Small-Tent Conservatives

Tony Blankley has an excellent column today titled "Small-Town Conservatives" in which he takes the extremists to the shed.

My goodness, professional conservative activists and commentators certainly are busy these days trying to put up a pup (rather than a three-ring) tent for the GOP. A few weeks ago, it was social conservatives reading Giuliani out of the party. Now, in an almost Sicilian revenge pattern, several free-market, low-tax conservatives are coming after Mike Huckabee with baseball bats -- or perhaps with badminton rackets (given the elite Eastern origins of the attackers.) ...

As a Burkean conservative, I believe in the organic development of our institutions and methods. It has always been the left that, with the unjustified intellectual pride of the atheist, attempts to impose man-made party ideologies on his fellow man -- rather than let our civilization slowly unfold through the fuller play out of our character, institutions and values.

But Burke also wrote, "A state without the means of change is without the means of its conservation." So too, conservatism needs the means for change.

And yet today, it is many of my fellow conservatives -- both social and economic -- who insist on an ideological and programmatic purity, even as a baffling and fast-changing world has only just begun to humble the conceit of the overconfident and certain.

Blankley, of course, spent years working for two well-known "big tent" conservatives: Newt Gingrich and Ronald Reagan.

(And as an aside, isn't it funny how Reagan's conservatism was broad and inclusive and yet those who consistently invoke his memory use it to marginalize and exclude those who don't toe the extremist line perfectly? It's so, well, un-Reaganlike.)

MPS wants a 16.4% levy increase. So what?

I'm sure all kinds of conservatives will be bitching and moaning about MPS' proposed levy increase come morning. Some will rant on and on. Others will probably offer such insight as "heh" or "interesting."

Here's my take. I don't give a damn what MPS levies. If there are people in Milwaukee who don't like it, unelect enough school board members to get your way. If that doesn't work, you can always move the hell out. But please, stop crawling to the state to fix the "problems" created by your elected officials. It's really pathetic and only speaks to your own impotence as community activists.

Less talk, more action.

I'm guessing the fact that he wasn't wearing pants also helped to identify him.

Article here, courtesy of the MJS.

Playground Reader of the Month: Russ Decker

Hi, Sen. Decker. I was just skimming through the MJS politics blog when I noticed a headline from today that says "Decker: Trade hospital tax for medical malpractice fund transfer".

That's a fantastic idea, both pragmatically and politically. Wisconsin hospitals will gain additional federal revenue for MA patients - which if I use the logic of my conservative friends, means hospitals will have to pass less of those MA losses on to regular joes in the form of higher bills for their services. That's good for regular people like you and me. Whatever we can do to improve MA reimbursement is a good thing for Wisconsinites.

And you want to use the hospital tax to offset that PCF raid, which makes the doctors (read: contributors) upset. If I use the logic of my conservative friends, doctors would simply pass those premium increases resulting from the PCF raid right along to their clients, regular joes like you and me.

So by bringing in excess federal revenue that will more than exceed the hospital tax levied, regular joes should see their hospital costs go down. And by restoring the integrity of the PCF, regular joes should see their medical costs go down.

I can't believe I didn't think of this myself.

Oh, but apparently I did. Last Friday. Hmmm.

Well, it's no matter whose idea it was. We probably came up with it at the same time. I mean, you're smart. I'm smart. If the GOP was smart, they'd go along with it. But their leadership will probably oppose it because they're still groveling for something, anything to run on in 2008. Like any party destined for the minority, all they know how to do is object to your ideas. They don't have any of their own, unless it involves green license plates or tax breaks for their buddies.

And as long as we're chatting, one last thing? You've got two Republicans among your three-member Assembly delegation. One of them is Mary Williams, who makes a living selling 2,000-calorie thickburgers and other weapons of gastronomic destruction to her constituents. Go back and click on that link and turn up the sound on your computer. Hear that sound when the burger hits? That is not the sound of a health care reformer. Can we really trust someone like that to reform our health care system? It'd be sad if someone pointed that out in a campaign, you know, is all I'm saying.

Anyway, I'll let you get back to work. I'm sure you're busy tinkering with committee assignments and making your naughty/nice list. I hope I'm on the nice list.

Congratulations on being my Reader of the Month. You rule!

Best wishes,
RS

Ann Coulter hates gays, loves their cooking

Rick Jacobs on Huffington Post has a hilarious column on how he inadvertently busted Ann Coulter noshing at Murano in West Hollywood, a restaurant owned and operated by three gay nightclub owners and promoters.

Notorious people have the right to dine where they please. I also think that they have to eat their own cooking. It's quite simple, really. If a person makes her money by being famous and that person has an addiction problem, she has the right to privacy to solve that problem. But if she proclaims her sobriety to get out of jail and then shows up at a bar, she has to expect that her public might inquire as to her truth. You can't have it both ways: sober for the police and the press; publicly drunk for real. In time, you are caught in the lie. It's one or the other, fame or privacy.

Clearly, Ann Coulter was caught in a lie. There she was, burbling like a fountain about her interview on Donny Deutsch's show in which she says Jews should be Christians, completely at ease in the heart of the gayest city on the planet. She was a natural with the gay men who surrounded her. She enjoyed the fawning attention by her two not so masculine male escorts, clearly in her milieu.

I was therefore shocked that when we tried to engage her in conversation, she became embarrassed, turned away, nestling her head inside her long, blond hair, much as would an embarrassed school girl caught stealing the answers to an exam.

Ann Coulter makes money hating gays, then gives that money back to the gay people who create the creature comforts she can't live without. Makes you wonder if she believes any of the bullshit that streams from her mouth.

Van Hollen pilloried by right-wing activists for doing his job.

Last Friday's WSJ has a nice editorial on our Attorney General, J.B. Van Hollen. It encapsulates much of what I've had stuck in the back of my head over recent weeks and months.

The irony of Van Hollen's situation is that he's been a lawyer his whole life and is doing his job in exactly the manner in which a conservative who believes in strict construction should want. He looks at a situation, he applies the law in as neutral a manner as possible, and issues his professional opinions. While his personal beliefs undoubtedly create the framework for his job, he looks to keep his own personal agenda out of a situation's particulars and focuses on applying the law fairly.

In doing so, "conservatives" have actually been forced to learn what conservatism actually is, and golly, they don't seem to like it one damn bit. A cursory tour of the Wisconsin wingnut-o-sphere finds me plenty of examples of "conservatives" who are teed off that Van Hollen hasn't used his office to more aggressively pursue their agenda. They call him a RINO and speculate about who might run against Van Hollen in a 201o primary.

This is typical of the self-destructive behavior of those on the right these days. They forced Mark Green to wave a banner that got him killed by Jim Doyle. They pushed a gay marriage amendment that ended up costing the GOP control of the Senate and contributed heavily to the loss of eight seats in the Assembly. Now, they've got their sights set on J.B. Van Hollen.

I wonder if they could run Ralph Ovadal against Van Hollen? He might be more their speed.

In a classical sense, today's "conservative" is as much of a misnomer as today's "liberal." Both are just power-hungry assholes seeking to move government control of your life more in a direction that they would approve of. Those on the right don't trust you, as an individual, any more than someone on the left would trust you.

Van Hollen's only overreached once publicly, in sending a letter to the U.S. DOJ in opposition to the Sirius/XM merger. And since nobody cares what he thinks about that anyway, it doesn't really do any harm.

I must admit, I was a bit afraid of Van Hollen election because I was concerned he would feel obligated to honor the destructive whims of so many right-wing activists who pushed his candidacy. But instead, he's done a great job of focusing on his work at DOJ and applying the law in as consistent a manner as possible.

Three cheers for an elected official who shows up for work every day and does his job. Those idiots in the marble madhouse could learn a thing or two from the guy across the street.

Dear Roger,

Hi there, Sen. Breske. It's me, the Recess Supervisor. How are you? I'm guessing well. You probably voted for Decker a few days ago, so maybe you'll get an improved committee assignment or something. Good job.

Hey, I wanted to touch base with you about this bill you're introducing to revive the hospital tax proposal that got axed out of the budget. I think you're going to have problems getting that through the Assembly. Apparently their leadership would rather raid the PCF than pay for anything legit. But I have an idea that could at least make for some good entertainment.

I think you should include two things in this bill that might actually get it through the Assembly and would put the Assembly Republicans totally between a rock and a hard place.

First, you should include language that uses a portion of the increased federal funds to pay back the PCF for the money taken from it. If you can't do it directly, talk to DHFS and find a way to make it work. Money is fungible, after all.

Republicans are hot and bothered about that PCF transfer, you know. If you included that language, the doctors would be on board your bill 100%, and it would totally turn the AssGOP into the bad guys in the medical community. You'd still have more money for hospitals, just a little less of it. Plus, the doctors would be pushing it because they'd get their PCF monies back. That'd make their premiums lower, which in turn would lower health care expenses for average joes. And it'd give Sheldon Wasserman another potential weapon to use against Alberta Darling.

Secondly, if you want to drive a wedge between the southeastern part of the AssGOP delegation and the rest of them, include a modest increase in reimbursement for MA dental. You've got a rural district there, Senator. You know how many dentists can't afford to take MA patients because the reimbursement rate is so terrible. Find a way to do that, and you'll have the dentists on board, along with all the public health groups.

It might help you get the votes you need, and if it doesn't, boy will some of those outstate leggies have to sweat this. Passing on a chance to provide better health care to poor kids in their rural districts? Man, I'd hate to see that on a hit piece if I were Mary Williams or Lee Nerison.

Just something to think about. Hope you have a good weekend.

Sincerely,
RS

Colbert for President: Funny, and then you see his numbers

A new Rasmussen Reports survey released today found a whole hell of a lot of disaffected voters out there in America.

Here are their head-to-head numbers:

Hillary Clinton (D) 45%
Rudy Giuliani (R) 35%
Stephen Colbert (I) 13%

Hillary Clinton (D) 46%
Fred Thompson (R) 34%
Stephen Colbert (I) 12%

Impressively, Colbert draws 28% of voters in the 18-29 bracket. And in both match-ups, Colbert beats the Republican nominee.

Surprising, considering the phenomenal job the Republicans do of addressing the concerns of young voters...

