Admission 12 dollars, Willie Wade, 49 cents

Raphael's sitter has been identified as the final lover of the artist, who died when he was 37 from a fever after a night of excessive sex.

Renaissance masterpiece to visit Milwaukee

"I wouldn't pay 50 cents for the Mona Lisa." — Ald. Willie Wade

Yeah, he was respectful of Congress's role

Mr. Cheney's legal adviser, David S. Addington, had to approve personally every government official who was told about the program.

On direct orders from Mr. Cheney — New York Times

And by respectful I mean, of course, contemptuous.

Freepers react to peace symbol

Yes, a peace symbol.

Wrote site owner Jim Robinson sarcastically: "We should steer clear of Obama's children. They can't help it if their old man is an American-hating Marxist pig."

Just another day at FreeRepublic.com — Vancouver Sun

They could have simply photoshopped a Nazi Swastika.

Golf joke

Guy has this terrible slice, which he just can't seem to correct. So he decides to take a couple of lessons with the pro. "Tee one up and let me watch your swing," says the pro. So the guy does.

The ball goes screaming way right, over a fence, down a road, directly at an oncoming school bus filled with children. It crashes through the windshield, strikes the driver in the head, he loses control and the bus full of children goes rolling end over end down a bank, completely engulfed in flames.

Back on the tee, the guy is horrified: "OH MY GOD! Did you see what I just did?!"

"Yeah," says the pro. "Here, try turning your wrist in a little."

But she hurt my widdle feewings

One of the more ridiculous conservative charges against Sonia Sotomayor is that she's too tough a questioner from the bench.

Floyd Abrams counters.

Seriously, a lawyer with feelings? No such thing. They are the world's only living heart donors, to borrow a phrase from one of them.

Humans an insatiably curious species

Our appetite for hard news prodigious. Chosen from amongst CNN.com's vast newsgathering resources, here are the most sought-after informations this morning. Number one:


Forty Xanax per day, IIRC.

Number three (and top video):


Gosh, I hope he's okay (the squirrel, that is).

Obama to legalize abortion in Malta

Douglas Kmiec went to an obscure Mediterranean archipelago and all I got were these lousy thirty pieces of silver. — 1st century t-shirt

Nationalized GM now free to build Trabants

Oldsmobile Trabants in the former East Berlin, July, 1990
Photo by the author

Local "journalistic ethics" saga continues

One of these days a debrief would be helpful — Edward Flynn

No doubt.

The saga continues, although it's now winding itself down from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's front page into the "blogs":

Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn and journalist Jessica McBride traded an astounding 217 messages over four months on his city e-mail account, newly released records show.

In the e-mails, the pair proved chatty and friendly.

"Once the article is declared done, with the expectation that you won’t be ‘covering’ me in your professional capacity, I guess we wouldn’t be violating journalistic ethics (notice I didn’t make a smart remark) if we stayed connected and I received the benefit of your particular perspective," the chief wrote on Jan 6.

You sly devil, you.

Via the J-S's investigative watchdog Daniel Bice.

From the comments:

Interesting that such a right-winger only seems to be able to keep her government job and not anything in the public sector. Ironic.

Indeed. Along with the occasional political hack work. The future of that government job remains to be seen, as Bice reported earlier:

In the next year or two, McBride will be up for "indefinite status," which is similar to tenure for academic staff members. Officials in the journalism department have declined to comment so far on the matter.

Kind of a "do as I say, not as I do" teaching position.

And: Mike Mathias chortles at the Charlie Sykes connection.

Also: A wingnut scours the correspondence for telltale erotica:

It is clear from the very early exchanges that both McBride and Flynn are (figuratively) "buttering each other up."

But alas, no Last Tango in Paris for Juan McAdams.

Nice work if you can get it

Strolling with the one girl
Sighing sigh after sigh ...

