to pass the law in the manner in which they did was driven by the fact that opposition was growing as they were losing the PR battle.
Starting over from square one (and admitting that they fucked up their first grab at the brass ring) is the LAST thing they want to do. Opposition last time was big, second time out would be HUGE and they could start to have trouble keeping their own people in line.
Omnes Omnibus - March 29, 2011 | 8:31 pm · Link
@FlipYrWhig: Dane County Sheriff’s Department would take people into custody. It is a Dane County Judge’s order.
@BombIranForChrist: As far as who would be subject to sanctions, anyone who is covered by the order and chooses to flagrantly disobey it.
fraught - March 29, 2011 | 8:35 pm · Link
frog-march him out of his office.
VidaLoca - March 29, 2011 | 8:36 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus:
Omnes, as I understand it they have immunity while the Legislature is in session. Could the judge make a contempt citation stick?
BrklynLibrul - March 29, 2011 | 8:36 pm · Link
In all seriousness, what are the legal and political scenarios here? Has anyone gamed this or are all our pundits obsessing whether Mittens or T. Paw can win the GOP nomination?
This looks like serious brinkmanship to me, or maybe anarchy. Can the Feds get involved?
arguingwithsignposts - March 29, 2011 | 8:39 pm · Link
@mclaren: tl;dr
burnspbesq - March 29, 2011 | 8:40 pm · Link
@Scott:
I imagine that if the Wisconsin state police refuse to enforce a contempt order, DOJ could find some technical violation of some Federal statute and send in the FBI. That would also be within shouting distance of the sort of “insurrection” that would allow Obana to suspend habeas.
Yes, this is getting that serious.
edmund dantes - March 29, 2011 | 8:41 pm · Link
@mclaren: Epic and true.
arguingwithsignposts - March 29, 2011 | 8:41 pm · Link
@burnspbesq:
someone on TPM mentioned that the court’s order could be enforced by the county sheriff or madison police. not sure if that’s accurate.
mclaren - March 29, 2011 | 8:41 pm · Link
@arguingwithsignposts:
ts; cts.
Too shallow; can’t take seriously.
WaterGirl - March 29, 2011 | 8:43 pm · Link
@arguingwithsignposts: I have been seeing that for the past 2 days. What does it mean?
arguingwithsignposts - March 29, 2011 | 8:43 pm · Link
@mclaren: that’s okay, mclaren, i haven’t taken you seriously in ages. you’re a rageaholic semi-libertarian asshole who shits on threads as much as Joe Beese.
Gravenstone - March 29, 2011 | 8:44 pm · Link
@Comrade Mary:
Fixed for impact potential.
arguingwithsignposts - March 29, 2011 | 8:44 pm · Link
@WaterGirl: too long, didn’t read.
WaterGirl - March 29, 2011 | 8:47 pm · Link
@arguingwithsignposts: Hmm. I never saw that until the last couple of days. I wonder, have lots of people suddenly gotten long winded, or did tl;dr just come into vogue?
Southern Beale - March 29, 2011 | 8:47 pm · Link
@FlipYrWhig:
LOL. Perhaps California and Vermont could liberate Wisconsin. What do you think?
arguingwithsignposts - March 29, 2011 | 8:47 pm · Link
BTW, @mclaren:
This is why i can’t take you seriously. the “head” of the US is not the president, but the people. You can blame the people for electing and not holding accountable the chief executive, but that’s the head.
Calouste - March 29, 2011 | 8:48 pm · Link
Hey, mclaren.
I haven’t seen you argue recently that there is nothing wrong with nuclear power and that everything in Fukushima is working as designed, nah, even better than designed.
Benjamin Cisco - March 29, 2011 | 8:48 pm · Link
@VidaLoca:
Jiminy Freaking Christmas
arguingwithsignposts - March 29, 2011 | 8:48 pm · Link
@WaterGirl: there are a select few whose one-note diatribes are perpetually long-winded. they’ve just upped their game over the last few weeks (some of it due to libya, i’m sure).
FlipYrWhig - March 29, 2011 | 8:50 pm · Link
@Southern Beale: Regional coalition with Canada, supported by some of the Nordic democracies. They have an ethno-sectarian interest.
