An Important Reminder to My Fellow Wisconsinites re: the Coming Election

A reminder to all my Wisconsin readers: Election Day is April 4

and Wisconsin has early voting, the time period for voting ahead 

of Election Day began nine days ago. So please don't tell me that

you have a very tight schedule (you wanna compare schedules with

me? I've already voted on the first day of early voting!), or that the

weather is or might be inclement and make for slippery roads or 

that you have to help an ailing relative or whatever. You've got time,

and you've got an important date with political destiny which you 

dare not miss! Besides, Voting early is a good voting strategy in that

it  can "bank" a candidate's votes so that if there is a smaller than 

expected voter turnout on Election Day then said candidate will likely

have the majority of votes for him/her so that they may be well ahead

of the other candidate(s) and may well wind up being victorious. 

Since your keeping-ever-current Peasant first wrote about our state's

upcoming election in which we shall choose a candidate for a soon-

to-be-vacated seat on our state's supreme court, some new information

about the lefty candidate, Judge Janet Protasiewicz came to light. 

And let me tell you, it ain't pretty! 

Some years ago she was briefly married to a prominent Milwaukee

jurist, Judge Patrick J. Madden, a well-known conservative. The 

The marriage fell apart before too long, thanks to Protasiewicz' 

maltreatment of her husband who was twice her age. Michael 

Madden, Protasiewicz' former stepson, told a family friend who 

wishes to have his name kept out of the press because of the 

contentiousness of the election with Judges Daniel Kelly and 

Protasiewicz drawing nearer, about the physical abuse made on

the elderly Judge. Another family friend, John Ehr, went on record 

regarding the ongoing abuse, saying that he saw some of the alleged 

abuse with his "own eyes", according to his statement he gave to 

Wisconsin Right Now --- Unintimidated, a Wisconsin news web site

which gives a conservative perspective on the state's news stories.

Ehr, by the way, is a former Milwaukee restaurant and bar owner who

is a long-time friend of the late Judge Madden's family and an 

self-described "liberal" regarding his politics, so you know that

his claims are not part of some vast "right-wing conspiracy" to

derail Protasiewicz' candidacy for the state's high court. 

Furthermore, Ehr said that he heard Protasiewicz refer to black 

people by the "N-slur" in a conversation. 

Other people who know Protasiewicz, who was a Milwaukee assistant 

district attorney at the time of her short-lived marriage to Judge 

Madden, have reported that she was not at all a nice person. One 

friend of the family, who gave her name as Rita (not wanting to 

give her full name) gave similar accounts for this article. So far 

two first-hand witnesses have come forward to tell how Protaseiwicz 

interacted with her husband.

So we have a liberal candidate for Wisconsin's highest court that has 

signaled how she likely would vote in certain cases, disqualifying her 

from giving her decisions on said cases, but also indicated that she'd

not recuse herself from ruling on them; a candidate who had acted 

violently toward her husband according to witness given by a family

member and at least two family friends; and has been so lenient on 

dangerous criminals, so as to enable them to go forth and commit 

further crimes including, but not limited to, assault, rape, and armed 

robbery; a candidate who shows no proper understanding of the 

state's constitution, choosing to be guided by her "values"; 

a candidate who has no regrets over her atrocious leniency shown

toward said criminals nor her dismissiveness toward their victims;

and a person who isn't fit to be a Milwaukee Circuit Court judge,

let alone a justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Do we really 

want to trust her with a seat on the highest court in our state? Besides,

if she gets elected, there will then be a 4-3 LIBERAL majority

(emphasis added) which would go after all of the Walker reforms 

that have benefitted our state since they were crafted by then-Gov.

Scott Walker and passed by the state legislature. And the political

map of our state will be redrawn to give a big advantage to the 

Democrats, with the 4-3 left-wing court turning away all challenges

to the map for who knows how many years? Remember, a justice 

on the state's top court gets a 10-year term and can run for re-election,

meaning a justice could serve for twenty years or even more if 

they so choose. Elections in our state would have a diminished 

meaning which could be boiled down to: the people vote, but the 

court decides. The court would in effect be our master. The left-wing

justices would rule over us like gods on Mount Olympus. Is this the 

Wisconsin that we want to hand down to our children and 

grandchildren? 

You all by now are quite familiar with Judge Daniel Kelly and his 

record of service as a judge and as a past justice on our high court.

He respects and follows the constitution of our state, he does not

tilt his judgement toward or against anyone because of political

or personal biases. Judge Kelly also has a sharp intellect which 

has helped him to have a commanding grasp of the law, which 

greatly outshines that of his opponent. So please, go out and vote,

for you are not merely electing a high court candidate, you are 

choosing what kind of state, what kind of society, what kind of 

legacy you are giving to the coming generations. And you can 

do this by simply marking a ballot with the name of the candidate

who shall interpret our laws, not legislate over them.

