January 18, 2012
WISGOP: Incest is [Michael] best
[Former U.S. Attorney Steven] Biskupic and his fellow attorneys based their complaint on a piece of propaganda put out by the MacIver Institute, a "public policy think tank" funded by the ultraconservative Bradley Foundation. The Bradley Foundation is headed by Michael Grebe, former chair of the Walker gubernatorial campaign and the chair of Friends of Scott Walker, one of the organizations that filed the suit in Waukesha County.By Lisa Kaiser.*
* Best** advocacy journalist in Wisconsin.
** Best as in the superlative, not the aforementioned WISGOP law firm.
Of Mike "Peppercorn" Gableman's "peppercorn"
In a word, preposterous:
The notion that the judicial code and ethics laws permit a judge to secretly receive expensive legal services (or fancy cars or lakefront real estate) in return for sham, symbolic payment — say, a "peppercorn" — is not merely frivolous, it seeks to play the [Wisconsin Supreme] Court and the public as fools. Here, Justice Gableman did not ever need to provide even a peppercorn.Intervenors' Proposed Reply in Support of Recusal or Disqualification
January 17, 2012
Wisconsin governor may stoop to visiting Wisconsin
Gov. Scott Walker, in New York today on a fundraising trip, said he looks “forward to talking to the people of Wisconsin ... "Quote, unquote. PR genius as usual.
More than one million signatures to Recall Walker
"Thanks a million." — Scott Walker
I happened to catch Charlie Sykes and his fellow wing-nuts Christian Schneider and Brian Sikma on TMJ-4 on Sunday. All were yukking it up and claiming organizers would fail to collect enough signatures to recall Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, but they got her too, with nearly 850,000 of them. These characters are in deep, profound denial.
And WISGOP challenges will likewise be an exercise in futility. Signature-gatherers have been triple-checking the docs prior to their submittal.
Now, more importantly, we'll see whether November, 2010 was a fluke.
Even if it wasn't, Scott Walker blew it, by rescinding the people's statutory rights, which wasn't necessary, and in particular wasn't necessary for any fiscal reason. Walker admitted that, and the litigation which culminated in the Wisconsin Supreme Court's invention of "supervisory/original" jurisdiction proved it. Rescinding the people's rights is not something you can do without consequence, apparently.
That's as it should be, and it's why the constitution authorizes recalls.
I happened to catch Charlie Sykes and his fellow wing-nuts Christian Schneider and Brian Sikma on TMJ-4 on Sunday. All were yukking it up and claiming organizers would fail to collect enough signatures to recall Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, but they got her too, with nearly 850,000 of them. These characters are in deep, profound denial.
And WISGOP challenges will likewise be an exercise in futility. Signature-gatherers have been triple-checking the docs prior to their submittal.
Now, more importantly, we'll see whether November, 2010 was a fluke.
Even if it wasn't, Scott Walker blew it, by rescinding the people's statutory rights, which wasn't necessary, and in particular wasn't necessary for any fiscal reason. Walker admitted that, and the litigation which culminated in the Wisconsin Supreme Court's invention of "supervisory/original" jurisdiction proved it. Rescinding the people's rights is not something you can do without consequence, apparently.
That's as it should be, and it's why the constitution authorizes recalls.
Statement of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett
On Scott Walker's "deception":
Meanwhile Walker is off shaking down out-of-State agitators.*
* This Maurice Greenberg? He leases at 399 Park Avenue.
"I stand with the hundreds of thousands of ordinary Wisconsin citizens who have had enough of Walker's cynical politics that try to divide the people of our State." — via The Wheeler ReportSounds like a candidate. An aggressive one.
Meanwhile Walker is off shaking down out-of-State agitators.*
* This Maurice Greenberg? He leases at 399 Park Avenue.
Scott Walker insults a decorated war veteran
Reports Daniel Bice:
No wonder Scott Walker is being recalled today at 3 p.m.
He can take his assortment of foolish spokespersons with him.
Then the only one left will be poor old Charlie Sykes.
"Mr. Freedman’s letter is nothing more than a political ploy by a long time Democrat," said Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie.Perhaps there were politics at play, but Mr. Freedman is a Vietnam vet with a Bronze Star and it's kind of insulting to assert unequivocally there were no concerns on Freedman's part for his fellow veterans, is it not?
No wonder Scott Walker is being recalled today at 3 p.m.
He can take his assortment of foolish spokespersons with him.
Then the only one left will be poor old Charlie Sykes.
The "chaos" is all to the Wisconsin GOP's account
As the Tomah Journal points out:
Yes, they really do think you're that stupid.
I guess you would be that stupid if you got all your news from them.
Wisconsin used to have one of the nation’s most efficient, honest and voter-friendly election systems in the country. No more.Yet Journal Communications, Inc.'s Milwaukee teevee station, TMJ-4, is still running its "CAPITOL CHAOS" banner over election-related stories, attributing the "chaos" to opponents of the Fitz Van Walker regime.
Yes, they really do think you're that stupid.
I guess you would be that stupid if you got all your news from them.
January 16, 2012
January 14, 2012
Hitler comparisons inapt, say WISGOP partisans
True, 'cuz Walker canceled the train he could have made run on time.
Why electing judges is the worst idea ever
Mike Gableman.
Gableman is not an "Associate Justice," however. God forbid.
That would probably take a "President Walker."
Gableman is not an "Associate Justice," however. God forbid.
That would probably take a "President Walker."
Profess the law or GTFO!
Fcuk u! No u!!1 lolz
You'd think U of W's alleged law professor Ann Althouse has been on teh internets long enough to be aware of the kids' "or GTFO" jokes. But no.
At least Meade Althouse, who once comically retrieved an anarchist's neckerchief from a Capitol sculpture, gets "zOMG pix or it dint happen."
Little GT[F]O
You'd think U of W's alleged law professor Ann Althouse has been on teh internets long enough to be aware of the kids' "or GTFO" jokes. But no.
At least Meade Althouse, who once comically retrieved an anarchist's neckerchief from a Capitol sculpture, gets "zOMG pix or it dint happen."
Little GT[F]O
How come the Wisconsin redistricting SNAFU?
Because Acts 43 and 44 were passed creating the new State Senate, Assembly, and Congressional districts before municipalities had finished creating their local wards.And who made that brilliant decision? Your famous WISGOP is who.
So they could have them ready for national GOP approval, no doubt.
You know who Reince Priebus works for, right? And you know who gave unethical judge Mike Gableman free legal services to ensure he stayed on the court where redistricting challenges were most likely headed: Michael Best & Friedrich and national Republican Party activist Jim Bopp.
What a racket,* and an incompetent one at that.
"Connect the dots, connect the dots." — Pee-Wee Herman
* "Syndicate" might be a better word.
January 13, 2012
Tebowing and the Constitution
By Scott Idleman.
Good ol' Santa Fe School Dist. v. Doe.
Apparently Broncos QB Tim Tebow is a "divisive figure," as they say in politics, but he sure is fun to watch. As is this here YouTubes video.
Whoa Nelly!
Good ol' Santa Fe School Dist. v. Doe.
Apparently Broncos QB Tim Tebow is a "divisive figure," as they say in politics, but he sure is fun to watch. As is this here YouTubes video.
Whoa Nelly!
Don't like Gableman?
Not particularly.
Any ethical judge would be an improvement, by definition.
It makes no difference whether the First Amendment protects his lies.*
* Which he failed to argue successfully despite tens of thousands of dollars in lawyers he was given and reportedly never had to pay for.
Now that is embarrassing and dysfunctional.
Any ethical judge would be an improvement, by definition.
Wisconsin's embarrassing and dysfunctional state Supreme Court.It isn't entirely fair to brand the whole court as embarrassing and dysfunctional simply on account of Mike Gableman but he's certainly to blame for lowering the esteem in which the institution should be held.
It makes no difference whether the First Amendment protects his lies.*
* Which he failed to argue successfully despite tens of thousands of dollars in lawyers he was given and reportedly never had to pay for.
Now that is embarrassing and dysfunctional.
Kloppenburg will celebrate at Greenbush
"[It's] to celebrate the fact that there is no other candidate on the ballot," says Kloppenburg campaign manager Melissa Mulliken.An odd thing to celebrate but they always were oddballs.
January 12, 2012
Gableman to sup with WISGOP bigwigs
Is what it says here. Nonpartisan, that's a laugh. I bet you Gableman gets a standing ovation. Any peppercorns on the menu? Yummy.
WTMJ's Charlie Sykes publishes some more lies
And the said liar proceeds to defeat his very own allegations:
And we've been enjoying it ever since. Where you been, Chuckles?
A legal "if" followed by a legal "may" starts to make stuff mighty attenuated from the ability to place an actual value on something, whatever that something may have been wholly speculated to be.
