Paul Soglin: Waxing America

Kevin Barrett: Someone Else's Billy Goat

My old friend, AFSCME union leader, Dode Lowe, used to have an appropriate saying for the occasional loose cannon among his members.  When confronted with a questionable individual that the union was forced to defend, Dode used to say, "He may be a billy goat, but he is our billy goat."

Those of us who defended the University of Wisconsin from narrow minded assaults this past year, often had Kevin Barrett held up to us as an example of a misguided teacher who was a waste of taxpayers' money. This is the Barrett who doubts that the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center was the work of foreign terrorists, but offers suggestions that perhaps domestic operatives were responsible for the attack.

Barrett is now running for Congress, as a Libertarian in Wisconsin's Third Congressional District.  As John Nichols notes in The Capital Times column on Friday:

Barrett will shake up District 3 race

...Barrett, a convert to Islam who has argued for a number of years that the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon "had nothing to do with Islam" and that "the war on terror is as phony as the latest Osama bin Laden tape."

...A Republican legislator, Whitewater state Rep. Steve Nass, condemned the university for a man critics describe as "a conspiracy nut."

...A 10-day review by UW Provost Patrick Farrell of Barrett's teaching record and his plans for the introductory class determined that Barrett would fairly represent a variety of viewpoints in his course -- and was thus fit to teach.

Those of us who believe that professors should be left alone to teach as long as they are open and fair, will continue to defend his right to espouse his bizarre world view.

On the other hand, now that Barrett has solidly aligned himself with the Libertarian Party, it gives me great comfort that everyone knows he is someone else's billy goat. It was last year that I repudiated Barrett and Ward Churchill as not being part of the political left.

The Libertarians and the conservatives can have him.

So there.

Free Tibet Madison Style: The Real Olympic Spirit

I will not be in Madison on Saturday, April 19, 2008,  but if I were, I would be at the State Capital for the rally to focus on Chinese oppression against the people of Tibet.  Among the sponsors are Students for a Free Tibet - UW Madison.

Until a family event sent me off to California for the weekend, I was supposed to join State Representative Joe Parisi and Wisconsin Olympian Casey FitzRandolph.  They will be apart of a different torch relay, the Human Rights Torch that is part of coordinated effort in 37 countries to publicize the incompatibility of Chinese crimes against all of its citizens, not just Tibetans, and the true spirit of the Olympics.

Casey is a great athlete, one who truly understands the nature of humanity in all aspects of life. There are too many people who like to use sports metaphors to draw lessons about life. Casey lives the best of the competitive world both on and off the ice.

We all know that the commercialism of the Olympics far overshadows the games. The athletes deserve to demonstrate their skills with honor, but are relegated to the status of doorknobs or garden rocks serving to enhance the mansion and the landscape, the corporate sponsors and their products.

My guess is that most Americans could select more official sponsors of the Olympics from a a list of hamburger, camera, and automobile companies than could identify the athletes who won medals last time in aquatics, archery, boxing, or even tennis.

Back in the day when the Internet was in its infancy, the only web page that came up when you put my name in a search engine was: The Mayor of the city of Madison, Wisconsin Proclaims March 10 1996 as "Tibetan Independence Day"

It was an honor to participate then; it is an honor now to be part of this world wide humanitarian effort. Tibetan rights and lives are more important than these games.

Someone get Casey's autograph for me. Please.

Percy Julian Jr. Looked Into Your Future, Not Your Past

With the untimely death of Percy Julian Jr., the state of Wisconsin lost one of its finest citizens. I met Percy in 1966, or was it '65? The first of the anti-war protests had passed and Percy was looking out for University of Wisconsin students arrested for disorderly conduct or some similar charge.

Percy started with the assumption, no matter what the facts, that the government was trampling on at least four or five Amendments to the Constitution, starting with the First. That is not to say that Percy was impulsive or less than scholarly. By the end of 1968, the brilliant son of an equally brilliant scientist, Percy Julian Sr., was to bring the State of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin to thier knees with a federal case that was to set the standard for student's free speech.

