"There are tens of thousands of people with master's degrees who don't have the common sense God gave a rabbit,"* said State Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend), who has a law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison."Democrats will turn America into a country like Africa."
Tom Barrett declined an interview request on the issue.Now that is smart.
A change order was issued to make a few panels shorter to allow for more clearance. [That's a fact reported by the Journal-Sentinel.] The only panels this would apply to are the ones that vehicles pass under ... the ones over the [drivers]! IMO, the precaster [who fabricated the decorative panels] made the wrong end shorter (the top instead of the bottom) but had to keep the tops even so it looked right. To do this, the holes then didn't align. So direction was probably given by somebody to drill the 1/2" rods into it.She/he might be on to something there. Although the dimensional change would need to have been transmitted to the fabricator on documents resembling Spinal Tap's print for their Stonehenge prop.
With [Ron Johnson's] free-market philosophy, we can turn our medical care over to any franchise — drive-through mammograms at McDonald's, a stress test at Stop and Go, appendectomies at Kwik Trip. — Gerald Martin, FranklinWe already have Pill & Puff for contraceptives and bronchitis.
Republican Governor of Arizona Jan Brewer, who signed the law and appealed a ruling blocking its most controversial sections, said Friday she would consider changes to "tweak" the law to respond to the parts U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton faulted. ... Brewer has said she'll challenge the decision all the way to the Supreme Court.Strategery.
All Advance Cast Stone [one of the O'Donnell Park parking garage construction subcontractors] needs to do is provide an analysis of the connection as installed, proving that it is capable of sustaining the minimum specified loads indicated on the construction drawings. . . .Much as I had said, nearly a month ago.
[County executive Scott] Walker also lashed out at critics ...I thought this guy was at least a relatively savvy politician. It seems very foolish of him to even acknowledge his own perceptions that those calling for the investigation to be handled by a body comprised of other than county officials are themselves motivated by politics.
The county executive's latest remarks drew a strong reaction from the lawyer for Advance Cast Stone, the Random Lake precast concrete firm that built and installed the panels.I guess so. That's all he needs, is Scott Walker trying his case.
The Clerk shall calendar this case during the week of November 1, 2010 in San Francisco, California.Ninth Circuit: Order (.pdf; 2 pgs.).
"I wouldn't be surprised if this gets fast-tracked."Maybe he had a better argument than "this Clinton appointee."
[According to the criminal complaint] Szuta called police later that night and said a young black male had pulled a gun on him and Weinhold while they were in Oak Creek, forced Szuta into the backseat and drove away with Weinhold and Szuta still inside the van. — South Milwaukee man charged in slayingJesse Anderson@Wikipedia
We cannot infer much about [Elena Kagan's] current view on the Second Amendment and what restrictions on guns are permitted by it. — the "conservative" candidate Ron JohnsonYou needn't infer anything about Ron Johnson's. He flat out told you.
"This Clinton appointee — you knew it was going to be a Clinton appointee; you knew this — Clinton appointee ... It's one federal judge who, like I say, happens to be a Clinton appointee — what a surprise ... this Clinton appointee ... "h/t James Rowen (who deserves a medal for enduring this blather).
"[Judge Bolton] said that portions of [S.B. 1070] — the bulk of it — needed to be enjoined because of her view that it was pre-empted by federal law because it created undue additional burdens on the federal government."Them's the merits right there. (Sen. Kyl overstates the case. If that was her view then she would have granted a permanent injunction.)
This appeal presents a single issue, whether Defendant Michael Marzzarella's conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 922(k) for possession of a handgun with an obliterated serial number violates his Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. We* hold it does not and accordingly will affirm the conviction.Third Circuit: United States v. Marzzarella (.pdf; 35 pgs.).
[W]e begin with Heller ...
The first [live debate between Republican candidates for governor Mark Neumann and Scott Walker] on Aug. 6 will take place on Jeff Wagner's radio program on WTMJ-AM at noon. He'll be broadcasting from the Wisconsin State Fair.They'd best cut the horses' and bulls' rations a day or two beforehand.
