Bad Cops & The Insufferably Woke

Times are tough. Really tough. Donald Trump is our so-called leader. A pandemic is sweeping the globe. Unemployment has exploded. America's inability to address racism and inequality is, again, on display.

Social media has been full of hashtags and finger-pointing. The righteous woke folk, cohorts of the cancel culture, are again calling for purity among the herd, while virtue-signaling their own superiority.

Most recently, in Milwaukee, the dust-up has been over Mayor Tom Barrett, on a Thursday, announcing that bars and restaurants could open to 25% capacity, on a Friday.

Complaints of this announcement ranged from a lack of notice, being a distraction, being political, to ... well, things really just went off the rails. This seems typical of liberals - the urge to eat their own. The immediate issue here would seem to be racism and/or police brutality. Yet somehow this has veered off into when and how restaurants should open up, how they're notified about such, the guidelines, how the mayor is a meanie, being a distraction or not, and so many other rabbit holes.

It became clear this was, again, another case of the self-superior types (and they all seem to be white) patting themselves on the back while, in essence, going after what would appear to be their allies because of a perceived lack of purity.

Lack of Notice

Many complaints were about the lack of notice regarding the reopening and their inability, thus, to prepare for such. But nothing said your bar or restaurant has to reopen right now. The mayor just gave notice that bars and restaurants could open at 25% capacity. After being closed for over two months (or just having curbside pick-up) one would think this would be good news for struggling bars and restaurants.

And, what exactly would have been the right amount of notice? How should this notice have been given? Is it a week? Two weeks? Was the mayor supposed to call each and every bar and restaurant owner to notify and or discuss.

If you don't want to open, don't. But know that you can when you want to and you are ready.

Guidelines

Another complaint was a perceived lack of guidelines for reopening. Yet guidelines for how we all interact during the pandemic have been spelled out, repeatedly, by the CDC, the WHO, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, the Wisconsin Department of Health and the City of Milwaukee Health Department, to name a few. Wear a mask, stay 6 feet apart, wash your hands a lot, disinfect surfaces a lot, etc.

Milwaukee Releases Five Criteria To Open Up

Milwaukee outlines plan to re-open city

Distraction

Others complained this was a distraction - to allow bars and restaurants to open up now - during a time of protest for racial justice and police accountability. So, my question here is, are businesses to stay closed until we have complete racial harmony? What is the time frame?

Do some think people don't have the ability to walk and chew gum? People can't be focused on societal improvement ... and occasionally go out to eat?

So, let me get this straight, the George Floyd murder, at the hands of a piece of shit cop (and his shitty accomplices), has inflamed our better senses, but if we can suddenly dine out again, we'll forget about that? If that's the case, you're not as righteous, woke, or enlightened as you think you are.

Pushing for people to concentrate on one thought, or being able to only hold one idea at a time, doesn't make you a woke warrior, it makes you a baby. People can do more than one thing. If the fact that the mayor announcing a 25% capacity reopening for bars and restaurants has distracted you from the fact that America is, and has been, extremely racist and has a lot of work do, you're not woke, you're not an adult, you're just a squirrel distracted by any sudden noise or light.

And, it appears most of the recent distraction and other complaints about reopening are coming from white people. Which begs the question, where have you been? There's a long history of racism, oppression, segregation and inequality in America. It didn't just start in May 2020.

If you're so woke, let's look through all of your Twitter, Instagram and Facebook posts over the years and see how much time and effort you put forth in seeking racial equality and justice. Some of these same people were complaining of the lockdown not too long ago. Being closed, or being deemed non-essential, not being able to operate, that was un-American. The government, in trying to manage the pandemic, was overreaching and putting businesses at risk.

Seems to be a lot of bandwagon-jumpers with slogans and hashtags, pretending they've been part of the solution all along, and then criticizing, what would appear to be, their allies for not being as perfect as them, in their little fictionalized, sanitized, revisionist world.

The Mayor

A lot of vitriol has been throw at Mayor Barrett. He may not be perfect, but he sure as hell just seems to be trying to do the right thing. But let me get this straight, he alone is supposed to run a major city, try to manage the pandemic and solve racism?

Further, the mayor is not the police. Tom Barrett doesn't make the call for tear gas, rubber bullets or the use of force. Tom Barrett has called for officers to be fired and he has marched with the protesters. Tom Barrett took a pipe beating at State Fair to protect a baby and her grandmother. He is not some insensitive, racist, political apparatchik. He's doing his best to try to keep the city safe while trying to figure out how to move forward and right the wrongs. But there are no guidelines for this (at least not as many clear and concise guidelines as there are for operating your business during a pandemic); sometimes you have to figure it out as you go.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett joins protesters in Wisconsin against police killing of George Floyd

The Police

I've long complained about the police. Not that they are all bad or that it's not a tough job. But their budgets take way too much money from municipalities, which could be used for economic development, training, education, small business loans, etc. Which could go a long way toward helping poverty and inequality.