As the October,1967 Dow Demonstration approached, eight of us went to see Percy, newspapers in hand. The UW administration stated under what circumstances students might be disciplined. They included assertions that advocacy of demonstrating in all of its forms could result in expulsion or at least suspension.

Percy explained to us the concept of 'prior restraint.' We were being intimidated and coerced. We were threatened with sanctions, even if we remained within the law. He would handle the case for the expenses which would run about $200 for filing fees and reproduction costs. Eventually the case would cost Percy, the State and the UW hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The next day, I returned to his office east of the square with $25. Percy said, "That does it, the case will be Soglin v. Kauffman."* When I asked, "Why?" he replied, "You are the first one to show up with any  money."

The case was originally heard by federal Judge James Doyle, and ultimately, after the state of Wisconsin appealed, a three judge panel affirmed Doyle's ruling on October 24, 1969:

Administrative sanctions as harsh as those available to the University in this case, as well as criminal statutes, serve to chill the exercise of free speech...

...We only hold that expulsion and prolonged suspension may not be imposed on students by a university simply on the basis of allegations of'misconduct' without reference to any preexisting rule which supplies an adequate guide. The possibility of the sweeping application of standard of 'misconduct' to protected activities does not comport with the guarantees of the first and the Fourteenth Amendment.

I was to see Percy on the afternoon of October 18, 1967, two hours after I had been beaten in the Commerce Building, and about the time the last of the tear gas drifted from Bascom Hill. I was yelling at the hastily retreating Joseph Kaufman. The sight of the dean who had mismanaged the entire affair, and of our lawyer, who had only begun to work on our case was too much.

I began to cry. It was Percy who would recount this in his own description the day's events.

In the days that followed Percy was the target of every powerful politician in the state. My girlfriend was a waitress at, of all places, the Madison Club. At the time the Madison Club only reluctantly admitted Jews and no blacks need apply (The world has changed - I had a meeting there yesterday and again this morning.).

Several times that following week she had stories about how all of the Republicans and many of the Democrats in the legislature were out to get Percy. They wanted to see when he was making phone calls from State Capitol hearing rooms - was he making long distance calls and not paying for them?

They wanted get him disbarred from the legal profession.  There was no end to their small but active imaginations.

Over the years Percy and I would discuss politics, humanity, Madison. I once observed that so many people, many with few or little resources sought him out. He replied, "I look at their future, not their past."

For more on the Dow Demonstration see David Maraniss's They Marched Into Sunlight.

*Our attorneys: Percy L. Julian Jr, Michael Reiter, both of Madison,  William M. Kunstler and Arthur Kinoy of New York, Marc Stickgold, Detroit, and Dennis Roberts and Harriet Van Tassel, Newark N.J.  Mike Reiter was a law student when this all began. Before it was over he was a member of the Wisconsin Bar.

Milwaukee County Worse Than Private Contractor in Records Row

While the furor continues over a private contractor releasing social security numbers while working for Wisconsin, it seem that Milwaukee County has managed to give great comfort to those who claim government performs worse than the private sector.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Records released in error , county officials provided confidential records that:

...detail payments for tests and other costs linked to mental competency, paternity and guardianship cases...

While the release of social security numbers can plague a citizen for some time, the damage can be rectified. There are mechanisms for the federal government, the credit rating agencies, the financial services community, and the wronged individual to undo the damage.

For the individual or family, inadvertently outed by the release of records of everything from psychiatric to medical examinations, there is no way of reversing the damage. As noted in the article:

Clerk of Circuit Court John Barrett said he was thunderstruck...

..."I was dumbfounded by the breadth of information they gave out that was confidential," he said. Doing so violated the trust placed in the county to protect vulnerable individuals, he said...

To date those clamoring for heads to roll in state government  are not focusing on Milwaukee County and its executive.

Senator Russ Feingold. Why He Is the Best

I found it on Wisopinion.com

It needs as much exposure as possible.

