Bolton Confidential...notes.

What's all this talk about systemic racism?

Sen. Susan "Trump's learned his lesson" Collins makes another tough decision...

McConnell lowers "bar" for Judges...

Vos/Fitzgerald brace for new audio...

Trump Republicans scared shi**ess of ANTIFA and Black Lives Matter, panic over Seattle "occupation!"

ANTIFA provocateurs? Anarchist takeover of Seattle? Fox News seems to thinks so, imagining the worst...

…and this was fun speculation and conspiracy base on the right wing's favorite source of research, "anecdotes:"

The Seattle Police Department warned business owners located in the so-called Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone to call 911 if protesters occupying the area demand money from them … “We have heard, anecdotally, reports of citizens and businesses being asked to pay a fee to operate within this area. This is the crime of extortion. If anyone has been subjected to this, we need them to call 911.”

Seattle's Takeover Anarchy, Chaos, ANTIFA occupation, Violence...meditation demonstration? 

As CNN reported, it's all amazingly similar to the late 60's love in demonstrations: 

TRUMP: “Domestic Terrorists have taken over Seattle.” — tweet Wednesday.

THE FACTS: No they haven’t.

This weekend the six-block zone in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood resembled more festival than protest. Thousands packed the area known as CHAZ for Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone or CHOP for the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest. Some meditated or painted. Others listened to speakers. The zone is stocked with granola bars, water, toilet paper and toothpaste.

Fear and anarchy came and went too...

Like Trump, Vos denies racist comment blaming "science," and by creating paranoid Gov. Evers conspiracy. Scott Fitzgerald goes along.

When Republicans are exposed by their own racist words, it's the governor's fault...again:

On the secret recording of a phone call last month with Gov. Tony Evers, Vos blamed high numbers of COVID-19 cases in Racine on immigrants.

Here it comes...

Fitzgerald added the recording will “completely erode our ability to work together for the foreseeable future.”

Oh no, not that. Just when you thought the legislature, after all their politically condescending hysterical criticisms and phony outrage, were finally going to get along with the Gov. Evers administration...our dreams were crushed? See if you see any hint of Fitzgerald trying to "work together," or seriously considering pandemic safety precautions:



Rep. Robin Vos blamed Evers who said he didn't know about the recording. Not only that, the recording only came out because of an open records request, not slipped anonymously to the media...so how can you plan that? Still, Vos "suggests" a conspiracy and victimhood, that sends the necessary signal:

“I sincerely doubt that he did not know,” Vos said.

You see, Vos outright blamed Hispanic and Latino immigrants for a spike in Covid-19 cases, you know, because of their "culture." They live "much closer" together...you get his meaning, right?:

"I know the reason, at least in my region," Vos said in the recording, "it's because of a large immigrant population where, you know, it's just a difference in culture where people are living much closer and working much closer."

...from Upfront:



Science, FINALLY: Again weaponizing another racist stereotype, like when Republicans used the high rate of Covid-19 cases in black communities to stoke lockdown resentment in white rural parts of our state:

Vos responded on Twitter, saying: "Listen to what was said and not the sensationalist headline. Facts show communities of color are disproportionally impacted. That's science."

So, is the following just more "science:"

The post shared by Tusler (R-Harrison) features a photograph including of a group of people, primarily African Americans, who appear to be entering a store through a broken window. It reads, "LOOTING: When free housing, free food, free education, and free phones just aren't enough."

Never letting a cheap shot moment go unexploited, Sen. Scott Fitzgerald and Rep. Vos' created another comically transparent opportunity to whine. In other words, they've got nothing else:

Vos said by refusing to answer who consented, which is required by law, "clearly there is a cover up in progress. I’m waiting to see what Gov. Evers’ actions are. Not his words, I’m sick of words. What are his actions to deal with this clearly, clearly unprecedented breach of trust?”

Fitzgerald said Evers had lost control of his office in an appearance on a conservative talk radio show Thursday. "I think we've got a half-engaged governor with a staff that continues to manipulate. I don't think he's got control. In 26 years in the Legislature, this is one of the most brazen examples of unethical, unprofessional conduct I have ever seen. The governor has gone so far off the deep end, he’s making secret Nixonesque recordings from the East Wing of the Capitol. This conduct is totally unbecoming of our state’s top executive and opens up questions about what other recordings his administration may have.”

Notice how Vos and Fitzgerald spread "uncertainty" with planted "open questions" that are only meant to manufacture conspiracies within their paranoid voter base. Here's my source:

Sadly, and because the Dems continue to play the abused partner in politics, they found the weakest way possible to fight back against this racist assault...

Democratic state Rep. Jonathan Brostoff of Milwaukee said the staff member who recorded the conversation should be fired immediately. Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, said "It's bush league and amateur to have something like that happen and I do not condone it in any way."

Wow, now that's focusing like a laser on Vos' outrageous racist stereotype? When it comes to framing an issue, Democrats are pathetic!