Looking at these clowns running for office, I wouldn't be surprised if a guy like Colbert actually could poll 20% in a presidential race. He's damn near the perfect candidate for the disenchanted voter. He's not going to win a primary, but it'd be a hoot if he hung around for a general. They let Perot in the debates in '92. And the media would die for a Clinton/Giuliani/Colbert debate.

Hey, people might actually watch the debates for a change. And wouldn't that be a great thing for democracy?

Had I known...

... that Andrew Sullivan would link to my blog today, I might not have done that "Pikachu's vagina" post.

If you aren't a regular reader of Andrew's blog, you should be. Link's on the right.

Pikachu's Vagina Brings Happiness to Children

Took this from digg, but too funny not to post...


Feel free to comment. There are a million different funny things about this.

Decker finally claims his prize

Congratulations to Russ Decker on becoming the new Senate Majority Leader.

I don't think anyone is really surprised by this, only perhaps by how quickly it followed the budget passage. It was common knowledge that Decker had the votes he needed to be elected majority leader after last November's election, but took a pass on it. Probably for the best - Decker's skills and leadership were needed on JFC. But now that the budget is finished and JFC goes back to its usual load of 13.10 requests and bills referred to it by the two houses, there's less for Decker to do there. Assuming a Dem takeover of the Assembly in '08, it won't matter who the Dems put on JFC. And of course, there's that always lingering speculation that Decker is trying to position himself for a gubernatorial run in 2010 should Doyle decide to not pursue a third term.

Also, a big hearty welcome back from the Senate Majority Leader's office to the Chvala household. Now if only Huebsch would re-hire all the old Jensen staffers, we could finally get things back to normal.

We're number 1!!!! Wooooooooo!!!! We did it!

Congratulations, GOP! Bush is the biggest spender since LBJ. I knew you guys wouldn't settle for anything less than the top.

A big assist to guys like Denny Hastert, Tom DeLay, and Bill Frist. Couldn't have done it without you!

Wingnut math

A reader sent me this gem earlier today:

From: robert geason [SMTP:BOB46JACKIE40@XXXXXXXXXXXX]

Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 10:45:57 AM

To: Rep.Ott; Rep.Kramer; Rep.Davis; Rep.Owens; Rep.Meyer; Rep.LeMahieu; Rep.Kaufert; Rep.Pridemore; Rep.Friske; Rep.Hahn; Rep.Lasee; Rep.Bies; Rep.Tauchen; Rep.Hines; Rep.Stone; Rep.Fitzgerald; Rep.Mursau; Rep.Wood; Rep.Petrowski; Rep.OttJ; Rep.Ballweg; Rep.Kleefisch; Rep.Townsend; Rep.Murtha; Rep.Nygren; Rep.Van Roy; Rep.Petersen; Rep.Rhoades; Rep.Vukmir; Rep.Nerison; Rep.Gundrum; Rep.Gottlieb; Rep.Honadel; Rep.WilliamsM

Subject: Where's the Differance

Where's the Difference

Gov's original bloated budget including all bonding and spending 60,346,104,400. That's just over 60 BILLION. The budget to be voted on 59,998,013,100. A fraction under 60 BILLION.

That figures out to 00.0058% difference. And some of you will vote yes on this budget because??

Bob

Bob is apparently a mathemagician, because he certainly works wonders with decimal points. The amount in question is .58% there, slugger, not .0058%. When you slap that percentage sign on the end, you have to move the decimal place two to the right. File that one away for future reference.

It's a good thing that Bob is the GOP's 1st District Vice-Chair and not its treasurer or they could have some real problems.

But the best part is how Bob completely undermines his own argument. In this case, .58% is nearly $350 million. But Bob speaks about that $350 million as though it's $3.50. If his attitude is "hell, why should anyone change their vote over $350 million in savings?" then perhaps we should assume he'd be just as cavalier if the GOP decided to spend $350 million more.

After all, it's just ".0058%" right?

Is this the work of the same stylist?

I swear, if Phil Spector and Ms. Crabtree had a daughter, she'd have Judy Robson's hair.

Wasserman hits 7,000th door, appoints Willa Cather as press secretary

On an unusually warm fall day, with sweat beading on his brow as the Packer by-week Sunday came to a close, Representative Sheldon Wasserman knocked on his 7,000th door in his bid for the 8th Senate District.

Congrats on wearing out another pair of shoes Sheldon (at least a pair without golf spikes, the preferred footwear of your opponent). But seriously, can we lay off the romantic imagery in the releases?

Oh, and my guess for how many doors you'll knock on? How about "more than Alberta Darling?" Email me and I'll let you know where we can meet for lunch.

More budget follies

Rep. Mikalsen (Nass?) on the budget compromise:

“The legislative leaders are intentionally rushing this vote. Every time a budget vote is rushed in this manner, it’s because they are trying to hide the warts. Makes you wonder just how much pork and favors has been offered to garner yes votes."

Funny how the Assembly budget offered a few months ago was brought forward under nearly identical circumstances, but Steve Nass had no criticism to offer regarding procedure back then. He also voted for a boatload of pork for his colleagues to get it passed. Oh but that's right, he liked that budget. Now that he doesn't like it, he's suddenly worked up about procedure.

But perhaps that isn't a sign of inconsistency. Maybe a few months ago the "Representative" was just too busy wandering the halls and lecturing his colleagues to write that one.

