WISGOP failed, despite Steve Walters's best efforts

It says here:

The Republican Party of Wisconsin will tell you that the staff was young and had never run such a campaign before. They are right.

But Steve Walters made Kim Simac look perfectly sane.

See, you got to let the old hands do the job.

h/t Robert Mentzer.

Prosser to Simac: Will Prosser hear Simac case?

It says here.

"In sum, when all the facts are examined, I do not have a favorite 'horse in this race,'" Justice Prosser wrote.

How can he say that, because all of the facts are yet to be examined.

Indeed the court today issued an order requesting the parties to produce memoranda addressing ten separate questions, each of which is loaded up with factual determinations. Justice Prosser did not participate in that order, which may be an indication that he won't be present when the court hears oral arguments after lunch on Tuesday, September 6.*

Previously, an aide to Prosser had said the justice would remain on the case.

That would be Brian Nemoir,** Prosser's "campaign director." Why in the world does a sitting Supreme Court justice have a campaign director?

Back in the day, the judiciary was distinguished from the other two "political branches" of government. That is no longer the case, evidently.

Anyway why are they just getting around to dealing with this now? Was I the only one who noticed these cozy relationships four months ago?

That can't be possible. Great idea, this electing the Supreme Court.

Maybe it was in Andrew Jackson's time.

* Or what is more likely, the court dismisses this case altogether.

** For it was he.

Quote of the day, PPP-undermining edition

Reports the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

A comfortable win for Holperin, though not quite the 14% margin one poll from Public Policy Polling was predicting Monday.

PPP wasn't predicting any 14% margin. It had the incumbent Democrat Jim Holperin at 55%, the WISGOP challenger Kim Simac at 41%, and undecideds at 4%. Jim Holperin in fact got 55% and according to PPP's numbers, the undecideds went to Kim Simac. You can't undermine PPP simply because some poll respondents claimed to have not made up their minds by the weekend. IOW, PPP called Senate District 12 on the nose.

Quote of the day, self-deluding edition

"Republicans were victorious." — Chairman Reince

Priebus on teh web.

According to @BrewCityBrawler, who monitors these things, Charlie Sykes threw Kim Simac under the bus but moments after polls closed.

Wisconsin: PPP-DKos FTW

There ya go:

Forecast:

Wirch (D): 55
Steitz (R): 42
Undecided: 3
MoE: ±2.9%

Holperin (D): 55
Simac (R): 41
Undecided: 4
MoE: ±2.6%

Result:

Wirch (D): 57
Steitz (R): 43

Holperin (D): 55
Simac (R): 45

Nine for nine to PPP-DKos. Not too shabby.

Koch outfit friend of the [Wisconsin Supreme] court

"This relationship is one of those thumbs on the scale." "Prosser should step aside now." "It's a bad idea to stay on the case."

Herewith a "friend of the court" brief filed by the Institute for Justice, Minnesota chapter (a.k.a. "out-of-State agitators"), in the case of Wisconsin Prosperity Network v. Gordon Myse, a challenge to a State of Wisconsin campaign financing rule. The Institute for Justice was "initially funded" by the Bros. Koch and is sustained by 2.4 millions of dollars in Milwaukee's own Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation generosity.

Wisconsin Prosperity Network is one of ten petitioners to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which ten also includes such local right-wing luminaries as Republican candidate for Senate Kim Simac, the shouting Tea Party preacher "Apostle" David King, the Koch Bros. front group Americans For Prosperity, and the MacGyver Institute, which maintains what it calls — in what just has to be an ironic, postmodern jape — a "news service."

All are represented by oft-celebrated WISGOP counsel, James Troupis, along with our friend Rick Esenberg, known to profess the law — and lay effusive bouquets on the Bradley Foundation — at Marquette University.

Which is all fine and dandy, I'm sure, quite apart from the fact Supreme Court Justice David Prosser, to whose considered deliberation the petition now falls, retained one James Troupis to preserve Justice Prosser's bid to maintain his position among the "conservative" majority of that court, for the next ten years, and for which Mr. Troupis did zealously advocate (and did promptly bill a cool seventy-five thousand).

Notwithstanding its dubious provenance, is the Koch/Bradley amicus brief meritorious? Perhaps. The First Amendment is — and should be — an imposing barrier to restrictions on political speech. After all, it was none other than Justice Prosser who ruled that a State Supreme Court may not oblige its members, through a reasonable code of ethical judicial conduct, to refrain from slandering their colleagues without offending the First Amendment (a ruling that offends the intelligence).

Nevertheless it's worth noting that one of Justice Prosser's colleagues, Mike Gableman — for it was his unethical shenanigans to which the aforementioned ruling was designed to protect* — publicly interrogated a Wisconsin attorney for her alleged ties to the Open Society Institute, which for present purposes might be seen as a "liberal" corollary to the Koch/Bradley consortium. We thank Justice Gableman for providing the illumination upon his vague paranoias, but we don't expect any similar grilling of the petitioners' counsel during oral argument Setpember 6.

Another unique feature of this case dates to last August, when Justices Prosser and Gableman literally rewrote the Wisconsin constitution.

They did so to articulate a power of theirs which they had just divined, the power to prevent the two other equal branches of government from operating. This they did before even deciding whether the petitioners — or "Apostles," in at least one instance — had even bare standing to sue.

Whereas Article VII of the Wisconsin constitution empowers the Supreme Court to "issue all [injunctions] necessary in aid of its jurisdiction," the two self-advertised conservatives inserted language to the effect of "necessary in aid of deciding whether or not we have its jurisdiction."

More detail here and here.

There's a pretty decent argument to be made that Prosser/Gableman were way out of line, in terms of what "in aid of its jurisdiction" means in the Wisconsin constitution. It contemplates a jurisdiction that has been taken, a case that has been accepted in compliance with the judiciary's enumerated powers of jurisdiction. It doesn't contemplate empowering the court to slap injunctions on the executive branch prior to making any other judicial determinations at all, including whether or not the court itself has jurisdiction over the action in the first place.

If you haven't the jurisdiction, then how can you issue the injunction?

And it wasn't the last time the duo fabricated a novel judicial power.

I have no idea what's so "conservative" about either of them, frankly.

Except that they're "pro-life," or something.

* Here's a short film of Gableman, J. returning the favor, featuring Gableman denouncing, inter alia, "out-of-State influences." Seriously. Special disapprobation is reserved for Jesse Jackson, for some reason.

Kim Simac: An extreme Republican generating fear

I found her knowledge of economics, taxation, health care, education and governance to be incomplete and often inaccurate.

Kim Simac a conversational narcissist, sez Northwoods libertarian

Funny thing is, none of that will detract Republican voters tomorrow.

In fact, it will likely make her an even more attractive choice.

In concert: Kim Simac and the Tea Party Express

Not a music post I'm afraid, but this is of interest.

Especially because Abe Sauer is saying this.

Wisconsin: Let's be honest here

Kim Simac is a fairly presentable candidate. Steve Walters doesn't engage Simac on any of her wackier views but this interview shows her as a credible GOP candidate who's got the schtick down pretty good.

WISGOP Kim Simac: A Leader Who Won't Run Away

@JoyCardinShow:

Republican State Senate candidate Kim Simac declined our invitation to participate in a candidate forum on Friday.

h/t John Foust.

Kim Simac, Glenn Beck, and the Hitler Youth

The scary comparisons of the indoctrination tactics of our youth today and those of the Hitler Regime of past.

Posted by Kim Simac on October 6, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. in Faith in the Public Square

I am done raising my kids but if I was a young parent today I would take my kids out of the public school today. At what point will we stop talking about the comparisons to what is occurring today and what actually happened by the regime of the Nazi's in the past? Taking God out of the schools has been objective #1 for decades now. Of note will be that one of the first decisions of the Supreme Court decided on was to NOT hear a case of the right of a school to sing "Silent Night: during the holidays. Already decided at a lower court to be omitted from further concerts at the public schools of the said district, our newest slate of almighty rulers of our law have decided to agree and keep our children from singing the most beautiful words that give a glimpse of that beautiful night that our Saviour was born. Which I will remind us all is a Federal Holiday (though I suppose that will be on the slate for ax next). Take the commercial that Glenn Beck showed from British Progressives that explains to little children that if they do not listen to their teachers recommendations on subjects such as carbon emissions, they could have their heads blown off. Add to that Kindergarten Sex Ed classes and I really wonder how it is American parents smile and kiss their children good bye every morning and in good conscience hand their most precious resource over to the hands of such questionable people. Now I know there are wonderful, lovely teachers, but it would be encouraging if at least a few of them would speak up at this point.

[sic passim]

Kim Simac is an actual WISGOP candidate for the Wisconsin Senate.

Glenn Beck is a well known kook and former Fox News personality who compared the victims of Anders Breivik to the Hitler Youth.

