Wisconsin elected a new liberal justice of the Supreme Court, Janet Protasciewicz, who was just sworn in and is expected to be impeached by the Republican State Assembly before she can even hear her first case. Why? Not because she committed high crimes and misdemeanors, but simply because she WON. By 11% of the vote or 200,000 votes. Wisconsin’s voters let the Governor and Legislature know our opinions and we gave them, by voting. Republicans want to keep gerrymandered maps and a 1849 law banning abortion so they want to impeach Judge Janet. They don’t have enough votes in the Senate to convict, but by impeaching her she’ll be sidelined from the bench, so it’ll go back to being a 3-3 court until the Democratic governor appoints another Judge, who the Assembly will impeach, and round and round we go.
The voters of Wisconsin elected Joe Biden president and, together with the legislature Donald Trump has made our lives miserable trying to steal the state back to his column. Today, I took the time to write our Assembly Speaker, to wit:
Letter to Robin Vos, Assembly Speaker, State of Wisconsin
I moved to Wisconsin, to a small Milwaukee apartment with rented furniture, for three months. That was twelve years ago. Having grown up off Lake Erie, it’s interesting to find myself late in life looking out my windows onto Lake Michigan. As a little girl I knew when the Bills missed out on the Playoffs, I always rooted for the Packers because they’re just like us!
Not so much. Never has my vote meant so little as here in Wisconsin…. I’m used to casting a balllot, having it tallied and waking up the next morning to find out who my next elected officials would be, except when I was working on a campaign and stayed up late at HQ to find out.
The Big Lie changed all that, and I’ve read that Donald Trump had been calling you regularly to get you to re-install him as president, however one “re-installs” a public official. Thanks for not doing it. Now it appears you have the chance to impeach Judge Janet Protasciewicz before she even hears a case.
Judge Janet can be impeached by you and your Republican colleagues, but according to my reading, only for official misconduct, high crimes and treason. I don’t call being duly elected by the people of Wisconsin with a 200,000 vote margin any of those things.
I rarely offer Republicans advice, but here goes. Your people, which now includes me like it or not, have been in limbo since the 2020 election with fake electors (as yet unpunished) running around and any number of schemes to thwart a free and fair presidential election. Haven’t we been through enough? I would simply urge you to remember the oath you took and to try to see the world through the eyes of all your constituents, not just those who live in the red counties.
Do not take this unwise step to dismiss the concerns of the State’s voters without even a whiff of impeachable offenses. Let this play out, it’s the grown-up thing to do. The maps may be drawn more fairly for everyone, and a 1849 abortion law may be changed to one that more of your living citizens can approve.
When I used to write laws for the State of New York, I always came at it from a point of consensus. It was never “we’re gonna get them” because then when they’re in charge, all they’ll want to do is change it so it only benefits them, and my parents always taught me two wrongs don’t make a right. Please, sir, err on the side of reason and let the Supreme Court stand as elected by the people. Otherwise, who knows what will happen to Wisconsin in 2024 and beyond if the voters are not respected as your constituents.
That’s all for today, folks. Oh, please read the letter from the Presidential Libraries/Centers on Democracy, issued yesterday. Be a good citizen, vote and get involved! Dee
Cooking with Dee 