But yeah, y'all keep emphasizing the extremely high-dollar value of what Gableman did receive,* because that really buttresses his apparent claim that his entirely speculative consideration** was in fact a valuable one.
In the meantime maybe Gableman can waive his attorney-client privilege so the people who elected him can have a look at what went down here.
And compare it with what was required of him by the Code of Conduct.
* And is receiving, from the looks of things.
** Which, by the way, was not even Gableman's consideration to give.
As Gableman's NEW lawyer wrote in a letter to the editor that the Journal-Sentinel has conveniently refused to publish . . .Reporter Patrick Marley published it about a week ago. It's right here.
And we've been enjoying it ever since. Where you been, Chuckles?
How is it that a contingency fee arrangement is suddenly a "gift"?Because there was no valuable consideration. There is no value in some wholly speculative, arguably non-monetizable recovery, where third parties only may have reimbursed Gableman for his legal services if he had won his ethics case. That is, even if he had won — which he didn't — the likelihood that he would have recovered anything was equal to the likelihood of his recovering nothing. The former likelihood may have been a consideration in the de minimis, peppercorn sense, but the Code of Judicial Conduct requires it to be a valuable consideration. Otherwise Gableman's tens of thousands of dollars in legal services was a gift, according to the Code's own definition. This question of what is valuable consideration is not so easily hand-waved away by Gableman's defenders.
A legal "if" followed by a legal "may" starts to make stuff mighty attenuated from the ability to place an actual value on something, whatever that something may have been wholly speculated to be.
[Contingency fee arrangements are] what gets the jackpots that are used to fund a huge part of the Left’s political apparatus.Really, well there clearly was no "jackpot" here, buddy. And that is precisely why there was no valuable consideration, and precisely why Gableman's tens of thousands of dollars in legal services was a gift.
But yeah, y'all keep emphasizing the extremely high-dollar value of what Gableman did receive,* because that really buttresses his apparent claim that his entirely speculative consideration** was in fact a valuable one.
In the meantime maybe Gableman can waive his attorney-client privilege so the people who elected him can have a look at what went down here.
And compare it with what was required of him by the Code of Conduct.
* And is receiving, from the looks of things.
** Which, by the way, was not even Gableman's consideration to give.
Baby don't get hooked on your unfunded mandate
Mac "Big Righty" Davis ordered "costly and time-consuming process"
I suppose those are conservative judicial values too.
Amusing, from the gang that's complaining about election costs.
I suppose those are conservative judicial values too.
Amusing, from the gang that's complaining about election costs.
Who's paying Mike Gableman's lawyer Viet Dinh?
Or, for that matter, his "Master of Disaster"?
Mike Gableman attacks his own current colleagues fer chrissakes.
And who paid the infamous out-of-State agitator Jim Bopp? Bopp, Esq. of Terre Haute did the heavy lifting in Gableman's ethics case.* So effective was Bopp's counsel that he actually caused Justice N. Patrick Crooks to change his mind from favorable to adverse pursuant to a motion for disqualification filed against Gableman in a criminal appeal.
* And who paid Federalist Society member Anita Y. Woudenberg?
Mike Gableman is a walking make-work project for Republican lawyers.
Gableman's attorney, Viet Dinh of Washington, D.C., said the resolution was nothing more than a partisan political attack that "reveals the underlying motivation and insidious nature of the attacks against Justice Gableman." — via the AP's Scott BauerI hope it's not much, if that's the best he can come up with. Poor Gableman. He's being attacked. What goes around comes around dude.
Mike Gableman attacks his own current colleagues fer chrissakes.
And who paid the infamous out-of-State agitator Jim Bopp? Bopp, Esq. of Terre Haute did the heavy lifting in Gableman's ethics case.* So effective was Bopp's counsel that he actually caused Justice N. Patrick Crooks to change his mind from favorable to adverse pursuant to a motion for disqualification filed against Gableman in a criminal appeal.
* And who paid Federalist Society member Anita Y. Woudenberg?
Mike Gableman is a walking make-work project for Republican lawyers.
Walker in Texas "promoting conservative values"
So says the Associated Press. Conservative values: breaking the law, which nobody disputes, a law meant to ensure only a reasonable bare minimum of access by the people of Wisconsin to the affairs of their elected officials and then — after conservative Republicans admitted to both breaking the law and violating the State constitution — appealing to the bought-and-paid-for judges on the State Supreme Court, including two who have committed multiple violations of the Wisconsin Code of Judicial Conduct and a third who is under investigation for having done so, who in turn fabricate a novel form of judicial power found nowhere in the State constitution to supposedly validate the aforementioned lawbreaking. Those are the conservative values Walker is promoting.
