A Vote of No Confidence

Election day and the dutiful voter is faced again with making a decision which will affect their own future as well as that of their children. For whom should a vote be cast? The choices have been merrily chopping up each other's character and reputation for weeks, aided and abetted by special interests on both sides.

Mr. Prosser is painted as a man of bad temper for calling another judge names a year ago. The response of another justice to this outburst was to write an e-mail stating: "You are a very active participant in the dysfunctional way we carry-on. (As am I.) You often goad other justices by pushing and pushing in conference in a way that is simply rude and completely nonproductive. That is what happened when David lost his cool. He is not a man who attacks others without provocation." to yet a third justice who leaked the blow-up. (in violation of the law) His past as a D.A. is brought up and his integrity questioned over a case from 20 years ago that was handled in what was regarded as a reasonable fashion, with regard for the victims at that time.

Ms. Kloppenburg is painted as a raging liberal with no sense of ethics or decency because she used an abuse case in commercials to denigrate her opponent and refused to stop the ads even when requested to do so by the victims. Her supporters have the appalling slogan, "A vote for Kloppenburg is a vote against Walker", for a post which is supposed to be about the rule of law rather than partisan politics. She has also been described as: "Joanne Kloppenburg, a die-hard lefty with zero judicial experience who has all but promised the state’s thuggish public unions that she will be their firewall in stopping Governor Walker’s reforms via judicial fiat."

It is important to note that the ads were run by a third party. However, if I were the candidate in question here, I would have done everything and anything in my power, including dropping out of the race, to stop those ads and to avoid being characterized as unethical and biased. Any judicial candidate who would be satisfied to be elected with such commercials, (whether they were put out by the candidate or a third party), or to be portrayed as so very partisan is not fit to sit on the bench.

The hard, cold facts are that Mr. Prosser has served for years as a judge as well as holding several other posts. He is generally well respected and liked and regarded as an impartial judge who rules according to what the state constitution says.

Ms. Kloppenburg has served as a lawyer and, while in college, and assistant to Judge Abrahamson and Judge Crab. she has been passed over for judgicial appointments by governors conservative and liberal. (I would like to see a supreme court justice candidate with some actual time on the bench as a judge, but that is my personal opinion.)

For those who seek a test of character to decide for whom to cast their vote, let me say that Ms. Kloppenburg is supported by the unions who have been behaving so very badly over these past weeks and she is supported by Planned Parenthood. Mr. Prosser is not. Draw from those facts what conclusions you will as to the character of these two candidates.

The bigger questions to me, that this race has brought to light, are: 1.) The appalling behavior at and within the WI supreme court. Perhaps I am a bit of an idealist, but I always thought that judges were above that sort of petty squabbling and certainly above catering to any sort of partisan politics. That's their job, to sort out what the law says, not to create new law. (That's the job of the legislature, not the judiciary.)and; 2.)The appalling assertion of Ms. Kloppenburg's supporters (You know, those same folks who actually WANT a democracy-why anyone would prefer such an unstable and unfair form of government over the wonderful republic our founders gave us is beyond me. It must be sheerest ignorance of history and human nature.) that they prefer an activist judge, rather than one who will base their rulings on the law and the WI State Constitution. Really!? How dumb are we?

"He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." ~Prov 28:9