Yet, there are a lot of bad police doing bad things and costing their municipalities millions of dollars for their criminality. They need better vetting, training and accountability. Our country needs a paradigm shift in how we look at and operate our policing and law enforcement.

Also, we just have too many police in too many communities. We need to focus on police serving and protecting rather than simply enforcing the law. Because their emphasis seems to be on the force part of enforcement. 

In Closing

This country has a long way to go toward racial justice, fair pay, equal opportunity, health care as a right, giving voice to the voiceless, and numerous other issues where we sadly lag behind. So, by all means, peacefully protest, run for office, vote for candidates that will actually do something, join an advocacy or lobbying organization, or start a local group to focus on a particular issue. Focus on the issue(s), know your true enemy and don't cut off your nose to spite your face.

Proactive, Productive Ways to Help

Milwaukee Urban League using community roundtables to identify solutions to end injustice

A guide to protesting during a pandemic
How To Protest Safely During A Pandemic
Barack Obama Shares Action Plan For Real Change Amid Protest
If you're planning to take part in protests, know your rights
Teaching Ideas and Resources to Help Students Make Sense of the George Floyd Protests

4 Ideas That Could Begin to Reform the Criminal Justice System and Improve Police-Community Relations

Police Reform
Five Reforms Every Police Department Should Make

How To Reform American Police

5 Issues that Should Be Part of Efforts to Reform Policing in Local Communities

Reforming Police

Statistical, References

U.S. Police Shootings: Blacks Disproportionately Affected

The list of people injured or killed in officer-involved incidents is still growing

How much do we need the police?

The End of Policing

Majority of Minneapolis City Council Pledges to Dismantle Police Department

Tony, Do You Have Any Ideas And A Way To Pay For Them? Or Just Criticisms?

Mayor Barrett recently gave a speech addressing guns, affordable housing, lead laterals and other developments in the City of Milwaukee. And, of course, Alderman Tony "Backdrop Boy" Zielinksi had to give his usual negative comment. This has kind of become his thing. Any event, any policy, any news - there's Tony with a comment, pointing the finger and blame at anyone but himself, and never offering up anything other than platitudes.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett renews call for more background checks for gun purchases, slams arming teachers

Barrett also called for building or improving 10,000 housing units over the next 10 years, a plan the Journal Sentinel first reported Sunday.

The mayor also highlighted plans to expand Milwaukee's RiverWalk, touted a partnership with Associated Bank to increase funding for the city's STRONG Homes Loan program, and said he plans to use $2.5 million from the city's new water deal with the City of Waukesha to replace lead laterals in Milwaukee. 

"While other communities are not addressing this problem, Milwaukee has been recognized as one of only 21 cities nationwide that has taken steps to address lead service lines," he said... 

Barrett's affordable housing plan includes building new developments, including locations in and around downtown.

"I'm especially interested in seeing more affordable housing in the heart of the city," the mayor said. "Growing affordable units in these areas will make it easier for workers to get to nearby jobs." 

The downtown development boom has allowed his administration to do more work in the neighborhoods, he said.

Ald. Tony Zielinski, a 2020 mayoral candidate, criticized those comments, accusing Barrett of making Milwaukee' crime problems worse by neglecting the city's neighborhoods. 

"I cannot believe the mayor expects us to believe the neighborhoods should take a backseat for 14 years," Zielinski said. "No wonder Milwaukee is one of the worst places to live in the country if you are African-American."

So, the Mayor wants to build or rebuild housing units, focusing on affordable housing, expand the RiverWalk and fix lead laterals. From this, the "Backdrop Boy" claims the Mayor is neglecting the City's neighborhoods. Huh? Also, what has the "Backdrop Boy" done for Milwaukee African-Americans?

But, just for a second, let's assume the "Backdrop Boy" has a point. First, what is Tony's solution? Second, where is Tony getting the money to fund his earth-shattering policy prescriptions? This is where Tony's pomp and circumstance falls apart. He has no plan. He has no answer to any of this. Primarily because he doesn't know what he's talking about.

It's easy to just poke the boss and criticize his decisions. But criticism can only be helpful when it's constructive. When a situation has been analyzed and one can offer an explanation for what went wrong and how those problems can be fixed, positive steps forward can be taken. But just trying to knock down someone else's ideas, without any substance or alternative action, is purely grandstanding. This is just Tony trying to draw attention to Tony so some in the City, outside of Bay View, might recognize his name in time for the mayoral election.

Tony has been standing on the street corner, pointing the finger at the Mayor, shouting, "You stink! That's no good! That was wrong!" But he hasn't offered a concrete solution to anything or any explanation of how he would pay for any idea he might have.

Typical "Backdrop Boy" move - exploiting the idea of neighborhood improvement for his own political advancement. Stay classy, Tony.