FlipYrWhig - March 29, 2011 | 8:52 pm · Link
@Southern Beale: But, seriously, this is getting near the federalized National Guard stuff from desegregation days.
WaterGirl - March 29, 2011 | 8:57 pm · Link
@arguingwithsignposts: Ah. Most of them are people whose posts I never read. I suppose yaiinryp will never catch on. :-)
Ron - March 29, 2011 | 8:58 pm · Link
Are they even going to pretend there is a rule of law other than “We make the laws” anymore?
micah616 - March 29, 2011 | 9:00 pm · Link
@RAM: Rule of law? In America? We’ve never had rule of law in this country. There has always, always been a different set of rules for the rulers. This is country built on stolen land by stolen labor. The only rule of law was to screw those who could be screwed. The difference between now and then is that the pool of those to screw has expanded to include people who thought they were part of the ruling class.
Southern Beale - March 29, 2011 | 9:03 pm · Link
@FlipYrWhig:
Well that’s kinda the root of all this ain’t it? Some folks just never got over that whole desegregation of the schools thing. Birth of the modern Tea Party.
Funny story my 80-y-o mother in law was visiting with us over the weekend. She’s a good strong liberal but lives in a pissant tiny little Kentucky town so a lot of her friends are Glenn Beck Republicans. She said several people have expressed to her the idea that the nation started going down the tubes when we started providing free text books in the public schools.
I laughed out loud because as long as I was in public school, text books were free.
FlipYrWhig - March 29, 2011 | 9:08 pm · Link
@Southern Beale: Egad. Do students have to buy textbooks in schools now?
Uncle Clarence Thomas - March 29, 2011 | 9:09 pm · Link
.
.
I don’t understand how this doesn’t play right into President Obama’s fierce strategery that “we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards.”
.
.
VidaLoca - March 29, 2011 | 9:15 pm · Link
Well, it’s pretty clear that they’re willing to flush the standard procedures for passing and enacting legislation down the shitter, and they don’t care too much for all that old-fashioned checks-and-balances stuff either.
We’ve had Republican Governors and Legislatures in the past here aplenty. Up to now, you could (charitably) say that they’ve tried mainly to support some ideal of good government (perverted though that ideal may have been) while handling their self-dealing as a side enterprise. This current outfit is something new for Wisconsin: they’re a solidly unified gang of hard-core ideologues who are willing to steal whatever isn’t nailed down and destroy the rest. “Rule of law” presents an obstacle for them, and it’s one they’re only willing to sidestep if they can’t run it right over.
Davis X. Machina - March 29, 2011 | 9:17 pm · Link
@FlipYrWhig: Nah. Books aren’t 21st century technology.
True, but trivial. I had a student take an on-line quiz in ancient Greek last month, with answers in Greek—polytonic, too, all accents and breathings—on his iPod Touch, because his laptop was verschimmelt.
Forward into the past!
Davis X. Machina - March 29, 2011 | 9:19 pm · Link
@VidaLoca: We’re dealing with a political philosophy where the only valid reason for the state to exist is to provide the perps’ getaway cars with police escorts en route to the Caymans, and blowing up brown people who worship the wrong God.
And governors can’t do the second, at least not yet.
Omnes Omnibus - March 29, 2011 | 9:22 pm · Link
@VidaLoca:It is not the legislators who would be taking action now. It is the Secretary of State’s office, the Department of Administration, etc. The legislators can do what they want; they shit this bed and someone else has to clean it up.
@VidaLoca: That about covers it.
Citizen_X - March 29, 2011 | 9:25 pm · Link
@BrklynLibrul:
It’s the Wisc-y rebellion!
Seriously, though, I’m starting to feel like my household suffers from a real deficit of firearms and ammunition (and money, which explains the deficit) these days.
Yevgraf (fka Michael) - March 29, 2011 | 9:25 pm · Link
@FlipYrWhig:
Shit, this might be a violation of a republican form of government provision of the Constitution, an event I had never could have imagined.
Southern Beale - March 29, 2011 | 9:26 pm · Link
@FlipYrWhig:
Not to my knowledge but apparently they did in the 1940s and that is WHAT’S WRONG WITH AMERICA!
