Author Archive for JOHN ADAMS
Big Lie, Conservative Populism, Conspiracy Theories, Daily Bread, Gableman, Speaker Vos, Trump
Daily Bread for 5.1.22: Gableman Bites the Hand That Feeds Him
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning.
Sunday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 52. Sunrise is 5:47 AM and sunset 7:56 PM for 14h 08m 34s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 0.5% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1898, during Spanish–American War at the Battle of Manila Bay, the Asiatic Squadron of the United States Navy destroys the Pacific Squadron of the Spanish Navy after a seven-hour battle. Spain loses all seven of its ships, and 381 Spanish sailors die. There are no American vessel losses or combat deaths.
Only last week, under pressure from Donald J. Trump, Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos agreed to allow Michael Gableman’s slapdash election investigation to continue. See Trump v. Vos (“Trump wins — Vos extends Gableman’s contract. No surprise that Trump’s assist gives Gableman more time. Vos has been walkin’ around with a laminated KICK ME sign on his back for months. Some office furniture may already be gone, but Gableman will likely get to keep his mouse pad a little longer…”).
As it turns out, gratitude is not among Gableman’s thimble of virtues. Patrick Marley reports that Days after Robin Vos extended Wisconsin’s election review, Michael Gableman stands with the Assembly speaker’s critics in the GOP:
On Saturday, Gableman responded by appearing on a stage with some of the Republican speaker’s most vocal critics on the right, including Vos’ primary opponent.
Gableman appeared at a rally on the state Capitol steps immediately after Vos’ opponent, Adam Steen, called Vos a traitor.
At the beginning of Steen’s speech, someone in the crowd yelled that Vos was a RINO, or Republican in name only.
“‘RINO’ is a nice word,” Steen responded. “I prefer the word ‘treasonous traitor.'”
Taking the microphone after Steen, Gableman did not mention Steen’s attack on Vos, but noted Steen had said any change had to go through the Legislature.
“Really the change, and what we want to see, is very, very simple and direct and common sense, and that’s why it’s going to take positive, persistent passion each day — each day — for all of us to show up and do what’s necessary to support the people who see it our way,” Gableman said.
….
The event featured a who’s who of Vos’ conservative critics who have maintained he has not done enough to review Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in Wisconsin. (Vos’ many critics on the left say just the opposite — that he has spent too much time and money on studying an election that recounts and courts have found was properly conducted.)
The event was emceed by Joe Giganti, a host at Green Bay’s WTAQ-AM who has repeatedly called for Vos’ ouster and who on Saturday said the speaker’s name is “a three-letter cuss word.”
America, Big Lie, City, Conservative Populism, Conspiracy Theories, Culture, Daily Bread, Education
Daily Bread for 4.30.22: Longwell on Why Trump Supporters Believe the Big Lie
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will see showers and thunderstorms with a high of 59. Sunrise is 5:48 AM and sunset 7:54 PM for 14h 06m 04s of daytime. The moon is new with 0.1% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1864, Joseph Bailey Saves a Union Fleet:
On this date, Joseph Bailey began to direct the men of six regiments, including the 23rd Wisconsin, in a dramatic attempt to save the heart of a Union fleet during the Civil War. Bailey, who was from Wisconsin Dells and an experienced lumberjack, served as an engineer in the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry.
In a doomed campaign against the Confederates on the Red River in Louisiana, Union warships found themselves trapped by low water and the rocky river bed. As Confederate soldiers approached, Bailey employed water control techniques used by loggers to construct a series of dams that successfully narrowed the river, raised the water level by six feet, and provided enough surge to free the trapped fleet of gunboats. For his role in this rescue, Bailey was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. He also received a Tiffany punch bowl from his fellow officers.
Sarah Longwell writes Trump Supporters Explain Why They Believe the Big Lie:
Some 35 percent of Americans—including 68 percent of Republicans—believe the Big Lie, pushed relentlessly by former President Donald Trump and amplified by conservative media, that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. They think that Trump was the true victor and that he should still be in the White House today.
I regularly host focus groups to better understand how voters are thinking about key political topics. Recently, I decided to find out why Trump 2020 voters hold so strongly to the Big Lie.
