OK. I’ve had writer’s block since April. I keep focusing on politics instead of fun things like CheeseFest and Memorial and Flag Day parades and sports and such. Focused, but unable to write about it. Much to my own dismay and distress.

I keep waiting for, I don’t know, reasonableness maybe? Civility, perhaps. Or maybe just congratulations for the Victor by the Vanquished after a hotly contested election or a difficult legislative vote. And then the welcome sight of everyone moving on with the next order of business for the state, or county, or municipality.

I just try to envision the astonishing sight of the minority being respectful of the majority’s will and decisions. And the equally astonishing sight of the majority being respectful of the minority’s rights and perspectives.

Or some such.

Let’s see. We had a very close Supreme Court election in April, with a wildly erroneous unofficial result on election day, and an official margin of victory of less that one-half of one percent in favor of Justice David Prosser. Then we had a protracted recount through May, requested by the candidate who took second place in this very close election, Joanne Kloppenburg. And a lot of grumbling from Republicans that she didn’t have to pay for the recount, since the initial margin of victory was so small. But to me, that’s the price of democracy, isn’t it? And there was lots of partisan sniping, empty rhetoric and just plain meanness in a supposedly non-partisan race. And there were some nasty personal attacks from Democrats on Justice Prosser. Which, to his credit, he weathered well. Chalk one up for the “non-partisan” Republican in the race.

When the recount was completed late in May, Joanne Kloppenburg decided not to challenge the recount, and conceded her defeat on May 31. She then immediately congratulated Justice David Prosser on his re-election. Which to me counts as “congratulations to the Victor by the Vanquished.” So, chalk up one for the “non-partisan” Democrat in this election as well, at least at the very end.

OK. In April and May we also had recall petitions circulating against the 16 State Senators that have been in office for over a year. Remember, every two years we elect (about) half of our 33 State Senators. All of those State Senators who were elected in 2008 were eligible to be recalled, because they’d been in office for more than a year. The various recall committees secured enough signatures to move ahead on recall elections against nine of the sixteen State Senators that were elected in 2008. So there will be recall elections against 3 Democrat State Senators and 6 Republican State Senators this summer. Hmmm. Three Democrats and six Republicans are facing recalls. Interesting.

If Democrats carry all 6 of their recalls against Republicans, and Republicans carry all 3 of their recall efforts against Democrats, the 19-14 Republican majority in the Senate will become a 17-16 majority for the Democrats. A sobering thought for Republicans. And exciting for Democrats.

But remember, this recall-mania all started when every last one of the Democratic Senators left the state back in February, in order to stall the Budget Bill that curtailed public sector collective bargaining rights. Rather than congratulate the Democrats on the temporary success of their unusual maneuver, Republican commentators scorned Democrats as cowardly and disgraceful. Because they ran away. To Illinois. Really.

Now let me ask several dumb questions about this. What if the Wisconsin Senate had had a filibuster rule in place, like the US Senate has had since at least the days of “Mr. Smith goes to Washington?” Then wouldn’t the Democrat Senators have had a chance to voice their strong opinions in a more parliamentary manner, like Jimmy Stewart’s character did in the famous movie? Wouldn’t a filibuster have yielded the same outcome as leaving the State? Wouldn’t a filibuster have offered some protections for the minority party to register their outrage? Wouldn’t the majority have prevailed eventually anyway? Except that the process would have been more civil, less contentious? Maybe?

Eventually, the scorn on the part of Republicans turned into a movement to recall the Democrats who had “Fled the State”, and were “Absent without Leave”. O.K. Then Democrats returned the favor. And now we have 3 Democrats up for recall and 6 Republicans. Looks like the Republicans ended up with the short end of the stick, at least for now. Let’s see what happens in the upcoming recall elections. Oh, I can’t wait.

And after the amazingly peaceful demonstrations in Madison during February and March, there have now been unfortunate instances of serious disorderly conduct on the part of some protesters in Madison. And there doesn’t seem to be a reprimand to these disorderly protesters coming from the Democrats. But maybe I’ve just missed the strongly worded statements from Democratic Party leaders for protesters to respect the Democratic process. Maybe Democrats are really bothered by the mob mentality that keeps threatening to boil over and scuttle the hard work our Legislators are all grappling with in Madison. Maybe we just don’t know how much Leadership the Democratic Party is actually exercising in this regard. Maybe it’s happening, and we just don’t hear about it.

Because maybe, just maybe, there’s a serious bias in the Major Media, in favor of the Republican agenda and against Democrats. Right.

Across the State over the past few months, public unions have negotiated with local officials and school boards to cut take-home pay for unionized public employees in exchange for contract stability for the employees over the next several years. At the same time, there were court challenges to Governor Walker’s Budget Repair bill after it passed, going all the way up to the State Supreme court. And in the process, accusations flew from all sides about who’s “pro middle class” and who’s “busting” the public unions, and who’s greedy, and who’s corrupt, and, and, and…

At least now, the Supreme court has ruled that the “Budget Repair Bill” can become law. So now, at least, we can see how it actually works, or doesn’t work. And in another year or so, we’ll get another chance to evaluate how good a job our Legislators have done during their tenure, and voice our confidence in them, or boot them out of office.