Opposition to the landmark health care overhaul declined over the past month, to 35 percent from 41 percent, according to the latest results of a tracking poll, reported Thursday.Americans Warm to Single Greatest Assault on Their Freedoms
We can bring America back, but first we need to boot professional politicians out of Washington.I'm sorry, I meant to say out for Mitch McConnell's cash money:
Multimillionaire Ron Johnson will make his second secret fundraising trip to Washington DC [today]. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is scheduled to hold a fundraiser for him at the [National Republican Senatorial Committee] headquarters.Mitch McConnell has been a U.S. Senate fixture for more than a quarter of a century and just scant weeks ago threw his weight behind the Establishment Republican candidate Trey Grayson against conservative darling Rand Paul in the Kentucky GOP primary.
— WisDems
[Fox News] did not run it until after Sherrod was fired."I had to read it twice to makes sure that it wasn't satire."
The manuscript I submitted referred to "Judge Bork." Apparently "William Bork" was substituted by editorial staff for publication.
[Milwaukee County executive and Republican candidate for governor Scott] Walker and three aides visit Wispolitics.com on their work computers from time to time.Does that count?
On that county computer, we found extensive blogging activity, including blogging of a political nature ...Inquring minds want to know.
The Iranian president accused Paul the Octopus of spreading "western propaganda and superstition." Paul the Octopus was mentioned by Mr Ahmadinejad eight times for good luck during a speech in Tehran at the weekend. — Daily TorygraphCinema news: Retired Paul portrayed by body double
Item: The National Republican Senatorial Committee has reportedly bought $470,000 worth of air time in Wisconsin.Media insiders said the Republican ad buy was timed to coincide with the premiere of Bad Girls Club Season Five: Miami Beach.
The Chief rounds 'em up: (Schmitz as in Darrin Schmitz, that is.)
On July 9, Ron Johnson's campaign said he would be moving his investments into a blind trust. — Associated Press*What kind of a blind trust is that, where you're still personally involved in directing the retention or divesting of its assets?
So my apologies to Ms. Sherrod.***Could become a regular thing: Thus sayeth the (Jeffrey) Lord.
Thanks to the leadership and strong support of Senator Russ Feingold, we were able to pass that ban, an extension of the ban in 2003, and a permanent ban in 2005. Russ Feingold stood with me every step of the way.Well, not quite. The permanent ban was a provision in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 which Stabenow supported, but Feingold didn't.
While I am disappointed it did not pass, I am encouraged by the support my Afghanistan timetable amendment received, particularly by most of the Senate Democratic leadership. This amendment would have given the American people the information they deserve on when our massive, open-ended military operation in Afghanistan will end. Now, however, this supplemental will add some $30 billion more to the nearly $300 billion we’ve already spent in Afghanistan, with no end in sight. This cannot go on and is yet another reason why a flexible timetable for drawing down our troops in Afghanistan is necessary and appropriate.Seems he's been on to something. For quite some time.
Ron Johnson calls [the federal health care reform bill] "socialized medicine," while acknowledging that it is not that.Why is Ron Johnson lying to Wisconsinites?
On Friday, Johnson said he did not think he ever heard the Great Lakes portion of the question. ... [Lake Michigan] freezes over at times, making drilling difficult, he said.Where does he think Alaska is, on the Equator?
DAVE WESTLAKE: I recognize the Constitution is the law of the land. It's not a difficult document to truly understand. [Ron Johnson] has said on multiple occasions that he's not a constitutional scholar and he's not qualified necessarily to make some interpretations of the Constitution.On the campaign trail with Dave Westlake
Well, that's kind of the purpose of what you do in the Senate. You look at the law of the land and you make sure that everything that you do is within the Constitution, within the framework of the Constitution.
The large disparity in bid prices should have raised concerns for county officials when deciding whom to choose for the precast panels, said Mark Federle, a Marquette University professor of construction engineering management.I'll say.
[Mike McCabe's] views on this subject, on which he is constantly being cited by [Wisconsin] media,* appear driven by politics, despite the fact that the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is a supposedly nonpartisan operation.Mr. Schneider's suggestion is well taken. The WDC is about as nonpartisan as Schneider's Wisconsin Policy Research Institute.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices David Prosser, Drake Roggensack [sic] and Annette Kingsland Ziegler agreed that the complaint by the Wisconsin Judicial Commission against Gableman should be dismissed.Courthouse News Service doesn't even mention that there are three other justices on the court who came to the opposite conclusion, despite entitling the report, "Wis. Justice's Campaign Ad Wasn't Defamatory," the latter theory of defamation being a feature of the competing opinion which the report's author completely ignored.