January 11, 2012
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Comedians
Walker jobs billboard outside shuttered car plant in Janesville
WMC is the outfit that put "Peppercorn" Gableman on the Wis. S. Ct.
'I like firing people.' — A top Republican*
Then how's about firing Scott Walker. And liking it. A whole lot.
* As opposed to a Republican top.
WMC is the outfit that put "Peppercorn" Gableman on the Wis. S. Ct.
'I like firing people.' — A top Republican*
Then how's about firing Scott Walker. And liking it. A whole lot.
* As opposed to a Republican top.
Embattled Gableman is on web teevee today
Resuming at circa one-thirty p.m. Central Time.
Almost forgot. Let's hope he keeps the sarcasm to a minimum.
(And nobody whacks him one on the backside of the melon.)
Almost forgot. Let's hope he keeps the sarcasm to a minimum.
(And nobody whacks him one on the backside of the melon.)
The lawyer in question was Rich Esenberg
Hilarious:
* Neither does Esenberg, but try telling that to Journal Communications, Inc. That respondent "Peppercorn" Gableman's arrangement with Michael Best & Friedrich is commonplace is an utterly fatuous claim. It ain't.
The very action Gableman faced is rare, let alone his fee arrangement, which is commonplace only in completely different circumstances, where its contractual benefits inhere to plaintiffs, and not to defendants.
Incidentally I notice this column by Bill Lueders is making the rounds in republication today. When Eric McLeod told the Journal-Sentinel that Gableman paid his bill, he could have meant the bill for photocopying.
[Dr. Ernie Pelegrino] cited as authority for this professor Scott Idleman of Marquette University Law School, as quoted during an interview on a local right-wing talk show. I have had a telephone conference with Idleman, who indicated he did not appear on that radio show, does not agree with these assertions, and would not comment on legal ethics, which he does not teach.* Idleman was concerned enough about this matter that he did some research to discover that the lawyer in question was in all probability Rich Esenberg, a former part-time instructor at Marquette. — from the (Madison) Capital Times mailbagScott Idleman happens to be a fine fellow and a personal hero of mine.
* Neither does Esenberg, but try telling that to Journal Communications, Inc. That respondent "Peppercorn" Gableman's arrangement with Michael Best & Friedrich is commonplace is an utterly fatuous claim. It ain't.
The very action Gableman faced is rare, let alone his fee arrangement, which is commonplace only in completely different circumstances, where its contractual benefits inhere to plaintiffs, and not to defendants.
Incidentally I notice this column by Bill Lueders is making the rounds in republication today. When Eric McLeod told the Journal-Sentinel that Gableman paid his bill, he could have meant the bill for photocopying.
Rep. Kelda Helen Roys: Gableman Joint Resolution
To remove Mike Gableman from office for multiple ethics violations
Keep the heat on and under this character. Might Governor Scott Walker have a chance to appoint Gableman's successor to the court? Yes, but there reportedly exist ethical conservatives (or so I have heard tell).
Everyone should prefer ethical actors regardless of their dispositions. We had a truly honorable Supreme Court justice until Gableman came along.
(Kelda Helen Roys is running for U.S. Congress, by the way.)
Keep the heat on and under this character. Might Governor Scott Walker have a chance to appoint Gableman's successor to the court? Yes, but there reportedly exist ethical conservatives (or so I have heard tell).
Everyone should prefer ethical actors regardless of their dispositions. We had a truly honorable Supreme Court justice until Gableman came along.
(Kelda Helen Roys is running for U.S. Congress, by the way.)
Wisconsin electoral redistricting errors revealed
Waukesha Co. clerk relieved it's not her fault for once
Reports the Wisconsin State Journal
Those affected are advised to contact the responsible WISGOP attorneys at Michael Best & Friedrich and Troupis Law Office who, in return for one wholly speculative peppercorn, will arrange to have them "carried ... feet first" into the correct municipality (provided they have a photo ID).
Reports the Wisconsin State Journal
Those affected are advised to contact the responsible WISGOP attorneys at Michael Best & Friedrich and Troupis Law Office who, in return for one wholly speculative peppercorn, will arrange to have them "carried ... feet first" into the correct municipality (provided they have a photo ID).
January 10, 2012
Gableman debacle now officially a "disaster"
Get me my out-of-State agitator/adrenaline junkie
But are there any wholly speculative peppercorns left for him?
