Wisconsin’s hotly disputed redistricting maps are settled for now. In the coming months we will learn how the changes affect us. The openly political, liberal-majority Supreme Court ratcheted up the temperature by involving itself, declaring the existing maps unconstitutional, and threatening to redraw the maps themselves. They engaged “expert consultants” to provide cover for the changes they intended to make.
The Republican majorities in the Senate and Assembly had their backs up against the wall. Fearing Court drawn maps would be their worst nightmare, they passed maps Tony Evers had drawn, and they had previously rejected, in both Houses. Evers signed them.
Gerrymandering – manipulating the boundaries of voting districts to favor one party over the other – is engaged in by both parties across the country at every opportunity, though you’d never know it the way the party on the short end of stick screams in righteous indignation. It’s one more way our politics are dirty. Candidates for office should win the voters over with their character and plans to govern rather than district manipulation.
Wisconsin Congressman Mark Pocan showed us what he’s about when chose to insert himself into the fray. He provided a prime example of what we’re up against as we demand a Congress in Washington that works for the people. In the process, he confirmed he is a dirty politician, unconcerned with the Constitution, and willing to do whatever it takes for party power and control. He is unworthy to represent the people of Wisconsin in Congress and he has plenty of company on both sides of the aisle.
Pocan urged Wisconsin’s Democratic lawmakers not to “take the bait” and vote for Democrat Tony Evers’ maps. He devised a ginned-up threat that the Republicans would try to overturn the maps in Federal Court. He argued, “The Supreme Court in Wisconsin clearly has this under their jurisdiction now.” Pocan wanted the Supreme Court to usurp the Legislature’s responsibility to draw the maps, as defined by the state Constitution, in pursuit of maximum advantage for this year’s elections.
Pocan was harshly rebuked by Doug Poland, who successfully sued to overturn the GOP maps from 2022. Poland asked, “Who exactly has this concern? People really think that if the GOP controlled legislature and Democratic Governor agree on legislation adopting new districts that a Federal Court challenge will undo that? On what theory? It sounds like someone doesn’t want to end litigation. Why?”
In the end, most Democratic legislators voted against their Democratic governor’s maps, an act of political gamesmanship that the Republicans would have likely played if they had been in the same situation.
This Wisconsin experience is not unlike what goes on in Washington every day. In the frantic search for a winning formula for the November elections, the Democrats, with reliable help from the dishonest media, are pounding the narrative that the Republicans cannot govern. The proof, they say, is the inability of their leaders to get the Republicans to move in lock step on legislative initiatives. In just the past few weeks they failed to whip Republican support for the “bipartisan” border deal in the Senate; the first impeachment vote of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas failed; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell lost control and was met with open defiance from his caucus; and now House Speaker Mike Johnson is faced with an unclear path to support for Israel, border security and resolution of the budget.
Democrats and the media contrast this “chaos” in the Republican party with the quiet conformity on the other side of the aisle. Party comes first, winning is everything and significant disagreements are quickly quelled and members brought in line. They go along to get along and Democrats are making a risky bet that they can sell the idea that raucous resistance to bad ideas is a bad thing.
The American people have made it clear their dissatisfaction with government is intense and they have equal disdain for the media for abandoning journalistic integrity in favor of their own lust for power.
The changes we are seeking will not be made in an environment of peace and quiet. Meaningful change is always noisy. Those who dare to lead will be met by ferocious resistance from all who profit from the status quo. Real change in Congress will require a total makeover of how they conduct business and ousting those who have defiled the founders’ idea of “citizen legislators” by staying for life.
Here’s the truth about the “chaos” we are witnessing in Congress. There is a shamefully small number of elected members determined to do what their constituents expect them to do. They won’t conform to “how things are done around here” and they will not be dissuaded by ridicule, threats, or Party punishments. Media caricatures of them don’t faze them. We’re going to have to send more of them to Congress for real change to materialize.
As we are bombarded with the endless propaganda that good governance is party unity and settling for “steps in the right direction” that don’t resolve the problems we want resolved, use your own good judgment to answer this question: Is the noise of dissent unwanted chaos or the beginning of the much-needed disruption of a government that does not work for the people?