Gableman's ad was in response to a Butler ad claiming that Gableman "coddled child molesters" and had "purchased his job."Pure falsehood. Louis Butler claimed no such thing.
Ron Johnson is also known for rudely walking away from people who he feels won't vote for him — even Republicans!*RedState.com conservatives keep on beating up Ron Johnson
Johnson lacks substance and knowledge — the only things he has going for him [are] a negative ad campaign and money.
WisPolitics asked, "Do you want to open up more of the United States — the continental United States — to drilling. I mean, would you support drilling like in the Great Lakes for example, if there was oil found there, or using more exploration in Alaska, in ANWR, those kinds of things?"So far so good. Here's where things go awry:
Johnson said in part, "We have to be realistic and recognize that fact, and I think we have to get the oil where it is but we need to do it responsibly."Recognize what fact? The Journal-Sentinel doesn't say. Ron Johnson asserts two facts, both of which the J-S deliberately omits. This is his immediate response, including the preface that the J-S excised:
RON JOHNSON: Y'know, the bottom line is that we are an oil-based economy. We're really, there's nothing we're going to do to get off of that for many, many years. So I mean we just have to, we have to be realistic and recognize that fact and I think we have to get the oil where it is ...*1) This are an oil-based economy.
So, he doesn't respond directly to the Great Lakes portion of the question, instead answering generally.Rubbish.
I would be inclined to say that a viewpoint-neutral rule prohibiting vulgarities or epithets might well be constitutional, since the ballot is a state-created limited public forum.Well, there is no such rule. There was a ruling, and it most certainly was not viewpoint-neutral: It was directly viewpoint-discriminatory.
"God is calling me to this," said Tony Blando, president of the Unified Catholic Schools of Oshkosh, WI. — May 18, 2010
Unified Catholic Schools President Tony Blando on Tuesday acknowledged he "screwed up" when he sent a July 2 e-mail to UCS parents, staff and faculty asking them to support Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson by walking with him in Oshkosh's Independence Day Parade. — July 21, 2010h/t The Chief.
In statements to The A.P. and The Journal, Garrett Graves, chairman of Louisiana's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, and a lead official in the state's oil spill response, indicated that BP would be held responsible for the damage to the oyster beds caused by the freshwater releases.Not a chance in Hell.
Care must be taken in any interpretation that the government is not placed in the position of deciding "what political speech is safe for public consumption by applying ambiguous tests."— Wisconsin Judicial Commission v. Michael J. Gableman, Memorandum Decision of Justice David T. Prosser, Justice Patience Drake Roggensack, and Justice Annette Kingsland Ziegler (citing Citizens United v. Federal Elections Comm'n, 130 S. Ct. 876, 896).
Independents are allowed a five-word statement of purpose on the ballot to explain to voters what their candidacy is about.But I thought the right to political speech was darn near absolute.*
The Board also dismissed a ballot challenge against Tammy Baldwin brought by the Young Republicans of Dane County, saying she should be disqualified for running for re-election because she had listed her campaign office rather than her home address on her nomination papers.
The Board said Baldwin could continue [since 1998] to list her office address because, as an openly lesbian member of Congress, she had received threats.
I actually told James about it. He didn't think it was a big deal ... until Sykes called to interview him about it.Via Folkbum.
"What's striking to me about this Department of Agriculture fracas is that everyone was so quick to jump to conclusions: Someone reports a few ambiguous comments out of context and, before checking with the woman or getting the whole story, concludes: 'She's a racist!'" said Richard Ford, a law professor at Stanford and author of "The Race Card: How Bluffing About Bias Makes Race Relations Worse."Yup.
"This is the way race plays out all too often these days — as soon as the accusation of racism is made, good will, the benefit of the doubt, presumption of innocence all go out the window. It's seen as a virtue to jump to the least charitable conclusion when the issue is race — those who reserve judgment are accused of naivete or complicity," he said.