Gableman's surrounded by high-priced help, yet on a meager salary.
The office for Mike Gableman's attorney Viet Dinh referred calls to spokesman Mark Corallo. — via the Associated PressMeet Mark Corallo, "Master of Disaster." He had better be.
But are there any wholly speculative peppercorns left for him?
Gableman's surrounded by high-priced help, yet on a meager salary.
WaukCo Mac "Big Righty" Davis on appeal
Disciples of Scooter v. Brennan, Number 2012AP000032.
District IV Court of Appeals Expedited Scheduling Order (.pdf).
Pass the Orville Redenbacher's.
District IV Court of Appeals Expedited Scheduling Order (.pdf).
Pass the Orville Redenbacher's.
"Peppercorn" Mike Gableman's "nonsense"
Missed a spot Bruce:
* It's complainant v. respondent in these cases, the functional equivalent of plaintiff v. defendant in the types of civil action "Peppercorn" Gableman's latest high-priced GOP attorney, Viet Dinh, is contemplating.
And nobody seems to know what Mr. Dinh's own peppercorn might be.
His representation of Gableman had better not be a gift or a favor. There ain't enough trees to bear the flurry of complaints against G-Man.
Typically, personal injury lawyers take cases on a contingency basis, with the understanding they will collect a big percentage of the jury’s award. — Milwaukee Magazine's Bruce MurphyMore to the point, it's plaintiffs' lawyers who take cases on contingent fee arrangements. In Gableman's atypical case, he was the respondent.*
* It's complainant v. respondent in these cases, the functional equivalent of plaintiff v. defendant in the types of civil action "Peppercorn" Gableman's latest high-priced GOP attorney, Viet Dinh, is contemplating.
And nobody seems to know what Mr. Dinh's own peppercorn might be.
His representation of Gableman had better not be a gift or a favor. There ain't enough trees to bear the flurry of complaints against G-Man.
Attention Jerry Falwell law school graduates
Scott Walker needs a compliant judge.
lol @ your résumé must not exceed two pages.
Preferably quintuple-spaced.
lol @ your résumé must not exceed two pages.
Preferably quintuple-spaced.
Your WISGOP lawyers in the news
On Friday, an attorney for former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler sent WISGOP attorney Michael Dean a letter accusing him of libel* and asking him to retract some of his statements. On Monday, Dean in a letter acknowledged he got some facts wrong, including what case Butler discussed with former Governor Jim Doyle's judicial selection committee.Well done, you WISGOP lawyers. You cover yourselves in glory. It's about time Butler went after their racket. They're fortunate he's a gentleman.
Very much unlike the unethical judge who took his place.
* That the WISGOP lawyer Michael Dean's "patently false [assertions] ... may constitute libel" is not, strictly speaking, an accusation of libel.
eta: Here's Dean's reply. He blames his failure to verify his patently false assertions of fact on "a computer drive failure" and his hours otherwise spent on commuting from Waukesha County to Madison. Compelling stuff, in the apparent absence of your proverbial homework-hungry dog.
IOW, sorry I'm full of bullshit but at least I got the bullshit there on time.
Classic. Some lame excuses are far, far better left unproffered.
January 9, 2012
Another complaint for "Peppercorn" Gableman
"It was really outrageous to have Gableman sitting there, knowing he had this big gift from our opponents," said Dana Schultz, local director of the 9to5 National Association of Working Women.Ayup.
h/t Jim Rowen.
For this dimwit Wisconsin traded Russ Feingold
Sad:
Johnson was on Charlie Sykes yesterday morning, lying like a rug.
James Simmons, a political expert at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, describes Ron Johnson’s first year in the Senate as unremarkable. Johnson’s tendency to vote against leadership shows he is not a team player and his proposals lack substance.Via Xoff: A wealthy guy used to getting his own way.
Johnson was on Charlie Sykes yesterday morning, lying like a rug.
David Bowie is 65
Pictures of David Bowie doing normal stuff.
My favorite album:
It's No Game Part 1
As sideman:
Turn Blue
My favorite album:
It's No Game Part 1
As sideman:
Turn Blue
Baby don't get hooked on statutory language
More Judge Mac "Big Righty" Davis from Edward Fallone:
Strict constructionists my honkey keister.
[T]here are no explicit provisions in the statutes that direct the GAB to look for and eliminate duplicate, fictitious or unrecognizable signatures. Just a direction not to count signatures that are insufficient under Section 9.10(2)(e).My friend Jay Bullock's post, cited by Fallone, was indeed a fine one.
