It’s Okay to Be a Partisan Republican Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice. Gableman Zealotry out of Closet

As the right wing tears into the justice system for “legislating from the bench,” it has been not so quietly taking charge of that system so it can legislate from the bench and interpret law their way. And, like running for political office, lying is a justifiable means to an end. Enter Justice Michael Gableman. According to the Wisconsin State Journal:

No other Wisconsin judge has faced the ethics violations now confronting Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman … no judge has ever faced Judicial Commission allegations that he or she made false statements about an opponent. Gableman has indicated he will fight the accusation on First Amendment grounds … If he maintains that position throughout the proceedings, that could mean he would have to answer questions under oath.

Am I being just a partisan blogger, going after a conservative Justice? Read this from the Capital Times Online:

If there was any question as to where newly elected Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman stands on abortion or, for that matter, on a host of other social issues, his choice of attorney should provide some clues. Gableman, who is facing charges that he violated the Wisconsin Judicial Code of Conduct during his spring race against incumbent Justice Louis Butler, is being represented by prominent Republican attorney James Bopp Jr. who serves as counsel to the National Right to Life Committee and the James Madison Center for Free Speech.

A lead partner in the Terre Haute, Ind., law firm of Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom, Bopp has become a familiar figure in national conservative battles. He recently represented Wisconsin Right to Life, the state's leading anti-abortion group, in its successful effort to rein in the scope of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, which was intended to regulate the disclosure of political money, especially close to an election.

Opposing campaign finance laws has, in fact, become a specialty of Bopp's. According to his columnist bio, Bopp has "argued numerous campaign finance cases in defense of pro-life, pro-family, conservative and Republican Party groups, including four cases in the U.S. Supreme Court."

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court is a sad partisan joke, to say the least. The last two conservative Justices took their jobs under a cloud of ethics problems. We have another election coming up, and already the Republican candidate has accused his liberal opponent of “legislating from the bench,” as if he wouldn't.

Republicans are attempting to break down the legal glue that holds this country together, replacing it with a promise that they'll take care of us when the time is right, and you're at your most desperate. Of course, there will never be a "right time" to help, and that's the beauty of a small do nothing government of elitist conservative ideologues.