Amy - March 29, 2011 | 9:26 pm · Link
This is a different crew. Yes, there was Florida 2000 when the Republican party made sure W. got the presidency. And there was Ohio 2004 when not enough voting machines got delivered to black neighborhoods for election day.
But we still had decent Republican Governors like George Pataki in NY and Tommy Thompson in Wisconsin. No, I wouldn’t have voted for either of them and I preferred the Democrats’ policies. However, they didn’t go nuts and try to change the fundamental underpinnings of politics and constitutional powers.
What a crazy time.
JasonF - March 29, 2011 | 9:27 pm · Link
@Kolohe:
I was going to go with “How many divisions does Judge Sumi have?”
jwb - March 29, 2011 | 9:30 pm · Link
@VidaLoca: At this point it better damn well flip and flip with a large vote, or we’re doomed.
J. Michael Neal - March 29, 2011 | 9:32 pm · Link
@VidaLoca:
My understanding, though IANALAOOI (I am not a lawyer, and Omnes Omnibus is.) is that they have civil immunity. It would seem to me that this rises to the level of criminal contempt.
But what do I know.
OzoneR - March 29, 2011 | 9:32 pm · Link
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: This has nothing to do with President Obama
arguingwithsignposts - March 29, 2011 | 9:33 pm · Link
@JasonF: It is somewhat ironic that the case that established judicial review was “Marbury vs. Madison.”
Yevgraf (fka Michael) - March 29, 2011 | 9:33 pm · Link
@Southern Beale:
In my KY district, we have to buy our books for our kids. It costs between 150 and 200 bucks per kid per year, and I still have a couple in high school. There are not a lot of extracurriculars offered.
It was not that way when I was a kid.
WaterGirl - March 29, 2011 | 9:37 pm · Link
Time to clean off my favorite bumper sticker:
MattR - March 29, 2011 | 9:39 pm · Link
@Amy:
I want some of what you are smoking.
While Pataki is nowhere near the same level as Walker, calling him decent is a massive overreach
jwb - March 29, 2011 | 9:40 pm · Link
@WaterGirl: I think it’s time to break out “if you’re not sharpening your pitchfork, you’re not paying attention.”
Omnes Omnibus - March 29, 2011 | 9:41 pm · Link
@JasonF: I really hope you people are snarking. Or have people gotten so cynical that they really believe that, after all the posturing is over, the government of Wisconsin is going to completely flout a court order?
Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people) - March 29, 2011 | 9:43 pm · Link
I guess the Republicans attitude in Wisconsin is “make us!” And who will? In the long-term the voters at the ballot box, but in the short term they are determined to show you the kind of governing style that people who have lived under dictatorships are only too familiar with. I never thought I’d see that here. The good thing though is that it is still possible to do recalls of the Wisconsin state senators and there will be elections for the Supreme court in a week.
Imagine a Wisconsin with the governorship, state assembly, senate, and judiciary all dominated by Republicans with no recourse to recalls even in the face of popular protests. I believe that’s called Ohio.
Ron - March 29, 2011 | 9:43 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus: Given that they have already started implementing the law, the answer seems to be “yes”
VidaLoca - March 29, 2011 | 9:45 pm · Link
@Amy:
Well, that’s partly because they could go about doing what they wanted to get done without needing to go all medieval n’ shit. Tommy Thompson, for example, pushed through a draconian “reform” of the welfare laws that pretty much assures that once you get trapped in that system you will never get out (that said, I agree with your basic point that he was still a better Governor than Scott Walker. At least, if you’re not on welfare).
If Walker had the sense (that Thompson had) to pick some more vulnerable targets and go after them with a more incremental set of tactics he could have saved himself a whole lot of headaches. Why he chose not to do this is a mystery to me—these all seem to be unforced errors on his part.
Karen - March 29, 2011 | 9:48 pm · Link
@arguingwithsignposts:
Has McLaren blamed Obama for the nuclear problems in Japan yet? After all, it’s Obama’s fault that the tsunami happened because it’s Obama’s fault that the earthquake happened. Giffords being shot in Arizona is Obama’s fault too.
McLaren, Joe Beese and company never EVER lose an opportunity to tell us what a horrible person Obama and how the world would be a better place if Obama wasn’t in it. I’m sure they have wet dreams thinking about it. And the thing is I don’t think they care how it happens.