This is the way to respond:

Less than 24 hours after a recording became public of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos blaming a coronavirus outbreak in Racine County on "immigrant culture," critics have responded with calls for the GOP leader to resign or apologize.

Just another lesson NOT learned. But some were telling it like it is:

Jenny Tasse, a spokesperson with the Milwaukee Jewish Federation said leaders can’t blame one group like immigrants for the coronavirus.

"In the Jewish community we are all too familiar with this dangerous trope. Immigrants are the blood of our communities. Rather than deflect and blame, Speaker Vos should applaud the workers that keep our communities running."

Vos is covering for an unhealthy increase in his district. Heck, he wanted to open early and forever removed the states ability to deal with future pandemics...what, no consequences?

As in Milwaukee, the hardest hit communities in Racine have been communities of color. About 45 percent of the city of Racine’s population identifies as African American or Latino. About 85 percent of the coronavirus cases in the city are people of color, Racine Mayor Cory Mason said in a previous interview with WPR.

In that county, by ethnicity, 23% of positive cases are Hispanic or Latino, 74% are not Hispanic or Latino ... 74% are reported as white, 13% Black and 14% other.

Trump turns Bible upside down...

Former police officer Sen. Wanggaard part of the problem! So maybe he's the wrong guy for advice on Police Reform, ya think?

When will news media finally realize Republicans don't solve problems, and never will? 

Yet no one seems to have noticed this, all the while Republicans like State Sen. Van Wanggaard, a former police officer, are blocking attempts to reform policing to stop a growing problem that is dividing the nation. Sure, ask a guy who was a part of the problem.

Like the GOP's inaction on mass shootings, Wanggaard is repeating the same insulting talking points; there really isn't a problem, and more impossibly thinks we can change "human nature." In other words, we're not going to do anything. 

The thing is, Wisconsin Republicans have been playing this little trick for years; like saying "they'll look into it," or take the long way starting from scratch instead of relying on successful national and global studies to more quickly reach a solution. Oops, did I say solution? That's a word Republicans don't understand. Like this hard work from a Democrat:

After talking with experts across the country, analyzing best practices of police departments and reading through recommendations including the Police Enforcement Executive Forum’s Guiding Principles on Use of Force and former President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, she first introduced the bill in 2017.

This is a societal problem coming from public law enforcement agencies nationwide. Being public, citizens and their representatives get to call the shots on what is acceptable law enforcement.

Instead of seeing a problem, Wanggaard sees black protesters and supposed ANTIFA infiltrators, quite a different picture than the a few hundred good ole boy protesters carry guns and white nationalist confederate flags demanding we ignore the pandemic and get back to work.

Wanggaard's cheap shot at "liberal activists" says a lot about how seriously he takes an actual global protest. 

"...a scathing response from Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine), accusing them of micromanaging and misunderstanding police. He dubbed the measure, “clearly written by liberal activists who have never served with law enforcement, and apparently never even talked or listened to them.”

In the Upfront interview below, Wanggaard would be happy dealing with the problem after-the-fact, when its already too late, just like he would with mass shootings. Here are some of his other cliched favorites...:

1. "...how did it happen, why did this happen."

2. "this isn't about throwing it out there, this is about doing it right."

3. "there's going to be sense of assuredly, that when an investigation is done, its not a coverup or like that, that we have actually someone going and looking at "what's happening, and how can we fix it so it doesn't happen."

Of course we're already at point 3, trying to fix it so it doesn't happen, but Wanggaard clearly doesn't  even agree with his own suggestion. Go figure. See, he and Republicans will never solve a problem, ever:



In another appearance, Wanggaard spewed out a few other classics that lets the carnage explode. WPT's Here and Now:

1. "No matter what is in this bill, would not have changed what occurred..."

2. "We need to get at the root cause...we need to look at how can we address those issues."

3. "We have a piece of legislation we've been working on for 2 years..."

Yea, he said that.



Police Reform? Who needs it...?

Trump's Bunker Mentality...

Press asking Trump a nasty question...

Trump tweet storming...

Nygren's amazing race baiting press release...believe your eyes!

It's a fact Wisconsin's Lt. Governor, Madella Barnes, is black.

So Rep. John Nygren wants to make sure you get really PO'd about it.

Why Nygren specifically targets Barnes leaves little up for discussion. In fact, his whole oddly petty argument is shaped around his obvious racial dog whistle message. You rarely see anything this point blank racist. And Nygren is proud of his clever whiteness:

Just as weird, Nygren complains about Evers budget cuts to many of the governors own favorite programs because of the pandemic, while at the same time complaining they weren't the 5 percent Evers demanded, but instead were 2.5 percent. Oh, and this is a rewrite of an earlier release that same day, but without Mandela Barnes as the target.

Read his race card press release yourself, especially the last line, which blew my mind totally, considering Trump's latest tweets about "thugs," shooting Democrats, and when the "shooting starts." Can't remember when Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch sparked this kind of outrage:

Trump COVID-19 preventive treatments mushroom...