Lead For Brains

The Milwaukee Common Council, as of late, has been feeling their oats. They've been piling on the Mayor regarding any issue that arises. Specifically, the most recent dustup involves the Milwaukee Health Department and its management of the city's lead abatement efforts.

As any grandstanding, self-absorbed, petty bunch of know-nothings that the Common Council is, they used this latest instance for personal gain and political points rather than trying to solve the problem.

This spectacle has caused some to wonder, Mayor Barrett’s Power in Decline?

The council refused to approve his appointment of Paul Nannis as interim health commissioner. Worse, it was clear Nannis was rejected simply because he was “the mayor’s proxy,” as Nannis put it, meaning any choice of the mayor’s would have been rejected. But even worse, the council came up with its own choice, Patricia McManus, for interim commissioner and proceeded to approve her 13-1, with only Ald. Terry Witkowski objecting. Morever, some council members seem open to sticking with McManus for the rest of Barrett’s term, meaning any attempt by the mayor to appoint a permanent commissioner could be blocked. 

This was an unprecedented, all-out rebellion against the mayor. Some question whether the council’s action of appointing its own interim choice is even legal.

Yes, suddenly Mayor Barrett became inept and he, personally, "dropped the ball" with regard to lead pipes in the City.

Barrett then proposed Nannis as interim replacement, which seemed like a no-brainer, as Nannis had previously served as commissioner and could hit the ground running. “Initially, I thought it was a logical choice,” Ald. Bob Bauman says. 

Except that Nannis was a good friend of Barrett’s chief of staff Patrick Curley. And a longtime ally of Barrett’s. And had been a consultant who had earned $556,000 since 2008 doing work for Baker’s department, which suggested Nannis might be too close to Baker as well. Not to mention that Nannis didn’t disclose he had done this consulting when meeting with members of the council’s Public Safety and Health Committee. For council members seeking objective answers about problems in the health department, Nannis seemed all wrong, and the choice suggested Barrett was tone deaf on this issue. 

“The mayor didn’t recognize soon enough how much trouble he was in,” Witkowski says.

More like, the Mayor didn't realize the Common Council would use a City health issue to leapfrog to some political points for themselves.

To propose that Mayor Barrett doesn't want to replace lead pipes or to prevent any health issues concerning such is ridiculous. Suddenly Mayor Barrett has turned into some cold-hearted tyrant, hoping for a health crisis involving lead pipes for his City?

The lead pipe issue is well-known. As with all issues in our 'subsidize the rich and the let the rest go without' paradigm of public policy, this is a money issue. As in, we need $750 million to replace the lead pipes within the City.

This is the same Common Council that wants to keep giving raises to the Police and Fire Departments every year, even though these two departments already take up nearly 90% of the entire City budget. These are supposedly the visionaries that are going to lead us forward?

So...Barrett's pick was thrown to the wayside and the Common Council has selected their own choice.

The council voted 13-1 on Tuesday to approve McManus’s appointment. Ald. Terry Witkowski, who asked pointed questions about her previous public health work, cast the lone ‘no’ vote. Ald. Michael Murphy abstained. Murphy said he didn’t agree with the speed at which the council moved forward with a new appointment.

Patricia McManus is the president and chief executive officer of the Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin. No biography or credentials for McManus were available on their website.

But, what we do know about McManus is that she believes the science in still out on vaccines.

“I don’t think the answer is yet there. I mean, there’s still people who believe it," McManus said on "The Forum" talk show on WNOV-AM (860). "And so I don’t know. I think the science is still out. I think that’s a decision that these families are going to have to make on their own at this point.”

Um, no. The science isn't out on that topic. So, if being friends with the Mayor's Chief of Staff kept Paul Nannis from holding the position, ignorance of vaccine science should definitely keep McManus from holding the position.

"Unfortunately, she couldn't be more incorrect," said James H. Conway, a pediatrics professor at University of Wisconsin-School of Medicine and Public Health. "The science is clear and has been reviewed over and over not just by the CDC, but by NIH and numerous studies. The information is clear that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine does not cause autism."

Maureen S. Durkin, a professor of public health and chairman of the department of population health sciences at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, said, "The scientific evidence is very clear at this point in showing no association between childhood vaccines and the risk of autism."

And officials at the National Institutes of Health referred to a statement on the institute's web page: "No link between autism and vaccines containing thimerosal, a mercury-based compound, have been found."

And, as with every fart that is heard in Milwaukee, Alderman Tony "Backdrop Boy" Zielinski had to weigh in:

Milwaukee Ald. Tony Zielinski applauded her track record of helping increase transparency on the city’s lead issues. 

“If we’re going to get someone who is going to turn that department around, we need someone with a track record of standing up to the health department and saying, ‘You were wrong,'” he said.