Every single fucking post by them is about how evil Obama is and I am fucking SICK OF IT!!
Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people) - March 29, 2011 | 9:49 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus: The news report says that Wisconsin has already started processing higher benefit deductions for state workers and will stop dues collection for union members.
To most laypeople (I am not a lawyer), this means they’ve begun to implement the “new law” in direct defiance of Sumi. Or are we missing something?
Omnes Omnibus - March 29, 2011 | 9:50 pm · Link
@Ron: That is part of the posturing I was talking about.
Mr Stagger Lee - March 29, 2011 | 9:51 pm · Link
@Comrade Mary:
Force em to wear Brett Farve’s Viking Jerseys while they are being escorted. I would also suggest certain scenes from OZ but I guess that is verboten.
Amy - March 29, 2011 | 9:51 pm · Link
Believe me, I didn’t support Pataki or Thompson. But I still think there is a qualitative difference between those sorts and the ones in office now. Maybe it’s just the Tea Party constituents, but I don’t think so.
Pataki is none too bright and neither is Scott Walker. But Walker is a died in the wool ideologue who cannot back down to save his own life. He’s a true believer—and that is very scary.
Socratic_me - March 29, 2011 | 9:52 pm · Link
@MattR: Thing is, if there is one thing that Republicans have taught me, it is that you don’t get anywhere by being afraid of their genius PR strategy. Their strategy is to attack and attack and attack. The way to fight it is to use what rules and laws there are and hit back. They have already lost this PR battle pretty badly. Someone pointing out that Republicans are destroying their livelihood and can’t even bother to follow the law while doing so.
JasonF - March 29, 2011 | 9:55 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus:
“Going to?” Judge Sumi didn’t issue today’s order because of some hypothetical possibility her previous order would be ignored.
lllphd - March 29, 2011 | 9:56 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus:
i believe that kos post you link to references that the lawsuit was filed against the “committee,” possibly explaining the addition of barcas (last week, evidently?).
is the logic something like this can’t be partisan? the offending body/individuals were the committee/attendees?
such a complicated situation, i’ll be interested in what precedent there is, if any.
lllphd - March 29, 2011 | 9:57 pm · Link
@ppcli:
wow, yeah; forgot rove did that.
VidaLoca - March 29, 2011 | 9:58 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus:
Uh, well… yeah, I wouldn’t have believed it. Until last Friday. Now they come up with these lame-assed self-justifications and excuses for what sure looks to me like just exactly that. IANAL, and you are—but, do you believe they aren’t flouting a court order? Because if they aren’t then this is all just kabuki to burnish their wingnut cred and they’re going to pull back from the brink at the last minute. But that’s not how they’ve been rolling up to now.
Omnes Omnibus - March 29, 2011 | 9:58 pm · Link
@Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people): They are/were playing games with what they perceived as a loophole in the Judge’s injunction. Today, she told them to stop. In other words, over the weekend, they had a thin thread of legal argument that they were not violating her order. That thin thread has been snipped. This TRO lasts until the hearing continues on Friday. At that point she will decided whether or not to extend the injunction throughout the time the case is being litigated. My guess is that she will. As of this moment, no one has flat out defied the judge. If they do, there will be the usual consequences of contempt citations, fines, etc.
WaterGirl - March 29, 2011 | 9:59 pm · Link
@jwb: Good point. I just bookmarked Asiangrll’s website for a quick pitchfork order in case I need one. You’re right, we are well past outraged I will upgrade to “if you’re not really alarmed, you’re not paying attention”.
In what world is all this crazy stuff okay in our elected officials?
Omnes Omnibus - March 29, 2011 | 10:02 pm · Link
@lllphd: That is a possibility. I haven’t looked into it. If I have a chance and I find something, I will let you know.
lllphd - March 29, 2011 | 10:04 pm · Link
@Scott:
this won’t hit the supreme court; it’s fully a state matter over which the supremes have no jurisdiction. sorta like the florida recount in 2000. oops; oh yeah.
nevertheless, the WI supremes are a similar matter in that four whacko republicans hold sway over 3 dems, 2 of whom are women (repugs don’t like uppity women any more than they like uppity …folks who aren’t rich white guys). you may know that a week from today the whackiest of the republican justices is up for re-election, and what should have been a shoo-in for him is looking pretty grim.
popcorn!
mclaren - March 29, 2011 | 10:04 pm · Link
@RAM:
Correctamundo.
