A Liberal Lives In Wisconsin

     Robin Vos knew masks would stop the spread of coronavirus.      Robin Vos also knew that most Wisconsinites without TBIs supported masks.      Vos wanted to be a hero for rednecks to save his own political skin.      Vos didn't want to take it before the legislature so Wisconsin Republicans wouldn't have to out themselves as anti-maskers.      Vos took the governor to court, instead.      Robin Vos used taxpayer money to do this.      The mask mandate stayed.      Don't be like Robin. Better yet, vote him out of office.

       As Halloween approaches, I imagine a great fear for many women would be chauvinistic pigs like Treig E. Pronschinske. In 2017, at the time the mayor of a small town called Mondovi, he settled a lawsuit for $325,000 alleging sex discrimination. After becoming mayor in 2014, he began sexually coercing Officer Bonnie Bertrang, telling her he was home alone and inviting her over. When she refused his advances, she was denied a promotion and ordered to resign. After two years in the legal system, the case was settled out of court at taxpayer expense. In a town of 2,600, that is $125 per resident that could have been spent improving the city or lowering taxes, but instead it went so Treig could fire women who wouldn't help him cheat in his wife. Ah, GOP!

       While Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert have gotten attention at the national level for their belief in the bonkers conspiracy theory QAnon, state lawmakers have also expressed their support for this cult, which claims that Democrats are supporters of an elite cabal of Satan-worshipping, cannibalistic pedophiles, mostly "Hollywood elites," and that Donald Trump is the reincarnation of Christ who has been sent from Heaven to save America's kids.      Dave Armstrong, of Rice Lake, is one such example. He has widely liked and shared QAnon posts on his social media account. When asked about his beliefs, he claimed that he did not believe everything, but found the core principle "credible." The core principle of QAnon is Satanic cannibal pedophiles; is there something beyond that he found impossible to believe? The man is a member of Wisconsin's legislature, and yet he answers questions with the emotional maturity of a school bus driver. ...

       On January 6th, 2021, during his comments trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin found a new way to be racist, claiming, "We all know the role that Black Lives Matter had in the election, and it seems like THESE PEOPLE don't appreciate the value of a traditional family."      Completely off-topic and reminiscent of his history of racism and homophobia, Grothman was confronted by black Representative Stacey Plaskett of the United States Virgin Islands, an impeachment manager for Donald Trump's second trial, who said, "Shame on my colleague from Wisconsin. Before he leaves, I would like to point out that black people have survived 400 years in this country through the bonds of slavery and still managed to keep families together. Shame for saying that we do not appreciate the values of family."      Grothman left soon afterward, reportedly to help his wife shave her beard into a ...

     After a roller coaster ride of mixed results at the federal level, the first state trial in the case of the terrorist plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was a triumphant victory in the name of justice for American democracy. Joseph Morrison, the fetal alcoholic syndrome-suffering leader of the Wolverine Watchmen; his father-in-law, Pete Musico; and Paul Bellar, a former military member from South Carolina who was honorably discharged with PTSD; were each convicted of felony counts of material support for terrorism, gang membership, and firearms possession for providing support to the men federally charged and convicted with attempting to kidnap Whitmer. Their sentencing is set for December 15th: they face mandatory minimums of two years and statutory maximums of 42 years in state prison.      In August 2021 and February 2022, Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping and received sentences of 30 months ...

       Rice Lake and all of Barron County and the numerous other parts of the 75th Assembly District have a choice to make: 1. They can be seen as racists for voting a known KKK supporter into the legislature 2. They can be seen as idiots for blindly voting for the Republican candidate with no knowledge of his racism or 3. They can make the right choice and toss the fat, old bastard out of office.      In 2015, while Americans mourned the murder of nine at a black church in Charleston by a white supremacist, Duke threatened to halt donations to the GOP after they condemned the Confederate flag in a bipartisan vote. Over the course of NEARLY A WEEK, he shared numerous tweets that included KKK propaganda from leader David Duke and claimed that black people were more likely to be slave owners than white people while accusing black people of discriminating against whites.      That was 2015, and he got voted into the Assembly in 2019.