For many of Trump’s voters, the belief that the election was stolen is not a fully formed thought. It’s more of an attitude, or a tribal pose. They know something nefarious occurred but can’t easily explain how or why. What’s more, they’re mystified and sometimes angry that other people don’t feel the same.
….
Long before Election Day, the media had warned about a “red mirage” and alerted Americans to the possibility that Trump would have a large lead on Election Night only to have it dissipate as mail-in ballots were counted. But if you were watching Fox News, you probably didn’t hear any of this. Instead, Trump, MAGA-friendly politicians, and conservative media outlets were priming voters to see a conspiracy.
Trump correctly assumed that the majority of the mail-in ballots that would be counted late at night would go to Biden. So he cast mail-in ballots as fraudulent almost by definition. The woman from Georgia told me that mail-in ballots were “a crock,” without elaborating further.
Attempts to set the record straight tend to backfire. When you tell Trump voters that the election wasn’t stolen, some of them tally that as evidence that it was stolen. A woman from Arizona told me, “I think what convinced me more that the election was fixed was how vehemently they have said it wasn’t.”
America — the most technologically advanced country on Earth — did not attain this position because her people struggle to offer a “fully formed thought” or insist that factual claims are “‘a crock,’ without elaborating further.”
A higher standard has brought America to her present, developed position; the lower standard of the Big Lie — should it persist — will drag America down.
In beautiful Whitewater: a public school district spending millions, and a public university spending many times as much, and yet some of our fellow residents share views that require no learning or reasoning at all.
We are undemanding in our educational expectations: the baseless political claims of the Big Lie merit no deference.
Moon, Planets and Space Stations:
America, Assault Awareness & Prevention, Conservative Populism, Culture, Daily Bread, Mendacity, Trump, Trumpism, University
Daily Bread for 4.29.22: No Free Speech Problem for Trump Apologist Kellyanne Conway
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning.
Friday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 61. Sunrise is 5:50 AM and sunset 7:53 PM for 14h 03m 33s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 1.9% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1862, Union forces under David Farragut capture New Orleans.
Kellyanne Conway, mendacious Trump supporter, spoke during a visit to UW-Whitewater on Wednesday. For all the conservative worry over supposed speech suppression on UW System campuses, Conway spoke without interruption of any kind. Henry Redman reports Kellyanne Conway speech about liberals suppressing free speech meets no protest at UW-Whitewater:
Kellyanne Conway, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, gave a speech Wednesday evening at UW-Whitewater, focusing on threats to conservative speech from progressives as she spoke in front of nearly 200 people.
Speaking for about an hour in the half-full Timmerman Auditorium — which seats about 400 — Conway railed against threats to free speech as she repeatedly told the audience they were on “the right side” of issues ranging from immigration to abortion access, critical race theory and charter schools, while dropping the names of the many famous conservative figures she knows, including Trump and former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Among the people in attendance was state Sen. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater).
In the auditorium, fliers left on each chair from the campus police department gave guidance for exercising free speech “safely, respectfully and lawfully.” A large number of police officers provided security at the event, which concluded without any disruptions inside or protests outside. The online announcement for the event included a statement that the hosts “reserve the right to remove disruptive or rowdy attendees.”
Indeed, Conway — a defender of a Nebraska gubernatorial candidate facing complaints from eight women (including a Republican state senator) — was able to speak freely at UW-Whitewater without any protest.
Redman also notes that the auditorium was only half full. Perhaps there’s not as much demand for downmarket Trump apologists as these Republicans believe.
A funny aside, though, presents itself on what the Republican organizers believe about themselves. One reads from FortAtkinsonOnline.com that “several seats within the auditorium were reserved for VIP guests.”
So, at a Greyhound bus terminal, there are not separate sections for ordinary bums and VIP bums. No. There are only bums, each in the same unfortunate condition.
In a similar way, at a zoo, there are not separate sections for ordinary hyenas and VIP hyenas, but instead only animals of the same kind with mottled fur and crazed eyes. It’s nutty that these conservatives showing up for Kellyanne Conway would somehow think it’s possible to divide their ilk into separate classes.
There is only one.
Shanghai residents bang pots and pans in Covid lockdown protest:
Frustrated residents of Chinese city bang pots and pans to protest against living under a strict lockdown for nearly a month.