And from here on, it’s all downhill. Welcome to Year Zero.
Evolved Deep Southerner - March 29, 2011 | 10:05 pm · Link
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: Has anyone ever told you that you are a tiresome motherfucker?
lllphd - March 29, 2011 | 10:07 pm · Link
@Socratic_me:
seems like something like that already happened with walker when he was milwaukee cty exec. seems like i read where he pulled similar crap there, was sued, and cost the county a boatload of money.
how did that get past the voters last fall???
Omnes Omnibus - March 29, 2011 | 10:07 pm · Link
@mclaren: Oh fuck off and worship an nuclear plant.
Omnes Omnibus - March 29, 2011 | 10:07 pm · Link
Rude and repetitive is unnecessary.
MattR - March 29, 2011 | 10:09 pm · Link
@Socratic_me: No argument from me other than to note the difference between awareness of the strategy and fear of it. I don’t think a lawsuit in and of itself is a bad idea. I would just focus on fixing the illegal behavior and avoid the pain and suffering which would give Republicans an attempt to divert attention away from their wrongdoing.
(EDIT: If there was some way to personally make the GOP politicians responsible for the damages rather than any award coming out of state coffers, that would change my mind)
lllphd - March 29, 2011 | 10:13 pm · Link
@Davis X. Machina:
i think they’d lose the revote. especially since it would likely mean a redo, as in the whole shebang, replete with vanishing dems, protests up the wazoo, bad publicity, plummeting ratings, etc. but i did see a clip of fitz inasmuch admitting the votes were slipping, but …it somehow got lost on fox.
sumi actually pointed this simple solution to them, so it’s not at all clear what gives, except maybe they refuse to admit they did anything wrong. yet another pathological symptom of this republican a**hole syndrome.
jwb - March 29, 2011 | 10:13 pm · Link
@WaterGirl: A master plotter would ensure that the climax of our little drama depended on support for the Second Amendment turning out to be a grand irony.
Omnes Omnibus - March 29, 2011 | 10:15 pm · Link
@lllphd: Agreed on all points.
J. Michael Neal - March 29, 2011 | 10:15 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus:
I hate the use of the word “cynical” there, as I think it has an important meaning that’s being lost.[fn1] However, a lot of us have definitely become that suspicious. A public declaration that they intend to flout the court order has that effect. This crew hasn’t demonstrated that they are smart enough to bluff, so it’s best to take them at face value.
If they do flout the court order, whose for a RICO prosecution?
[fn1] Properly speaking, cynicism is being skeptical of people’s motives, and not being suspicious about what actions they will take. It also has the very important connotation that you are particularly skeptical of your own motives, and the need to make sure that you understands why you are doing something and not delude yourself. There are a hell of a lot of suspicious people in the world. There are depressingly few cynical people.
Gravenstone - March 29, 2011 | 10:17 pm · Link
@Evolved Deep Southerner: Hey, at least his descending ellipsis schtick makes it trivial to gloss over his drivel.
J. Michael Neal - March 29, 2011 | 10:17 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus:
When dealing with mclaren, rude and repetitive is far less than what is required.
lllphd - March 29, 2011 | 10:17 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus:
hm. anyone who refuses to submit to the TRO, eh? would this include anyone who is responsible for cutting those checks that are going out? should someone be contacting them to let them know they’re about to defy a court order?
interesting to know the county police would do the roundup. were those guys around for the protests?
J.W. Hamner - March 29, 2011 | 10:19 pm · Link
Uhm… dumb question probably… but why don’t they just vote on it again after making sure they wait the requisite 24 hours that the judge objected to? It’s not like they don’t have the votes right?
EDIT: And I see this question has already been asked
Omnes Omnibus - March 29, 2011 | 10:19 pm · Link
@J. Michael Neal: Correction accepted. Suspicious, jaded, hopeless. Actually, I think hopeless might be the word.
lllphd - March 29, 2011 | 10:19 pm · Link
@arguingwithsignposts:
county court, county judge, county police
as per omnes
Gravenstone - March 29, 2011 | 10:22 pm · Link
@lllphd: I’m going to guess that both Brothers Fitzgerald have been told that they’re losing Republican votes in event of a do-over. The recall process seems to have gotten the attention of some of these cretins.
lllphd - March 29, 2011 | 10:23 pm · Link
@Benjamin Cisco:
yeah; walker appointed daddy cmdr of the state patrol.
nice, eh?