— Ira Gershwin, from A Damsel in Distress

Sarah Palin's legal defense cost millions [sic] in, um, committed and long-since-budgeted-for government salaries:

An administrative director in the AK Governor's Office said she's going to ask the Department of Law about some other puzzling parts of the spreadsheet, including a line item that says 0.3 attorney hours added up to $10,063 in costs.

Earlier: Dear Department of Law.

Why the press isn't fair to Sarah Palin

Because it absolutely insists on reporting every single petty recrimination that she and her family willingly offer up to it.

And for all of this, naturally, the demon press is to blame.

Freedome of speech

Young Republican is 38 years old.

Seems about right, demographic-wise.

Reporter still carrying water for Koschnick

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Steven Walters, reporting on this morning's Wisconsin Supreme Court decision in Phelps v. Physicians Insurance Co. of Wisconsin, Inc., reminds us that the law firm representing the plaintiffs contributed to the reelection campaign of Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson:

Abrahamson's opponent, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Randy Koschnick, said Abrahamson had taken campaign contributions from Phelps' family lawyers in the case.

Koschnick said that Abrahamson, to avoid any appearance of having a conflict of interest, should have either not participated in the case or returned the donations from those lawyers.

Abrahamson joined [Justice Ann] Walsh Bradley's dissent.

One may fairly speculate as to what Mr. Walters is implying here, by placing that final sentence on the heels of the preceding two.

Because it has more to do with reporting the result of the case than with whatever accusations Koschnick was leveling against the Chief Justice last spring (and there were many, a good number of them being either baseless or else "grossly inaccurate and misleading").

Yet Steven Walters's dispatch contains nary a hint of the political campaign contributions made to several members of the Phelps majority by attorneys working for the adversary law firm, Foley & Lardner, which represented the insurance company defendants.

Why might that be, I wonder.

Hate and fear from the right

"She makes the Republican Party look inclusive." She makes the party look stupid, a party of the easily manipulated.

Sarah Palin was bad for the republic — Peggy Noonan

Impossible. Because clearly, it was fear and loathing from the left.

Except Peggy Noonan's (and other prominent conservatives') various reasons are why the left loves Sarah Palin. And it's hard to imagine anyone happier to see Sarah Palin run for president than Democrats.

eta: Vulnerable GOPs want Palin to stay home — TheHill.com

Hard to believe!

Jake Tapper, honorary Freeper

ABC News's Jake Tapper is a decent reporter, but apparently even he isn't above getting suckered by, of all things, FreeRepublic.com.

For Matt Drudge and the clowns at Fox News Channel on the other hand, this is just another day at Republican headquarters the office.

Sarkozy however, is ... well, a Frenchman.

@clarencethomas

I've mentioned him before, but this is one of the funniest things on Twitter, the recreational-vehicle-driving, cafeteria-gourmandizing, very easily offended Associate Justice. Him and RealScottWalker.

Like I said ...

Judicial conservatives, like Edward Whelan and Wendy Long, think that empathy should have nothing to do with constitutional decision-making. Apparently, the Republican minority on the Senate Judiciary Committee disagrees. Why else would the Senators add to the list of witnesses testifying against Judge Sotomayor a New Haven firefighter whose promotion was invalidated when a second circuit panel including Judge Sotomayor upheld the invalidation of the exam? I doubt that this firefighter has much to say about the complex legal issues raised by his case. Surely, he was chosen to testify because he is a sympathetic figure and because opponents of Judge Sotomayor’s nomination think that she should have been more empathetic toward him.

— Louis Michael Seidman

h/t Terrence Berres.

And Wendy Long and Ed Whelan? Seriously?

Is the Federalist Society that desperate?

The devoted public servant

Levi Johnston, whose 15 minutes of fame the New York Post informs us are thanks to his "impregnating Sarah Palin's teenage daughter," tells the Associated Press that the AK Gov. quit halfway through her first term to "accept the lucrative offers coming her way."

— Miami Herald

Supreme Court quote of the day

Of yesterday, more accurately.