Like we license cars and stuff. I don't have a real problem in minimal licensing and stuff. I mean, I don't.So it comes as a bit of a surprise to read Ron Johnson's blog post essentially accusing Senator Russ Feingold of dishonesty for his Second Amendment positions. But thanks to Russ Feingold, Ron Johnson's licensing proposals are probably unconstitutional.
— Republican candidate Ron Johnson, June 11, 2010
'The Senate is not an entry-level job.'Ron Johnson became a politician in May, because Dick Morris.
Ron Johnson's campaign responded Thursday by providing links to three government and academic websites that divide the country into general regions, and don't include New York in their Great Lakes region. — The Associated PressFunny, the "Tea Party" speaker deferring to both the federal government and the pointy-headed academics. How convenient.
WISPOLITICS: Do you want to open up more of the United States to drilling? I mean, would you support drilling like in the Great Lakes, for example, if there was oil found there, or more exploration in Alaska, ANWR, those kinds of things?"Like in the Great Lakes, for example." That was the question.
RON JOHNSON: Y'know, the bottom line is that we are an oil-based economy. We're really, there's nothing we're going to do to get off of that for many, many years. So I mean we just have to, we have to be realistic and recognize that fact and I think we have to get the oil where it is ...
Is this the man who was invited to testify before Congress?Yes, he was, by Wisconsin's own F. James Sensenbrenner.
In court, the Obama administration and its allies now defend the [federal individual health insurance mandate] as an exercise of the government's "power to lay and collect taxes."Who'da thunk it.
And that power, they say, is even more sweeping than the federal power to regulate interstate commerce.
[H]er answers demonstrated a respect for precedence ...Presumably the editorial board meant precedent.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has ordered workers to remove all the façade panels remaining on the MacArthur Square parking garage, the city's public works chief said Friday.And rightly so. It's a frigging parking garage, not the Taj Mahal.
"The problems that appear to have come to light are things that would not have been readily available with a sight inspection, short of knowing what to look for," county executive Scott Walker told reporters.One might hope building inspectors would know what to look for.
The interesting, but hardly surprising, aspect of this case is that Justices Gableman and Ziegler with their history of allegations of bias and who have used the ambiguity in this area of the law to their advantage, wanted to avoid adding clarity to the area and discuss how to resolve situations involving potential judicial bias. In fact, Justice Gableman could offer no more a rebuttal of the concurrence other than saying in a footnote bluntly and rudely (conduct uncharacteristic of the civility that once was the standard in all judicial decisions), "She is wrong."→ XbeyondX
Republican Ron Johnson campaign commercial voiceover: That's right. Feingold was the only Great Lakes Senator to vote no [on the Energy Policy Act of 2005].Except New York Senators Clinton and Schumer voted 'Nay' as well.
Why would anyone boast of having been the first to introduce a noxious falsehood into American life? Why take credit for ugly and stupid propaganda? But human vanity is an amazing thing. Back in medieval York, I'm sure there was considerable scuffling over who was the first to think of accusing the Jews of grinding up Christian babies to make matzah.He called me "FrumBum." Ouch. Ow.
[14] Chief Justice Abrahamson has never liked the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule. She obviously prefers the law as it stood in 1923 ...State v. David A. Dearborn, 2010 WI 84.
City engineers were uncomfortable with the setup and that played a role in their decision to remove the 23 façade panels over the entrance and exit at MacArthur Square last year and early this year. Besides ... [city] engineers saw no reason to take any chances with purely decorative elements.Me neither. I can't possibly be the only one having a really hard time with the very idea of "26,000-pound decorative concrete slab."
Growing up in Cody, I came to understand the importance of tourism very early. Many parts of Wyoming rely heavily on tourism and travel and I have the experience and the knowledge to lead on these important issues. I have the right plan to deal with the wolf problem and bring management of these predators under the control of the people of Wyoming.Ron Johnson has a tourism policy for, er, Wyoming.