Simple enough, and yet so urgently important. 

Let there be tears of joy rather than tears of sorrow on April 5.

MEM

David M. Tacke, R.I.P.

Another member of our merry ranks has moved on to better environs;

a long-time friend and an avid reader of this blog, fellow conservative

and Milwaukeean David Tacke left us on March 16 at the age of 68.

Cancer is to blame for his departure at too young an age; 68 is not 

really old age as we knew it to be, as people are living longer and longer

--- although a disease, an injury or injuries, or something else unex-

pected and awful comes along for some of us and cuts everything short.

Heck, your beloved Peasant nearly had that happen two years ago in 

the form of a heart attack at 63. 

Dave and I met at a job seekers club meeting nearly twenty years ago

and had brainstorming sessions with our fellow employment hunters

as well as just us together, meeting in a restaurant to have a bite and to

exchange ideas. Dave was a "techie", very adept with computers but

very personable and quite social, unlike many in that particular field.

We had a grand time talking about our career plans, Conservatism

(Dave worked on Gov. Scott Walker's gubernatorial campaigns as well

as campaigns of other local and Wisconsin Republicans), Christianity

(Dave was a Lutheran while I am a Catholic), our high school and 

college days at our respective schools, the ladies we dated, and perhaps

a few other topics which I have long forgotten about. Oh, and we both 

talked about the articles we've read in National Review, and I showed

Dave my photo taken of myself and William F. Buckley Jr., NR's 

founder and conservative icon.

My hobby as a singer of Irish and other songs of the Celtic world 

was a point of much interest for Dave. I told him where I and my 

song group sing and when; 'tis pity he never made it over to catch us

in performance. Also more's the pity that we didn't get together for a 

bite at a restaurant a few more times in the past few years, as we both 

became with our work and all else in our lives. Isn't that so often 

the case? And now we have to wait until it's my turn to accept my 

invitation to partake of God's heavenly hospitality. 

In the meantime I have many happy memories of David and 

the comfort of knowing that he is just a prayer away. Your grateful 

Peasant will always remember David joyfully and of course with much

gratitude for the friendship and the time we enjoyed together. 

Requiescat in Pace; Ruhe in Frieden, old friend. Until we meet again.

MEM

A Grand Centenarian

The remaining surviving member of the Buckley family

--- THE Buckley family, of which William F. Buckley Jr.

is one of its issue, celebrated his 100th birthday on March 9;

James Buckley, the fourth child of William F. Buckley Sr.

and Aloise Buckley and older brother to William Jr. in that 

remarkable, distinguished Buckley brood, was honored in 

William Jr.'s National Review this week. James Buckley

is one of our country's most distinguished and best-known

conservatives, with a resume that most can only envy:

a United States Senator from New York, a member of 

President Reagan's State Department Staff, and a long-

serving federal judge, having served on the D.C. Circuit

Court of Appeals. He also was a longtime advocate of

a conservative Republican Party, believing in small,

more efficient government, more reasonable levels of

taxation, proper funding for our armed forces, 

and a strong justice system to maintain the peace,

among other conservative nostrums, standing up 

to the moderate/liberal wing of the GOP and their 

apologists for a larger government with more functions.

James Buckley also opposed the New York City bailout

in the 1970s, a move consistent with his principles

but harmful to his political career. In an interview 

with his brother Bill on the latter's TV show Firing Line,

James stated that "the Watergate episode (James called for 

President Nixon's resignation), and others leading up

to it, illustrate the fundamental conservative principle, 

and that is if you concentrate enough power, especially 

discretionary power or arbitrary power, in any one place,

at some point or another it's going to be abused."

Damned if he wasn't proven right in the years since 

he spoke those words!

James' last public address was delivered in 2019 at the 

National Review Institute Ideas Summit. The following

year he was awarded the William F. Buckley Prize for 

Leadership in Political Thought. To honor James Buckley

on his milestone birthday the NRI is establishing the 

James L. Buckley Lecture on Principled Leadership, 

to be given by an individual who served in any of the 

three branches of the government.

Well done, sir! And may you have still more birthdays 

to enjoy! 

MEM

Many Politicians are Liars, but ...

As anyone who pays any attention to politics knows, 

there are many politicians who are liars. They will 

spout any line of hogwash to get elected and re-elected,

to drum up support for a bill, to pretend to care about the 

concerns of their constituents regarding an issue,

and many other things. But in the 2022 midterm 

election one particular lying pol has perhaps outdone 

them all. 

A newly-elected Republican candidate for a seat in the House

of Representatives, one George Santos (If that is, in fact, his 

real name; why do I say that? Please read further) has gained 

nationwide attention, and not of the welcome variety, for 

having prefabricated just about everything about his background 

from when he declared his candidacy for Congress to his electoral

victory. Once some suspicions about his claims re: his personal 

history surfaced, Santos publicly admitted lying about attending 

Baruch College and working on Wall Street in the employ 

of Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. These organizations have stated

that they have no record whatsoever of Santos ever having been

enrolled or employed there. And this is just for starters ... 

Santos also claimed to be of Jewish so he could get the backing

of the Republican Jewish Coalition for his congressional candidacy.

When he later backpedaled on this, the RJC said that they "had been

deceived". Santos also lied when he claimed his mother was in the 

World Trade Center on September 11, 2001; she was, according to 

immigration records, that she was in her native Brazil on that date.

Santos' deceptions go farther and have a greater-ranging scope, as he

hasn't been above scamming for money either; he set up a GoFundMe

account ostensibly to raise money to help a homeless veteran and his

ailing dog. Rich Osthoff, the veteran in question, said Santos raised 

$3,000 through Santos' pet charity, but Osthoff never received a penny

from the donations and his dog passed away in the meantime. 

Santos was then blocked by GoFundMe after this came to light.

Santos also found time to run a Ponzi scheme during his hectic 

schedule with mass deception, as well as an international credit card 

fraud caper. He also was involved in an ATM skimming operation 

run by a friend to boot!

Oh, did your observant Peasant mention that there were some discrep-

ancies and other questionable details in Santos' financial statements 

and perhaps some other statements that a House member must file?

And that he was accused of sexual misconduct by a person who

sought employment in Santos' congressional office? Of course Santos

has denied that last one.

Such a busy bee, George Santos has been, but he's about to get stung.

He now faces an investigation by the House Ethics Committee that will 

examine all of these items and more. Rep. David Joyce (R-OH) is the

chairman of the subcommittee established by this committee and will, 

with his fellow subcommittee members have their hands full.

Now, this subcommittee's having been established does not in and of

itself indicate that any violation took place; it was formed simply to

collect and weigh any evidence that might exist showing that there

had been any wrongdoing by Rep. Santos. But many of his constituents,

including those who voted for him, along with many fellow House 

members have publicly called for Santos to resign from office, not 

to mention many House Democrats as well as Nassau County GOP

members in his district. Santos has stated that he refuses to step down,

although he has removed himself from all committee assignments

for the duration of the investigation. 

May his complete and absolute resignation or removal from Congress

be soon forthcoming.

MEM

David Durenberger, R.I.P.

A fine public servant and good friend of mine recently 

left this world. Sen. David Durenberger, a Republican

who was elected to fill the remainder of the term left

vacated by the death of Sen. Hubert Humphrey (D)

and served from 1978 to 1995, was the first senator 

elected in Minnesota from the GOP in many years.

A party moderate, Durenberger nonetheless assisted

led President Reagan's New Federalism effort in 1982,

an initiative to restore some functions of the state 

governments to the states and diffuse the federal 

government's power in the process. Additionally, he

was a 14-year member of the Advisory Committee 

on Intergovernmental Relations, where he further 

helped President Reagan and the government to 

come together in cooperation to function in a balanced

manner.

Durenberger also voted to confirm conservative jurists

Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court 

of the United States, and was Senate sponsor of the 

Medicare Catastrophic Act, and voted for the Americans

with Disabilities Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act,

among several legislative acts which drew support from

senators from both parties. He supported legislation that

was conservative as well as liberal in origin if he found 

the bills to be rightful, helpful, and needed.

Having lived in Minnesota for some years, I had been

a Duremberger campaign worker and an alternate delegate 

to the Minnesota State Republican on several occasions 

and came to know the senator pretty well, developing a 

firm friendship with him. He made some mistakes while

a senator --- he used his condominium in Minneapolis

to collect $40,000 in travel reimbursements and evaded 

limits on speaking fees, getting censured by the Senate 

in a 96-0 vote. But overall, Sen. David Durenberger served 

Minnesota and Minnesotans well, earning the respect and 

trust of people all along the political spectrum and from

both major political parties. I missed our chats about the 

issues of the day, and upcoming presidential elections,

and appreciated that he always made time to visit with me.

He put on no airs, never acted like he was too important

to hear from and converse with everyday people, and was 

a caring, effective, and reliable public servant.

Sen. David Durenberger passed away at age 88 just at the 

end of January. Farewell and Godspeed, David. It was a 

pleasure to have had you as a friend, a political ally, 

and a true public servant.

Requiescat in pace.

MEM