Well, Mr. Zielinski, you were wrong...again. So, just as you are so willing to point the finger at everyone else in the City, hopefully you can take some of your own medicine and admit this was an ill-informed and bad decision on your part and the 12 other council members that voted for McManus. And, it surely signals that you are definitely not ready to be the Mayor of Milwaukee.

How about our political operatives work together to try and solve this problem? They need to devise a way to fund this crucial infrastructure initiative. Those who've made mistakes should be held accountable. But, beyond that, the focus should be on resolving the primary issue here - replacing lead pipes in the City of Milwaukee. This is no time for grandstanding and political opportunism.

For Further Reading:
Role of vaccination in the sustainability of healthcare systems

Vaccination greatly reduces disease, disability, death and inequity worldwide

The Economic Value of Vaccination: Why Prevention is Wealth

The True Cost of Not Vaccinating Your Children: Reviving a Dead Disease

A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Vaccines

The high costs of not vaccinating

Is This Amateur Hour?

Never one to miss the latest cause celebre, Alderman Zielinski calls for city employees to undergo sexual harassment training.

Speaking informatively and passionately about public safety and harassment are worthy, just and necessary endeavors.

Using these topics to gain yourself attention and to score some political points is not mayoral. Every idea you think of and every policy you develop doesn't need to be covered in the local paper or webzine. As an alderman, you should want to do the best for your constituents everyday, no matter who notices. If your body of work is commendable, it speaks for itself.

It's a great idea, as an Alderman, to say " Hey, let's have each department do a refresher on what is expected in the workplace and what anti-harassment policies and procedures are in place."

But, instead, to introduce this directly after announcing a your mayoral intentions, to seemingly bring attention to yourself more so than to the issue, reeks of self-centered opportunism.

For Further Reading:

Streetcars, Safety and Hucksters
Safety, Guns and Opportunists
Streetcar or Safety

Quit Playin' Games

As I surmised back in June, one of "The Backdrop Boys," Tony Zielinski is planning on challenging Tom Barrett for mayor.

For Further Reading:

Streetcars, Safety and Hucksters
Safety, Guns and Opportunists
Streetcar or Safety

Put Your Money Where Your Yard Sign Is

If you are one of those gung-ho, 'back the badge' crusaders; one who believes there is never enough police and the costs for those police are always justified, then you need to pay more in taxes. The police take up the majority of nearly every municipal budget, and their burden on budgets continually grows.

So how about if you have a 'back the badge' sign in your yard, or when you obtain your 'back the badge' sign, you're automatically signed up for an additional 10% tax on your yearly earnings to help pay for the exorbitant costs of the police? Otherwise, how about supporting a mayor when he tries to reign in the ever-increasing demands and costs from police departments?

They promise to serve and protect, and in return, Milwaukee police officers are rewarded with full pensions after 25 years on the job. For some, that means retirement as early as age 42. Milwaukee's mayor said the costs are cutting into public safety. 

"Unfortunately, it's going not to police officers on the street. It's going to pay for their pension," Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said in October. 

So how expensive are these police pensions? WISN 12 News did the math. 

According to city records, a 42-year-old retiree gets an average $57,134 in pension yearly. By the time he's 65, he'll have collected $1.3 million. If he lives to 80, he'll collect an additional $857,000. That's more than a $2.1 million pension payout. 

But there's more than one. 

The average retirement age at Milwaukee Police Department is 53, but there are 834 officers between 42 and 52 currently collecting pensions. The cost to taxpayers for a single year is nearly $48 million. [source]

Safety, Guns and Opportunists

As our media continues to sell fear to our increasingly consumerist culture, we are allowing a militarized mindset to rule our emotions, policies and initiatives. More guns and more police has been the rallying cry.

As Politico found, "Mass public shootings are roughly as common now as they were in the 1980s and ’90s. What has changed? The death toll."

And, as CNN discovered, this is primarily and American problem:

From 1966 to 2012, nearly a third of the world's mass shootings took place in the United States. A 2016 study looked at 292 incidents in which four or more people were killed. It found 90 of them occurred in America. Put another way: While the United States has about 5% of the world's population, it had 31% of all public mass shootings.

An odd aspect in all of this, as Five Thirty Eight detailed, is that although mass shootings have become more common in the U.S., overall gun homicides have declined.

New York Magazine looked at FBI data from 2000 to 2013:

"Yes, there’s an upward trend. But the fact is that these incidents remain exceedingly rare," declares Jesse Singal.

Singal concludes:

While there’s been a short-term increase in one very specific, narrowly defined kind of violence, the overall homicide rate in the U.S.(the purple line) is on a long-term downward trend that includes the period covered by the FBI report. Mass shootings account for a tiny, tiny percentage of the total murders in the country — in 2012, the worst recent year for mass shootings, just 0.6 percent of total murders, according to the FBI’s 2012 homicide numbers. 

