Blogging Blue

Just last week, one of my favorite anonymous bloggers took the step of “outing” himself during an appearance on WUWM’s Lake Effect with Jane Hampden. Shortly after “outing” himself, the illusory tenant - also known as Thomas Foley - found himself on the receiving end of a couple of particularly nasty personal attacks, one from James Wigderson and the other from Jessica McBride. What I find to be particularly galling about Jessica McBride’s attack isn’t simply the ferocity of the attack, but also the hypocrisy of the attack. Quoted directly from her blog, McBride said (emphasis mine):

People ask me why I don’t blog much anymore. There are a lot of really good bloggers out there. However, it’s sad what the blogosphere has degenerated to in other corners, and I don’t want to be a part of it. At least not with as much frequency as I did before.

Having read that, I wanted to commend McBride for taking the high road, that is until I read the very next passage of her blog entry:

To be blunt: I have more important things to do than debate repeat drunk drivers (3x) on the Internet who, just over two years ago, were in the House of Correction.

So McBride says she doesn’t want to be part of what the blogosphere has degenerated into, only to turn around and write the very same kind of insults and personal attacks that she seems to loathe. That strikes me as more than a little hypocritical, but the hypocrisy is compounded by the fact that Jessica McBride of all people has little room to attack folks for bad or questionable decisions they’ve made in their past, considering some of the decisions she’s made in her past. Sure, she probably didn’t do anything illegal, but people who live in moral glass houses don’t strike me as being in a great position to start throwing stones at others.

Earlier today, the Milwaukee Police Association endorsed Louis Butler in his re-election bid for the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. Here’s a little blurb from the MPA’s official press release:

Justice Louis Butler is the right choice for Wisconsin. He has been a strong leader and he understands the needs of our community, its citizens and law enforcement.

Justice Butler has had a distinguished career in public service, including a long tenure overseeing cases in the Milwaukee Municipal Court, where MPA members often appeared before him. In addition to serving on the local court, Justice Butler was a Milwaukee County Circuit Judge before being appointed to the high court by Governor Doyle in 2004. He is the Court’s first African-American justice and the only member with roots in the Milwaukee criminal justice system.

This experience has given him great insight into the challenges that face the citizens and law enforcement in the City of Milwaukee. He understands the affect that crime has upon our society and the need to combat it while safeguarding the rights of our citizens and law enforcement officers.

We believe that Justice Butler’s lifetime of accomplishment and his work behind the gavel makes him the right choice for Milwaukee and Wisconsin.

Predictably, folks on the right have already begun gnashing their teeth about the endorsement, with former Milwaukee Police Captain Glenn Frankovis saying, “Such an endorsement can’t even be defended! I listened to this guy speak to the Governor’s Commission investigating racial disparities in the criminal justice system and what I heard was anything but a call for law and order. This endorsement can’t even be called “politically savvy”.”

Now I don’t proclaim to be an expert on state politics, but it can’t be a good sign for Paul “Law and Order” Bucher’s burgeoning campaign against Butler if the state’s largest police union has already gone on record endorsing Butler. I’m inclined to believe they know the State Supreme Court isn’t the place for on the job training, which is what Paul Bucher - who hasn’t served one day as a judge - would need.

According to Proof and Hearsay, failed attorney general candidate Paul Bucher is mulling a run for the State Supreme Court seat currently held by Louis Butler. This has to come as good news for Butler, with one Butler supporter saying, “Of course, we’d love to have him run.” In my opinion, another run for statewide office by Bucher - not known for his electric personality - has all the makings of a Butler landslide. Bucher doesn’t have great personal wealth, and he’d probably lag behind Butler in fundraising, given the fact that Butler’s campaign has already raised $165,000 in the first half of this year, with another $155,000 in the bank.

I think a Butler-Bucher race for the State Supreme Court would be tremendously entertaining, and I’d love to see Paul Bucher get beaten badly in yet another statewide election in an election cycle that promises to be just as bad for Republicans as 2006. What I’d like to know is if we can expect to see Mrs. Bucher out on the campaign trail working hard to help her hubby.