Russ Feingold on the New FISA Legislation

 

Charlie Sykes Move Over. Mark Belling: The New Expert on Child Raising

Not content to let Charlie Sykes corner the market on telling Wisconsinites how to raise their children, Mark Belling  has some sage advice and opinions for those of you disappointed that the 18th century work-houses of Oliver Twist's day are no longer thriving.

Pete Kennedy at GMtoday, wrote a thoughtful piece, Don't fill up the cup, Arrowhead drug testing a ‘really stupid’ idea , questioning the wisdom and the constitutionality of the Arrowhead High School drug testing policy.

Belling, eloquently jumps into the discussion with this profundity, Way to Go Arrowhead,

The presumption that a high school kid has rights is precisely the attitude that empowers them to make bad decisions.

The illogic, the misunderstanding of the Constitution, and the sheer stupidity of this comment makes The Three Stooges, yes, all seven of them, presidential contenders.

Anyone who raised a child in the last 50,000 years knows that the most powerful force in the universe is teenage peer group pressure. It is  that scourge that parents must continually battle in an effort to minimize not just the bad, but the scary, the stupid, and the silly decisions that kids make.

As for the notion that kids have no rights, I guess Mr. Belling missed the last two hundred years in this country. When it comes to kids:

• Kids are persons and are protected from predators be they strangers or abusive parents.
• Kids do not have to work for seven cents an hour for twelve hours a day, six days a week - I know, more "nanny state" interference with a free market economy.
• Kids can own property and have assets, through trust funds that are carefully regulated and monitored by federal and state law.
• In almost every instance the provisions of the United States Constitution applies to children. The exceptions of some rights that are omitted that children do not enjoy is a very short list.
• Most of the Constitutional protections in the first Ten Amendments apply to children.

Belling goes on to tell a mother who cannot afford a $600 ticket for the Hannah Montana concert:

... the angry mother ought to consider instilling in her children acceptance of the harsh reality that in life we don’t get everything we want and that the things that we desire are in our reach only if we work for them.

Yes, little Susie, the way George W. Bush worked for his fortune, the way the rip off artists at Halliburton worked for theirs, the way Jack Abramoff and his cronies and the crooks at Enron, all worked for theirs.

Mark, here is some better advice for a nine year old girl:

We have to make choices in life about what to do with our money. It might be nice to go to a Hannah Montana concert, but think of all the things we give up, better things.  Maybe one day you will have enough money to do things like that but for now it will have to wait. In the meantime, understand there are people in this world like Mark Belling, who are materialists who place the value of everything in terms of money. Dear, there are other things in life to value like love, clean water, fresh air, and getting the likes of Stephen Nass (R) out of the legislature. 

Sweden Has PaintBall Guns, Invasion Imminent; Halliburton, Burger King Gets $7 Billion Contract

After eight years in office it is clear that we misunderstood George W. Bush. At first we thought he was running the student government or the fraternity house. The recent revelation that Iran's nuclear program was not restarted after suspension in 2003 leaves only one conclusion.

The Bush White House is run by thugs who plan to funnel every tax dollar they raise into the hands of Halliburton and the war profiteers with their scandalous no-bid contracts.

The entire Grover Norquist "shrink government" ploy was designed to divert their real intentions.  After all, no presidential administration in history has spent so much money, so fraudulently, so wastefully, and with such deadly results.

I don't know who thinks Bush has an ounce of credibility left, but those who do need therapy.  Badly.

As for Hallibutron or Burger King, which does not return change in real money to soldiers who purchase their products at the Iraq airport,* all of these companies need to be shaken upside down until every cent is drained from their fat wallets.

Sweden had better be careful.

*U.S. Troops Order Comfort, With Fries on the Side: Soldiers Looking for a Taste of Home Make for a Booming Business at Iraq's First Burger King

...The restaurant probably owes much of its success to its location. The sprawling, heavily fortified airport complex, the nerve center of the U.S. military's operations in Iraq, provides a captive clientele of more than 6,000 soldiers, plus contractors and other civilians. In addition, Washington dignitaries fly in and out, and all mail for U.S. forces in Iraq arrives here...

...Of course, only U.S. bills are accepted. Instead of giving coins as change, the restaurant gives out cardboard chips worth 25 cents each, redeemable at the post exchange.