Cats
Friday Catblogging: Relaxed, Very Relaxed
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Arnesia Young writes that a Japanese Cat Sleeping in Funny Position Is Compared to a Drunken Salaryman:
Cats are often known to fall asleep in a variety of amusing positions. But one Japanese Twitter user’s cat conked out in a position so odd that commenters are comparing the snoozing feline to a drunken salaryman on a Friday night. For those unfamiliar with the term, salaryman is typically used to refer to a Japanese white-collar office worker. And according to the common trope, salarymen are typically very loyal to their company, which often causes them to be overworked and quite stressed. As a result, it’s a common stereotype that you’ll find them passed out on the weekends—usually Friday nights—after blowing off some steam with a few too many drinks.
Here’s the original tweet:
And here’s someone’s interpretation of the cat as a soused salaryman:
Sure enough, that cat’s had too much.
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America, Assault Awareness & Prevention, Conservative Populism, Culture, Daily Bread, Mendacity, Trump, Trumpism, University
Daily Bread for 4.28.22: Exclusive Video — Kellyanne Conway Visits UW-Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning.
Thursday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 46. Sunrise is 5:51 AM and sunset 7:52 PM for 14h 01m 01s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 5.6% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1881, Billy the Kid escapes from the Lincoln County jail in Mesilla, New Mexico.
Kellyanne Conway, Trump apologist and serial liar (the former requires the latter) paid a visit to UW-Whitewater last night. FREE WHITEWATER has exclusive video of her appearance before at an auditorium in Hyland Hall:
What else has Conway been doing lately? Well, recently she admitted that she Knew Of ‘Sexual Allegations’ Against Nebraska Candidate Months Ago:
Former Trump administration White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said she heard last year about “some kind of sexual allegations” against GOP Nebraska gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster — but she’s working to get him elected anyway.
Conway alleged on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast that groping allegations raised by eight women, including a Republican state senator, were somehow cooked up by current Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts, who does not support Herbster, a corporate CEO who has never held office.
Only the best people, only the best people…
Palate cleanser (to the extent that’s possible) —
French Pres. Macron Gives Celebratory ‘Dab’ for Supporters:
America, Conservative Populism, Culture, Daily Bread, Disinformation, Propaganda, Putin
Daily Bread for 4.27.22: How Putin Conned the Right
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning.
Wednesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 44. Sunrise is 5:53 AM and sunset 7:51 PM for 13h 58m 27s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 11.5% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1945, Benito Mussolini is arrested by Italian partisans in Dongo, while attempting to escape disguised as a German soldier.
As was true of some on the American left by the Soviets, or some on the American right by the Nazis, so now some American conservatives are in Putin’s enthrallment. Shay Khatiri describes How Putin Conned the American Right (‘He carefully planted the seeds for his popularity among conservatives’):
Putin made his first moves in the direction of conservative cultural leadership in 2013. The previous year, President Barack Obama had put social conservatives on a defensive footing by coming out in favor of gay marriage. Then, in 2013, the Supreme Court agreed to hear United States v. Windsor. Six weeks after the oral argument, the Russian Duma passed what would come to be known as the “anti-gay law,” but Putin didn’t sign the bill into law immediately. He let it sit on his desk for three weeks. Days after the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, he signed it into law.
Later in 2013, a Kremlin-connected Russian think tank called the Center for Strategic Communications published a report titled, “Putin: World Conservatism’s New Leader.” The document repeated populist talking points that would prove influential during the 2016 presidential election. It rejected “ideological experiments” and called for social stability and conservative family values instead. It characterized immigration as a threat to the nation-state, and it framed Putin as a defender of sovereignty.
….
Putin’s information strategy is a continuation of the old Soviet information strategy. It prioritizes a large variety of low-cost operations; efforts and resources are multiplied for whichever works best. And just like the Soviet regime before it, Putin’s regime is impotent in understanding American politics, but it is well versed in understanding American societal divisions—and how to exploit them. For years, Putin’s strategy seemed to pay off, as a segment of writers and magazines and broadcasters on the American right praised him, or at least took it easier on him than they otherwise would have. But the war in Ukraine has shown the limits of Putin’s soft power: An overwhelming majority of Americans object to Russia’s invasion and view the Russian leader as a menace and a pariah.
