Good morning.
Thursday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 81. Sunrise is 5:29 AM and sunset 8:32 PM for 15h 01m 43s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 99.2% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1789, French revolutionaries storm and seize control of the medieval armory, fortress, and political prison known as the Bastille. (The prison contained only seven inmates at the time of its storming, but was seen by the revolutionaries as a symbol of the monarchy’s abuse of power.)
Via YouTube
The Wisconsin State Journal’s editorial board writes Fred Prehn is the poster boy of government dysfunction:
All hail his majesty Fred Prehn, whom the Wisconsin Supreme Court recently coronated as a member-for-life on the state Natural Resources Board.
Prehn is the stubborn and self-important dentist from Wausau who has caused extended legal fights at taxpayer expense so he can cling to his precious post more than a year after his six-year term expired.
The good dentist should go back to fixing teeth.
Instead, he has refused to leave office long after his ego got the best of him. And with help from the high court, he’s blown a big hole in state traditions of good government.
In a 4-3 decision June 29, the court allowed Prehn to stay on the Natural Resources Board indefinitely, or at least until the state Senate finally does its job and confirms or denies Prehn’s able replacement, Sandra Nass of Ashland, whom Gov. Tony Evers nominated in May 2021. So far, the Senate has refused to act on Nass’ nomination and dozens more.
….
Just as former President Donald Trump has refused to concede his obvious defeat in the 2020 election — based on all credible evidence, reviews, audits and dozens of court rulings — Prehn is refusing to accept that his turn in power is over.
This squatter needs to leave — now. He’s not the king of the Natural Resources Board. He’s supposed to be a public servant with a term limit and some respect for the unelected position he continues to hog.
Prehn should leave, of course, but he likely won’t.
Once culture is pushed set aside (and for Trump and Prehn traditional cultural obligations hold no sway), one simply takes the biggest slice of cake and keeps eating.
Prehn is a tiny, selfish man. Too old and too late to expect better of him.