More proof of AFP's irrelevance

After last week's abortion of a rally, (crabby, white, suburban) Americans for (hindering) Prosperity is handing out stuffed animals today at the Capitol. Nice. Stupid, but funny.

They announced it in a press release that went out this morning, and in it, they gave us even more proof why nobody's afraid of AFP.

The second contact on the release is Annie Patnaude, AFP's Director of Strategic Communications. Annie works in D.C. So AFP-Wisconsin has what, all of ONE person in the state authorized to speak on its behalf? Some damn movement you've got there, Mark Block, when you have to direct media calls to Washington.

The end of the release quotes former Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen who once said "When I feel the heat, I see the light." And that's why AFP fails time and again. When their opponents bring blowtorches, AFP brings a soggy book of matches.

The winning message the GOP has forgotten about.

Here are some quotes by a prominent U.S. politician:

On Economic Development:

"Make a commitment to employers by offering a 'Day One Guarantee' that will promise a highly skilled, trained workforce and free retraining for any graduate not meeting the needs of businesses."

On Higher Education:

"We can no longer afford to be penny-wise and pound foolish by allowing valuable researchers that can bring in millions of dollars in grants to leave because we refuse to pay to repair crumbling infrastructure and facilities."

"I will commit to developing nationally competitive state research departments here, improve the focus of technology transfer and commercialization, and work with universities to pursue top faculty with competitive salaries and endowments."

On Primary Education:

"Too many children from low-income and working families are unprepared to succeed when they enter the first grade. We must better promote top-quality pre-kindergarten programs to help these children develop critical reading readiness and social skills that will pave the way for academic success."

On Health Care:

"We should also allow individuals and small businesses to pool their health insurance purchasing power to get lower rates. Creation of a health insurance 'exchange' would establish a 'market organizer' that could serve as a central system for buying and selling insurance. The health care exchange would, in effect, facilitate a uniform withholding system allowing couples, for example, to combine contributions from two employers to buy coverage."

"We should increase promotion efforts to get schools, hospitals, clinics, and state agencies to inform parents about their eligibility (for SCHIP) and about the ease with which children can be enrolled."

On Transportation:

"We must permanently dedicate to transportation projects existing transportation fees, such as truck and trailer registration fees, along with vehicle sales and parts taxes. Voters expected these revenues to go to roads when these taxes were imposed, and we owe it to them to follow through on that promise."

On Cleaning Up Government:

"Implement mandatory ethics training programs, for elected and appointed officials, as well as members of the public boards and commissions."

"Upon the retirement of a state worker, examine opportunities to incorporate those job duties among existing workforce."

"Require any elected official convicted of crimes related to their position to forfeit the taxpayer-funded portion of their pension."

Let's see. Putting the state's money where its mouth is on the job readiness of its citizens. Understanding that higher education is an investment in the state's economy and not something to be ridiculed and kicked in the shins. Promoting and expanding pre-K programs. Aggressively working to get more poor kids government health insurance. Using the centrality of state government to help residents maximize their health-care buying power. Treating elected officials just like other state employees when it comes to ethics training, and punishing them when they do wrong.

Couldn't possibly be a Republican, could it?

But these are all quotes from Louisiana's new governor-elect, Bobby Jindal. Jindal, a 36-year-old Rhodes scholar, has already run a state agency and a public university system, served in a top position at HHS, and is currently a Member of Congress.

Good thing he's not from Wisconsin. Idea conservatives aren't really welcome here right now. The base here prefers the Johnny One Notes who just carp about taxes all day. They'd probably complain that Jindal doesn't have enough private sector experience, unlike the current crop of failed small business types and restaurant owners that populate the Republican caucus and have been oh-so-successful in recent times without Scott Jensen.

Fortunately, there are states where the GOP values intellect in a public figure more than Wisconsin. States like Louisiana.

Ouch.

That there are still Republicans out there who recognize that the government, when used properly and in a limited capacity, can do a world of good for those it governs, gives me hope that maybe the mouth-breathers will eventually be pushed aside. Perhaps once they finish running the party into the ground next year, smart guys like Reince Priebus will recognize that the AFP crowd isn't the future of a successful and prosperous GOP.

After all, there is a common element to those who have led the crusade in recent years, be it Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich, or Scott Jensen. They weren't outsiders. They all succeeded because they understood how government worked from the inside.

Here's hoping the governor's office isn't Jindal's last stop. The GOP needs people like this to lead it out of the wilderness and back into a position where it can get meaningful things accomplished.

Conservative windbags: Sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Surely, there will be much more to say over the weekend after some more details become available regarding the budget agreement reached by the grown-ups of the Capitol tonight. My congratulations to Governor Doyle, Speaker Huebsch, Nurse Judy, and Speaker-in-Waiting Kreuser for finally getting it done. It took you long enough.

But the biggest story will most certainly be the veritable death knell of all the conservative humdrum that began once upon a time with the Ament recall. This compromise shows you exactly what pledge signing and ideological extremism gets you at the end of the day:

A big, fat seat on the bench while everyone else governs around you.

Kudos, southeastern Wisconsin conservatives, and an early welcome to the irrelevance that will await you in the minority in just over a year. Hurts so good, don't it?

