Sunday, July 8, 2012

Walker Puts A Chokehold On Lady Justice

A lot of times, when a shady deal involving a politician is revealed, it's a matter of quid pro quo, or in more vernacular terms, one hand washing another. However, in Fitzwalkerstan, the ruling class' hands are so filthy that they will never be washed clean.

And as it seems to be the trend in Fitzwalkerstan, another new day exposes another new scandal.Or at least a new turn in an old one.

In 2011, David "Chokehold" Prosser made a statement that he would be "a complement" to Scott Walker's administration.

And by complement, he meant rubber stamp.

Shortly after his seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court was securely bought and paid for, with the help of thousands of suddenly found votes, Prosser made good on his words.  He rubber stamped Act 10 into law. As I wrote at the time:
Now word as come out that the "Supreme Court" of Wisconsin has, without apparent deliberation or research of the law, has ruled the open meetings laws to be invalid and that our elected officials (or at least the Republican ones) are above the law and don't need to adhere to the laws that they themselves had passed. Needless to say, WMC spent tons of money in making sure that Annette Ziegler, Michael Gableman and David Prosser were on the bench, just so that they could shred the Constitution and the law books and make irresponsible decisions like this one.
And if you don't want to listen to me, Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson said pretty much the same thing:
Justice Shirley Abrahamson accused the majority of reaching a hasty decision that’s light on legal analysis, opening them up to the unnecessary charge that they “reached a pre-determined conclusion not based on the facts and the law, which undermines the majority's ultimate decision.”

Abrahamson agreed in her opinion that the the challenge to the legislation raises fundamental constitutional questions. But she did not join the majority opinion because she believes the court should follow its own rules and the constitution in such a case. Thus, she believes the case should have followed the normal appeal route rather than the court taking original jurisdiction and issuing a decision that gives the case “short shrift.”
Now, Prosser's poor judgment, or utter lack of any judgment, is also in hot water. No matter how much the Bradley Center's Christian Schneider might try to obfuscate the issue, if not just fabricate things out of thin air, Prosser is still facing an investigation into the allegations that he put a chokehold on Justice Ann Walsh Bradley.

Well, Scott Walker wasn't going to just idly stand by and let Prosser fall victim to his own intemperate temper. No sirree, Bob! A tool like Prosser's rubber stamp was too valuable to let go that easy. After all, without Prosser on the bench, who knows what could happen? Walker might actually have to start following the law and the people might actually have their constitutional rights upheld. Walker couldn't have any of that!

In a shocking article* by Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, we learn that Walker consulted with former state legislator and former Prosser aide, John "Hand me another brewski" Gard for names to be appointed to the commission investigating Prosser's assault on Justice Bradley.

Walker made his appointments within days of getting the names from Gard, without even the formality of an interview.

So who are these legal scholars that Walker appointed to the commission to investigate Prosser? Well, they're not exactly legal scholars. Walker appointed an anesthesiologist, a dentist and a housewife. Previously, Walker had appointed a Spanish translator and a dean from Marquette University.

But if they're not legal scholars, what are their qualifications to set on a commission investigating a Supreme Court Justice? Gard explained it this way in an email he sent to Walker:
"These are not people who require any hand holding - they are fiercely conservative and will never wimp out," Gard wrote. "There will be no surprises."

Of Barrette, Gard wrote: "I laid out what we were looking for and (he) said he would do it if needed."
Obviously, Walker's goal was not to have a qualified commission, but to stack the deck so that the commission could rubber stamp the human rubber stamp as being innocent. Given Prosser's impulsiveness and lack of forethought, Prosser could easily prove to be his his own worst enemy in an honest investigation.

With these appointees, Walker's hand-picked, "fiercely conservative" minions who "will never wimp out" have a 5-4 majority on the commission.

I think the gentle reader can deduce what kind of outcome Walker expects from his appointees to the commission, and it doesn't necessarily have to do with upholding the law and or delivering justice.

The gentle reader should also not be surprised at the level of corruption coming from Walker and his administration.  The revelations so far from the Walkergate investigation are ample indication that Walker has no concern or regard for the law or for ethics.

But these furthering shenanigans could go to explain why the federal investigators are taking so long to issue any indictments or bring Walker in for arraignment.  There's already so much criminal activity that it boggles the mind, and as I always say, when it comes to Scott Walker, there's more.  There's always more.

*The article is not shocking that Walker would be this corrupt. What is shocking is that the corporate media would allow it to be published.

11 comments:

  1. I'm guessing that most of your readers, while being gentle in many respects, are more likely to identify themselves as seriously outraged.

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    1. You can count me as one of the gentle and seriously outraged.

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  2. "It's better to lucky than good."

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  3. From the Wisconsin Judicial Commission website:
    "The Commission has nine members, including one court of appeals judge, one circuit court judge, and two attorneys, all appointed by the Supreme Court; *and five non-lawyer members appointed by the governor with Senate confirmation.*" Emphasis mine. (Language repeated in 757.83 of the Wisconsin Statutes.) As much as I oppose Mr. Walker and believe he will eventually be indicted, naming non-lawyers is in keeping with what the law requires. That said, "what we were looking for", "fiercely conservative", and "will never wimp out" are terms that do raise an eyebrow and could use further explanation.

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    1. It's also interesting when one looks at the campaign donations from these people.

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  4. "are terms that do raise an eyebrow and could use further explanation"

    So is anything that the peshtigo Piss-ant John Gard has his hands in.

    great pic by the way Capper!

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  5. Notice how the big behind-the-scenes players at Walker Inc. include disgraced politicians like the convicted Scooter Jensen and tossed-out-on-his ass Jonnie Gard? And now they make big bucks shilling for the BS-filled voucher lobby.

    Rigging the judiciary is a main part of the GOP sickening plan to steal power and money from all of us as long as they can. I'm also pleasantly surprised the J-S ran with this article, and we need to shout loudly this type of corrupt appointment-making.


    The hiring of incompetents and ideologoes might be the top reason why you can't ever vote for a Republican for governor or president again. And yes, it is part of the plan, and a huge reason why we need #wiunion independence in public service more than ever

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  6. The bigger the fish, the longer the Justive Dept will take to real him in, and be sure their case is airtight against him.

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  7. I hope so !! these guy's are not only dirty,they are FILTHY !! They need to lock them up and throw the key's away !!!!!!!!!!!

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  8. Was writing about this myself, and rediscovered this great article from 4 months ago by the Progressive's Rebecca Kemble that showed 3 of Walker's appointees to the Commission donated to him, and 2 donated to Gard. Can you say pay-to-play? I knew you could.

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  9. Prosser did not make a statement that he would be "a complement" to Scott Walker's administration.

    His campaign manager did; Prosser disavowed the remarks, and then endorsed them by keeping the campaign manager on.

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