Overall, when it comes to violence the country is safer now than it has been in decades. Obviously there’s still much vital work to be done when it comes to gun control, understanding why violent people snap, and so on. But talk of “sharp increases” in terrible, shocking, but extremely rare crimes promotes an alarmist view of the world that doesn’t quite match the facts.

City of Milwaukee Alderman Tony Zielinski has been banging the police and safety drum lately. In his view, police are the answer. Mayor Barrett has proposed eliminating some police and fire positions in his latest budget. Zielinski has taken every opportunity he can to get in front of the camera and to issue press releases pleading for more police.

Here, again, what we think we know is false. The tripe Zielinski is peddling is false.

As Alex S. Vitale proclaims, We Need Less Policing. His research into the issue concludes:

Any real agenda for police reform should not look to make the police friendlier and more professional. Instead, it must reduce their role and replace it with empowered communities working to solve their own problems. We don’t need community control of the police. We need community control of services that will create safer, more stable neighborhoods and cities.

In We Don't Just Need Nicer Cops. We Need Fewer Cops Vitale continues:

We have to take steps to dial back our reliance on the police as the primary tool of resolving neighborhood crime and disorder problems.

And, not only do the police and fire departments take up over 87% of the entire City of Milwaukee budget. The cost of police misconduct in Milwaukee is growing.

Police misconduct has cost Milwaukee taxpayers at least $17.5 million in legal settlements since 2015, forcing the city to borrow money to make the payouts amid an ever-tightening budget.

That amount jumps to at least $21.4 million when interest paid on the borrowing and fees paid to outside attorneys are factored in.

Milwaukee Adlerman Zielinski's willingness to keep increasing the police force (and departmental budget) will do nothing for the safety of Milwaukee, but will surely crush the City budget with ever-increasing police costs. And, as the police costs continue to increase, less and less money with be available for any other programs or projects. This is ill-informed, misguided and suicidal public policy from a public servant seemingly more concerned with personal attention than with City efficiency and a responsible budget.

For those pundits and politicians that keep proclaiming more police is the answer to safety concerns, it really just shows that they haven't done their research or looked very hard at the issue.

The answer isn't more police, it's less guns and more community-oriented policies and programs.

For Further Reading:
What Does It Mean To Be Anti-Police?
Why Police Are Rarely Indicted For Misconduct
No, Protests Against Police Brutality Are Not Increasing Crime
Barrett Versus The Backdrop Boys

Statement From Chief of Staff Patrick Curley

“Attempting to toss aside 100 years of good government and progressive policies is absurd. As Alderman Borkowski said, the file to gut the citizen member Fire and Police Commission powers was for show. I understand why Alds. Zielinski and Borkowski want to put on a show at a time the City needs to address an $83 million pension payment and escalating salaries and budgets for public safety. As members of the County Board they both voted for the infamous county pension backdrops that have cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. The last thing these two backdrop boys want to do is take on another pension issue, do their jobs and protect the taxpayers. Putting on a show is so much easier.” [source]

Streetcar Or Safety

Looks like Milwaukee Alderman Tony Zielinkski might be setting himself up as a challenger in a run to be the Mayor of Milwaukee.

Current Mayor Tom Barrett recently announced he might have to eliminate some safety-worker positions (police officers, firefighters,nurses, code inspectors) due to budgetary constraints.

Zielinkski immediately ridiculed the Mayor, saying even mentioning the possibility of cutting positions as "reckless" and "unreasonable".

Zielinkski framed the discussion as being between keeping the positions and building the streetcar. Because those are the only two budgetary choices that can be made - keep safety positions or build a streetcar?

And, just for some context, Wisconsin has spent over a billion dollars on new stadiums for the Brewers, Bucks and Packers in the last decade. Private sport structures whose benefits go to their private owners. But Milwaukee spending $128 million on a streetcar to be used by residents, tourists and businesses is a waste?

Barrett, himself, even stated that cutting those positions is not what he wants. But sometimes, as Mayor, you have to make choices that won't please everyone.

I get that the streetcar is a bit of a lightning rod and certain persons with access to the media love to pile on about what a waste the streetcar is. Although every other major city has some sort of streetcar, light rail or similar. So, it seems more like, as usual, Milwaukee is behind the curve as far as what businesses and workers want in amenities and infrastructure. Local infrastructure is what creates jobs and draws businesses, residents and tourists.

In our current police-state era, funding for defense/police/safety can never be diminished. More officers and more guns, always. In 2013, 59% of the City of Milwaukee budget went to just the police (41%) and fire (18%) departments.

We've been doing this for decades now, it hasn't worked. To keep funding this imaginary, more-cops-is-the-answer paradigm, is simply throwing away money. Why, when it comes to defense or safety, is there no limit on the amount of people needed or the amount of money that should be spent? At the local, state and federal level, America's defense/safety budgets dwarf those of other nations. Yet, we're no safer. What is all this money being spent on? Seems like there is obviously a lot of efficiency that can be made.

The Police Association's President Michael Crivello stated, "We're going to do everything to keep this community safe, but we won't be as effective as we otherwise would be should we be properly staffed."  How is this quantified? What does "properly staffed" mean? What metrics is the Association using to determine safety, effectiveness, staffing, etc.?

Maybe we do need to keep the positions. But using fear and emotion to guide a decision is definitely not how policy should be made.

We should start by making a more scientific basis for these discussions and decisions. Platitudes and bumper-sticker slogans sound great, but they typically don't have the nuance and depth required for good public policy.

We could remove some exemptions, raise the local sales tax, add fees for certain services, collect more taxes, provide less incentives to private developers and businesses, and on and on. There are numerous ways fund the many services we all count on from our local government.

The saddest thing is that this is being pitted as a streetcar versus safety debate. It shouldn't be. These are not the only choices.

Despicable Sheriff

Should Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke continually be using the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Facebook page to disparage the City and the Mayor of Milwaukee? Was that page created for Clarke to settle personal vendettas?

Clarke just used the murder of a City of Milwaukee worker as a springboard for his right-wing talking-points and criticism of Milwaukee, the Mayor, the police and the media.

Again, Clarke is using anything and everything - even a tragic event like this - for political gain. What a low-life.

Sheriff Super-Douche

If one were to attempt to intervene to protect a woman and child from a drunken, tire-iron wielding doofus, for most sane and civil people, this would not elicit ridicule and insults. Many would probably even say it was an act of courage or bravery, or, at least, the right thing to do considering the circumstances.

Milwaukee Mayor's Alleged Attacker Faces 40 Yrs-Plus In Prison

But in the self-serving, opportunist, know-nothing, faux-cowboy world of Sheriff David Clarke, trying to defend a woman and child, and being unable to withstand body blows form a tire iron, makes a person a wimp.

“The last time Tom Barrett showed up at a crime scene he got his ass kicked by a drunk, tire-iron-wielding man who beat him within inches of his life," Clarke said in the lengthy post. "The milquetoast mayor trying to play cop foolishly thought he could simply talk the man who beat him senseless into backing down. Bet he won't try that again!" [source]

Barrett, in response to a reporter's questions, stated a couple a facts about Clarke. Clarke has been more interested in being a right-wing, talking-point parrot than in doing his job as the Milwaukee County Sheriff. Barrett also mentioned that he has never seen Clarke at a crime scene. I guess reality really pisses Clarke off.

Barrett set Clarke off when he said in a TV interview earlier this week that the sheriff has a “great gig going right now: He’s fighting crime one conservative cable TV show at a time.” He said everyone knows that Clarke “rode his horse out of town a long time ago.” [source]

Just like his idol, Donald Trump, Clarke doesn't like the real world. If things don't comport with Clarke's distorted world view, something is wrong with the world, not his perspective.

So this is where we are at now. When presented with facts, the right-wingers and Trumpsters hurl insults and threaten violence. Forget using your brain. When the truth doesn't fit into your political paradigm, time for pitchforks and torches.

Are we interested in actually electing public servants? Or do we just want cartoonish caricatures of Wild West buffoons?

Clarke not only ridiculed Barrett (for an act of bravery), he then did what all Wisconsin Republicans love to do - he took shots at Milwaukee. According to Wisconsin Republicans, Milwaukee is a crime-ridden hell-hole. Maybe if Clarke actually set foot back in Milwaukee one of these days (instead of doing the conservative talk show circuit) he would see all the activity and development taking place. And, as Bruce Murphy recently pointed out, Milwaukee Subsidizes The State.

The city gets only 66 cents in state spending for every dollar in state taxes paid.

So while the Republican playbook has been bankrupting states and cities across the country, Democratic places, like Milwaukee, are on the ascent. While Scott Walker's policies haven't done anything near his campaign promises, Mayor Barrett has overseen a boom in Milwaukee jobs and development.

Let's also not forget that Republicans are supposed to be the party of morals, family values, honor, country, dignity, blah blah blah. Yeah, it's all just a facade. There are no principles underlying any of their proclamations. Their opinions morph as needed. And, the saddest part is all the people that support and parrot the rhetoric. Still towing the party-line and supporting these ever-changing opinions and policy prescriptions. Just look at the faces of their party - Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions, David Clarke, Steven Bannon, KellyAnne Conway. All lying, racist, sexist, self-serving, know-nothings only concerned with maintaining power. How can honest, America-loving conservatives look themselves in the mirror and believe any of this rhetoric or that these opportunists are good for the country?

Wake up, people! Time to see past the smoke, mirrors and vitriol. Sheriff Super-Douche and his band of destructive deplorables are not interested in you or your well-being. Please help us make this a functioning democracy again. Democrats are not perfect, but truth, reality and governance still mean something to them.

This is all so fucked up it's flabbergasting.

Worlds Apart

Even living within 15 miles of the City of Milwaukee is too much for the Milwaukee Police Department.

Police sue over new residency rule

For decades, all city employees, with few exceptions, had to live within Milwaukee boundaries. In 2013, the state Legislature passed a law that undid all such strict residency requirements but did allow for cities to require certain employees, including police and firefighters, to live within 15 miles of city limits. Milwaukee did not adopt a new rule but instead continued to enforce its longtime rule of residency within city boundaries. 

The police union sued. One judge agreed the city requirement had been eliminated by the state law, but the Court of Appeals reversed and sided with the city's right to make employees live in the city. 

But ultimately, in June, the state Supreme Court sided with the Legislature and the police that the state law blocked the city's historic residency requirements. 

Only in July, in light of that court ruling, did the city adopt a new rule under the state law setting the 15-mile limit for police and firefighters.

We can trace some of the problems which recently came to a head in Milwaukee to this entitled, unaccountable attitude of the Milwaukee Police Department. Law enforcement used to be part of the community and know their neighbors. Now they just want a paycheck from the community but to live in some exurb.

How can the police really serve and protect a population and community that they want nothing to do with? 15 miles isn't enough of a buffer?

An "occupying force," as Mayor Barrett phrased it, does not produce trust and respect. What else can a group of armed enforcers be called? Paid mercenaries patrolling a neighborhood during their well-paid shift, only to return to their home many miles away and, often, worlds apart.

The Politics (and Principles) of Convenience

In the recent residency requirement Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling,

... Justice Michael Gableman wrote for the majority in a 5-2 ruling upholding the Legislature's ban on municipal residency requirements.  "The Legislature has the power to legislate on matters of local affairs when its enactment uniformly affects every city or every village, notwithstanding the home rule amendment," Justice Michael Gableman wrote for the majority. "Because (the 2013 law) uniformly affects every city or village, it trumps section 5-02 of the city's charter. Milwaukee may no longer enforce its residency requirement."

So when the Democrats at the Federal level use the same argument to impose environmental, economic and other regulations in opposition to state or local ordinances, I'm sure the Republicans will quietly accept this natural order. Oh wait, Republicans believe every city or state should be able to make their own educational, environmental, transportation and literally every other rule for themselves without any interference from the Federal Government. Except when they don't.

Lets substitute "state" for "city or village" in the Gableman writing:

The Legislature Federal Government has the power to legislate on matters of local state affairs when its enactment uniformly affects every city or every village state. Because the [Federal] law uniformly affects every city or village state, it trumps the city's any state's charter.

Again, yet another example of Republican (lack of) logic eating itself. For some bewildering reason, they're allowed to continually get away with such ridiculousness.

But, on the bright side, hopefully the Feds are reading these State decisions. In such rulings, the States are giving the Feds the legalese they need to impose their will upon the states - for stricter environmental regulations, for country-wide public transportation improvements and greater connectivity, for nation-wide educational standards, for a standardized minimum wage and for stricter regulation of predatory lending, amongst other issues where our country would be better off having a nationalized standard.

Another Lost Opportunity

Demolition vs. reconstruction of Interstate 794

Tear down this freeway spur, replace it with surface streets and the results will be a better connected downtown Milwaukee, with more land for development and much lower road maintenance costs.

The Most Precious Of All

Tom Barrett is walking a precarious line by talking about expanding Act 10. Barrett believes that by reining in the police and firefighters unions he could eventually aid both departments and make the city safer at the same time. A noble, yet circuitous and confrontational proposition.

The police and firefighters are holding to the rationalization that they are The Public Safety and thus completely different from and above other public employees.

James Palmer, the executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, bellows, "The mayor should understand that his public appeal for an expansion of Act 10 to police officers and firefighters ignores the reality that public safety employees are already paying toward their health insurance and their pensions in largely the same manner as general municipal employees. Since the 2011-2013 state budget was enacted, public safety employees can no longer negotiate over their health insurance benefits and costs. In addition, the vast majority of public safety contracts require police and fire employees to pay their share for pensions."

Other public employees also pay toward their health insurance and retirement, and they also can't negotiate their health insurance benefits or costs. And, these other public employees haven't seen the 3 and 4 percent raises the police and firefighters have seen over the last six or seven years.

Palmer goes on to decry, "Any assertion that expanding Act 10 will free up funding that could be used to hire more employees is without any reasonable basis."

If Act 10 can't free up funding, why was it a good idea when it was used to bludgeon the other public employees? Wasn't the initial point of Act 10 about saving money and saving budgets? Is Mr. Palmer admitting the Act 10 emperor has no clothes? Or is he just willing to throw other union members under the bus as long as police and fire members are exempted?

The police and fire protection departments are responsible for roughly 50 - 75 percent of most city budgets. These two departments are where most taxpayer dollars go. If there is anywhere to find efficiencies, these would seem to be the departments. In Milwaukee, police and fire account for nearly 59 percent of the budget. And, as we can also see, their budgets have increased almost 16 percent over the last decade.