Leadership waits for AFP to embarrass itself with its poor attendance at a rally on Wednesday, and just over 48 hours later, they do the deal. They see the power the movement conservatives don't have, just like everybody else.

Perhaps now, Emperor Robinson will put some clothes on.

Your conservative revolution is over, Mr. Lebowski. Condolences.

More bad news for the national GOP

Today, South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson announced in an email to supporters his intention to run for re-election. The GOP can now officially scratch that as a chance for a pick-up in 2008.

What's worse for the GOP is that an established tabloid like National Journal didn't even have South Dakota on its list of top ten seats to begin with. The list is here. It includes nine Republican seats (AK, CO, ME, MN, NE, NH, NM, OR and VA), and just one Democratic seat (LA).

How's that for saying something? Johnson beat John Thune by 524 votes in 2002 and now isn't even considered vulnerable.

My, my, how the GOP empire has crumbled.

Conservative rage makes me giddy.

To no surprise here, word is beginning to leak that a budget has, in essence, been agreed to by both sides. There are still votes to be counted, but from what I've heard, the current proposal on the table is likely to be good enough for the AssGOP to get a majority of its members behind it.

The fact that Tom Nelson is staging a sit-in is just more proof that this thing is all but over. Tom Nelson is many things. First and foremost, he's a total media whore. But secondly, he's probably one of the smartest people in the body.

You think if the differences were irreconcilable that he'd be sitting in his chair in the chamber right now? Of course not. He went out there because it'd get him some easy press, and because he knew the whole thing would likely be over early next week.

Now, just because I think sit-ins are stupid, I'd kind of like to see this thing drag out indefinitely. But all signs are that the end is near.

The fact that a few days ago, AssGOP lapdog Phil Montgomery started talking about finding closure was also a good sign that things were going to be finished. Montgomery is a total Huebsch loyalist and wouldn't go off the reservation.

Another real joy is watching the soon-to-be-defeated no-tax zealots in their death throes. This is starting already, and will only get better in the coming weeks.

How many more pleas from Owen can we get to call our legislators today? First, his fear that, in spite of his best efforts to gin up conservative rage, he and his brethren are going to get rolled and rolled hard. Then, we get some last gasp, anti-KRM propaganda. Of course, the outstate votes that could well deliver this budget don't give a flip about how much it costs to rent a car in Racine County. And Jeff Stone loves the transportation lobbyists.

Mark Belling is mad, and his callers seem generally outraged. Good. He makes a living being outraged, so it'd suck to make him happy. Then he wouldn't have anything to bitch about and he'd have to talk about rainbows and kittens all day.

If all that's coming out of this is a modest bump in the cigarette tax, a PCF transfer and some new fees (and maybe part of the oil transfer fee), I'll tip my hat to Mike Huebsch. I still think it could've been done a lot sooner, but for Republicans, if this is all the Democrats are getting on the tax and fee front, Huebsch deserves some credit for moving this budget considerably to the right.

Of course, because the mouth-breathers hate compromise these days, he'll probably get pilloried instead. Conservatives don't want adult governance. They want people who will bitch and moan all day, then take the ball and go home and pout. They want Steve Nass. They want Leah Vukmir. They want power in the hands of jackasses and idiots who think Grover Norquist and James Dobson have all the answers.

Seeing extremists lose makes me smile. Show me an ideologue in politics and I'll show you someone who is destined for irrelevance.

Nice rally.

So AFP holds a rally, and as usual, the "taxpayers" come up woefully short in finding anyone to actually care enough to show up and represent. Yeah, yeah, insert that stale Republican crack about being too busy at work to show up right here.

Fact is, AFP tries to do something, fails miserably, and the story ends up being the size of the counter-rally their little event manages to generate.

This is exactly why Republicans are getting owned by Democrats right now. Face it, conservatives. The Democrats just want it a whole hell of a lot more right now.

Bill Maher: liberated by pay TV

Slightly NSFW for language, but Bill Maher's take on the Barack Obama flag pin "scandal" is dead on. Relevant portion begins around 3:00. Otherwise, you can read his comments here.

Someone get this GOP county chair a green license plate!

Brown County GOP Chair Donald Fleischman is allegedly just like Stewie Griffin, always throwing those sexy parties! Except his are with boys. Underage boys. Who are runaways.

Now mind you, these are all just allegations at this point, and Donald hasn't been convicted of anything. But that never stopped us from passing judgment with O.J., and it won't stop us from passing judgment here.

According to the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

Green Bay police went to Fleischman's Goodell Street home Nov. 19, 2006, looking for two runaways from Ethan House, a juvenile facility on nearby Emilie Street, according to the criminal complaint filed Sept. 7.

Fleischman opened the door and allowed officers inside where they found a 16-year-old boy hiding on the floor of a walk-in closet wearing only underwear and a T-shirt, the complaint said.

Officers found a black, purple and blue-swirled glass pipe in the living room, which tested positive for marijuana residue, the complaint said.

Police returned to Fleischman's home on Dec. 8, 2006, and found the boy there again. He had been a runaway from Ethan House for eight days.