And while all this was going on, we constantly heard Republican pundits repeating “there is no right to collective bargaining in the Constitution”, “there is NO right to Collectively Bargain in OUR Constitution”, “there is NO right to Collective Bargaining in the US CONSTITUTION.” O.K. Uh-huh. Right. Last time I read the US Constitution, all “un-enumerated rights” clearly belong to the People and the States, according to the 9th and 10th amendments. So if the US Constitution actually DID mention the right to Collectively bargain, it would be proof that the right exists. But failing to mention a right in the US Constitution means nothing much at all.

O.K. So, isn’t the Republican Party supposed to be the party dedicated to upholding Constitutional principles? Aren’t Republicans in the US Congress the ones who actually want to do things the Constitutional way? Actually reading the constitution on the House floor? Umm, Yeah, that’s what I thought. So how do you get Republican pundits who are so ignorant of the US Constitution in everyday practical matters? Good question.

So let’s see, I’ve lost track of the score here. But I think it’s pretty close, actually. Nothing to nothing?

Now, one of the Republican State Senators facing off against Democrat challengers is our own Rob Cowles, who’s 2nd Senate district includes the northern part of Little Chute. There are a number of Democrats interested in challenging him for his Senate seat, so there will be a primary on July 12th (the 2nd Tuesday of July), three weeks from today.

The Democrats running against Rob Cowles are Otto Junkerman, Nancy Nusbaum and Mert Summers.

There will be a General Election on August 9th (the second Tuesday of August), four weeks after the primary, between Rob Cowles and his Democratic challenger.

Except that Rob’s challenger may not be a “real” Democrat.

Otto Junkerman is an ex-Republican, running as a Democrat. He’s called a “protest” candidate, and is supported by the Republican Party to help ensure that the Republican agenda to “protect middle-class families” prevails, according to the Republican party leadership. Because, you see, Democrats ran away. To Illinois. And running an ex-Republican as a Democrat in the Democrat Primary is going to ensure that Rob Cowles will win the recall vote. Or something like that.

Unless, of course, Otto actually wins the Democrat primary. In which case you and I will have to decide between a real Republican like Rob Cowles, (who by the way, managed to get the state recycling money that the Governor took out of the budget back into the budget, last I heard) and an ex-Republican-turned-Democrat-for-the-purposes-of-protesting-against-Democrats-in-the-primaries. Wow. Tough choice.

Mert Summers, on the other hand, is a real Democrat who ran against Jim Steineke in last fall’s State Assembly race. But he also has a special name: he’s called a “placeholder” candidate, placed on the ballot by the Democratic Party. Because the Democratic Party doesn’t want “cynical Republicans” to “plot” against the people, by allowing them (Republicans) to “delay the recall” for a few weeks. By running a “protest” candidate, of course. Got that? I think this almost, maybe, makes sense somehow. Not.

Nancy Nusbaum seems to be running because she thinks she’s a better candidate for the State Senate than Rob Cowles. Good for her. Except that her term would be short. Like a little over a year. She’d have to run for re-election again in the fall of 2012. Right: that’s next year. Wow again.

In our own Little Chute Village Hall, we’ve had our own rather contentious Board of Trustees debates over the past few months. Here I don’t have a whole lot to talk about yet. Partly because the debates and discussions are still in progress. And partly because our Village Trustees seem to be working really hard to address real problems that affect real people in our Village. Maybe our dedicated local elected officials can become a shining example to the rest of our State’s politicians. I’m being serious here. For once. And just because this is the first time I’ve been completely serious in the whole column doesn’t mean I’m insincere or anything. Just sayin’.

And one bit of truly sad news: a major leadership figure in our community is retiring soon. At the June 1 Village Board meeting, our Village Finance Director Dale Haug announced that he’ll be retiring at the end of July. This is a sad announcement indeed, since Dale has served our Village with great distinction for many years. We’ll miss him, and we wish him well in his upcoming retirement.

But back to the realities of Wisconsin politics. Like maybe our Village Board becoming an example to our State elected officials on how to address difficult issues concerning the common good, while still absolutely respecting the God-given individual rights of each and every one of us. And by their example, more of our State officeholders starting to fly right, or at least as right as they can in these political storms. And then Wisconsin becoming a model for the Nation and the World on Civility and Respect for individuals who just might disagree on the issues. Leading in turn to our Nation’s economic woes being put permanently to rest because of our renewed respect for the profound dignity and sacredness of each and every person in our society. And then America becoming once again the beacon of liberty and justice that we’ve been called to be for over 200 years. And these changes ushering in a century of peace and prosperity throughout the world because of the commitments and contributions of each and every one of us.

It all begins here at home.

Just sayin’.

Michael