Strict constructionists my honkey keister.
January 8, 2012
The Journal-Sentinel's Rick Esenberg Disclaimer
I see David Haynes and the mandarins on the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel editorial board have added a disclaimer to Marquette University Law School professor Rick Esenberg's attempt at defending Mike Gableman's reported acceptance of a gift or favor from Michael Best & Friedrich, to the effect that Esenberg recently presented oral argument before the court on which Gableman sits. Judges are prohibited by the Wisconsin Code of Judicial Conduct from accepting gifts or favors from lawyers or firms if they have or are likely to come before the judge.
That's a relatively innocuous disclaimer compared to Esenberg's prior relationships with the Gableman political campaign. Esenberg appeared in a video produced by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce which was distributed at a series of WMC luncheons in 2008. Rick Esenberg's former research assistant at Marquette, Daniel Suhr, assembled a "white paper" criticizing the record of former Justice Louis Butler — perhaps the only actor deserving of the appellation "honorable" in this whole sordid affair — the misrepresentations of law contained in which Esenberg strenuously defended at his blog, where Esenberg also repeated and purported to rationalize some of the sleaziest accusations against Justice Butler.
And Rick Esenberg's Bradley Foundation-funded Kulturkampf boutique law firm, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, hired Tom Kamenick, a former clerk of Gableman's, as an associate. It's like incest but without the sex. Given the foregoing, the Journal-Sentinel's disclaimer is a bit of a joke. The fact that Esenberg argued a case before the Supreme Court isn't such a big deal, unless you realize what case it was, which the Journal-Sentinel's disclaimer doesn't identify.
The case is Wisconsin Prosperity Network v. Myse and Esenberg presented the argument instead of James "Carried ... feet first" Troupis, who represented Justice David Prosser during the latter's political campaign last spring. It's also the case from which Prosser disqualified himself in September, 2011 apparently after being pressured by the Journal-Sentinel's reporting, even though this blog had pointed to the potential conflict of interest as early as the previous April.
Speaking of which case, Prosser and Gableman literally rewrote the Wisconsin constitution to grant an injunction in 2010 in favor of the plaintiffs, a who's who of conservative Republican activists, the granting of which was executed even before the court had decided whether to take jurisdiction of the case. A decision is forthcoming in Myse but a date hasn't been announced. This blog wondered several weeks ago how a divided court is going to address the posture of that injunction.
The Journal-Sentinel is a wholly owned subsidiary of Journal Communications, Inc., which itself is in effect a wholly owned subsidiary of the WISGOP. The transparency of these relationships is remarkable.
But yeah, thanks for the illuminating disclaimer. Great public service.
That's a relatively innocuous disclaimer compared to Esenberg's prior relationships with the Gableman political campaign. Esenberg appeared in a video produced by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce which was distributed at a series of WMC luncheons in 2008. Rick Esenberg's former research assistant at Marquette, Daniel Suhr, assembled a "white paper" criticizing the record of former Justice Louis Butler — perhaps the only actor deserving of the appellation "honorable" in this whole sordid affair — the misrepresentations of law contained in which Esenberg strenuously defended at his blog, where Esenberg also repeated and purported to rationalize some of the sleaziest accusations against Justice Butler.
And Rick Esenberg's Bradley Foundation-funded Kulturkampf boutique law firm, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, hired Tom Kamenick, a former clerk of Gableman's, as an associate. It's like incest but without the sex. Given the foregoing, the Journal-Sentinel's disclaimer is a bit of a joke. The fact that Esenberg argued a case before the Supreme Court isn't such a big deal, unless you realize what case it was, which the Journal-Sentinel's disclaimer doesn't identify.
The case is Wisconsin Prosperity Network v. Myse and Esenberg presented the argument instead of James "Carried ... feet first" Troupis, who represented Justice David Prosser during the latter's political campaign last spring. It's also the case from which Prosser disqualified himself in September, 2011 apparently after being pressured by the Journal-Sentinel's reporting, even though this blog had pointed to the potential conflict of interest as early as the previous April.
Speaking of which case, Prosser and Gableman literally rewrote the Wisconsin constitution to grant an injunction in 2010 in favor of the plaintiffs, a who's who of conservative Republican activists, the granting of which was executed even before the court had decided whether to take jurisdiction of the case. A decision is forthcoming in Myse but a date hasn't been announced. This blog wondered several weeks ago how a divided court is going to address the posture of that injunction.
