Fitzgerald to run for U.S. Senate

The silence that will surround this announcement is deafening.

The field of Republican candidates vying for U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl’s seat continues to widen, with a prominent state lawmaker confirming rumors he will run for the retiring Democrat’s seat.

Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, confirmed his decision to run Monday during an interview with the Wausau Daily Herald editorial board. His comments followed an interview he gave Friday with Milwaukee’s WTMJ-AM radio in which he said he was “99 percent” sure he would run. Fitzgerald said regulations prevented him from making the announcement on the radio before he had formed an election committee.

In other words, "Robin wants to be Speaker now, and if I don't run for something else I'm going to be forced to suffer the embarrassment of getting pushed out of an office that I'm merely keeping warm for the guy who's really pulling all the strings."

Fitzgerald is certainly a way better option than Mark Neumann, however.

New Berlin? More like Old Berlin.

Fresh off getting smacked around in court for its residents' racist and anti-working class sentiments, New Berlin has moved on to a new spectacle: shitting on teachers.

New Berlin - In a meeting where teachers alternatively were cheered and booed, and Gov. Scott Walker's collective bargaining law was shunned and embraced, the school board meeting Monday night encapsulated the drama that continues to surround the role of teachers unions in the state.

At issue was New Berlin's employee handbook, which the board approved in a unanimous vote, but not before teachers spoke about their lack of input in the new document and how the new rules could negatively affect their work and the district's reputation.

The meeting was moved to the Performing Arts Center at New Berlin West Middle/High School, 18695 W. Cleveland Ave., to accommodate crowds that were expected to be much larger than normal. That's in part because of a raucous school board meeting in Greenfield last week where teachers butted heads with the administration and school board members over a new handbook and the issue of collaboration with teachers. Police were called to the scene.

What's next? Would New Berlin residents like their teachers to wear Stars of David so teachers can be shunned and heckled on the streets? Actually, I should stop before I give them any ideas.

My opinions on the notion of collective bargaining and union involvement in the public sector are no secret. I wrote about them at length earlier this year. I don't think unions have any real place in the public sector.

But what is most unfortunate is this boorish, teachers suck mentality that so many conservatives seem to wear as a perverse badge of honor these days. With that kind of mentality, you're embarrassing yourselves, you're embarrassing Wisconsin, and you're making the land of my birth look like a place that should be fenced in lest some of you ever escape.

Teachers have no real power anymore - at least in Wisconsin. But they still have a wealth of knowledge and experience in the classroom - certainly more than the average hack protester who shows up in a dingy t-shirt, holding a sign, and spouts opinions that have far outpaced the handful of oft-distorted "facts" he's able to keep in his head. More often than not, that person has no classroom experience whatsoever.

Hell, the average conservative school board member usually has no experience teaching or running a school.

If a school board's goal is to do what's in the best interest of kids, excluding teachers from discussions about how to best serve those kids and treating teachers like the enemy isn't helpful. It's not constructive. It might pander to some of their craziest and most vocal constituents, but it's no way to run schools.

Think what you want of WEAC, but the average teacher goes to work every day trying to make your kid a better person. The least you could do is show them some respect, even if you dislike their politics.

Awesome.

NSFW. Also possibly not safe for home, if you have kids around. But totally hilarious and absolutely true.

Jim Inhofe's man crush on John Thune

Good to know what our sitting senators think are the important qualities in a presidential nominee.

(Sen. Jim) Inhofe said (Rick) Perry has the best shot among the GOP field of defeating President Barack Obama in the 2012 race, especially now that South Dakota Sen. John Thune is out of the running.

Inhofe said of Thune: “[H]e's taller than Obama is, he's better looking than Obama is, and he's the same age Obama is. He would have made a good candidate, but he's not running."

Inhofe later added that Thune's blue eyes are "soooooooooo dreamy."

Someone get her a white hood and a horse

If only the GOP could wave a magic wand and rid itself of people like this.

A freshman Republican member of the New Jersey state Assembly resigned abruptly after his wife sent a racially charged email to Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis.

