A letter to the editor from my friend, "Ashamed to be a Badger Now"

[Botany]

Ashamed to be a Badger Now

I have called Wisconsin home since 1974. I moved here because of the beautiful natural environment, and the nicest people in the world who lived here. I completed college, went into business, and now employ 35 people in rural Wisconsin. I thought I would live happily ever after as a loyal Badger and Cheeshead.

Then the Republican Party, led by “Divide and Conquer” Scott Walker, took over the state, and split the people apart with their bare knuckles political agenda. Walker and his corrupt cronies took millions of dollars from extremist special interests, starved our educational institutions, and allowed the roads to go to pot. They gerrymandered the state to serve their selfish interests at the expense of the voters, intentionally undermining democracy. But the people rose up in November to end this travesty by voting in new statewide leadership.

The Republican Traitors to Democracy would have none of it. In a child-like pique of entitlement, they rushed laws through the legislature in a lame duck session, with practically no opportunity for public comment, limiting the powers of the incoming governor and attorney general. Their shenanigans have earned them well-deserved opprobrium from across the political spectrum here in America, and even from abroad where American Democracy supposedly shines as a beacon of hope to other nations.

I used to be so proud to tell people I was from Wisconsin. Now I am ashamed of my state. People regularly ask me, “What’s wrong with your government in Wisconsin?” How do you explain to them that a gang of power-hungry, career politicians have hijacked your democracy?

Wisconsin has become the poster child for what is wrong with politics in America today. The only way to stop this perversion of the people’s will is to vote the perpetrators out of office, and to adopt the Iowa model of non-partisan re-districting. Only then can Wisconsin return to its roots of clean government, and the conduct of the people’s business, not that of the monied special interests that run the show now. Throw da bums out!


N***

[elocs]

1. Well the clusterfuck that has happened here in Wisconsin for the last 8 years

is a direct result of far too many voters on the Left deciding to skip the 2010 midterm elections when the Democrats controlled the entire state government. So there was no excuse of voter suppression or voter ID laws or Russian interference. Unfortunately, Republicans showed up to vote like it was their duty and as a result the entire state flipped from Democratic control to Republican control, also, Russ Feingold lost his senate seat.
Since 2010 was a census year that meant the Republicans got to redistrict the state when they took power in 2011 and proceeded to gerrymander Wisconsin to make sure they kept their power and control.
So no, we are not going to be able to just "throw da bums out" because it will take years to do that. And that will only happen if Democratic voters remain vigilant and vote in every election and given the tendency of the Left to become complacent and to be fickle voters, well, I'm not that hopeful.

[Woodycall]

4. Well said!

[NBachers]

20. I endorse this post.

[certainot]

22. talk radio was doing the voter suppression. 5 limbaugh stations endorsed by the uni of Wisc

did their share. UW also endorse a couple of hannity-headlined stations.

the first batch of walker emails showed about 10 references to walker coordinating with blowhards like charlie sykes to make excuses for walker, blame democratic opponents, etc.

and there is a good chance the russians were already using limbaugh, maybe since he got caught coming back from dominican republic with an illegal jug of viagra in 2007.

in 2008 he wouldn't help mccain until minutes after mccain picked palin, who was being wooed by russians re oil and gas. in 2009 he started "climategate"" from a russian hack, keeping the denial going and saving putin billions. in 2011 he pushed for 2 months for defaulting on the debt, resulting in sequestration. he got trump elected and might as well be working for putin.

today he gets credit for pushing trump into a shutdown.

that makes the university of wisconsin a good place to protest anything trump/republican, until they stop broadcast badgers games on stations like madison's WIBA and 6 other trump stations, and start looking for apolitical alternatives.

UW helped republicans do everything they did in wisconsin. those stations were flying the badger banners to attract their advertisers and still do. that's what paid to trash feinglold, the madison protestors, and other good wisconsinites.

if you want to piss off the WI cons, get UW to stop supporting trump and putin

PS as far as voter suppression, limbaugh started the obama presidency selling the meme that obama had claimed to be the savior who would turn everything around and then helped republicans obstruct everything. they sold the meme that obam couldn't get health care reform because he didn't really want it etc. and enough fucking idiots believed him in 2010 - that was voter suppression. the teabags at town halls were just shouting lines from limbaugh and company. imo the tea bags were kremlin inspired

[siriuslll]

23. Hold it a minute...

It's easy to point to 2010 and say the problem is that the Left just didn't bother to show up ..so they have only themselves to blame, but I don't buy it...and I never will. We showed up. But the Right was being driven into a mad frenzy with talk of a black usurper in the White House. The airwaves at the time were turbulent with the vicious rhetoric of "Death Panels" and "..one-sixth of our economy being hijacked by the Muslim President." There was an astroturf movement funded by right-wing billionaires to neutralize the 44th President and everything he attempted to do. The media manipulation jumped to a new level of virulence. And the mobilization of Republican voters was part of the program. Hate and fear ramped up the participation of voters on the Right.
But the biggest reason that Republicans took control in 2010 was the manipulation of the election through electronic voting. The corporations that made these machines called their software they 'proprietary'... which disallowed scrutiny of the source code at the heart of the systems. I recall more than a few close contest being decided by large numbers of votes for the Republican that were 'found' on a poll worker's laptop in the wee hours of ballot counting.

The disregard for the will of the people has been a trademark of the Right for decades. They are never only working one con at a time.

You can say that overall voter participation is appallingly low in this country, and I would agree. But plenty of us did show up in 2010.

