I am so totally and thoroughly disgusted with the two-party system, from top to bottom, that I’m at the point where, channeling (here it comes) William F. Buckley, I’d rather be governed by the first 132 names in the UW Faculty directory than the 132 dweebs in the state legislature.
Well, I’d better modify that number to around 120. There are about a dozen members of the legislature I truly respect, and consider to be true servants of the people.
Having been a faculty adjunct at several universities and an administrator at a large private university, I understand how politically-charged academia is. But as political as academia can be, in every place I’ve worked they seemed to have the best interests of students…and the institution…at heart.
I’m not quite yet convinced that’s true of Biddy, though. And I’m not at all sure what Ann Althouse’s true agenda is….since she’d likely be among the first 120 names listed in the UW faculty directory. She and that “Meade” character she consorts with are quite the pair, bending things to the right constantly.
The problem is, for the past couple decades there seems to be no consensus on ANYTHING. For Christ’s sake, there are still elected Republicans who espouse a belief that our President was born and raised in Africa. And there are elected Democrats who are some of the biggest crooks ever to hold office. Facts are no longer facts; they’re assertions to be disproved or denied by the “other side”, no matter which side. And nobody, particularly in the Wisconsin legislature, seems to be actually willing to discuss or debate the issues, despite the constant posturing by both sides that they’re willing to do so.
Murder threats? Bomb threats? The anger is almost palpable, and I’m not just talking about the loonies who actually make death threats. Those people need to be locked up for the safety of all of us. Friends of mine in the media get hate e-mail for even INTERVIEWING someone on “the other side”. God forbid there’d be two sides to any issue, and God forbid the local media should attempt to be “fair and balanced” in reporting this story.
Despite the recalls being organized and the lawsuits being filed, Governor Walker’s new regime with its new laws may “stand.” But I think it’s going to get one hell of a lot hotter around here before we know what stands and what doesn’t.
Colonel,
ReplyDelete>> I’d rather be governed by the first 132 names in the UW Faculty directory than the 132 dweebs in the state legislature. <<
Heh! Considering that they're mostly probably Democrats, that ought to be pretty comfortable, eh?
Re: Ann Althouse, definitely right-leaning. She's another blogspot blogger.
>> But I think it’s going to get one hell of a lot hotter around here before we know what stands and what doesn’t. <<
I'm re-reading "John Adams" by David McCullough. I wonder how our current tsourris will compare with the political strife around the turn of the 19th century.
The Town Crank
Neenah
Fortunately, most of the "death threat"-eners don't know the front from the back of a gun or combat knife.
ReplyDeleteIf they really did, they'd not waste time and pixels writing out asinine screeds. They'd just go shoot someone.
They don't have the balls.
Recall is a legitimate remedy not to be deployed lightly, and it's pretty clear that a significant slice of the electorate thinks it's valid in this case. But if they don't follow through--if the energy dissipates and the gov signed this morning becomes the new normal-- that'll be more evidence to me that the political system is broken. It's one thing to talk, but you've also got to walk.
ReplyDeletejb,
ReplyDeleteRecall petitions require an enormous number of signatures...at least an order of magnitude more than the candidate himself has to gather to get his name on the ballot: 25% of the number of votes cast in the most recent election.
So determining whether the "political system is broken" based on whether recall efforts get past the petitioning process or not isn't really a fair gauge of its brokenness.
The Town Crank
Neenah
Frankly, I'd be surprised if ANY of the recall efforts succeed. This issue is dead, dead, dead.
ReplyDeleteMan, I am as overdosed as anyone at this point. I am embarrassed by the people who call themselves journalists. They used to teach a thing, called "being objective." I hope this period passes into history just as "yellow journalism did." I know we have to get our citizenry interested in national(and world)policy, but this type of posturing the events of the day is a bad joke. I call it, "Pro wrestling Journalism."
ReplyDelete@Dad29: I remember you writing death threats on a blog about a year and a half ago, threatening to shoot any OFA canvassers that might dare knock on your door. So, do you not know the back from the front of a gun, or did you just in the end not have the balls? From all your fomenting all over the blogosphere comment boards, I get the sense you're one of those chickenhawk keyboard commandos, so your projection here is pretty amusing.
ReplyDeleteAlso, as far as this issue being "dead, dead, dead": don't you wish it'd just go away. Unfortunately for you I have a picture of me and 150,000 of my closest friends gathered on the square today that says otherwise.
No OFA canvassers showed up.
ReplyDeleteAnd my recollection of the post was that I would be open-carrying when I answered the door.
Leads to "brown-short" syndrome for a lot of canvassers, you know.
If you can dredge up a quote in which I specifically state that I would 'shoot them,' please do so.
150K? Even the LeftOWacky Madistan cop-shop guessed <100K. About what you'd need in signatures to begin recall of 5 Pubbie Senators.
It ain't gonna happen. Or (hedging the bet), if it DOES happen, it'll wind up as horse-trading. Darling loses, but so does Holperin.
Dad29 wrote "I would be open-carrying when I answered the door."
ReplyDeleteDoes this nut normally parade around the house wearing a pistol? Or is he able to smell these OFA canvassers coming?
Yah, I can smell them, just like they could be smelled out while in the Capitol building.
ReplyDeleteCould smell them all the way to Wisconsin Dells.
JCG,
ReplyDeleteCollective bargaining power (not "rights") for public union employees will not turn out to be a winning issue for Democrats, in my humble yet deadly accurate opinion. The turnover in the state house in January was too large to be swamped by this.
The Town Crank
Neenah