State Assemblyman Pat Delany resigned last month, citing family issues during his first term in office. It became clear Monday that his wife’s message, who is hoping to mount a bid for a New Jersey state Senate seat, was the reason for the sudden decision.

Delany’s wife, Jennifer, responded to a mass email from the Lewis campaign criticizing Gov. Chris Christie by writing:

“Imagine, not having to pay NJ state income taxes … It must be nice. Imagine getting a court ruling overturned so your name could get put on the ballot. Imagine having dark skin and name recognition and the nerve to think that equalled [sic] knowing something about politics. Sure, knowing someone with fat purse strings is nice, but you have no knowledge.” (emphasis added)

I hardly think that Jennifer Delany's closet racism is prevalent in the GOP, but stuff like this only serves to rile people's worst suspicions. Also, how much of a dumbass do you have to be, as the wife of a politician, to respond to campaign junk mail with a screed like this?

If I was Pat Delany, I'd park her ass at the curb and tell her that her suitcase would be forthcoming.

Paul Ryan: Still not running

Smart move.

GOP congressman Paul Ryan said Monday he has ruled out running for president in 2012, amid another round of political speculation about his potential interest in the campaign.

"I sincerely appreciate the support from those eager to chart a brighter future for the next generation. While humbled by the encouragement, I have not changed my mind, and therefore I am not seeking our party's nomination for President,” Ryan said in a statement.

I'm not the biggest fan of Paul Ryan - to me, his budget evangelism rings a little hollow when one considers all the budget-busting votes he gladly took for GWB. He does, however, represent an intelligent, rational wing of the GOP that is not in favor right now.

A presidential run would force Ryan into a position of having to out-crazy people like Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, because that's what the base wants right now. That's not Paul Ryan's style. Rolling around in the mud with those people doesn't elevate him or his message.

I will, however, keep my fingers crossed for a late entry from Chris Christie. Unlike Ryan, Christie's got a shorter shelf life - he can't even count on being re-elected in 2013. Christie's an affable straight shooter who wants to solve problems and, unlike most current GOP candidates, isn't afraid of science or Muslims.

RIP Jack Layton

For those of you less inclined to follow matters north of the border, you may not have taken note of the fact that Canada's Opposition Leader, Jack Layton, lost his battle with cancer early this morning.

I've always been somewhat fascinated by Canadian politics, mostly because even though they share so much in common with Americans, they have largely managed to avoid turning their government into the nasty cesspool of personal attacks and partisan garbage that we are made to endure.

Jack Layton was an exceptional embodiment of that; a politician with big smile and bigger ideas who appealed to the individual's better sense of self. While the party he led, the New Democratic Party, has traditionally been a third wheel in Canada's federal government, Layton never used that an excuse to hurl personal invective at his opponents. Rather, he was known to forbid the practice by his caucusmates.

Perhaps then it is only fitting that in Canada's federal election in May, Layton led the NDP to its best showing ever, nearly tripling its seats in Parliament and becoming the first NDP head to serve as Opposition Leader. Maybe there is a better way to do things after all.

Layton wrote a letter to Canadians over the weekend to be released upon his passing. In a time of heightened cynicism, it is a pleasant and necessary reminder that public service can still be a noble calling undertaken by noble people.

20110820 Letter to Cdns From Jack Layton En

Thoughts on a gubernatorial recall

Someone asked my thoughts on what effect I thought the Feingold announcement would have on the efforts to recall Scott Walker. Fair enough.

Before we delve into that question, we must recognize that so long as there are organizations employed in political hackery that can use an issue to raise money for themselves, there are going to be organizations who will push the recall regardless of its chances for success. In other words, One Wisconsin Now probably isn't the best source for objective analysis of the gubernatorial landscape.

That said, five quick thoughts on a gubernatorial recall.

1. You can't beat something with nothing. The first thing the Democrats need is a probable candidate.

2. If the Democrats can't convince Ron Kind to run in a recall, they probably don't have another candidate who can win. Senate Democrats are tainted by fleeing the state, there's no real bench in the Assembly, and the only constitutional office the Democrats hold is SOS. Somehow, I don't see this being a late-career breakout moment for Doug La Follette.

