Today’s column is a story begging to be told. It is about politicians gone rogue fighting for revenge under the guise of a search for truth. It profiles the liberal political process of personal destruction in lieu of debating the issues. The tragic story is true and reflects the distortion that jaundiced minds can impart to others for the purpose of maintaining power and influence over a conglomeration of people. In this story, most of the spectators (voters/taxpayers) have been rendered powerless by these insidious political schemers. It’s about what happened in Wisconsin and you won’t find it in the mainline press.
Wisconsin self described as, “America’s Dairyland’, the land of ‘The Cheeseheads’ and the home of the venerable Green Bay Packers hired Scott Walker as its governor in 2011. Walker, a Republican was determined to balance the budget and remove what he probably considered a culture of corruption in some state government agencies. In early 2011, Governor Walker introduced a bill (Act 10) to the legislature that would change the relationship between teachers, their union(s), students and taxpayers.
Bryan Kennedy, President of The Wisconsin Federation of Teachers in Wisconsin indignantly announced that the people of Wisconsin were crying out for democracy. His statement overlooked some facts such as the union’s domination and control of the high cost teachers’ health insurance and that the state was collecting dues from teachers and passing the funds along to the unions. In turn, the union staff courteously forwarded the money to politicians who made sure that legislation always allowed the teachers’ unions to accumulate power. Walker realized that teacher compensation and benefits superseded the transfer of learning skills to innocent students willing to absorb knowledge.
Reports indicate that at least 30,000 people stormed the statehouse for several weeks in February and March 2011 to protest collective bargaining rule changes between teachers unions and state government. Walker survived a recall election in 2012 and was re-elected governor in November 2014.
Wisconsin has a ‘John Doe’ law that allows for a special prosecutor to investigate suspected illegal political activity. This investigation can be done in secrecy and with severe restrictions that are inconsistent with the US Constitution. The ‘John Doe’ law was apparently created to identify individuals and groups who illegally coordinated campaigns between advocacy groups and candidates for office. An unnamed associate in the Milwaukee Prosecutor’s office reported that Democratic Prosecutor John Chisholm developed a personal animus toward the Governor because of his ‘Budget Repair’ legislation.
It seems more than coincidental that Chisholm mounted a ‘John Doe’ investigation of conservative individuals and groups who had supported Walker’s candidacy and election. The coincidence germinates exponentially after learning that Chisholm’s wife Colleen was Teachers’ Union Shop Steward at St .Francis (public) High School near Milwaukee. Subpoenas were issued and the onslaught against conservative individuals and groups was launched in the early morning hours of October 3, 2013. One target was on an airplane when the raids erupted; at home his 16-year-old son was awakened to greet six armed law enforcement agents with warrants. The boy was warned not to move, not to call an attorney or his parents. A total of 29 warrants were served; millions of electronic and written documents were taken; business, personal, medical. Computers, phones and other equipment were removed from homes and businesses.
The culmination of this grotesque chronicle of lawless personal destruction came with a mixed blessing. Filing suit, the case got to the Wisconsin Supreme Court where a 4-2 decision was rendered in favor of the defendants (victims) on July 16, 2015. The Court said, “It is utterly clear that the special prosecutor has employed theories of law that do not exist in order to investigate citizens who were wholly innocent of any wrongdoing.” The Wisconsin Supreme Court issued these words of finality, “Let one point be clear: our conclusion today ends this unconstitutional John Doe investigation.”
The victory has a hollow ring however as the liberal prosecutors, investigators, judges and conspirators have received no known punishment or verbal reprimand. No one has been fired or held accountable. The winners of the trial suffered personal and business losses, tangible and intangible. The liberal crusade of personal destruction rolls on unabated.