No, he has no shame.
Cronies, cronies everywhere is Scott Walkers
modus operendi. It used to be confined to government jobs, agency and department heads, or appointments. No more.
These appointments are also so bad, Walker reverted to a tried and true trick: announcing the appointments the Friday before a 3 day holiday week end believing that nobody would notice. I noticed.
Now, it extends to judgeships which are now being filled with political cronies.
Scott Walker has a long history of cronyism. Walker had so many cronies and campaign donors to take care of that he had dozens of civil service jobs changed so that he could take care of his friends and benefactors.
Yesterday, Karoli wrote about one of the most recent and most egregious of these when Walker appointed the son of Michael Grebe, one of Walker's dark money masters, to the Wisconsin University Board of Regents.
And that's not all...
Now that he's been safely re-elected to another 4 year term, Walker is extending his cronyism to open judgeships. He's just appointed Rebecca Bradley (member of the Republican National Lawyers Association and past President of the Milwaukee Federalist Society which you won't read in the linked article by the Walker-loving press because she's trying hard to scrub those connections from her official record) to fill a vacancy on the District 1 Court of Appeals. Insiders say she's being fast-tracked to a seat on the Wisconsin State Supreme Court.
So, yes, she's an ideologue, but that's not my real concern here. This is:
It should be noted that Bradley served for only two years at Children's Court and didn't handle all of the duties of that assignment. Obviously, Walker didn't appoint her for her experience.
That's right, folks. Barely any experience as a Judge, she's now got a fat Appeals Court gig.
It's not only Bradley that's a problem, it's also Attorney Jim Troupis, appointed by Walker to fill a Dane County Circuit Court Judgeship after a panel to review and vet 4 applicants for the seat rejected them all.
So, who is this guy?
Troupis was a partner at the Madison law firm of Michael Best & Friedrich before starting his own law firm in 2010. He worked with Republican legislators during their redistricting of the state following the 2010 census and also represented state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser in the recount of the 2011 election.
A lot of lawyers left Michael Best & Friedrich after their participation in sleazy schemes was exposed. They were even replaced as the law firm representing Legislative Republicans in Wisconsin as well as Scott Walker. But, by then, they had done their dirty work and Walker just went and hired one of the firms that split off assuming nobody would notice.
And then there's this:
Gov. Scott Walker has appointed the son of his campaign chairman and president of one of the state’s leading conservative foundations to the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents.
...
Michael M. Grebe, son of Michael W. Grebe, president and chief executive of the Bradley Foundation, was appointed Friday to the Board of Regents. Michael W. Grebe served as Walker’s campaign chairman for the 2010 and 2014 elections as well as the 2012 recall election.
Nothing like stacking the deck with your pals and sons of donors regardless of their lack of experience.
This is the same Board of Regents where a student appointee, formerly named, was unceremoniously dumped after Tea Party groups discovered he signed a recall petition. The database that was created has been systematically used to identify "enemies" and has been used to exclude signers from employment opportunities or identify them as extreme partisans.
RoJo/Feingold
As if poll results don't show that Ron Johnson is toast, they're casting aspersions on Russ Feingold.
Don't expect that our corporate media is going to faithfully report on this because THIS is the kind of crap they print.
Despite dismal poll numbers for Wisconsin Senator embarrassment Ron Johnson, high approval ratings, and well over double digit lead if the election was held now, our media is already starting to pound on Russ Feingold as if their job to help Johnson with his re-election. Even the headline is disgusting (Can Feingold come back from defeat?). And then they start asking questions.
Can Feingold come back from defeat?
Can he recover his “maverick” brand?
Can he reconstruct the appeal he once had to voters outside his Democratic base?
The real question they should be asking both in the headline and article is whether or not dumb ass Ron Johnson has a prayer in 2016, a Presidential election year. Yes, money and fawning media helped him win in 2010 when turnout was diminished, but he's not only got zero accomplishments and nobody likes him except for Tea Baggers.
Ramming Through 20 Week Abortion Ban
Despite Walkers 2014 campaign promise that he didn't want or need any more legislation restricting womens' rights and outright denial that he wanted a 20 week abortion ban, once the election was over Walker announced he'd be more than happy so sign such legislation. The Republican dominated Legislature is now ramming through that measure.
The bill, recently introduced, is being sped through committee for a floor vote ASAP. It's a really bad bill, too:
The bill includes penalties of up to $10,000 and 31/2 years in jail for anyone who is convicted of performing an abortion after 20 weeks, when Lazich said research shows a fetus begins to feel pain. Opponents of the bill dispute that, saying the scientific community does not believe fetuses can feel pain at that stage of development.
Yes, the old fetus can feel pain argument when the real issue for Republicans is the need to control every aspect of a womans' life and make her submissive to males just like the Republican bible dictates she should be.
It gets worse:
The bill banning abortions at 20 weeks does not include exemptions for victims of rape or incest, or for fatal fetal anomalies. Under the bill, any woman who receives an abortion may sue the doctor who performs it, and so may the father except in cases of rape or incest.
The bill includes a medical emergency exception for instances in which the life of the mother is in immediate danger.
Kremer said if it becomes clear the fetus would be born with a life-threatening medical problem, the state would provide information about "perinatal hospice" care for the child and mother through the birth and eventual death of the child.
(bolding is mine)
Yes, if you're forced to have a child with a life-threatening medical problem because you couldn't have an abortion, the state will give you a pamphlet on where you can spend your money on hospice care. This would be laughable if it wasn't so incredibly sad.
That's all for now from the state that just keeps on swirling in the toilet since 2010. Stay tuned.
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