Rule of Law?

I Am Not A Cat

The Notorious RBG & The Billionaire-Fueled, Republican Party's Last Gasp

Police Education & Training

Since we often hear about how stressful, complicated and dangerous the job of law enforcement is, why aren't we requiring more education and training for those jobs? Since police are surely paid like a professionals, the requirements to obtain the job should be commensurate.

Getting to Know Elizabeth Warren

Now, Can We All Agree Sheriff David Clarke Is Unfit For Office?

Recently a man named Dan Black had the misfortune to interact with Sheriff David Clarke:

According to Black, he asked the sheriff, who was dressed in Dallas Cowboys apparel, if he was Sheriff Clarke. When Clarke said yes, Black noted in his original viral Facebook post that "he shook his head at him and moved on." Clarke then asked if Black had a problem, to which Black claimed he shook his head no. When the plane landed, however, Black says he was greeted by "about six cops and drug/bomb dogs who questioned me for about fifteen minutes before escorting me out." [source]

So obviously Clarke has a thin skin and has no problem abusing his power (just like his hero Donald Trump).

Black has since filed a harassment claim against Clarke.

Clarke responded,

Next time he or anyone else pulls this stunt on a plane they may get knocked out. The Sheriff said he does not have to wait for some goof to assault him. He reserves the reasonable right to pre-empt a possible assault.

Clarke has also taunted Black in a Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office Facebook post:

Is Clarke, in the Facebook post, threatening to kill Black? WTF?!

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele has commented and apologized to Black on behalf of the County:

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele blasted Clarke for posting the meme and making a “juvenile” threat.

“Most cops, most deputies, most law enforcement officers don’t pull stunts like this,” Abele told Fox6. “I’ve already apologized to Dan Black on behalf of the county.”

Looks like Wisconsin has its own Joe Arpaio.

Welcome to the era of Donald Trump. Abuse of power, racism, sexism, crony capitalism, class warfare and nepotism.

Sad.

For Further Reading:
More Than Just A Wingnut Sheriff
Unfit For Office
Crazy Clown Time
Sheriff Wingnut At It Again
Wingnut Sheriff Encourages More Violence

Scott Walker, Republicans and Judicial Activism

Walker's Bizarre Choice For High Court
Scott Walker names Daniel Kelly to high court

Daniel Kelly named to state Supreme Court

Scott Walker picks Milwaukee lawyer Daniel Kelly for seat on Supreme Court

Gov. Walker appoints Daniel Kelly to Wisconsin Supreme Court

GOP’s Hypocrisy About Activist Judges

Republicans flip-flop on ‘judicial activism’

Scalia’s Judicial Activism: a Supremely Reactionary Voting Record

Senate GOP: Activist Federal Judges Wanted

Conservative Judicial Activism: Top Examples

The right’s judicial hypocrisy: Why it’s so inconsistent on “activism” in the courts

Conservative Judicial Activists Run Amok

G.O.P. Turns to the Courts to Aid Agenda

Republicans' new 'judicial activism': a coup d'etat of state supreme courts

How Conservatives Abandoned Judicial Restraint, Took Over The Courts And Radically Transformed America

Republicans Protest ‘Judicial Activism’ While Seeking It For Obamacare

Can't See The Forest For The Trees

Scott Walker and Wisconsin Republican legislators have already declared that they want to make the state park system more costly for users. Now they're revealing their plan to allow more of our state forests to be cut down. 

Currently, there are 296,775 acres designated for intensive timber harvesting in the Brule River, Black River, Coulee, Peshtigo River, Northern Highland American Legion and Flambeau River state forests. 

State forests have other categories not earmarked for the most aggressive type of logging, but the changes sought by lawmakers would lump in other land for heavier cutting. 

The changes could mean adding more logging on nearly 37,500 acres.

Yet another proposal from the Republicans without discussion or public input. Another case of making significant changes without any deliberation.

The proposal was one of several amendments to a funding package for forestry programs the 2015-'17 budget that was approved, 12-4, by the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee on May 7. The measure must still go to the GOP-controlled Assembly and Senate and Republican Gov. Scott Walker. 

Democrats on the panel objected to the changes, which they didn't see until the amendments were introduced at the meeting. 

"You are going to do it without allowing the public to weigh in and you are going to do it without letting us hear from the industries that are impacted," said Rep. Chris Taylor (D-Madison.) 