Share of budget for general city services:

                                            2003            2013
Fire Dept.                            16.1%          17.9%
Police Dept.                         34.6%         40.6%
Protective Services total      50.7%         58.8%

Palmer persists, "It's important to recognize that public safety employees are unique, both in the challenges that they face and in the critical role that they play in our communities." Sure, but teachers, mental health care workers, social workers, engineers constructing our bridges, scientists providing our clean water supply, and a host of other public workers play a pretty critical role, too.

As James Rowen details, "The City of Milwaukee currently employs 6,865 employees. 4,168 are general city employees (including fire and police civilian staff). 2,697 are sworn fire and police employees...their average annual salaries. $41,361 for general city employees. $65,649 for sworn police employees. $67,554 for sworn fire employees." The average police officer or fight fighter makes over one and a half times as much as a general city employee.

Palmer's revisionist history continues, "He [Barrett] now appears to have abandoned the very principles that once drew WPPA's support, thus causing us to question whether that support was misplaced."

"...That once drew the WPPA's support"? Yeah, as I remember, the WPPA supported Scott Walker. Which is why they were preferentially carved out of Act 10. It seems the police and firefighter unions support whomever gives them preferential treatment. 59 percent of the entire Milwaukee budget already goes to these two departments, how much more do they want?

Maybe Barrett is on to something here. Maybe the police and firefighters should learn to live with the same rules as their other union brothers and sisters.

This Kitten Has Claws

City to block raises for many public workers who leave Milwaukee

For Further Reading:
Residency Requirement: Reading & Facts
Residency Requirements
Logic Requirement

Clarke's Wild West

Executive Disorder

Tom Barret, a Democrat, spoke like a Democrat, "I think it would be great if he [Scott Walker] could find another line of work," when asked about the impending recall of Scott Walker.

Chris Abele, Milwaukee County Executive and supposed Democrat, said, "I haven't been staying up nights thinking about it. It's not a driving thing." Asked whether he felt Walker should be recalled, Abele also demurred. "I don't know. It's not something I have a burning passion and opinion about."

The article notes, "Abele as county executive has sought to cast himself as an independent and a pragmatist for whom partisanship is secondary." This is not leadership.

You are a public servant...and you have no opinion on collective bargaining or the governor? As the county executive, you have no opinion about how the state is governed?

As Joseph McCartin states, "In 1959, Wisconsin became the first state to enact legislation recognizing the rights of government workers to bargain collectively." Overthrowing a 50-year labor standard for Wisconsin, a policy never mentioned by Scott Walker on the campaign trail, doesn't make Abele ruminate  even in the slightest?

Not to mention, Walker killing trains, broadband, windmills, numerous federal aid packages and a host of other productive policies and projects that were in the works until Scott Walker took over. Abele has no passion nor thinks about any of this?

Abele wasn't elected to parrot the right-wing with talk of no new taxes and cuts, cuts, cuts. Milwaukee County citizens would like some guidance and direction: provide good, efficient services to the taxpayers and speak to the most pressing and important needs of our community. This whole Walker debacle fits into the latter category, and Abele should be thinking about it.

Self-Serving Surplus

Milwaukee, City and County, was on the brink of insolvency, or so we were told. Budgets were cut. Programs were cut. Workers were cut and furloughed.

Milwaukee finishes year with $23 million surplus

Milwaukee County expects $8.9 surplus for 2009

Were the public employees and the programs/services they provide decimated simply to score political points for the mayor's and county executive's attempt to be governor?

Don't Stop Believing

PBS recently broadcast Milwaukee Water 2015. Mike Gousha spoke with Mayor Tom Barrett and UWM chancellor Carlos Santiago regarding Milwaukee's water hub endeavor and economic development, in general.

Dr. Santiago expressed the opinion that anyone disagreeing with/questioning the "Milwaukee as a water hub" meme was not being helpful and is a pessimist who believes Milwaukee can't "turn it around."

It's not that such initiatives have not worked in the majority of other cases and therefore some are skeptical of Milwaukee/UWM putting all their eggs in this one basket. No, that's not it. These doubters just don't have hope. They don't believe in Milwaukee. They're unwilling to take a chance on Milwaukee.

Is this really the debate? Hope-ers versus Doubt-ers? Or is chancellor Santiago using childish smear tactics to avoid the well-supported critiques of the skeptics. He appears to be attacking the messengers and not their message.

It doesn't matter to Santiago that such initiatives don't work more often than they do work.

Maybe we should have a broader investment initiative, rather than just a few magic bullets prefaced on hope.

[I do agree with a Mayor Barrett regarding a framing issue: we should be labeling ourselves The Fresh Coast rather than allowing others to call us The Rust Belt.]

For Further Reading:
Colleges: Cash Cows?
Save Our City
Watering Down Corporate Accountability