     As governor of Arkansas and again as president, Bill Clinton made children a priority. From the CHIP program to efforts to curb gun violence and other violent and sexual crimes to expanding internet access to protecting child immigrants and promoting adoption and child support collection, he struck at the heart of millions of voters through the people who matter most to them: their kids.      In 1994, Clinton signed two major pieces of education legislation to further his efforts. In March 1994, he signed the Goals 2000 Act, a predecessor to the No Child Left Behind Act that raised the difficulty of America's school curriculum, established new standards for teachers, involved parents and guardians, increased the high school graduation rate, enhanced prenatal health systems, launched preschool programs to prepare kids for school, closed the gap between trade and academic learning, and more.       In October 1994, he signed the Improv...

     Ryan Green. If you remember one new name today, let it be that of Ryan Green. I sincerely apologize for this imposition, as it's sure to make you angry. Ryan Green is noteworthy not for who he is or what he does but for what he says on what he believes is the anonymity of the internet, a select few uncomfortable "friends" who have likely become numb to his deranged bullshit. I detest the MAGA movement in all its manifestations, but Mr. Green goes well beyond not only what most Republicans believe but also what most MAGA Republicans believe. Mr. Green delves into the despicable realms of not just Nazi ideology, but unjustifiable violence, rape, and animal abuse. If having this piece of shit rolling around in your brain does in fact make you angry, know that you are not helpless to do something about it.      I'm not advocating for anything in particular; I'm just saying that there are solutions that are theoretically possible. Ryan Green, after all, has...

       Dave Armstrong wasn't mad at Dylann Roof for murdering nine churchgoers in Charleston back in 2015. Instead, he was mad at people discriminating against white supremacists for just being white supremacists. I mean, it's not like they can control being vile, racist hillbillies, right, Dave? David threatened to cancel donations to the GOP when they condemned white supremacy in the form of the Confederate flag. Instead, he was elected to the Wisconsin Assembly as a Republican. In between sharing KKK propaganda, Dave defended the Confederates that 12,000 Wisconsinites died fighting. You represent Wisconsin, Dave, not white supremacists who have been dead for 150 years. And 60 percent of Barron County looked at this guy and thought, "You know what, I want this guy to be the face of my community." If you aren't a backwater bunch of braindead bastards, vote Dave Armstrong out in November. 

     For all the damage he did to our country, Richard Nixon at least has a sizeable list of positive contributions, one of which was becoming the first president to visit all 50 states in the nation. George H.W. Bush would do the same, as would Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. In modern times, this appears to be mostly a Democratic trend. Sure, it is helpful in freeing up time when you don't have full control of Congress, but this hasn't been the sole deciding factor. President Trump, for example, aimed his visits nearly all in either swing states or states that voted for him in 2016, largely avoiding Democratic states like the plague. For all the talk about his being a "weak old man," President Biden has moved remarkably quickly in his visits, highlighting the impacts of his landmark legislation in communities across the country and helping grieving families in states and territories red and blue. In his first 20 months, President Biden has made 177 visits to 33 state...

       Dave Armstrong has tweeted about women a total of seven times out of his thousands of racist and crazy tweets, and all of them referred to women in one word: "bitch." Six were in a daylong rant about AT&T's commercial (he apparently has a lot of free time) on October 4th, 2011, while he was actively holding office in Rice Lake. Another stated that he wouldn't "wipe his ass" with Samantha Bee's Full Frontal. Aside being incredibly whiny for someone who hates "snowflakes," and apparently unaware that Samantha Bee has a TV show (not a newspaper or magazine, you fat old bastard), he also called her a "bitch." Apparently his wife doesn't mind that nor his remarks telling her to, "Shut her big fucking mouth."      While he ran Barron Economic Dev, he tweeted a reply to a tweet that accused Donald Trump of covering up sexual assault with one acronym: "lmao." So, not only does he think that women are "b...