Omnes Omnibus - March 29, 2011 | 10:23 pm · Link
@J. Michael Neal: Ha!
@lllphd: Most likely it would be the people giving the orders, but those carrying them out would be violating the TRO as well. And yes, the Dane County Sheriff’s Department was/is well represented at the protests.
Wilson Heath - March 29, 2011 | 10:31 pm · Link
@Kolohe:
We have a winner. Andrew Jackson would be proud.
Geoduck - March 29, 2011 | 10:34 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus:
It got past the voters because Walker had a buttload of Koch-money to pour into advertising.
lllphd - March 29, 2011 | 10:35 pm · Link
@Amy:
wow; i just realized who walker reminds me of:
oliver north.
that same, i know i’m right, you can’t make me, i’ll go down in crime as a hero.
wow. i bet north is walker’s hero.
Omnes Omnibus - March 29, 2011 | 10:39 pm · Link
@Geoduck: I think you meant to reply to IIIphd, right?
Ruckus - March 29, 2011 | 10:44 pm · Link
@Evolved Deep Southerner:
Several have said pretty much that and I firmly believe that most feel that way.
Trolls are just tiresome and a waste of pixels. But then there was always the tired old freak on the street corner with his sign about the end of the world or some such and they have just found the internet. They were easier to ignore before they found such a large audience, but the fix is exactly the same, consider the source and just ignore them.
lllphd - March 29, 2011 | 10:47 pm · Link
@Gravenstone:
believe so; like i said earlier, there’s a clip somewhere of fitz admitting to this, but it appears to have disappeared.
but the recall has apparently gotten the attention of one ari fleischer and his crew, speaking of fox. megan and lou dobbs were all weepy over those mean liberals raising money to recall their guys, ya know.
yeah, cry me a river of koch.
lllphd - March 29, 2011 | 10:50 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus:
ah; well then, i hope those poor state employees doing these deeds are forewarned.
and so glad to hear of the county police support. ya think walker and fitz have enough neurons between them to figure that one out?
WaterGirl - March 29, 2011 | 10:51 pm · Link
@Evolved Deep Southerner: I don’t believe that he will be able to understand what you’ve written unless it’s formatted like this:
T
I
R
E
S
O
M
E
you get the drift…
lllphd - March 29, 2011 | 10:52 pm · Link
@Omnes Omnibus:
i think so.
and, fwiw, it’s LLLphd. sorry; just too lazy for caps.
Lori - March 29, 2011 | 10:54 pm · Link
Not very smart of the republicans. Usually when trying to convince a judge, plaintiffs treat that judge respectfully.
WaterGirl - March 29, 2011 | 10:55 pm · Link
@jwb: Completely agree.
I had actually started to write something like that in my earlier reply to you (though mine was not phrased quite as well) but I got a phone call in the middle of writing, so I deleted the start of that sentence and clicked submit.
Omnes Omnibus - March 29, 2011 | 10:55 pm · Link
@lllphd: My deepest apologies.
sukabi - March 29, 2011 | 11:14 pm · Link
so when does the judge dispatch the guys with the silver braclets and orange jumpsuits to pick these guys up for contempt of court?
TenguPhule - March 29, 2011 | 11:30 pm · Link
A Freedom bomb for walker would solve more problems then 1,000 of them in Libya.
Bill D. - March 29, 2011 | 11:57 pm · Link
1. I would think this would be an impeachable offense. Sure, the current legislature wouldn’t do that, but that will change after some recalls and a regular election.
2. RICO? Yeah!
3. From now on, we should ask every Republican candidate (whether for president, AG, or dogcatcher) repeatedly whether he or she fully supports the rule of law and will obey all laws and court orders while in office. Get them on the record, on video.
When (not if, when) they break that promise then rub their noses in it. Play that broken promise 10 times a day every day for the entire campaign season. “Smith promised to obey the law while carrying out his duties then knowingly broke it because he felt like it. Which law will he break next?” Expose these fascists for what they are.