"This is not the right way to make law."

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind

If America is truly Number One [positive connotation implied], as so many citizens are fond of saying and displaying on their t-shirts, why do we (as a percent of our total population) throw more of our citizens in jail than any other country in the world?

I mean, if we're all so great just because of our American-ism, why are we throwing so many of our gifted and naturally-better-simply-by-being-born-in-the-U.S. citizens into prison?

We imprison more of our own citizens than Rwanda, Cuba or Russia, to name just a few. You know, those bad and backwards countries we hear talk radio gas-bags and chest-thumping politicians belittling every time a camera or microphone is put in front of their face.

That Moral Authority the U.S. uses to march around the globe, it's left the building.

[source]

For Further Reading:

11 Facts About American Prison Population

Ending The Drug Wars

Racist Ranchers, Militias, and Other American Nuts

Contracting Inequality

The hypocrisy Republicans have towards contracts is astounding. Especially coming from the party that is so concerned with the constitution and law. [They're really not, but they like to say they are.] Michael Steele represented this warped view recently on Rachel Maddow. The typical line they use, paraphrasing, "Those [worker] contracts were negotiated in better times. We shouldn't have to honor those in bad times." Yet, in the next breath, when defending capitalism and the corporate world, Republicans have the nerve to say, "If we don't pay [CEOs] top dollar, we can't get good talent. Plus, they were promised such compensation, bonuses, etc. [contractually], so what can we do?"

Paying teachers, professors, health care workers, and other public workers low wages will have no effect on their performance, nor the type of worker attracted to the position. But with CEOs and executives just the opposite is true. At least that's what Republicans want us to believe. And, it's the $50,000 a-year worker that's causing our budget problems. It has nothing to do with low and non-existent corporate taxation and their CEOs making millions of dollars per year.

So - bargaining and contracts are good for the rich. But, if you're just a unionized worker, or a worker not high up enough on the ladder and your company is not entitled to a big bailout, you're on your own.

And, the Republicans continue to try and spread the lie that unionized workers make more than their private sector counterparts. This has been debunked recently in numerous studies.

To believe the Republicans on these issues is to agree with a completely delusional paradigm, falsified by reality.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Never Too Young To Earn A Living

I finished off a thought with it as a joke in a previous post.

But it appears some Republicans are actually considering eliminating child labor law restrictions.

Weekend Reading

After Voting to Kill Recovery, 100 GOP Lawmakers Tout Its Success
As Milwaukee's Economy Fails, How Can Public Schools Succeed?
Budget Deficit Scare Story and the Great Recession
Distinguishing Fraud From Failure: A Prosecutorial Primer
Free Market in Free Fall and You Pay
How to Spot a Deficit Peacock
How to Walk the Fiscal Tightrope
Instead of Jobs Tax Credit, Let's Fix Our Infrastructure
Questions About The Coming Wave of Second Mortgage Writedowns
Rank Hypocrisy on Subsidies
Richest 400 Taxpayers See Incomes Double, Taxes Halved
Slapped in The Face By The Invisible Hand
Toyota Recalls: Another Bush Disaster

Media Are People Too

WOW! Sorry to get caught up on Megan McArdle in the last few posts, but WOW! Her delusions of grandeur are overwhelming.

She “debates” Glenn Greenwald on the media, often lecturing him on legal issues and the constitution (which she obviously has little knowledge, other than her usual anecdotal examples, which she seems to feel makes her an expert). But what does he know? He’s only a constitutional lawyer.

Typical Megan, just ranting on and on, never admitting ignorance.

One can always notice a running theme in her work – defending the status quo.

The bankers aren’t to blame, the Fed isn’t to blame, the media isn’t to blame, etc.

One funny thing about her style – she goes off on these tangents where she doesn’t even have a total grasp of that which she is talking about or criticizing. When official unemployment stats started being recorded, laws instructing journalism standards, etc.

Quite a bit of arrogance on display.

Regarding why the media can’t get more into detail on important topics and talk to people like adults:

“People are tired when they get home. They don’t want to hear lectures.” So therefore we can only discuss fluff, and we can’t really get into any detail or history.

So Megan is an inquisitive intellect yet most American people are just uninterested drones whom she assumes are too tired or too stupid to want to get better information provided to them by their media.

She really does like to have it both ways.