State Sen. Russ Decker was caught drunk driving on Tuesday. In today’s Wisconsin State Journal there is an article about it. Lisa Schuetz reminds everyone that this is the fourth state politician (Frank Boyle, Shirley Krug, Peg Lautenschlager & Russ Decker) in just over a year to be caught drunk driving. Lisa left out one important point. All four of these politicians are Democrats.
Way to set the example Wisconsin Democrats.
And way to drop the ball MSM. Almost had the story nailed, but you let it slip away.
If I was a Democrat with Bush being President that is plenty reason to drink. And didn’t our own President get caught for DUI once? I guess these Democrats are just following his example.
Comment by B — Sunday 3 April, 2005 @ 22:35
If you don’t like Bush, please, by all means feel free to leave. I hear Canada will take you and who knows, mexico might take you too
Comment by Mike — Monday 4 April, 2005 @ 16:41
Mike, you appear to be a passive aggressive type. B punk’d the person you backed up on the feral cat thread and now you suggest he should move to another country because you’re too weak minded to dispute him in the other thread.
You fail to appreciate difference of opinion and the tactic of using a person’s argument to defeat their points. I made the point of our state representatives failing to lead by example. B pointed out that a representative of higher office is guilty of the same transgression. It’s not appropriate to personally attack a person. Well, perhaps in some circles, but it won’t gain you any respect among persons of ethics. You could have pointed out that if one leader fails, then others should not fail in the same manner. You of course choose the low road.
Comment by Steven A. Stehling — Monday 4 April, 2005 @ 19:34
Steve, you fail to see anyones view but your on. And to wear a flyboy uniform and represent our country along with mark smith who protects the public I’m sure glad not to live in Wi. Been there more times than I care to think about but thats another story. You’re a protector of the USA, putting down politcians, shame on you. President Bush is your Commander and Chief. I was in the service myself but not the easy way out as you have taken as a flyboy. Truth be known, we’ll all pay for what we’ve said and done in this world. This forum is worthless and useless along with the vote you yankees are voting on April 11th. i would rather debate you in person and I would if I lived there at least at council meetings.
Comment by Mike — Monday 4 April, 2005 @ 21:06
So you believe that service members should not express their opinion on politics? The UCMJ states that service members are not allowed to mock or criticize in an insulting manner, the elected and appointed officials in the chain of command. Service members still have freedom of speech; they’re just required to use tact when exercising it. Also, most of the opinions I express are related to local officials, who are not in my chain of command.
Nice attempt to insult me by the type of service I perform in the military. You know nothing about me. You call me a flyboy and call that the easy way out. Each service has a job, without the Air Force providing air support; ground troops would suffer higher casualty rates. My job is to inspect, deliver, assemble, maintain and repair aerospace and air base defense munitions. The missiles and bombs I work on directly impact the lives of ground troops. Working with live explosives on a daily basis is not “the easy way out”. There is no such thing as “the easy way out”. Each job in the military has hazards and each job needs to be accomplished in order for ground troops to survive on the battlefield.
Even so, before I joined the Air Force, I was in the Marine Corps. I was with Lima Battery, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marines. I completed my tour and received an Honorable Discharge. I left active service so I could finish college so I could return to the Marines as a commissioned officer. I did not have to serve while attending college. I choose join the local Air Guard unit so I could continue to serve while attending college. In the four years I’ve been in the Wisconsin Air Guard, I’ve spent two years on active duty, including a deployment to the Iraq AOR.
So what point of view have I failed to see? Are you talking about feral cats now? I understand that some people think cats are special or that no animals should be killed by humans. I just don’t agree with them. Are you talking about politicians driving drunk? I understand that some people will blindly defend some politicians. I don’t do that. If a politician makes a mistake, it should be acknowledged, not defended with distractions and excuses. One mistake does not automatically make them a terrible person either.
This is your only warning. You will not use this website to insult the service of some military members or myself.
Comment by Steven A. Stehling — Tuesday 5 April, 2005 @ 8:43
Wow, if I do not like the current President I should move to Canada. That is quite the statement. If that really is the case, Mike, you should have been living there the 8 years that Clinton was President. The point of a Democracy is to stick around and hold the elected officials responsible for their actions and replace them with hopefully a stronger candidate whenever possible.
The problem with people like Mike is they relate Bush to being an infallible leader as if he was annointed by God. And all I suggested was that President Bush was arrested on a DUI charge once, which is a fact. I did not make a personal attack on him at all. It should be fair game to call him on known facts. He is a public figure and every public figure at that level knows they will be held to higher standards.
Many times I see with anyone who criticizes Bush, no matter how legitimate their point, is not refuted directly. Instead they are painted as non-credible and the point is not discussed. That undercuts the value in living in a Democracy. There needs to be a valid debate with points and counter points in order to properly raise the real issues.
Unfortunately it seems that the general public has learned to use these tactics to discredit opposing views and it is nearly impossible to have a discussion on many important topics.
Of course we are also living in a country where the WWE is getting higher ratings than the NBA. A fake sport with oiled up men in speedos is a more popular form of entertainment than an real sport. Do these WWE fans vote Republican or Democrat? And regardless of their choice, are the able to handle a discussion without discrediting the other side? Or do they just open up a can of Whoop Ass?
Comment by B — Wednesday 6 April, 2005 @ 0:36
If party affiliation were taken into account each time an elected official were arrested, I’m sure the score would be close to even. Loraine Serrati is a recent GOP entrant in the DWI sweepstakes, as was some slug from near Eau Claire who was a multiple offender, as I remember.
But I can see why you’re fascinated in this kind of thing: It distracts from your party’s fascination with hating gays and non-Christians over actually governing the state and maintaining standards of living and education in Wisconsin. Nice legacy they’re building up there in the speaker’s office. Schools are dropping programs and the GOP is working on a way for rich folks to avoid paying more taxes forever.. but I guess the drunk driving stuff is more important.
Comment by Anchor — Monday 18 April, 2005 @ 11:33
I don’t have a political party. I’m conservative, but it doesn’t make me belong to a party. I have a gay roommate and follow no organized religion because I am Agnostic. I’m sure many would argue that my tolerance of homosexuals and because I am not Christian would be reason to call me liberal, whatever you need to say to get yourself through the day. But guess again, I disagree with nearly ever issue promoted by the Democratic Party and my roommate is a registered member of the Republican Party. I don’t understand liberals and Democrats. It’s like they see the world in a different light, but I see it as it really is. Not some idealistic utopia. Deal with the real and now.
Wisconsin’s Democratic Party should respond to the issue of their state level member’s having so many drunken driving tickets lately. It’s not a distraction. It’s accountability. They need to be saying, “Hey, this is not acceptable”.
Comment by Steven A. Stehling — Monday 18 April, 2005 @ 12:12