McClaren spent a spring evening drinking with his wife's ex-boyfriend, Conrad Goehl, and the night ended with an altercation — arising, ironically, from a discussion of anger management counseling — in which McClaren hit Goehl with a pickaxe.

State v. McClaren, 2009 WI 69.

(Being a vindication of Randy Koschnick [not the attempted homicide, the decision, which affirmed Koschnick's pretrial order].)*

* Dry humor added for the enjoyment of Terrence Berres.

Exceedingly high for a human being

No socialist health care for Michael Jackson

I hope nobody who's in prison for selling a few bags of weed is reading that. It would probably make them angry, or at least inspire regret at not having gotten a legitimate medical license.

Intertubes comment of teh day

racists come in all colors.we don't need one on the supreme court.she is and will always be a racist.she doesn't even deserve to be a judge.field hand maybe,go pick some grapes spick

Firefighter to testify against Sotomayor — CBS News

Mr. Ricci's appearance, incidentally, is an unprecedented demonstration of political grandstanding by Senate Republicans, who are apparently seeking to generate a measure of "reverse empathy."

A classic creationist dimwittery

The irony, of course — and there's always irony when creationism is involved — is that she's talking about uranium mining, and it’s through the radioactive decay of uranium that we know the Earth is billions of years old. And she also praises technological achievements!

Via Bad Astronomy.

On Independence Day, I expressed gratitude to America especially for its musical traditions, uniquely original genres, and immortal practitioners* (although for some reason the relevant Wikipedia article fails to mention one of the immortal-est, Richard Rodgers).

But I neglected to thank it for creationists. So a belated thanks, America, for creationists. And in particular, the elected ones.

* I'd highlight the incalculable contributions made by African-Americans, but that would most probably make me a racist.

eta: The coveted creationist/racist combo platter:

Fox & Friends — White Americans and other species.

Yes, Kilmeade actually said "species" and "pure genes."

More on Gableman and his loopholes

From The Sconz, a first-rate Wisconsin blogger from the State capital with impeccable taste in other bloggers.

I hadn't known that the Sconz authored this and this:

However, the (much exaggerated) support Gableman received from the law enforcement community was not replicated by the law "reading" community.

Great line.

Pelosi vindicated

Remember all those howling Republicans?

Republicans say the letter is part of a campaign to protect Pelosi.

Ah, okay. So. Suggesting the CIA wasn't entirely forthcoming with Congress is treacherous, whereas suggesting the CIA is involved in a conspiracy to indemnify a member of Congress is patriotic.

Got it. Thanks for clearing that up, Republicans.

Over one thousand law professors*

Always, Leah.

One thousand law professors, including two from Marquette University in Milwaukee, sent a letter of support for Sonia Sotomayor to Patrick J. Leahy and Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III, respectively the chairman and the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee:

As a federal judge at both the trial and appellate levels, Judge Sotomayor has distinguished herself as a brilliant, careful, fair-minded jurist whose rulings exhibit unfailing adherence to the rule of law. Her opinions reflect careful attention to the facts of each case and a reading of the law that demonstrates fidelity to the text of statutes and the Constitution. She pays close attention to precedent and has proper respect for the role of courts and the other branches of government in our society.

True dat. A perfect example following.

Speaking of Jefferson Sessions, he appeared on the Fox News Channel yesterday complaining about Sotomayor's attitude toward the Second Amendment. Sessions whined that Sotomayor doesn't think that keeping and bearing arms are fundamental rights.

It's a stupid and inflammatory thing to say outside of its proper legal context. But obviously it's Sessions's game to misinform and inflame his constituents.

In constitutional law, "fundamental right" is a term of art that derives from decisions by the Supreme Court on whether or not to incorporate provisions of the Bill of Rights to restrict the actions of State and local governments. Those provisions must be found to contain fundamental rights before they can be incorporated.