3. If Dave Obey runs, he'll be the new Walter Mondale. Liberals thought the problem with Jimmy Carter was that he wasn't far enough to the left. So they ran Mondale in '84 and were handed the second-worst defeat in modern presidential history. I'd have compared Obey to George McGovern, who endured the worst defeat, but McGovern at least ran on principle. Like Mondale, Obey's a machine Democrat whose greatest political accomplishment is the copious amount of pork he brought back to his district. But Dave Obey will gladly run because he likes power and overestimates his own popularity. Do everyone a favor, Dave. Stay home and play your harmonica.

4. If the Democrats recall Scott Walker but lose the election, it is a virtual certainty that they will lose again in 2014. At some point - if it hasn't already begun - Democrats will lose support in the middle among people who are tired of them forcing voters into a perpetual campaign. For as much as Democrats think average people dislike Scott Walker, I assure you they dislike the commercials, the IE robocalls during dinner, the door knocking by out-of-state volunteers, and the junk in their mailboxes way more.

5. Don't underestimate the wishes of Obama's political team. In all likelihood, after all the signature counting, challenging, and assorted lawyering up, a gubernatorial recall ends up on a November ballot. That race will likely dominate the presidential election in terms of interest. The question for Team Obama is whether that helps him or hurts him in Wisconsin. If their determination is that it hurts Obama, or is a wild card with which they don't want to risk dealing, there could be pressure on DPW and other left-leaning interest groups to let it go and move on.

Need a statewide candidate? Don't ask Russ.

Last week, I said "...one has to think that all of these lukewarm results will leave a lot of potential Democratic gubernatorial prospects with cold feet. Feingold can't risk another statewide loss or his political career is over."

And today, we get...

I am grateful for the friendship and support of so many fellow Wisconsinites who suggested I consider running for statewide office in the coming months. While I may seek elective office again someday, I have decided not to run for public office during 2012.

It's possible that Feingold's answer would've been the same even if this month's recall results were more convincing for the Democrats, but certainly the lack of clear progressive momentum must've made the decision a heck of a lot easier. Feingold is surely aware that a second statewide loss in two years would greatly compromise the relevance he still retains as a quasi-public figure.

Then again, maybe not.

Congratulations, Wisconsin!

Your long, national nightmare of robocalls, push polling, and unwanted knocks at your door are about to stop.

I'll put five bucks on Wirch and Holperin to retain their seats, and then we can all settle into the joys of a 17-16 Senate. For effective, reasonable governance, there is no majority any better than a 17-16 majority.

Rick Perry is smart(er than Michele Bachmann)

In response to the tragic photo of Michele Bachmann deep-throating a foot-long corn dog at the Iowa State Fair, I opined on Facebook yesterday that "candidates with competent staff stop things like this from happening by saying stuff like 'Representative, maybe the foot-long corn dog is not the best visual. I hear the pork chop on a stick is amazing.'"

Rick Perry, below, is already proving he is a far more savvy candidate than Bachmann. (Photo credit to AP, via Politico)


Whaddayaknow? Pork chop on a stick!

Who are Michele Bachmann's handlers...

...and why are they not stopping this?

Pawlenty out

And his assessment of the current GOP dynamic is on the money.

“What I brought forward, I thought, was a rational, established, credible, strong record of results, based on experience governing — a two-term governor of a blue state,” said Pawlenty. “But I think the audience, so to speak, was looking for something different.”

In other words, "I never expected the GOP would become so batshit crazy that Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul would rack up of 57% of the straw poll vote. What are you guys doing?"

While Ames is hardly a representative sample of Republican voters, it's fairly representative of the grassroots base, and what they're saying is clear: We still have no interest in being a serious governing party.

Neither Bachmann or Paul is a credible candidate. Neither has any chance of beating Obama. And eventually, just as in 2008, the rest of the party is going to have to drag these extremists back to a candidate that can actually compete in a general election.

The question now is whether that will be Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, or some yet-to-be-declared third option.

Progressives arrested for animal abuse; caught screwing the pooch on Tuesday

And looking at these results, that's one sore puppy this morning.

