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Desperate WisGOP Assembly Speaker floats impeachment of Supreme Court Justice, to keep gerrymander [1]

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Date: 2023-08-12  

I have had suspicions that the constant whining from conservatives on the Wisconsin Supreme Court about the changes that come with being in the minority for the first time in 15 years was being created by WisGOP and their media spokespeople to try to lead to something. It feels very Astroturf, and I figured there was a bigger agenda behind it.

And sure enough, the power-drunk Assembly Speaker went on RW radio yesterday to hint at what they might try out of a desperate attempt to stay in power at the Capitol.

x Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says GOP lawmakers who control the state Legislature may consider impeachment if liberal Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz doesn't recuse from redistricting cases after calling maps "rigged" https://t.co/djT1jg0rWz — Molly Beck (@MollyBeck) August 12, 2023

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican from Rochester, said in an interview on WSAU he does not believe impeachment should be considered lightly by lawmakers. But he said the idea could move forward if Protasiewicz does not recuse herself on cases he said she "prejudged" during her campaign for a seat on the state's highest court. "If there's any semblance of honor on the state Supreme Court left, you cannot have a person who runs for the court prejudging a case and being open about it, and then acting on the case as if you're an impartial observer," Vos told conservative WSAU host Meg Ellefson when asked whether the Legislature could successfully defend the current boundaries with a liberal-controlled state Supreme Court. "You cannot have a judge who said, you know, the maps are rigged because she bought into the argument that that's why we're winning elections, not the quality of our candidates, and then she sits on that trial acting like she's gonna listen and hear both sides fairly − that just can't happen."

Uhh, Robbin'. Are the circumstances of your gerrymandering somehow different today than they were in April? No, they are not. And Justice Janet was elected by DOUBLE DIGITS after telling the truth about what she thought about those maps.

I don’t think this applies

Based on this screen-grab from statewide public access station Wisconsin Eye, I don't think "telling the truth and following through on what you said you would do" satisfies the standard for impeachment.

May I also remind you that 12 years ago, Republicans were arguing against recalls on GOPs who voted for Act 10, even though the union-busting of Act 10 was never debated during the elections that put them into power, and it likely would have been defeated if it was put to a statewide referendum. But now some of the same clowns are thinking Protasiewicz should be impeached/removed for....following through on what she said she would do if elected?

WisGOP legislators should take note of how their fellow Republicans in Ohio suffered a massive defeat this week. Esquire's Charlie Pierce describes it well in his "subscriber-only column for the week.

The stage was set perfectly. The legislature had a perfectly engineered Republican majority and Republicans held all the major constitutional offices. So, when the advocates of reproductive freedom proposed an amendment to the state constitution guaranteeing reproductive freedom for all Ohioans, all that was needed to pass the amendment was a majority vote this November. So the Republicans called for a special election on the proposition that the threshold for an amendment be raised to 60 percent. The current amendment process is a legacy from President Theodore Roosevelt in 1912. And the Republicans arranged for the special election to be held in August, when nobody would care. What clever dicks they were. This past week, it turned out that the ducks were not in a row, but all the chickens came home to roost. President Teddy kicked all kinds of ass from the Beyond. From the Ohio Capital Journal: Twenty-two of Ohio’s 88 counties voted no against Issue 1. The bulk came from Cuyahoga and Franklin counties, with democratic voters focusing on how raising the threshold for a constitutional amendment to pass from a simple majority to 60% was meant to thwart the abortion rights proposal on the November ballot. But deep blue counties weren’t the only ones voting no. Twelve fall into the urban category, 6 in the partly rural and four totally rural. Fifteen of the 22 counties voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. The Republicans’ proposal was completely thrashed, losing 57 percent to 43, adding Ohio to the diverse roster of states in which reproductive freedom has shown overwhelming political power. It opens the door to other potential state constitutional amendments, including one that would forbid partisan gerrymandering. The odds on the pro-choice amendment in the November election have now flipped completely in its favor, and that may prove invaluable to incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown’s re-election effort. This is especially piquant because one possible Brown opponent is Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who bulldogged the proposed change in the amendment threshold and who was not thrilled by the fact that his tricksy maneuver was blown up at the polls. Again, from the Ohio Capital Journal: By Tuesday morning, LaRose, who was the most visible face of Issue 1, might have been worried. Before noon, he ducked a meeting with reporters. That afternoon, he was attacked by an Arizona Republican who came to Ohio to campaign for Issue 1. That evening, after the blowout became apparent, he skipped a press conference and the official speaking in his place pointed blame at his fellow Republicans. At 11:23 p.m., LaRose broke his silence by issuing a statement. It was angry, misleading, and hardly a concession that voters disliked his proposal, which they defeated by a 14-point margin. Making the loss even more bitter, some counties that had voted for Donald Trump in 2020 joined the chorus in voting “no” on Issue 1.

Turns out voters don't like it when politicians do transparent power grabs instead of actual work.

Assembly Republicans should be asking themselves if they really want to have Napoleon Vos desperately running around thinking of tactics to trying to cling to power instead of doing anything that voters want. Because it should be assumed that ALL Republicans are OK with the effort to hamstring and/or remove a Justice that Wisconsinites overwhelmingly put into office, even if a few of them put up a symbolic "No" vote on impeachment to try to cover themselves.

If the WisGOP Legislature was smart instead of drunk on power, they'd shut up, let the maps go through, let the abortion ban get overturned, and take their chances in 2024. After all, even a fair map favors Republicans for control of the State Legislature - they just have to work a little harder to stay in control, and have to listen to what their constituents. Which in GOPWorld is considered a problem instead of an opportunity.

Look, I know that Republicans don't care about being hypocrites and they are incapable of shame. But fear of voter hatred (or even voter attention) and losing their jobs will at least shake some of them. So if I were the WisDems, I would be pounding the local airwaves in GOP-held districts that voted for Protasiewicz and demand that the local reps follow the wishes of their voters, and not scared, dweeby Robbin' Vos and his oligarch puppetmasters.

Besides, the power-hungry and out-of-touch GOP has lost almost every statewide race since 2016, and if they try any funny business with Justice Janet or the rest of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and deny the people what they voted for, they're going to have an even bigger loss in 2024.

Big enough that even your illegitimate gerrymander might not save you. You really want that, WisGOPs?

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/12/2186807/-Desperate-WisGOP-Assembly-Speaker-floats-impeachment-of-Supreme-Court-Justice-to-keep-gerrymander

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