     The Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot case has been a rollercoaster of emotions and developments as we seek to hold accountable the plotters of the largest act of domestic terrorism in modern American history up to that point. Before trial began, Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping and testify against their co-defendants. While Garbin was initially sentenced to 75 months in prison, in exchange for his testimony, the DOJ asked a court to reduce his sentence, and they obliged, knocking it down to just 30 months. Franks, meanwhile, was sentenced yesterday to four years in prison for his actions, as well as three years of supervised release and a $2,500 fine.      These are relatively short prison sentences, but it is worth it for two guaranteed convictions of lower-level conspirators in exchange for testimony against higher-level ones at trial. The first federal trial in this case was a sad one: Daniel Harri...

     With all the deservedly negative coverage of Donald Trump, MAGA Republicans, and their pet Supreme Court, it has been hard for most Americans to hear about the positive developments that have taken place since January 2021. 63 percent of Americans believe Joe Biden has done little since he took office, when the fact is that this Congress has been the most productive in modern history. There was the slew of executive actions that Biden took on day one to undo the Trump administration's worst policies; the actions the DOJ and the White House took to meet the moment on racial justice; the American Rescue Plan Act that vaccinated 80 percent of Americans and created ten million jobs in less than two years; the designation of Juneteenth as the first new national holiday in 40 years and the signing of two historic hate crimes laws, one of which was a response to COVID hate crimes and one of which was the anti-lynching law a century in the making; the biggest reform to the U...

     With SCOTUS' disastrous decision this past summer, a public health crisis was created in our nation. While the president cannot do everything unilaterally, there is quite a bit he, and the executive branch more broadly, can do to protect abortion rights. One way is to arrest the anti-abortion extremists that permeate our communities, and, this year, the Justice Department is prioritizing doing just that.      Good and bad, criminal justice reform is the defining legacy of the Clinton administration, and the FACE Act he signed into law while President Biden was head of the Senate Judiciary Committee is a definite "good." This law makes it a federal misdemeanor to block access to an abortion clinic and, in some cases, a federal felony to conspire to do so. President Clinton prosecuted 60 of these cases during his time in the White House while Presidents Bush and Obama each prosecuted only about 20 and President Trump just a handful. Under President Biden...

     Barack and Michelle Obama's marriage has not always been easy and perfect, and they have been more open about that than any presidential couple in American history. Michelle, in spite of having more of a touch for politics than her husband, was reluctant to involve their daughters Malia and Sasha in the 2008 campaign. Still, through the best and worst of days, their love and the love they share for their daughters helped them survive a decade of constant public scrutiny and come out better for it. As the White House no longer mattered in 2017, they were even able to make a joke out of any tension they had by competing in book sales each time one released a new work.       Michelle and Barack also share a passion for public service. Everyone knows the former president's story: a community organizer, civil rights attorney, law professor, Illinois senator, U.S. senator, and best-selling author who entered the national spotlight for his 2004 DNC keyno...

       Donald Trump certainly directed and enjoyed the terrorist attacks of January 6th, 2021, that left seven people dead. However, the GOP itself actively supported and defended the attack, from the Arizona GOP urging people to "die for Trump" to the Oregon GOP leading a mini-insurrection and saying the attack was "fake news," from the Maine GOP, Wyoming GOP,  and North Carolina GOP censuring those who voted for Trump's impeachment to the dozens of state and local GOP lawmakers from states like Georgia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania supporting the attack.      Even before this, the GOP wanted blood. They stormed the Michigan State Capitol in 2020, hatched a kidnapping plot against Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, threatened to assassinate Democratic officials in Kentucky and Virginia, and sent pipe bombs to the Clintons. This is from the party that also burglarized the DNC in 1972 and spent two decades making jokes about torturing Nancy Pel...