Sad Republicans: With Great Power comes Great Irresponsibility: They Screwed up, now seek Governors Solution.

Enter COVID-19 Pandemic: Businesses closed and unemployment skyrocketed. But it could have been any other kind of disaster, natural or economic:

(Wisconsin now has) a backlog of 675,000 unemployment claims that are part of the surge driven by the coronavirus pandemic.

Gerrymandered Elections have Devastating Consequences: When Republicans gutted the governors powers before taking office, they did it simply because he was a Democrat:

JSONLINE: GOP lawmakers have instituted a series of benefit restrictions over the last decade that have limited Evers’ ability to respond to the current situation. Most recently, they approved lame-duck laws just before Evers took office that prevent him from loosening many benefit eligibility rules.

But Republican can't Govern or Solve Problems: Seeing the backlog they created, panic set in, and they demanded Gov. Evers do something. Almost laughable was this bumbling realization by a clueless Rep. John Nygren:

Nygren and other Republicans this month called on the administration to issue payments to some beneficiaries before reviewing whether their claims are valid. But he said he has since learned the administration doesn't have the authority to do that. 

No sh** Sherlock. Exposed, Nygren and his band of plundering Republican pirates admitted they can't fix problems, so they're actually throwing it back to Gov. Evers to give them a solution:

Nygren said he is open to crafting legislation to try to address the issue but hasn't gotten answers from the administration about what it needs. 

Will November see Republicans lose even a few elections? Nope. We're stuck with this totally irresponsible legislature thanks to tribalism and Trump cultist voters :

And Wisconsin was the last state in the nation to begin issuing $600-a-week enhanced payments provided by the federal government. 

Why was Wisconsin the last state? Simple...

Republican lawmakers have taken lumps in recent weeks because they forced the state to cover $25 million in benefits that would have been picked up by the federal government if they had acted more quickly to pass a coronavirus relief package.

Evers spokeswoman Britt Cudaback said "Republicans weren’t concerned enough about unemployment insurance to convene the Legislature before Wisconsin lost out on $25 million in federal funding last month, or at any point in the last eight years during which they made it harder for people in our state to access this critical assistance." 

Policy Failures shine a bright light on Walker Republicans: Did you hear, Republican saved taxpayers billions of dollars not paying for anything, a real badge of honor for freeloaders.

Unemployment Calls Blocked! Remember when Republicans bragged about Scott Walker's legacy? Here's another legacy disaster we all knew the next governor would have to fix regarding their Rube Goldberg version of collecting unemployment benefits; unemployed callers were blocked. Would I kid you? Curtesy of State Sen. Dave Hansen:  

"Republicans knew of the state’s unemployment system’s inability to handle large numbers of applications but did nothing to fix the problem. According to an audit conducted by the state’s non-partisan Legislative Audit Bureau in fiscal year 2013- 2014 1.7 million calls, or 60.2% were blocked. “From December 2013 through January 2014, more than 80.0 percent of the 836,700 calls to the telephone line for initial claims were blocked.” 

“Since the audit Republicans have known about the problems with and limitations of the unemployment insurance system but did little to nothing to fix it. For them to now be trying to place the blame on our Governor and Secretary Frostman for the difficulties caused in large part by their lack of concern for the unemployed is hypocritical and disingenuous,” said Hansen

Famous last words!

Space Force retro...

More QAnon's ObamaGate conspiracies...

Reminder, Vos and Fitz don't solve problems...

Dumb Ron Johnson doesn't see problem giving Businesses liability protection if employees get COVID-19!

So, just how hard will businesses work to create and maintain a safe COVID-19 free work environment if they can't be sued for lack of protections, maybe relaxing protections, or possibly getting rid of burdensome protections for employees over time? 

You know the answer to that, and so does Dumb Ron Johnson.

It's not needed if business...

"...follows the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal workplace safety agency. If a business does its best to comply with those recommendations, that should safeguard them from frivolous lawsuits."

Yet Johnson wants to pretend we can "trust" business with peoples lives and health? Talk about uncertainty. Who would feel safe going back to work where "anything goes" or protections are at the mercy of whatever a business can afford at the time?

Again, because unemployed workers have all the time in the world to pay their overdue bills, Johnson's tired old scheme is to delay and make us first understand what went wrong with previous stimulus payments blah, blah, blah...! Capitol City Sunday:

“If the laws simply give immunity to corporations, there will be absolutely no incentives to ensure that they create a safe work environment,” said Remington A. Gregg, a lawyer with the watchdog group Public Citizen. Granting legal immunity, he says, will “sabotage the effort to get workers and consumers back. If people don't trust that stores, offices and workplaces are safe, they will refuse to return.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce suggests that it could be narrowly tailored. “No one wants to protect bad actors here,” said Neil Bradley, the chambers chief policy officer. Bradley says “if they are willfully forcing workers to work in unsafe conditions, then they don't have that liability protection.”

Yea, sure, we'll see...