Let's consider ten quick points.

1. In every race, Democratic candidates either finished at or below where they were polling - in some cases, way below where they were polling. You can't tell me the OWN crowd and the unions initiated and spent millions on these recalls to end up with results like Cowles +20, or Harsdorf +16.

2. Last night confirms what we learned in the Supreme Court race: every time the progressives try to crack the whip on the horse, they're inadvertently whipping the conservative horse too. And in some places, they're hitting the conservative horse twice. Alberta Darling went from a one-point nail-biter against Sheldon Wasserman in 2008 to an eight-point triumph against Sandy Pasch.

3. No matter what Democrats tell you, beating Dan Kapanke with a well-liked Representative in a Dem-trending district isn't much of a win. That area's been moving to the left since the Clinton administration. It was only a matter of time.

4. Jessica King barely beating a morally-compromised Randy Hopper is a sure sign that seat is heading back to the GOP column in 2012. Run someone without the personal baggage in a slightly more Republican district on the new maps, and Jessica would be well-advised to not quit her day job.

5. Nancy Nusbaum is even more of a lifeless retread than I expected her to be. Perhaps running a tepid, indecisive party-switcher wasn't such a good strategy. Look at it this way - Dave VanderLeest got outspent 30+ to 1 in that same area and he put up 34%. Outside groups spent millions to get Nusbaum six points better?

6. Wisconsin desperately needs to raise the bar on its recall process. If people can recall public officials who then win their subsequent elections by 15 or 20 points, all we're doing is wasting the time of our public officials and the money of our taxpayers. The easiest way to do that is to increase the signature threshold for these offices.

7. Luther Olsen's four-point win probably owes as much or more to anti-Clark sentiment than pro-Olsen sentiment. Conservatives routinely pick on Luther for being a moderate and for his family's ethanol interests. But when push came to shove, there are probably a number of conservative voters who were willing to put those differences aside to keep the Red-Light Runner from moving to the upper house.

8. Losing the Prosser race and then doubling down, only to fall short in the recalls, probably won't stop the left from doubling down again and trying to get Walker. But one has to think that all of these lukewarm results will leave a lot of potential Democratic gubernatorial prospects with cold feet. Feingold can't risk another statewide loss or his political career is over. Ron Kind may not be willing to give up his House seat, especially if the recall ends up on the November 2012 ballot. Steve Kagen's a joke. Dave Obey will do it just for the attention but he's washed up. Tom Barrett is damaged goods. Who's it going to be?

9. Democrats have to be concerned that last night's results might depress enthusiasm in next week's elections, which could be bad for Jim Holperin. The Wirch seat is irrelevant, since a) the GOP won't win it anyway and b) the GOP is giving the seat to the Democrats on the new map.

10. Dale Schultz is like the shining sun of the state Senate - no matter how hard people try otherwise, the damn body keeps revolving around him. For as much as partisans bemoan Schultz, he's a shrewd politician. He sees the trends in his own district, which is why he works so hard to play nice with the unions and the Democrats. A 17-16 majority puts him back in the spotlight yet again.

Predictions for the evening

If there's anything worth learning from yesterday's "leaked" memo from We Are Wisconsin, it's that, at minimum, Democrats want their supporters to not take anything for granted today. I'm not sure anyone has a very good turnout model for summer recall elections, and this would certainly be a bad time for likely voters on either side to decide that it's simply too nice out today to go vote.

Funny thing is, if this memo is accurate I think it indicates that very little has changed in the last few months.

Everyone knew Dan Kapanke was dead - his district is trending the wrong way and he got a terrible opponent in Jen Shilling, a well-known and highly likable fellow incumbent.

We also knew that first-term senator Randy Hopper was unlikely to survive if only because of the less than savory revelations about his personal life. Having your wife come to the front of your house to tell protesters that you live with your mistress now is not a great way to kick off your campaign.

Finally, we knew that knocking off Sheila Harsdorf was always the Dems' worst option. Shelly Moore is easily the weakest of the six candidates they're fielding tonight, and she's trying to unseat a long-term incumbent in a very expensive media market.