The fact of the matter is, the Supreme Court has never incorporated the Second Amendment and States remain empowered to regulate weaponry beyond the Amendment's restrictive reach, as it only applies to the federal government's jurisdiction.

Don't believe me, ask Frank Easterbrook.

So it's true that the United States Supreme Court has yet to rule that the Second Amendment contains fundamental rights and Sotomayor, in her official role as a member of one of the subordinate federal courts, was entirely correct in following that precedent.

Moreover, if Senator Sessions is not aware of the several active petitions to the Supreme Court asking it to incorporate the Second Amendment, then he is clearly in the wrong line of work.

Sessions criticized Judge Sotomayor for allegedly holding that the foregoing is a matter of "settled law," and claimed that he wasn't so sure about that. Sessions was presumably referring to a recent decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which held that the Second Amendment does indeed apply to the States (at least, those nine States within the Ninth Circuit, and Guam).

But that decision came after Sotomayor's Second Amendment opinions and anyway, the Ninth Circuit has little to do with the Second Circuit in terms of precedent. So yes, as far as Sotomayor's decisions go, it was and is a matter of settled law. End of story.

It's also amusing that Sessions is implying that Sotomayor hasn't been activist enough, and doubly amusing that he's telegraphing his desires that Sotomayor would defer to the Ninth Circuit, of all things, one of the archetypal conservative Republican bugaboos.

Only when convenient, as usual.

Not that the average Fox News enthusiast/Bill-O fan would be aware of any of this — or even care, probably — and not that Jefferson Sessions would be honest enough to explain it to them, of course.

That's far too much to expect of this transparent politician.

* This should be "more than" one thousand law professors.

Canadian PM accused of pilfering Jesus

Harper, a Protestant, would not swallow the Body of Christ.

Trudeau would have eaten it.

Shorter McIlheran

I'm not saying Sonia Sotomayor is a racist but you know all those people who said Sonia Sotomayor is a racist? Looks like they may be right after all! Me, I just call her a bigot.

Note also the hyperlink labeled "Congressional Quarterly" that leads instead to local wingnut John McAdams. And it doesn't support McIlheran's claims either. This is your New Media journalism, folks.

Pretty sad. Sad but, fortunately, comical.

Gableman claims "harassment"

I'm a victim of circumstance. — Jerome "Curly" Howard

That the state ... is allowed to award damages in the form of public discipline of a lawfully elected judge suggests that this is more a form of harassment and punishment by the state than an effort to protect any legitimate concern or interest on the part of the state.

Via Patrick Marley, the only reporter on Earth following this story.

Hard to tell from this excerpt whether Gableman is specifically attacking his present complainant or the entire State constitutional and statutory edifice that provides for the discipline of judges.

If the latter, it's bordering on the absurd.

Either way, it's a somewhat petulant tactic. Which is to say, not unexpected. I hope the ellipsis doesn't stand for "in this case."

Or maybe he thinks only appointed judges should be disciplined. No, that can't be right, because Gableman himself was appointed to the circuit court in Burnett County by former Republican governor Scott McCallum following directly on a flurry of partisan political activities.

Besides, you can't exactly claim to be lawfully elected when your campaign was based in part on lies you told about your opponent, can you. ("Lying" is the Wisconsin Judicial Commission's word for it, at least. I fail to see any reason to challenge or dispute it.)

In any event, harassment seems to me a pretty frivolous charge, and to suggest that the process underway is itself punishment sounds a lot like a last ditch argument a criminal defendant might make at his sentencing hearing. Gableman should save that one for later.

Breitblart's Big Hitler Wood

Obama legally kills babies and now he can legally kill Grandmas!

With his own bare hands!

Just as Schicklgruber did. Exactly like that.

Would somebody please explain to me why a so-called political conservative would insist that the government force them to suffer with a terminal illness in spite of their express wishes not to.