The Journal-Sentinel is a wholly owned subsidiary of Journal Communications, Inc., which itself is in effect a wholly owned subsidiary of the WISGOP. The transparency of these relationships is remarkable.
But yeah, thanks for the illuminating disclaimer. Great public service.
January 7, 2012
Viet Dinh joins ranks of MJS wing-nut commenters
Posting as "refugee," Gableman attorney goes on the PR offensive
Mr. Dinh avoids precisely the same dispositive issue as does Esenberg.
"Free" is not the term of art. "Gift" and "favor" are the terms of art.
IOW, Mr. Dinh attacks the reporting without reference to the law.
We are not impressed.
Mr. Dinh avoids precisely the same dispositive issue as does Esenberg.
"Free" is not the term of art. "Gift" and "favor" are the terms of art.
IOW, Mr. Dinh attacks the reporting without reference to the law.
We are not impressed.
January 6, 2012
What an embarrassment ...
A reader writes:
Energetic Mike Gableman apologist Rick Esenberg completely avoids the dispositive question, in that if Gableman gave "valuable consideration," then what was its value? Gableman is prohibited from accepting favors without his valuable consideration in return. All Esenberg needs to do is answer this simple question. But he can't because whatever consideration there was is not able to be valued.
Elsewhere Esenberg asserts, "Gableman did not have the money" to hire counsel whose competence was commensurate with the public importance of his case. Gableman, a lifelong bachelor who has been collecting nearly $150,000 per year in Supreme Court salary* since September, 2008, has no money. The least Prof. Esenberg of MULS could do is place a value on the Florida swampland he's offering.
Then the wholly speculative peppercorn is all his.
Try telling regular folks making considerably less than $150K who do have to pay their lawyer what a sad state of penury Gableman is in.
And beginning this month the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel expects people to pay money to read this evasive nonsense? Not bloody likely.
* Approaching half a million dollars worth of public funds gained through an unethical political campaign. How's yer Tea Party now?
What an embarrassment to have the comments of the writer connected to Marquette University Law School.Tell me about it. I'm thinking the Dean should be open to affixing an asterisk to all pre-Esenberg juris doctors, denoting them as such.
Energetic Mike Gableman apologist Rick Esenberg completely avoids the dispositive question, in that if Gableman gave "valuable consideration," then what was its value? Gableman is prohibited from accepting favors without his valuable consideration in return. All Esenberg needs to do is answer this simple question. But he can't because whatever consideration there was is not able to be valued.
Elsewhere Esenberg asserts, "Gableman did not have the money" to hire counsel whose competence was commensurate with the public importance of his case. Gableman, a lifelong bachelor who has been collecting nearly $150,000 per year in Supreme Court salary* since September, 2008, has no money. The least Prof. Esenberg of MULS could do is place a value on the Florida swampland he's offering.
Then the wholly speculative peppercorn is all his.
Try telling regular folks making considerably less than $150K who do have to pay their lawyer what a sad state of penury Gableman is in.
And beginning this month the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel expects people to pay money to read this evasive nonsense? Not bloody likely.
* Approaching half a million dollars worth of public funds gained through an unethical political campaign. How's yer Tea Party now?
"Difficult to verify" a better choice of words
A footnote in the criminal complaint* states that because many of the images involved pubescent or post-pubescent boys or very young men whose ages would be hard to verify, neither was charged with possession of child pornography.If you know what I'm sayin'.
* WARNING: It's perverse and revolting.
(And you may never peel another carrot again.)
January 5, 2012
Mac Davis goes after Big Lefties like Bugs Bunny
WISGOP activist judge forces unfunded mandate on GAB
Interlude: Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me
How's the GAB supposed to know that "Mac Davis" isn't a comic pseudonym like "Bugs Bunny"? At least Bugs Bunny wasn't a conservative activist judge. And there are Hitlers in Wisconsin.
* Yep: Michael Best & Friedrich.
"Counting the signature of Bugs Bunny is something only lawyers could try to make seem OK," said Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Mac Davis.What the hell does that even mean?
WISGOP attorney Steven M. Biskupic* cited a media report that one man claimed he'd signed recall petitions 80 times.That was WISN-12 teevee in Milwaukee's total crock of unverified shite. Mr. Biskupic actually believes that crap? Give me a break.
Interlude: Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me
How's the GAB supposed to know that "Mac Davis" isn't a comic pseudonym like "Bugs Bunny"? At least Bugs Bunny wasn't a conservative activist judge. And there are Hitlers in Wisconsin.