4. If they don’t like the rule of law, they can leave the country. “America, love it or leave it.” Rub it in their faces over and over without mercy.
FlipYrWhig - March 30, 2011 | 12:29 am · Link
@lllphd: I always thought it was “IllPhD,” which would be a not-bad hip-hop MC name.
Chucky - March 30, 2011 | 2:07 am · Link
“1. I would think this would be an impeachable offense. Sure, the current legislature wouldn’t do that, but that will change after some recalls and a regular election.”
Yeah I do believe this is an impeachable offense. Refer to your own number 3.
“3. From now on, we should ask every Republican candidate (whether for president, AG, or dogcatcher) repeatedly whether he or she fully supports the rule of law and will obey all laws and court orders while in office. Get them on the record, on video.”
If I’m not mistaken, isn’t that a part of the oath of the office? Don’t they have to swear by it on video in the chamber or office?
Calouste - March 30, 2011 | 4:11 am · Link
@Omnes Omnibus:
Yes. It’s a state law, it’s not the law of gravity. It’s not physically impossible to break it. Respect for the law is a contract within society that is ultimately backed up by violence. Walker seems to think that he either has the biggest baseball bat or that his opponents are not going to fight.
priscianus jr - March 30, 2011 | 6:49 am · Link
@Socratic_me:
Right. And you wouldn’t be the only one, so it would turn into a class action. Which would wind up costing the state a lot more than if they had never started this travesty.
Dave N. - March 30, 2011 | 9:08 am · Link
@Benjamin Cisco:
Not only that, but he got totally spanked in the election for Dodge County sheriff last year. He was then appointed by Walker after being thoroughly rejected by the people of his home county. Failing upward at its finest.
patrick - March 30, 2011 | 9:19 am · Link
add in the AG and SOS, and that’s Michigan…
JohnR - March 30, 2011 | 10:15 am · Link
@Davis X. Machina:
If the WI GOP have the votes, why don’t they just take a legislative mulligan on the bill, and pass it again
I would suspect because (a) they feel they don’t need to, being the ones in charge now, creating reality and all that stuff, (b) because it would be admitting they were wrong the first time, and© that would be a sign of weakness.
We’ve seen this coming for a while. Nixon couldn’t get away with the first steps, but Reagan pushed it further and got away with it. BushI was still too patriotic to take the next step when he was in charge, but his son didn’t give a crap, and went in whole hog. When Obama passed on the chance to try to restore Constitutional government and the primacy of law, that was pretty much that. If you don’t correct a child when it knowingly breaks the rules, next time will be worse. Now there’s no reason for the GOP to hold back at any level – the Federal government is seen as weak and ineffectual, and there are no longer consequences for being “bold” and “manly”. This is exactly what I have been expecting, and why I see no joy in these “recall” efforts – why would any of these guys meekly step down? They’ve long since gone too far to back down. Step by step is how it goes, and afterwards it seems inevitable. And it spreads faster than you could imagine.
Matt - March 30, 2011 | 2:17 pm · Link
@mclaren:
Nah, all the cop will need to do is plant a joint in your ashtray and he can have your car and all the money in your wallet.
Oh wait, they ALREADY DO THAT...
Meade - March 30, 2011 | 3:52 pm · Link
Funny enough – she did stutter.
She named Doug La Follette in her original order because that’s who the hapless County District Attorney sued. The law was legally published by other legal means. The Attorney General is following the law.
Judge Sumi (and DA, Ozanne), as you say, “stuttered.” What do you want – a do-over?
Clio - March 31, 2011 | 2:07 am · Link
“The law was legally published by other legal means. The Attorney General is following the law.”
Printed is not legally an official publication of the law.
Anybody want to take odds on if this will turn into a state constituitonal crisis?
Ex Parte Merryman here we come! wheeeee…......
Michael Crichton - March 31, 2011 | 2:21 pm · Link
If the WI GOP have the votes, why don’t they just take a legislative mulligan on the bill, and pass it again
Because then they’d have to deal with the bad publicity generated by yet another 70,000+ person protest. They want to let the issue lie as much as they can until after the recall elections.