Now accepting nominations

YOUR NAME HERE:



Maybe it's about time the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel updated its links to local right-wing bloggers. The latest post at Common Sense Waukesha dates to November, 2008 (post-election ennui, perhaps).

Here's an idea: Hold a contest to see if they can find anyone crazier than even Dad29 or John McAdams. First prize, a signed copy of Liberal Fascism (signed by J-S calumnist Patrick McIlheran, to save money and also commemorate his singular journalistic "techniques").

It would indeed be a mightily challenging search, but the Brew City Brawler may have already located a suitable nominee.

Or else at least fix that horrendous typo. Because it really does reflect poorly on the WPRI's brain trust.

Alder, make me a sammich

Ald. Schumacher wants to call the council’s attention to the unique names of the sandwiches on the menu.

Citizen journalist's attention wanes at council meeting

Gableman, Ziegler side with WMC

A political action group conducted a petition drive in January asking [Justice Annette K.] Ziegler and [Mike] Gableman to remove themselves from the case because Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce submitted a friend of the court brief supporting Virnich and Moores.

WMC spent $4 million in the last two elections to help elect Ziegler and Gableman to 10-year terms on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, according to the political action group, One Wisconsin Now.

Notes the Wisconsin State Journal.

Mike Gableman is currently under investigation by the Wisconsin Judicial Commission for violating the Code of Judicial Conduct during his campaign for election, which he won narrowly after all of 19% of the State's registered voters turned out to the polls.

He failed to win the vote, however, in Ashland County, where he was best known as its district attorney. During that campaign another then-district attorney, now Dodge County Circuit Judge Steven Bauer, publicly withdrew his support for Gableman in protest of Gableman's unsavory political machinations.

(Gableman's former campaign manager, Darrin Schmitz, is now working for Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. It's a small world, aina?)

"The integrity of the criminal justice system should not be allowed to be tarnished by one man's ambitious desire for higher office," Bauer wrote, saying he was troubled by Gableman's "cavalier disregard for accuracy." Aren't we all. Or should be.

Justice Ziegler received a public reprimand in 2008 for failing to disclose her relationships with parties while a circuit court judge in Washington County. Ziegler immediately acknowledged and accepted responsibility for her relatively benign acts of omission.

Gableman, on the other hand (or "in stark contrast," to coin a phrase), has been fighting against admitting to his far more serious and deliberate acts of commission (also known as "lying," according to the Judicial Commission) since last October, with the assistance of out-of-state lawyers.

They're admitted to practice here specifically to defend Gableman.

Judge Diane Sykes, a conservative member of the federal Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice, singled out Gableman's "attack" television advertising as "particularly base and deceptive."

Another former Supreme Court Justice, Janine Geske, reacted to the same advertising by observing, "We're sinking to new lows." The current Supreme Court has the statutory option of correcting that.

It should exercise it.

Couth ethcape from pathture

When Tammy Nuttelman called 911, she was told her escaped cows weren't an emergency. That's when she called again.

"I got seven ***king cows out, maybe going to the ***king highway! And you need to let everybody know that there are loose cows out there! They'll probably cause a major ***king accident, you hear me?"

Nuttelman says she regrets making the ***king call but she is ***king angry that the ***king sheriff's department has released the ***king call to the ***king public.

McIlheran is a serious journalist, really

P. McIlheran "blogs":

James T. Harris notes who didn't know Vladimir Putin had changed his job title. No, it wasn't Palin.

You might remember James T. "Hip Musings" Harris. Following is the particular musing Mr. McIlheran apparently finds rather hip.

Shut up! Just shut up....

"President..eh.. Prime Minister Putin." He doesn't even know who the president is!

Dude, you're in Russia! Who are you there to see?

What a rube.

Et cetera.*

The quote would be Obama momentarily, mistakenly calling Vladimir Putin "President," and then immediately catching himself.