The teen, now 17, told authorities Fleischman took him to a hotel in Appleton during that time and then to a cabin near Florence for several days before returning to Fleischman's Allouez home. The boy said Fleischman provided him with beer and marijuana, the complaint said.

The boy told police that when he would go to bed, Fleischman would fondle him and that on one occasion he awoke to find Fleischman at the foot of his bed masturbating.

Detectives obtained the boy's drug tests from the days around the time he spent with Fleischman, and three samples from late November and early December tested positive for marijuana.

This could all be innocent enough. Perhaps the police were lying. Or perhaps it was just a simple game of strip hide-and-seek that led a teenage boy to hide in a closet in his undergarments.

Now, of course, we'll hear Republican apologists talk about "well, at least we're taking care of our problem. Democrats do this stuff and nobody cares." Well, no. People do care when perverts of all stripes molest kids. And you're not taking care of your problem. Law enforcement is.

And this one's especially painful because it comes in a part of the state that is becoming increasingly competitive from a political standpoint. Brown County is no longer a bastion of conservatism, and this isn't going to endear the GOP to anyone up there.

A couple of friends and I were joking a few weeks ago about whether I should do a post taking bets on who would be the first Republican figure in Wisconsin caught fooling around with kids.

For better or worse, it didn't take long to find a winner.

Friday Follies

This afternoon, the Speaker's office sent out the following email:

Members and Staff,

Today's WisPolitics attributes a statement to John Murray of my staff that was incorrect.

According to WisPolitics, the Assembly budget offer provided to Governor Doyle earlier this week will be offered as a substitute amendment to the Special Session bill on Monday.

This is not true. The offer has not been drafted and there is no plan to bring it to the floor.

As always, please contact my office with questions.

Mike Huebsch

Then, a bit later - 29 minutes to be exact - they sent out this email:

Members and Staff, ...

As discussed in caucus and in the staff meeting on Friday, my office will continue to distribute support documents, Schmoe releases and additional information throughout the budget process. This week is especially important for staff and legislators to be on the same page, sharing information with each other to ensure a consistent message...

Please contact my office with any questions.

Mike Huebsch

Yeah Mike, I have a question. Leading by example is obviously not a strength of Team Huebsch. So why don't you make sure you and your own staff are on the same page before worrying about what your "team" is up to?

Could someone please find Scott Suder a sane girlfriend?

First, there was this debacle, which as we know, did NOT end well for anyone involved, except maybe Dee Hall, who was able to gravy train off the downfall of this relationship for half a decade.




Now, there's this request for a restraining order to keep the latest nutty woman away from Rep. Scott Suder. She says she had permission to spend his money. He says she didn't. This one smashed her way into Suder's house through a basement window. I think I recall a tale of Lyndee Wall going bonkers at some point and trying to take out a window at a downtown bar (and readers, if your memory is better than mine, the juicy details can go in the comments section).

Do we see a pattern here?

But on the plus side, at least she didn't try to steal any of his highway maps.

The religious right is so funny... and hypocritical

There's a story out today about how a bunch of GOP Congressmen are up in arms over the refusal of the Architect of the Capitol to include religious expressions on the flag certificates that accompany flags flown over our nation's legislative headquarters.

From the article...

Asked about the issue today at a press luncheon, Pelosi said the architect's policy was adopted because "people were asking for statements that not only were religious, beyond using the word God, but political as well." She said the official policy is to send a certificate that lists nothing beyond the date the flag flew over the Capitol and the name of its recipient. She said that members of Congress who request flags on behalf of constituents can "add whatever they wish" to the certificates, "whether it is a political statement or a religious statement."

"It's not about being anti-religion," Pelosi said, noting that each day in the Capitol starts with a prayer. "It is just about what the architect thought was appropriate for him to proclaim in a certificate."...

(Rep. Michael) Turner (R - OH) said Tuesday that he will continue seeking more signatures for his letter asking Pelosi to overturn the policy, and "if the speaker and the architect continue to implement their censorship program, we will drop legislation to compel the architect to return to granting inscriptions permitting the acknowledgment of God."

Now to me, as a Christian, the Architect's policy seems completely reasonable. After all, I can't imagine the target of this blatant pander - the religious right - approving of certificates that acknowledge "Allah is the Greatest" or simply denying the existence of God altogether. And individual members are still allowed to include whatever message they wish. The religious message just doesn't come from the Architect.

But what if, on the other hand, it was simply a matter of moral objection? What if the Architect was a Muslim, and felt as though his morals were being compromised by being forced to include phrases acknowledging the Christian God? Would conservatives go rushing to his defense, like they pretend to do with these millions of pharmacists nobody can seem to find who have a moral objection to prescribing birth control? Or would they be standing outside the Capitol, demanding that the Architect be removed from his position?

I think we all know the answer to this. They'd be protesting, just like these wack job GOP leggies pandering to their nutty base.

I mean, we've all seen the kind of openness and tolerance the religious right shows to displays of other faiths in the Capitol...



So in one case, conservatives believe that employees should be compelled to engage in certain religious activity regardless of their faith, and in the other case, they believe that employees should NOT be compelled to engage in certain activities BECAUSE of their faith. The key seems to be that as long as it cuts in favor of Christianity, it's okay.

As long as these nutty hypocrites are sitting at or near the wheel, I'm never coming back to the Republican Party.