Even the conservative Daily Telegraph took notice of Beck's remarks.

Will some Wisconsin reporter take notice of Simac's?

eta: Stuff Simac Says

Wisconsin Recalls: Lawsuits threatened

Sen. Jim Holperin, Democrat of Eagle River, is threatened with a copyright infringement action by Watchmen Broadcasting of Atlanta. Watchmen is a Christian teevee outfit headed up by Dorothy Spaulding, to whom Jesus Christ Himself awarded the broadcasting license in 1995.

Spaulding alleges Holperin unlawfully used footage of an interview with Kim Simac, one of the Republican challengers to Holperin's incumbency. We took a gander at that interview here. Its nature likely precludes a fair use/parody defense, as the original is already sort of a parody.

I haven't seen — nor heard — the Holperin ad in question but I don't believe there's anything particularly actionable about one candidate for public office using another candidate for public office's own words in support of the former candidate's criticisms of the latter.

In this case, however, it's a third party's material that's allegedly been hijacked. But given the nature and brevity of political ads generally, it's unlikely there would be much to Watchmen Broadcasting's complaint.

All publishers assume the risk, so to speak, of fair use by others.

Holperin was the object of a frivolous lawsuit once before.

Incidentally and on the other hand, one practice which may well be actionable is that of bloggers who capture video segments produced by commercial teevee stations, edit the segments into shorter clips, upload the clips to their own YouTube accounts, and then hotlink to the YouTube account at their blogs. That's out-and-out theft, in my view.

If I was the teevee station I'd go after 'em for sure.

The other prospective legal action issues from David VanderLeest, the Republican challenging Democratic incumbent Senator Dave Hansen. Its text is available here. VanderLeest's counsel is making some nebulous claims against a blogger who has been riding VanderLeest pretty hard.

Use of and transmittal in any form of other than public information will be met with an immediate response in the form of a cause of action if grounded on a solid legal foundation.

Well, anybody can say that. The solid legal foundation is the tricky part.

Personally I'm unconvinced of the utility of digging so deeply into VanderLeest's obviously troubled personal relationships, in particular where it involves his children, because he probably doesn't stand a chance against Hansen anyway, his campaign having raised all of $2K.

But I still find it remarkable that Governor Scott Walker, who labored to keep the white supremacist David Duke off the Republican ballot in 1992, would appear by his continuing silence on the matter to be untroubled by VanderLeest's presence on the Republican ballot Tuesday.

Furthermore, reports the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald "is focused on looming recall elections for nine State senators," one of which involves VanderLeest.

VanderLeest, at minimum, is a troubling dude. Fitz has got to be conflicted over aiding and welcoming him into the WISGOP caucus.

On the other hand, they've already got Sen. Glenn Grothman and they made him the second-in-command of that august upper chamber.

So you never know with this gang.

Kim Simac: Help yourself to an abortion

It's your responsibility, and don't let anybody stop you:

I support the rights that are guaranteed by the US Constitution, and believe it is our responsibility as good citizens to exercise those rights, and to refrain from infringing on the rights of others. — Neanderconservative recall candidate Kim Simac

You have to watch this.* Did you know that once Elena Kagan is confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court, you won't be allowed to even talk about your religious freedoms and beliefs. Simac wrote a book for ages 7 and under on "owning and operating firearms." The book, With My Rifle by My Side, sells for $18.95 and appears to contain about 7 or under pages. She sat down for an interview with Dorothy Spaulding.

Dorothy Spaulding: [This book for 3-year-olds is] just such an easy read: "And the days all get shorter, the leaves turn brown." And I bet they're going to go deer hunting. Eh heh. "We watched the geese fly above and travel to warmer ground. We love to go out with our dad in the truck. He loads up corn and apples and does it in the bucks." [puzzled] "And does it in the bucks ... "

Kim Simac: The does and the bucks.

Dorothy Spaulding: Oh!

More Kim Simac traditional family values.

* Or not. It's drearily familiar far-right fruitcakery.

Jim Holperin draws a ringer

To wit (and I use the term advisedly):

The scary comparisons of the indoctrination tactics of our youth today and those of the Hitler Regime of past.

The author is challenging incumbent Democratic State Senator Jim Holperin in this summer's recall elections. Should be hugely entertaining, as Simac is slightly to the right of Rousas Rushdoony.

Interlude: Youth Of Today — Musical Youth

We under heavy heavy manners yeah.