A couple of things. Obama met with Dmitry Medvedev yesterday, so he quite obviously knows who the President of Russia is. Vladimir Putin was President of Russia for nearly ten years, and as such the honorific might tend to have become a hard habit to break. And neither Harris nor McIlheran are much interested in mentioning the several hundred times Obama has called Putin Prime Minister Putin.

Yet here is Patrick McIlheran, a member of the editorial board and a calumnist for a major American daily newspaper, claiming Obama didn't know that Putin had become Prime Minister of Russia last year.

These two characters are allegedly a pair of the brightest right-wing intellectual luminaries in Milwaukee. Hard to believe, isn't it.

Or maybe not.

* "How dumb are these people? Who was running the telepromter?"

Likely not so dumb that they can't even spell it.

Dear Department of Law

AK Gov. acknowledges frivolous criminal complaints

I think on a national level your department of law there in the White House would look at some of the things that we've been charged with and automatically throw them out.

— AK Gov. Sarah Palin (emeritus)

Dear Department of Law, I have a complaint about another state agency [to wit, the Governor's Office]. Can you help?

The Department of Law has no jurisdiction over other agencies [such as the Governor's Office]. You should take your complaint to the commissioner of the department in question.* The state Ombudsman’s Office is another avenue. The Alaska State Ombudsman investigates complaints against state government agencies and employees.**

Yours etc.,
Department of Law

Department of Law FAQ.

* And she will automatically throw it out.
** And she will also automatically throw them out, also.

No, not vexing at all

The poll results must be particularly vexing to dyed-in-the-wool evolutionists.*

They're not even surprising. And here's why they're not surprising:

My preferred source for information on creation, ID and evolution is Answers in Genesis, the leading creation organization in the U.S. and home to the popular Creation Museum.

Because you place your trust in liars and scam artists.

* Whatever that's supposed to mean.

What are you doing?

Attempted with this one earlier: "Hit a couple of good balls this morning at Pine Hills GC ... stepped on a rake."

No response.

Gableman gets one more kick at the can

Beleaguered State judge Mike Gableman has until tomorrow to counter the Wisconsin Judicial Commission's rebuttal to his attempt to have the ethics case against him dropped.

It appears that Gableman's impending response will be the last paper filing before the matter is finally set for a public hearing in front of a three-judge panel. The judges and the venue, Waukesha County, have long since been selected and it's about time Wisconsinites are entertained to Gableman's oral presentations.

According to the WJC, a teevee advertisement approved by Gableman during his 2008 election campaign "contains a false statement of fact that [Gableman] made intentionally or with reckless disregard for its truth or falsity."

Doing so is a violation of the Wisconsin Code of Judicial Conduct for which Gableman may face a number of sanctions, including his removal from the Supreme Court.

Gableman has continued to insist variously that all of the messages contained in the ad were "true" and even if they weren't, whatever he said or implied is protected by the First Amendment.

Ironically, Gableman and his well heeled supporters had referred disparagingly to some provisions of the Constitution and other statutory protections as "loopholes" and "technicalities."

But apparently they come in mighty handy once you find yourself the respondent in a disciplinary proceeding.

In the meantime, Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has reportedly hired Gableman's campaign manager, Darrin Schmitz, as his political spokesperson. Schmitz is a real class act.

And according to Van Hollen's website, his campaign treasurer is Margaret Farrow, another Gableman supporter who helped spread misinformation and falsehoods about former Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler. It's quite the little gang State Republicans have here.

Over the last couple of years I've had occasion to meet a lot of lawyers who know Louis Butler and have known him for decades. Without exception they have nothing but the highest praise for his skill and integrity as a lawyer, as a judge, and as a person.

I've always maintained that the 2008 judicial election was a travesty and that impression is only reinforced by the regard his peers have for Butler. It's an absolute disgrace how Gableman and his supporters and enablers attempted to destroy this man's good character.

Gableman needs to pay something for that.

We are all Ward Churchill, now

And yes, this IS what you liberals think of this country. Go somewhere else and [fuck] THAT place up, instead.