Kyiv demolishes Soviet monument representing Russia-Ukraine friendship:
Daily Bread, Gableman, Speaker Vos, Trump
Daily Bread for 4.26.22: Trump v. Vos
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning.
Tuesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 47. Sunrise is 5:54 AM and sunset 7:50 PM for 13h 55m 53s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 19.1% of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Board of Assessment meets at 6:30 PM.
On this day in 1564, William Shakespeare is baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England (date of birth is unknown).
Update, afternoon of 4.26: Trump wins — Vos extends Gableman’s contract. No surprise that Trump’s assist gives Gableman more time. Vos has been walkin’ around with a laminated KICK ME sign on his back for months. Some office furniture may already be gone, but Gableman will likely get to keep his mouse pad a little longer…
Michael Gableman’s contract ends soon, and he’s angling for an extension:
[Assembly Speaker Robin] Vos gave Gableman a $676,000 taxpayer-funded budget, which includes an $11,000 monthly salary. Since the review launched, Gableman has missed multiple deadlines to issue a final report.
….
In recent weeks Gableman appeared on former White House adviser Steve Bannon’s podcast to put pressure on Vos to extend his contract with the state beyond April — Vos’ deadline to complete the review. At one point, Gableman told Bannon’s fans to call and email Vos and ask him not to pick up his office furniture Tuesday.
(Emphasis added to highlight the pathos of it all.)
Perhaps all is not lost for Gableman and his extra-wide office chair, as Donald J. Trump has come to his defense:
Without naming Vos, Trump suggested in a statement to his millions of supporters that the Rochester Republican will see a successful primary opponent if he does not extend former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman’s contract with the state Assembly.
“Anyone calling themselves a Republican in Wisconsin should support the continued investigation in Wisconsin without interference,” Trump said.
“I understand some RINOs have primary challengers in Wisconsin. I’m sure their primary opponents would get a huge bump in the polls if these RINOs interfere,” Trump said, using an acronym for “Republicans In Name Only.” Trump did not name Vos’ primary opponent Adam Steen.
Molly Beck has the full beat-the-repo-man story at Trump turns up the heat on Wisconsin Republican leader Robin Vos to keep Gableman election probe alive.
Easter in destroyed Chernihiv: A message of hope and peace prevails:
Daily Bread, Fascism, Language, Russia, Ukraine, War
Daily Bread for 4.25.22: ‘Ruscism’
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning.
Monday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 45. Sunrise is 5:56 AM and sunset 7:49 PM for 13h 53m 16s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 28.2% of its visible disk illuminated.
The Whitewater Unified School Board meets in open session at 5:45 PM, then enters closed session, resuming open session at 7 PM.
On this day in 1960, the United States Navy submarine USS Triton completes the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.
Timothy Snyder writes that Ukrainians have coined a new word to describe the ideology behind Russia’s invasion of their country: ruscism. Snyder explains The War in Ukraine Has Unleashed a New Word (In a creative play on three different languages, Ukrainians identify an enemy: ‘ruscism’):
The origins of the word “
” give us a sense of how Ukrainians differ from both Russians and Americans. A bilingual nation like Ukraine is not just a collection of bilingual individuals; it is an unending set of encounters in which people habitually adjust the language they use to other people and new settings, manipulating language in ways that are foreign to monolingual nations. I have gone on Ukrainian television and radio, taken questions in Russian and answered them in Ukrainian, without anyone for a moment finding that switch worthy of mention. Once, while speaking Ukrainian on television, I stopped for a moment to quote a few words of poetry in Russian, a switch that was an effort for me. But Ukrainians change languages effortlessly — not just as situations change, but also to make situations change, sometimes in the middle of a sentence, or even in the middle of a word.
.…
The new word “
….
Few beyond Ukraine seem to know that millions of Ukrainians, exercising freedom of speech in a country that allows it, have invented and are deploying a new word. “Ruscism” will sound strange at first. So did “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing,” other words that emerged from (Eastern) European wars. The concepts that clarify our world today were once strange and new. But when they point to something, they can take hold.
” give us a sense of how Ukrainians differ from both Russians and Americans. A bilingual nation like Ukraine is not just a collection of bilingual individuals; it is an unending set of encounters in which people habitually adjust the language they use to other people and new settings, manipulating language in ways that are foreign to monolingual nations. I have gone on Ukrainian television and radio, taken questions in Russian and answered them in Ukrainian, without anyone for a moment finding that switch worthy of mention. Once, while speaking Ukrainian on television, I stopped for a moment to quote a few words of poetry in Russian, a switch that was an effort for me. But Ukrainians change languages effortlessly — not just as situations change, but also to make situations change, sometimes in the middle of a sentence, or even in the middle of a word.In response to invasion and war crimes against their nation, Ukrainians have crafted a new word. They and the world would have been better if there had been no need for linguistic creativity. Yet there is such a need, and so they have plainly defined the ideology tormenting them.
How Nicolas Cage Parodies Himself in ‘Massive Talent’ | Anatomy of a Scene:
Music
Monday Music: Neko Case and Nick Cave, She’s Not There
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Daily Bread, Politics, Right-wing Populism
Daily Bread for 4.24.22: Mallory McMorrow Delivers the Required Response
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning.
Sunday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 68. Sunrise is 5:57 AM and sunset 7:48 PM for 13h 50m 38s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 37.9% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1977, the Morris Pratt Insititute, dedicated to the study of Spiritualism and Mediumship, moves from Whitewater to Waukesha.
Politics affects all, but not all choose politics. For those who choose a political life, there should be — and for a well-ordered society must be — a commitment to respond to lies from one’s opponents.
The populists, now a blight on many communities, will say anything both to gain politically and to satisfy their own appetites. Adam Serwer was right about many of them: cruelty is the point.
The populists have a long list of those they’d like to wound and thereafter drive from society: those of another ethnicity, race, religion, nationality, or sexual orientation.
So insatiable are they in the infliction of injury that yesterday’s assaults no longer bring them pleasure; they crave new accusations against new victims.
In Michigan, a right-wing populist accused mainstream Democrat Mallory McMorrow, a state senator from the Wolverine State, of being a ‘groomer’ who was preparing children for sexual exploitation. False, of course, but an accusation that presented a choice: ignore or respond?
Sen. McMorrow made the right choice: she responded.
Every community has a few right-wing trolls, dwelling under Facebook bridges, casting sub-standard English in broken sentences of fractured reasoning at pedestrians traveling above. The populist menace is much greater than this: a major political party shares these disordered views.
McMorrow’s example is one that others, regardless of party, should follow when facing populist lies. I’m a libertarian, not a Democrat, but then appreciation of her approach shouldn’t be confined within a partisan boundary.
It’s stand or perish. Malloy McMorrow stood.
Admirable, so very admirable.
Strong winds fuel over 21,000-acre Arizona wildfire:
City, Daily Bread, Local Government, Open Government, Public Records
Daily Bread for 4.23.22: Two Examples in Which the City of Whitewater Fell Short on Open Government
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 77. Sunrise is 5:58 AM and sunset 7:46 PM for 13h 48m 01s of daytime. The moon is in its third quarter with 49.2% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1985, Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months.
Earlier posts this week have presented topics in open government.
On Monday: The Opportunistic Use of Open-Government Principles (‘In the Llano, Texas case, the book-banners are ideologically-motivated populists. There are, however, other groups that also use open-government principles selfishly and particularly. The most obvious situation would be traditional special interest groups (business or trade) seeking regulatory capture’).
On Tuesday: Four Reasons People Oppose Open Government (ignorance, arrogance, indolence, or malfeasance).
On Wednesday: A Suspicious Local Dialect of Opportunistic Demands for Open Government (‘It rouses skepticism that landlords, bankers, and PR men insist on open government now but were less vocal about openness when they played a more prominent role on public boards’).
Consider two situations in which the City of Whitewater has failed to meet open government standards. In the first example, of omission, the municipal government presented a lakes drawdown update that mentioned only dredging of soil but not the proposed pouring of artificial herbicide into the lakes that was, by the city’s plan at the time, a prelude to any drawdown:
When the city presented its lakes drawdown update on 8.17.21, neither any member of the city administration nor any member of the Whitewater Common Council asked a single question about the possible use of herbicides. In fact, as early as June 2021, in an unrecorded Parks & Recreation meeting, officials broached their plan to dump herbicide into the lakes. See Minutes of the 6.9.21 City of Whitewater Parks & Recreation Meeting (highlighting mine).
But in the more prominent August 17th public meeting of the Whitewater Common Council, there was no mention of this obviously controversial part of the project. It would be easy — too easy — to say that city staff was solely responsible for the omission. There were also seven elected representatives of the public in the council chambers that evening. Public awareness came not from the government but from inquisitive residents, a local news site, and this libertarian blogger. The herbicide use was sensibly abandoned.
In the second example, from November 2021 of expressed withholding, the City of Whitewater acknowledged that it received on 11.11.21 public bids for a dredging project but intentionally omitted those documents about the received bids from the 11.16.21 council agenda packet:
So, um, the lack of material but for a memo in your packet was deliberate…
When the City of Whitewater received public bids about a multi-million-dollar project on 11.11.21, the proper open-government practice would have been to place those documents in the agenda packet. When the city manager admitted his deliberate withholding of those documents during the meeting, the proper council practice would have been to direct him to display on the chamber’s projection screen each and every page of those documents (however long it might take).
Instead, the Whitewater’s city manager intentionally withheld those documents and the Whitewater Common Council took no action during the meeting to remedy this transgression against sound open-government principles.
(Whitewater has seen two years of common council errors and omissions. If the new council president avoids this fecklessness the city will be better for it.)
Mars solar eclipse captured by NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover:
Daily Bread, Fashion, Gableman, Public Records
Daily Bread for 4.22.22: Records-Deleting Fashionista Michael Gableman
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning.
Friday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of 50. Sunrise is 6:00 AM and sunset 7:45 PM for 13h 45m 21s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 61.3% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1876, the first National League baseball game is played at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia.
Friday brings an interlude into the world of vulgar opinions about women’s appearance fashion assessments from Special Counsel Michael Gableman’s office. Patrick Marley reports As he keeps tabs on public workers, Gableman contends Milwaukee employee is a Democrat because she plays video games, wears nose ring:
Gableman has used his $676,000 budget to look into the backgrounds of those who worked with the Center for Tech and Civic Life and other nonprofit groups, the records show. The center provided more than $10 million to Wisconsin communities to help them run their elections during the coronavirus pandemic.
A memo from Gableman’s office dubbed a mapping expert who works for Milwaukee as “liberally deplorable” even though she has exhibited “no overt signs of rampant partisanship” on Facebook or other websites.
The unsigned memo goes on to contend that geographic information system analyst Hannah Bubacz is “probably” a Democrat because she plays video games, “has a weird nose ring,” sometimes colors her hair, “loves nature and snakes” and lives with a boyfriend but is not married to him.
When his office isn’t tendering style appraisals, Gableman himself is deleting emails he decides on his own are unworthy of retention. Molly Beck reports Michael Gableman deleting records he deems ‘irrelevant or useless’ to his taxpayer-funded election review:
Michael Gableman and his staff in the Assembly Office of Special Counsel are destroying records deemed “irrelevant or useless,” an attorney representing Gableman in a lawsuit seeking records related to Gableman’s election review said in a recent memo to attorneys representing the liberal group American Oversight, the lawsuit’s plaintiff.
The practice is a violation of state law, according to the Legislature’s own attorneys.
“When a document comes to the OSC, the OSC evaluates whether the document is of use to the investigation. If it is, that document is downloaded and kept for further investigation, or for use in the OSC’s reports and recommendations. If the document is irrelevant or useless to the investigation, the OSC deletes that document,” Gableman attorney James Bopp wrote in a letter dated April 8 to American Oversight attorneys.
…
Judge Frank Remington on Thursday issued a ruling siding with American Oversight and ordered Gableman to stop deleting records that could be responsive to the group’s requests.
Heck of a selection you made there, Robin, heck of a selection.
Growing this grass could help curb climate change:
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, April 26th, 1 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Parallel Mothers
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Tuesday, April 26th at 1 PM, there will be a showing of Parallel Mothers @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin Community Building:
Drama
Rated R (sexuality)
2 hours, 3 minutes (2021)
Spanish with English subtitles
The story of two mothers who give birth the same day: one is exultant, the other, an adolescent, is scared, repentant, and traumatized.
Nominations for Best Actress (Penelope Cruz), director (Pedro Almodovar) and Best Foreign Film.
One can find more information about Parallel Mothers at the Internet Movie Database.
Enjoy.