* Yep: Michael Best & Friedrich.
Scott Walker Milwaukee County aide arrested
Reports Daniel Bice.
Criminal complaint to follow, whose allegations should be illuminating as to the ongoing investigation into Governor Scott Walker's cronies.
eta: Business setting theft over ten grand.
Flashback: Tim Russell digging the dirt on Chris Abele (h/t BL)
Irony remains dead among the WISGOP crowd and their attorneys.
Criminal complaint to follow, whose allegations should be illuminating as to the ongoing investigation into Governor Scott Walker's cronies.
eta: Business setting theft over ten grand.
Also charged was Brian Pierick, Russell's longtime partner. Pierick was charged with one felony count of child enticement."Expose sex organ" in Waukesha County. Yikes.
Flashback: Tim Russell digging the dirt on Chris Abele (h/t BL)
Irony remains dead among the WISGOP crowd and their attorneys.
Did "Peppercorn" Gableman's attorney also lie?
Bill Lueders wants to know:
All this must be doing wonders for MB&F's reputation, aina?
"[Michael Best & Friedrich LLP partner Eric M.] McLeod said Gableman had a standard billing agreement with the law firm and has paid that bill" [emphasis added].Mr. McLeod was personally sanctioned by a federal court on Tuesday.
All this must be doing wonders for MB&F's reputation, aina?
January 4, 2012
"Peppercorn" Gableman's attorney sanctioned
Personally sanctioned. Together with his law firm.
Now that is what I call an asskicking.
WISGOP flouted the law so egregiously that even a court noticed.
ORDER: Plaintiffs are free to seek eleventy brazillion peppercorns.
Now that is what I call an asskicking.
WISGOP flouted the law so egregiously that even a court noticed.
To clarify, if perhaps the Legislature's lawyers failed to read or understand the Court's prior orders entered under the heading "Before WOOD, Circuit Judge, DOW, District Judge, and STADTMUELLER, District Judge," . . .Ouch. And that's just them gettin' warmed up.
ORDER: Plaintiffs are free to seek eleventy brazillion peppercorns.
January 3, 2012
January 2, 2012
Hope you don't need to shoot a Wisconsinite today
Because your handgun may take awhile:
"We're broke." — Scott Walker, repeatedly.
The [WISGOP] Legislature's budget committee approved a department request to spend $1.5 million from application fees to hire more than two dozen additional employees to help with applications over the next two fiscal years.Hey who says gummint doesn't create jobs.
"We're broke." — Scott Walker, repeatedly.
In Wisconsin, it's an elective office
Says the Chief Justice of the United States:
That would be Judge Mike "Peppercorn" Gableman: "A peppercorn does not cease to be good consideration if it is established that [Michael Best & Friedrich] does not like pepper and will throw away the corn."
Nevertheless, argues Gableman through his latest counsel, less than a peppercorn — that is, only the wholly speculative recovery of a peppercorn — is not just good consideration but "valuable consideration."
That's preposterous.
I have complete confidence in the capability of my colleagues to determine when recusal is warranted. They are jurists of exceptional integrity and experience whose character and fitness have been examined through a rigorous appointment and confirmation process.Gableman's character and fitness were examined in 2008. They didn't fare particularly well. "Sinking to new lows," as former Justice Janine Geske put it. "Particularly base and deceptive," observed Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Diane Sykes.
That would be Judge Mike "Peppercorn" Gableman: "A peppercorn does not cease to be good consideration if it is established that [Michael Best & Friedrich] does not like pepper and will throw away the corn."
Nevertheless, argues Gableman through his latest counsel, less than a peppercorn — that is, only the wholly speculative recovery of a peppercorn — is not just good consideration but "valuable consideration."
That's preposterous.
January 1, 2012
Gableman's Viet Dinh is a funny guy
$100K+ in never-invoiced legal services over nearly two years of representation of Supreme Court judge "not free," insists latest high priced GOP attorney
Believe it or not, Mr. Dinh is referring to Mike Gableman. Either Mr. Dinh has no sense of irony whatsoever or knows little of his new client, who showed that professional integrity is a legal fiction.
And don't call [him] Shirley.
Surely the indictment of a judge’s impartiality, and a man’s professional integrity, must be justified by something more than that he voted slightly higher than 50-50.Haha.
Believe it or not, Mr. Dinh is referring to Mike Gableman. Either Mr. Dinh has no sense of irony whatsoever or knows little of his new client, who showed that professional integrity is a legal fiction.
And don't call [him] Shirley.
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