New York, Murder, DNA, Iraq, and Torture

Sunday's New York Times published a story, about Jeffrey Mark Deskovic, Vindicated by DNA, but a Lost Man on the Outside.  Deskovic was convicted of murder at the age of 17 and recently released at the age of 34 when DNA evidence demonstrated that another man committed the murder in 1989 of high school sophomore Angela Correa.

It appears that Deskovic became a prime suspect, when among other things, he attended her funeral and weeped profusely. In a critical CSI moment,* investigators made him a prime suspect since they were not close friends. Deskovic explained that he was picked on in school and she was one of a few students who was nice to him.

It was the Innocence Project that helped free the young man. What is most disturbing is that in this day and age of Miranda warnings, we still get CSI-type of pressure interrogations which resulted in so many coerced confessions:

• 205 men and one women have been exonerated through DNA testing since 1989.
• Of those exonerated, 53 were convicted of murder.
• And most disturbing, more than a quarter of all exonerated prisoners confessed to crimes they did not commit.

Deskovic, after a seven hour interrogation, confessed to hitting the victim with a Gatorade bottle, grabbing her by the throat, and numerous other details fed to him by law enforcement officials.

All of this was done without the benefit of water boarding and torture. Imagine how good the confessions are coming out of Iraq.

*Plots of Law & Order, CSI Feature Heroic Violations of 4th; 5th Amendments

Anyone who thinks that liberals or the left is in control of network television has a screw loose.  The writers of these shows cannot let an episode pass without coercing a confession or lying their way into an illegal search. 

No wonder only 10% of Americans understand their rights and roll over and play dead when nonsense like the Patriot Act comes up or Bush violates the law.

I enjoy these shows as much as the next person for their entertainment value. In the real world, they suck as a model for respecting our Constitution. Yes, all of these suspects could have been more forceful in asserting their rights, but what good does it do the rest of us when the wrong person is convicted, the case is closed and the real perpetrator is walking the streets?

A Thanksgiving Message from Utah and George W. Bush

I was going to do a post today expressing thanks for all of my friends. I am fortunate to have have shared time with so many wonderful people over the years.

Then I saw this:

Speeding Ticket Taser

It should be shown to every police officer in this country. Anyone who cannot figure out what was wrong with the behavior of the arresting officer, should be sent back to the police academy.

The officer is mostly responsible for what happened. But the environment in which he is working, the erosion of liberties and expression is a license for his aggressive escalating behavior.

Once the alleged speeder refused to sign for the ticket, the officer should have backed up and left.  After all, he had it on tape that the driver refused to sign for the ticket.

Go back and watch the beginning of the tape.  Notice that before he goes after the speeder, the officer pulls over to the shoulder, possible blocking the low mounted temporary 40 MPH sign. Maybe there were other signs; maybe the driver did see it.

The officer not only disgraced his uniform, but he made it that much more difficult for every other professional police officer.  This is the kind of episode that builds resentment and takes its toll on everyone.

Sykes, Belling, Tell me About President Bush and the Best Health Care System in the World

From the White House, President Bush, January, 28, 2004.

Fortunately, the positive news is that we've got the best health system in the world. And we need to keep it that way. We need to keep it that way by keeping the private market strong, by resisting efforts that are happening in Washington, D.C., to say the federal government should be running health. See, we don't believe that. I don't believe it. I believe the best health care system is that health care system generated in the private markets...

...Appreciate you all coming. God bless.

More than three years later, November 11, 2007, US among worst in world for infant death:

The United States ranks near the bottom for infant survival rates among modernized nations. A Save the Children report last year placed the United States ahead of only Latvia, and tied with Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia.

The same report noted the United States had more neonatologists and newborn intensive care beds per person than Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom—but still had a higher rate of infant mortality than any of those nations.

Wonder if Mark Belling and Charlie Sykes want to blame this on Governor Doyle, democrats in State Assembly or maybe Milwaukee Alderman McGee?

Appreciate you all coming.

Next month will work on using nouns. Verbs next year.