Considering the lack of a reliable turnout model, you'd have to be damn near crazy to make strong predictions in the rest of these races. Kapanke aside, we've got a bunch of Republican-leaning districts where Democratic voters are probably slightly more energized and certainly better organized on the ground. Will that be enough?

Not that I'd put more than $20 on what I'm about to say, but my best guess when we wake up tomorrow morning is that the Democrats will either be +3, +2, or +4, in that order.

Kapanke and Hopper will both lose. Harsdorf will not lose. And of the other three races, I suspect the likely order in which the dominos will fall is Luther Olsen, Alberta Darling, and Rob Cowles.

Of course, I am perhaps selfishly biased, as +3 is the only outcome that will make things interesting next week, and everyone loves a good train wreck. Since nobody in their right mind thinks Wirch is going to lose, +3 means the Jim Holperin/Kim Simac race is for all the marbles. The GOP has a district in which they can win with a good candidate, but Kim Simac is about as far from a good candidate as you can get if your name isn't Dave VanderLeest.

If the outcome is +3 and you live in Holperin's district, please accept my apologies. Also, you may wish to consider voting absentee, then unplugging your phone, your television, and your radio, and never answering the door for the next week.

Appeals court upholds hormone therapy for transgender inmates

No surprise here.

Wisconsin’s attempt to ban hormone therapy for transgender prison inmates is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision of the U.S. District Court Judge Charles Clevert in April 2010 that the state's 2005 "Sex Change Prevention Act" was unconstitutional. State officials had appealed that decision and the 7th Circuit heard oral argument in February.

On the one hand, many conservatives moan constantly about government interfering in the health care decisions made by doctors and patients. On the other hand, they want to use highly scientific criteria like "icky" or "immoral" when deciding how health care is dispensed to patients who are under the control of government.

Unfortunately for conservatives, "icky" and "immoral" and decades-old rulings relying on dated science and dated assumptions aren't very good legal arguments, which is why the state keeps losing this case.

Stay classy, Milwaukee

And while you're at it, keep denying that there's a racial component to all of this as well.

Gov. Scott Walker has ordered the Wisconsin State Patrol to provide additional law enforcement help at the Wisconsin State Fair after several incidents involving rampaging youths broke out on the fairgrounds and on the streets outside Thursday night.

Witnesses told WTMJ-AM (620) that dozens to hundreds of young black people were beating white people as they left the fair late Thursday night. Patrice Harris, a spokeswoman for the fair, said a police alert she was given indicated four people were hurt.

"It looked like they were just going after white guys, white people," Norb Roffers of Wind Lake told WTMJ. He said he left the State Fair entrance near the corner of S. 84th St. and W. Schlinger Ave. in West Allis.

One eyewitness, a concession worker who works near the midway area, told the Journal Sentinel that large groups of African-American youths ran through the midway area, knocking over young children and adults, disrupting midway rides and tearing signs up.

I would once again like to offer my groundbreaking proposals to fix Milwaukee's problems.

- Indiscriminately bulldoze the whole city and its residents into the lake.

- Build a Berlin Wall-style boundary around the city and let them fight it out Lord of the Flies style while the rest of us watch on pay-per-view.

Birth control to be covered as preventative care

Good news for those of us more concerned with reducing the number of abortions than in playing footsie with what a bunch of celibate old white dudes in robes think about our health care system.

(CNN) -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced new guidelines in Washington Monday requiring health insurance plans beginning on or after August 1, 2012 to cover several women's preventive services, including birth control and voluntary sterilization.

According to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius the decision is a part of the Affordable Care Act's move to stop problems before they start.

"These historic guidelines are based on science and existing literature and will help ensure women get the preventive health benefits they need," she said in a news release.

In July, the Institute of Medicine issued the results of a scientific review of
women's health needs and provided recommendations on specific preventive measures to help them. Today HHS approved those recommendations.

The guidelines do provide an exemption for religious institutions that offer health insurance to their employees. But considering that 98% of sexually active Catholic women have used birth control, I suspect the dudes in the robes should spend more time worrying about the efficacy of their own teaching.