It's always useful to know what liberals think. I'll be speaking to a couple of probation officers tomorrow, by way of seeking some alternatives to revocation of extended supervision, which will likely include recommendations for anger management counseling.

Perhaps they can find room for one more.

Palin called Sarkozy before quitting*

ABC News is repor ...

No, wait, Sarkozy called her.

* Sorry, "leading."

Because nobody reveres him

Why does CNN insist on calling Al Sharpton "Reverend"?

We still all have the same common hoop*

I know nothing about basketball. "Batshit spin" is right.

* Evidently this was not meant as a reference to the role of the entodermal cloaca in evolutionary biology, although it could be.

Slow day at WisOpinion.com

What the heck does this have to do with State politics?

Law prof. Rick Esenberg's latest love letter to Sarah Palin:

When your problem is gravitas and lack of experience, bailing on the a principle way to get those things seems like throwing in the towel.

Er, what?

Earlier: "A masterwork."

Spot the typo

Because I can't:

"As the only statewide Republican candidate in the entire nation to defeat an incumbent Democrat in 2006, we know what has to be done," Van Hollen wrote. "We know what it takes to win and we'll do it again, but I need your continued support to get there."

In reality, Van Hollen's predecessor, Peg Lautenschlager, lost in the Democratic primary to Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk. Van Hollen never got the chance to defeat the incumbent Democrat in '06.

"It may be time to find a hobby for those whose feathers were ruffled by the typo," snickered Darrin Schmitz,* Van Hollen's campaign spokesman.

Dan Bice.

I wonder what the typographical error is. "Statewide," "entire nation," and "incumbent Democrat" all appear to be spelled correctly.

I don't know how far through the alphabet you have to go, but in 2006 in Alabama, Republican Beth Killough Chapman defeated the incumbent Democrat, Nancy L. Worley, to become Secretary of State.

I'm pretty sure that's a statewide office too.

* An intriguing selection by Attorney General Van Hollen, the State of Wisconsin's top law enforcement officer.

Darrin Schmitz also engineered the political campaign of one Mike Gableman, who currently faces potential expulsion from the Wisconsin Supreme Court for violations of the Wisconsin Code of Judicial Conduct committed during that campaign.

Clearly, Gableman received some quality advice from Darrin Schmitz.

And Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, another Republican seeking statewide office, has enlisted the services of yet another supportive associate of Mike Gableman's, R.J. Johnson.

Both Messrs. Schmitz and Johnson appear to specialize in races to the bottom. Must be the Republican way.

King of GOP: This Is It

At least one Republican Congressman, Peter King, is disappointed at failing to secure a ticket to Michael Jackson's memorial service.*

The low-life pervert was a child molester and a pedophile.

Apparently acquittals count for nothing to this lawmaker.

* Isn't it unusual to keep a corpse above ground for nearly two weeks?

EC Summerfest 07/05/09

Hockey mom

Best of luck to Scotty Gomez, AK’s greatest hockey player, as he joins up w/ Montreal Canadians.

Dear God. It's Canadiens. For the last 100 years.

Of course, Mark Steyn is the representative Canadian around here. Just look. That would be calumnist Patrick McIlheran, who just learned recently that there are entire communities of Francophones in Ontario. Amazing! This makes him a specialist in Canadian health care and apparently Milwaukee, Wisconsin's own caretaker of the memory of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Canada's greatest president.

AK Gov. Palin spreading defamatory rumors

About herself.

And, threatening legal action against the New York Times for something the paper had never even mentioned. Okaay.

A viable candidate for leader of the free world, we are told.

Hippest anthem ever

Marvin Gaye at the 1983 NBA All Star Game (YouTube)

Thanks, America, especially for the music.

Dateline July 3, 2014

President Palin to resign
Blames the media elites,
Persecution of Christians
Vice President Wurzelbacher
will be sworn in tomorrow
by Associate Justice Hannity

Word Salad, Baked Alaskan.