[elocs]

26. I showed up in 2010, but plenty on the Left did not.

I crunched the numbers after that election and found that Scott Walker received nearly 90% of the votes that wen to John McCain in 2008 while his Democratic opponent, Tom Barrett only got around 65% of the votes that went to Obama.
Come election day there is only 1 thing left for any voter to do and that's to show up and cast their ballot.
It wasn't the only reason, but the biggest reason why Wisconsin flipped from total Democratic control to total Republican control as a result of the 2010 election is that too many voters did what they so often do--not vote unless they are excited or motivated.

[Woodycall]

2. Another "Sconnie" here.

It's very frustrating trying to explain to those that say "Vote them out" The problem is that without outside help from the Federal Government or the Courts, and barring some overwhelmingly damning scandal leading to multiple criminal convictions of the Fascists that OWN this place, WE CAN'T VOTE THEM OUT! That's the whole problem!

[Firestorm49]

3. Great Commentary

I live in WI and couldn’t agree more.

[Bettie]

5. DH and I are born and raised in Wisconsin

I grew up in Waukesha when it was a town full of union workers. Now it's a right wing hellscape.

Non-partisan redistricting is one of the good things about Iowa (where we live now).

[ewagner]

6. I came to Wisconsin in '75

The progressive State Government, the concerns for the land and water and the general good nature of the citizens was more than enough reason for me to stay here and raise my family...

I've never seen anything comparable to Walker, the Tea Party, the divide and conquer slash and burn politics that overtook this state in 2010....people I worked with and respected turned mean and vindictive...ignored truth...turned their backs on Wisconsin traditions I loved.

I don't know if we'll ever recover.

[Woodycall]

9. I experienced the same thing

"people I worked with and respected turned mean and vindictive...ignored truth...turned their backs on Wisconsin traditions I loved." But you know what I've come to sadly realize? They were always there, biting their tongues, talking among themselves and keeping a low profile because our majority civil, educated, and polite society held the moral high-ground and kept their baser instincts in a "Box" so to speak. Those people exist, and have existed in about the same proportions, in every society throughout history. They're about 25-30% and they're always present. Scott Walker, the Koch brothers, and the Republican Party (Fascist Party of America) let them out of that "Box" and empowered them. You know who else famously did the same thing? The Nazis.

[calimary]

24. trump has done that too. Made it okay for people not to have to "hold it in anymore."

You could let all your demons out of the closet and let them run amok all over everywhere. All those thoughts you had to suppress because they weren’t “nice,” all those urges you were told to resist and control because “we don’t do those things,” all those comments you wanted to make but had to hold back because it was thoughtless or mean or heaven forbid people think you’re stupid, go ahead! Let ‘er rip!

Don’t worry if you hurt somebody’s feelings. They don’t matter anyway. What’s most important is how YOU feel and whatever the hell you feel like doing. Don’t worry about rules or the law or conduct or behaving or sharing or telling the truth or being tactful or putting somebody else first. Fuck ‘em!

Go ahead and unleash your inner asshole. It’s okay! Be a schmuck. It’s okay to be rude, greedy, thoughtless, selfish, inconsiderate. Live it up! The rules don’t apply to you either.

[a kennedy]

7. Agree, agree, agree,........and now so happy I'm living in the Great State of Minnesota.....

right across the Mississippi River from La Crosse, Wi. Minnesota has a New Democratic Governor, and a SURPLUS OF 6.1 Billion dollars. I was born and raised in Madison Wisconsin and can not express any better then what the OP said. Brovo Botany.

[elocs]

8. That means I'm right across the river from you. n/t

[a kennedy]

16. Hi elocs in La Crosse......

[House of Roberts]

10. "...bare knuckles political agenda."

More like 'thug' political agenda.

[lancelyons]

11. Why the hell are you guys just now talking. You all should vote these guys out.

I mean I agree with what you are saying. But its a litle late now. The damage is done.

The Wisconsin people get what hey voted for.

Now you all have to stop complaining and do something to fix the problem.

Our country would be much better without the GOP.

[Woodycall]

12. We don't need a scolding

This was a planned and organized Fascist coup d'état. We don't need a scolding, we need some help. Would you have scolded Poland in 1939?

[elocs]

13. "You all should vote these guys out." Wow, why I should've thought of that with my brain!

Except with the state so gerrymandered it's going to take years to vote them out. But we're not now just talking, we've been working for years to get to this point
But since in the over 40 years that I've regularly voted in nearly every election, never voting for a Republican, I in no way got what I voted for.

[Woodycall]

14. Thank You!

I was waiting for the steam to stop coming out of my ears to say something similar.

[Borchkins]

15. Born in Madison, 1963

I've traveled the world and still call Madison home. I'm raising my kids here. Yes, Walker turned it into a hellscape with help from the Kochs. We are back on the right track.

B

[snacker]

17. Bravo

This lifelong Wisconsinite agrees.

[TygrBright]

18. Yup. LaFollette weeps. n/t

[smirkymonkey]

19. Bravo!

[CaptYossarian]

21. "Vote da bums out?" I've been voting straight Dem since I first registered to vote in 1980.

They gerrymandered the hell out of this state and we have to call Orkin to get rid of the vermin. I voted against Tommy "Scissorhands" Thompson all those times, Snotty Wanker four times, and Sean Duffy every time.

The current crop of GOP is not only evil, they're stupid too. We have Robin Vos, Glenn Grothman, Duffy, and empty suit Ron Johnson. Thank God we got rid of Walker, Ryan, and wicked witch Leah Vukmir. And Johnson promised he'd only have two terms, so he's out in 2022. He replaced Rhodes Scholar Russ Feingold (in pulse only).

[pansypoo53219]

25. u forgot tommy fucking thompson who coasted on pres clinton?

the rot started then.