We do not think it profitable to parse these passages of Heller as if they contained an answer to the question whether [a particular statute] is valid. They are precautionary language. Instead of resolving questions such as the one we must confront, the Justices have told us that the matters have been left open. The language we have quoted warns readers not to treat Heller as containing broader holdings than the Court set out to establish: that the Second Amendment creates individual rights, one of which is keeping operable handguns at home for self-defense. What other entitlements the Second Amendment creates, and what regulations legislatures may establish, were left open. [Heller] is not a comprehensive code; it is just an explanation for the Court's disposition. Judicial opinions must not be confused with statutes, and general expressions must be read in light of the subject under consideration. — United States v. Skoien (.pdf; 38 pgs.).
This is the worst piece of journalism I have ever read. Putting aside any criticism of the NAACP, some of which may very well be valid, to throw around allegations of Marxism, allegiances to Mao and to link Democrats to genocide is inflammatory, irresponsible (both professionally and personally) and insulting. The post only proves the NAACP's point as it reeks of McCarthyism and worse. I appreciate hearing from both sides on an issue but the Journal Sentinel would do better if they replaced this columnist with any other living person in the world. — nicholas53202, on the "award-winning" P. McIlheranWhen exactly did newspaper columnists become internet trolls?
Spartanburg, SC council chairman Jeff Horton says that as a Christian he could not ask anyone not to pray in Jesus' name.h/t Religion Clause.
County Executive Scott Walker has said it is unlikely, but possible, that the structure may never reopen for parking if it is deemed too expensive to repair or replace the panels.They're for decoration.
"I think [the moratorium] is strictly a purely political move. [The Obama administration is] trying to cover their hide because they did not suspend the Jones Act so we could get all those skimmer ships in from Belgium." — June 21, 2010Surprise: Ron Johnson is a shameless purveyor of buncombe.
"[Dan Gilbert's] feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality," Reverend Jesse Jackson said in a statement released Sunday. "He sees LeBron as a runaway slave."That's another guy you wonder why anybody calls them "Reverend."
The Private Prayers Contemplated By the National Day of Prayer Statute Are Less Intrusive Than the Public Prayers Routinely Offered by Each Branch of the Federal GovernmentTranslation: The NDP is not as bad as some of the other stuff we do.
If public prayers opening sessions of the federal and state governments are permissible as acknowledgments of our Nation's heritage—and they surely are—than [sic] the private prayers contemplated by 36 U.S.C. § 119 also pass constitutional muster.But that isn't the point, nor was it the question presented to, addressed, and decided by Judge Crabb. The referenced federal statute requires ("the President shall") the president to "issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer." It doesn't matter whether whatever prayers obtain from Congress' directive "pass constitutional muster."
It is DECLARED that 36 U.S.C. § 119 violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.That is, the statute violates the Constitution, not the prayers. Judge Crabb couldn't have been any clearer, yet J.B. Van Hollen and friends completely miss the point. The circuit court would do well to ignore the brief, just as the brief's authors ignore the district court's ruling.
Campaign manager Juston Johnson said Ron Johnson thought it was inappropriate to focus first on BP's negligence before the spill was capped and a cleanup was under way.What a load of bollocks.
Célébrités Galleries also sold a microphone Lennon purportedly used to record "Imagine," his second solo album, recorded in 1971, but the microphone wasn't manufactured until 1977.Turns out it was actually used to record Do That To Me One More Time by the Captain and Tennille.
By a narrow margin, the Ozaukee County supervisors voted to apologize to the people of Arizona whose feelings might have been hurt by Milwaukee Area Technical College's decision to endorse the international boycott of the state.Eyerolling, to be sure, but little better is the Capital Times's comparing Arizona's S.B. 1070 with South African apartheid.
"Truthfully, we found it very intimidating," especially in light of the 2005 shootings at a church service at a Brookfield hotel that left eight people dead, and a 2008 shooting at a Unitarian church in Tennessee that killed two people.Unitarians are also up on their current events.
[A] guest minister was speaking about civil rights.Just not the same ones Ms. Sutterfield had in mind. I get wanting to intimidate crooks, but I don't get wanting to intimidate Unitarians.
What was DA Martens' relationship with Doyle when he was Attorney General? The people should know more about [him].Yes, of course, it's another Jim Doyle conspiracy.
