Republicans are literally killing us in Wisconsin by making us vote today. They had a choice and they chose death for those of us who value our ballot — the only time we can touch our democracy. They chose it to keep their absolute power in the Legislature and State Supreme Court. Let none of us ever forget this day.
H/T DRo in the comments.
No, I didn’t get excited and diary every time there was a new Wisconsin development over our primary, state and local elections scheduled (and happening) today. I didn’t, despite being asked to, because I knew one thing: Wisconsin Republicans are thugs and they’ll get their way no matter how ugly and ruthless they have to be.
I had no hope of any negotiation with Republicans. Nor did I have hope that when the Governor called a special session to postpone the election. That special session of the State Legislature, dominated by Republicans thanks to relentless gerrymandering, was gaveled into session and a second later, gaveled out of session this past Saturday.
This was, after all, the State Legislature that, following the ouster of former Republican Governor Scott Walker, called itself into special session (with zero power to do so) and passed a series of laws that moved most of the Governors’ power to the Legislature itself. It was a power grab so blatant that even our GOP loving corporate media gasped and speculated that it was so terrible that Governor Walker might veto it. Nope. He didn’t. He signed it in secret during the holidays when people weren’t paying attention.
I did have a bit of hope when Democratic Governor Tony Evers kept his powder dry and waited until the last possible moment to use his executive order power to postpone the election for 2 months. There was not way, I thought, that Republicans could overcome that along with the measly court order requiring absentee ballot receipt be extended to April 13.
They did. With a RW Supreme Court seat on the ballot held by a Scott Walker appointee so corrupt that he not only sides with his wealthy donors in decisions before him, but votes against measures that would only slightly remove some of the smell of rot from our state’s highest court, they moved with the speed of lightening in a vacuum.
They went to their own cultivated 5-2 majority State Supreme Court that overturned the executive order and also to their buddies at the US Supreme Court to overturn the court ruling that absentee ballots can be counted even if received after election day. This, in a single day. Wow.
No wonder they work so hard to cultivate those judicial fields when the harvest comes whenever you want it as fast as you want it.
"People have bled, fought, and died for the right to vote in this country. But tomorrow in Wisconsin, thousands will wake up and have to choose between exercising their right to vote and staying healthy and safe," the Democratic governor said in a statement.
"In this time of historic crisis, it is a shame that two branches of government in this state chose to pass the buck instead of taking responsibility for the health and safety of the people we were elected to serve."
So, here we are, on election day. If you haven’t received your absentee ballot (and I detailed how hard that is here), you have no choice but to show up to a polling place if you want to vote. And those polling places are so few in number that lines formed before poll workers arrived. Small wonder, too, since most of the polling places aren’t open.
In the City of Milwaukee which normally has 180 polling locations, only 5 are open. In my city, West Allis, there’s only 1. The reason: no poll workers and even municipal clerks are quitting. In fact they’re not even calling them polling locations — the new term is “voting centers”.
Despite every effort made by people self-isolating, continuing stay at home orders, and people here generally doing everything they can to protect themselves, we will be undone by Republicans and their obsession to grab and hang onto every single shred of power they can envision. They were actively aided and abetted by their ideological cronies on state and federal courts.
A crime is being committed in Wisconsin. After the bodies are counted, will the rest of your please see to it that the criminals are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law along with providing them plenty of the shame and humiliation that they never feel until they’re caught.
Thank you. Stay tuned.
Update:
OMG hang on to your lunch. Here’s Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Stupid) who felt compelled to crawl out from under his rock to tell people how safe it is to go and vote (and hand out a few lies along the way)
Yes, he’s wrong about the absentee ballots. If they’re not postmarked today and containing a witness signature with address, they go in the garbage can. The many, many people who didn’t get their ballots have not choice but to vote in person and risk death.
And, if it’s sooooo safe to go to the polls, why is he dressed like a surgeon from MASH?
Of course he’s getting twittered:
And there’s more. We had a popup thunderstorm in Milwaukee: