Yesterday my home state of Wisconsin had an election.
The offices which were slated to be filled with newly
elected candidates included school boards, mayors,
county executives, and a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme
Court. Usually, elections of this sort which occur during
odd-years (or "off years", as political observers term
them) generally provoke little more than a yawn from
anyone. Voter turnouts are quite paltry. There is certainly
no "fever pitch" over any candidate or issue driving people
to the polls. But with this election ...
Incumbent State Supreme Court Justice
David Prosser,
seeking another term on the top bench, was challenged
by JoAnne Kloppenburg. Prosser built and enjoys a
reputation as a thoughtful moderately conservative
jurist, who has always shown independence and integrity
in his handling of cases, particularly those involving
criminals, businesses, unions, and state constitutional
questions. Appointed by former Gov.
Tommy Thompson
(R) to fill a vacated seat on the high court, Prosser ran
for a full term. His opponent, Kloppenburg, is an attorney
specializing in environmental law, and has sued many a
farmer and businessman out of business while employed
by the state's Department of Natural Resources. As the
state's environmental law enforcer, she has tried to thwart
increases in local and legislative control in matters concern-
ing homeowners and businesses. Your favorite Peasant's
home state's DNR is regarded by many Wisconsinites as
being arrogant and self-serving, and Kloppenburg has
added much fuel to that fire in her years with them.
But the main reason that Wisconsin's left-wingers back
her candidacy is that they think she'll be a check on Gov.
Scott Walker's plans to reign in both the state budget and
the bargaining power of the public employee unions.The
Wisconsin Supreme Court has a slightly conservative tilt
at present: a 5-4 edge. If Kloppenburg defeats Prosser
for the bench seat currently held by Prosser, the tilt will
go to the liberals by the same margin, and therefore the
liberals could play judicial havoc with Walker and the
GOP majorities in both chambers of the state legislature.
Some political observers think that such a development
would be a thumb in the eye of the people, who voted
Scott Walker and the Republicans into power to do just
what they are doing. With Kloppenburg serving as "point
woman" for the public unions and their allies, the people
will be told that what they want doesn't matter, that their
vote doesn't matter, that they themselves don't matter.
The results of that race, as of this morning, shows the
DNR lawyer leading with a 226-vote margin with all
but one county --- Jefferson County --- reporting their
vote tallies. On local conservative radio talker Vicki
McKenna's show on
WISN-AM here in Milwaukee
callers related some bizarre things that they encountered
at their polling places that sound very ominous; one caller
said that at her polling precinct she was told that they
ran out of ballots, and that she and the other voters were
told to write their votes down on a legal pad (?!).
Another caller reported that his ballot was rejected three
times by the machine which takes the completed ballots,
issuing a slip of paper saying that the ballot was rejected
for some sort of irregularities, and that the voters ahead of
and behind the caller had the same problem. The caller
in question said that on the third attempt his ballot was
finally accepted. The most disturbing account came from
a woman who told Vicki and her audience that an elderly
woman in front of her, when receiving her ballot, was
informed by the clerk at the table that she could not tell
the woman how to vote, but the clerk said that she would
stand near but not too near her at the booth and make
a certain sound as the voter moved her pen by the names
of Kloppenburg and other Democrat-backed candidates!
One caller said that a sample ballot given out at his precinct
had the actual names of the Democrats and Democrat-
backed candidates on the form! The law FORBIDS the
printing of candidates' names on sample ballots. Vicki's
advice for everyone finding questionable happenstances
to call the state election audit bureau to report what they
saw and heard.
So, there you have it, my wonderful readers. The Left will
stop at nothing to get what they want. The constitution,
state or national, doesn't matter. The law, so what. The
will of the people, their concerns, their vote, who cares?
A recount is a certainty in the Supreme Court race regard-
less of who ekes out the win. My fellow Wisconsinites,
those of us who voted have already done our part. All
that we can do now is wait, and say a prayer. Democracy
is hanging in the balance in our state, along with our liberty
and our economic well-being.
As for your faithful Peasant, I shall be praying my rosary
today for the preservation of the integrity of our voting
process and for justice to win the day.
MEM