(FYI, if you were to have a flag flown over the Wisconsin State Capitol, what you would get is a certificate with the exact same content the U.S. Capitol Architect includes - a name and a date, and nothing more.)

Dan Bartlett smacks GOP presidential contenders

The Washington Post covered a recent speech before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce by Dan Bartlett, best known for his years as a loyal foot soldier of the Bush administration. And what Bartlett came out with is perhaps the most honest, unvarnished evaluation of the Republican presidential contenders by an insider that's come along in quite a while.

I'll give Bartlett credit for just saying the things that everyone thinks but nobody wants to say. It's a worthwhile read. Link here. Here's a snippet.

Bartlett was harshest in his judgment of (Fred) Thompson, the former Tennessee senator who jumped into the contest a month ago and faces his first televised debate today. Thompson, Bartlett said, was the "biggest dud" because he peaked last spring when he first started talking about running and since then has yet to articulate a compelling vision for why he is running. "The biggest liability was whether he had the fire in the belly to run for office in the first place and be president," Bartlett said. "So what does he do? He waits four months, fires a bunch of staff, has a big staff turnover, has a lot of backbiting, comes out with his big campaign launch and gives a very incoherent and not very concise stump speech for why he's running for president."

Bartlett held out little hope that Thompson could win the nomination. "Unless they really find a way to crystallize his message for why he's different than the other candidates, why people should take a second look now, I don't feel very good that Fred Thompson's going to be the candidate for my party," he said.

Doyle raises - will the Republicans fold?

So Jim Doyle, in his role as official babysitter of the Wisconsin State Legislature, is calling a special session to deal with the budget. Can't say that I'm surprised to see Doyle go this route. The special session is a political tool more than anything, but one that works to Doyle's advantage in this case.

Mind you, Jim Doyle is currently working in a political environment where Corky Thatcher would look like Albert Einstein. What he's doing isn't exactly hard. He sits back, watches both sides look like idiots for three months, and now comes in to play the role of serious grown-up. The press and the public afford him all kinds of clout because Mike Huebsch and Judy Robson look like a couple of third-graders fighting over the lead in the school play.

Doyle, of course, is effectively forcing the AssGOP to show its hand. For months, Mike Huebsch has talked about compromise, while members of his caucus like Steve Nass are slipping out the back door and giving word to the base that the caucus isn't going to compromise and doesn't care if we have a budget. So there's seems to be a bit of disagreement on where, exactly, the AssGOP caucus stands on the budget.

Calling a special session and submitting a compromise bill is a great way for Doyle to turn the tables and effectively eliminate any advantage the AssGOP thought it had by passing AB 506. After all, if the AssGOP is so concerned about property taxes, it can just pass the Governor's new bill and order DPI to recalculate the numbers.

I'm not saying that Doyle's bill can't be improved upon, or that further compromises cannot or should not be made. But it's high time that the AssGOP decides once and for all to fish or cut bait on this budget, and live with the consequences either way. Either it accepts that compromising with Democrats means raising some taxes, or it walks away for good and takes its case to the voters.

My money is on fish. There aren't enough zealots in that caucus to hold progress up.

(Oh, and Governor? You used the word "extreme" six times in your prepared remarks and eight times in your press release. Any chance your minions could break out a thesaurus? I would highly recommend the words fanatical, zealous, unreasonable, and outrageous.)

You wish, Ted.

Today, in an attempt to scare voters with the ever-looming property tax monster and chastise Nurse Judy for dragging her feet, Sen. Ted Kanavas (R - Won't Jim Sensenbrenner ever die?) said "The time for high school debate tactics is over."

Haha. That's funny, Ted. See, in high school debate you actually have to argue using facts. You have time limits, so your rhetoric needs to be effective. You need to be able to think on your feet, without staff, and respond to points made by the other team.

Have you seen a legislative debate lately, Ted? You guys suck at debating, damn near all of you. You refuse to address points made by the other side, instead preferring to talk around those points or ignore them altogether, in favor of reemphasizing points you've already made. Half the time, nobody can tell if a legislator even has a point to make because they're so confused about the topic at hand that any position they're trying to advance becomes swallowed in a sea of talking for the sake of talking.

So here's what I propose, since you throw the phrase "high school debate" around in such an arrogant and cavalier manner.

It appears as though the WFCA Division 1 debate champions come from none other than Brookfield East High School. You might know where that is, Ted, since it's in your district.

Why don't you call the school and arrange a public debate? You pick your best legislative team and go up against a the Brookfield East team? It'd be great fun, and I'm sure the kids would get a huge kick out it.

I'm sure the kids would also kick your team's ass six ways from Sunday. You get that cheap press you're always gaming for and everyone else gets to see the kind of intellectual lightweights that represent them in the Capitol.

Everyone's a winner. And if you can't put your money where your mouth is, maybe you should just shut the hell up? We'd all be winners that way too.

And to think all you conservatives were whining about J.B. going soft...

See, J.B. Van Hollen is not going soft. He's cracking down on the biggest threat facing Wisconsin today.

No, not Milwaukee looking like a real-life version of Grand Theft Auto.

No, not nutjob law enforcement officers mowing down teenagers in Crandon.

Nope.

Casual Fridays are in the crosshairs. LOOK OUT!

Swiss conservatives to send brown chocolate back to wherever it came from.

There is a good article in today's NYT that discusses the all-too-common breed of nationalism and xenophobia that is surfacing with regularity in European elections these days.

In this case, the proprietor of the foreign-bashing is Switzerland's SVP/UDC, the Swiss People's Party. And when we're talking "People's Party", we're talking about only the people who have a historical claim to living in the country.

Nationalist parties in Europe make no qualms about directly appealing to people's basest fears about foreign residents. The imagery in this campaign poster, for example, isn't exactly subtle.




Neither is this imagery in this commercial which discusses "Swiss values", from the SVP/UDC's "ma maison - notre Suisse" campaign.




I think what they're saying is "my Switzerland is filled with white, well-dressed Lutherans who eat chocolate, not brown people and Muslims."

That, of course, is especially ironic since very few Europeans are actively religious. For most, religion is part of their heritage and nothing more.

I've spent my fair share of time in Europe, Switzerland included. And for as progressive as many Western Europeans like to think themselves, the fact is that Western European society is considerably behind the United States when it comes to dealing with issues of race and confronting racism and religious discrimination within a larger social framework. Nationalism is often an unattractive undercurrent in political discussions.

Funny part is, many of these foreigners who are taking their jobs and "ruining" their quality of life are neither dark-skinned or Muslim. They're Slovak, Czech, Hungarian, and Polish. And many of those people don't even have to leave home to find a good job anymore, as western companies increasingly discover that many former Soviet-bloc countries are filled with intelligent, hard-working people as well.

So far, conservatives in the U.S. have largely managed to avoid such blatant demagoguery. One can, however, find sentiments readily expressed among them that aren't too far off from the ugliness that has found an unfortunately comfortable home in the European cultural debate. Not so long ago, Rep. Peter King (R - NY) said that there were "too many mosques in this country" and that "80-85 percent of mosques in this country are controlled by Islamic fundamentalists." Source, please?

We've also seen wingnut activists disrupt a Hindu prayer offered in the U.S. Senate.


Funny how some Christians think that everyone else has to sit through their public prayers but they shouldn't have to sit through anyone else's.

Let's hope that, for the good of the debate, the Republican Party can continue to resist the brand of intolerance and xenophobia practiced by some in their midst.

Krugman nails it (and it pains me to say that)

I generally can't stand Paul Krugman. The kinds of things he does with numbers is absolute witchcraft. However, in yesterday's NYT, he does clearly identify what has become a major issue in the GOP's efforts to connect to moderate and independent voters.

What’s happening, presumably, is that modern movement conservatism attracts a certain personality type. If you identify with the downtrodden, even a little, you don’t belong. If you think ridicule is an appropriate response to other peoples’ woes, you fit right in.

And Republican disillusionment with Mr. Bush does not appear to signal any change in that regard. On the contrary, the leading candidates for the Republican nomination have gone out of their way to condemn “socialism,” which is G.O.P.-speak for any attempt to help the less fortunate.

So once again, if you’re poor or you’re sick or you don’t have health insurance, remember this: these people think your problems are funny.

One need do more than a cursory tour around the conservative side of the blogosphere or Free Republic to find more examples of this than one can count. And that's the biggest thing holding the Republicans back.

It's not that people in the middle necessarily disagree with the Republicans on policy issues. It's that the internet has enabled all sorts of unauthorized conservative talking heads that scare the bejeezus out of people. After all, it doesn't take a leap of faith to think that people who write like wingnuts also talk like wingnuts in everyday life - and that for every one who bothers to blog, there are probably another eight or ten out there just saying this wacky crap to the people around them.

There are some who simply can't talk about the SCHIP bill without taking shots at the poor; who can't talk about W-2 without cracking jokes about the jobless; who can't talk about war critics without taking shots at their patriotism.

The GOP's message is far from perfect these days. Hell, most days you can't even find it. But sometimes the problem isn't with the message. Sometimes the problem is with the messenger.

I'll take political cannibalism FTW!

First-rate jackass Grover Norquist is promising assistance to any wingnuts interested in further cannibalizing the Republican Party in the name of purity.

Oh please, Grover. Please come to Wisconsin. I bet Joe Wineke would pay for your minions to mobilize the effort against everyone who doesn't toe your line.

Republicans literally can't afford to watch what financial resources they'll have next year get sucked into contested primaries. But if the 'nuts would rather focus on purifying their membership than staying in power, that's their call.

Wasserman does 6,000th door

Sheldon Wasserman put out a release today letting everyone know that he hit his 6,000th door in his bid to unseat Alberta Darling in the 8th Senate District. That's probably about 5,992 doors more than what Alberta has hit so far.

Alberta, however, has probably played 6,000 holes of golf this year, many of them in Florida.

Darling better be prepared to bury Wasserman under a pile of her husband's money, because everyone knows she's not going to get off her butt or out of her golf cart to keep up with Wasserman's work ethic. Are the conservatives going to bust tail to try and save her, or will they feed her to the wolves? Pragmatism doesn't seem to be reigning supreme in the Republican base these days, after all.

Seriously, has Alberta Darling knocked on 6,000 doors in her entire legislative career?