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4/8/2008 It's time for the Butler-Gableman race to rest in peace By Mark Sevelis The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. Dear Mr. Kane et al., Race had nothing to do with Louis Butler’s loss. This Supreme Court election was liberal judicial activism vs conservative judicial restraint -- nothing more. It was the decisions he made as a member of the judicial liberal bloc that decided his fate. The Wisconsin electorate rejected Butler eight years ago. What makes anyone think the electorate would accept him this time? The internet schooling issue was one straw that helped break the camel’s back. The Milwaukee lead paint issue was another. But since Butler was in Governor Doyle’s pocket, and Doyle was in WEAC’s pocket, well, you know how the rest of that story goes ... If Butler was the conservative, he would have won. You neglected to mention that “evil” Mike Gableman was raised in the Milwaukee/Waukesha area as well as practicing law in northern Wisconsin. Butler limited his practice to urban Milwaukee. Gov. Jim Doyle was preparing to campaign in North Carolina last Wednesday for Sen. Barack Obama instead of stumping for Louis Butler and Sen. Lena Taylor in her bid for Milwaukee county executive. Both lost. Apparently lobbying for an appointment in a potential Obama Administration was more important than what goes on in Doyle’s own backyard. Some supportive governor and some wise choice. The outcry and outrage directed at Mike Gableman from left side Wisconsin completely overlooked Doyle’s inability to help elect his own appointee to the Supreme Court. What an embarrassment. For Doyle's sake, here’s hoping Senator Obama fares better with Doyle’s help than Butler and Taylor did. You are also incorrect about the Supreme Court race being gutter level. You meant: gut level. Having guts to win is a virtue. Being gutless is a vice. Saint Vincent of Lombardi said that winning isn’t everything -- it is the only thing. He also said a victory by one point is as good as a victory by 20,000. At this point, I wish to thank the 20,000 people who gave Mike Gableman the margin of victory. I also wish to admonish my fellow Wisconsin citizens. Only 20 percent bothered to vote last Tuesday. Each of those who voted understood the importance of this election to determine the future direction of this great state as far as legal decisions are concerned. Are you getting the picture yet, Mr. Kane? As long as the implicit racial card keeps getting played, we will never get past that same racial card. Neither Louis Butler -- nor anyone else -- is entitled to a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat. Shirley Abrahamson, did you hear that? You are next to face the music and Wisconsin citizens will sing the tune then judge the judge. We backwoods frontier Wisconsinites don’t know nuthin’ compared to the sophisticated city slickers from eastside Milwaukee and the People’s Republic of Madison. Here in the primitive stockade, Fort Germantown, we still wear raccoon tailed hats, fringed buckskin clothes, and shoot flintlock squirt guns. But we know that election of our judges and justices, as flawed as it is, is far superior to selection by committee or some other scheme that removes "we the people" from the equation. Those on the losing side do not write the history book and the Wisconsin electorate almost always gets it right, as they did last Tuesday. Don’t lose heart: Life -- and elections -- is merely a series of small losses and small victories. Wisconsin will survive Justices Gableman and Ziegler. There are three presidential candidates who are being judged by the content of their character -- not the color of their skin, their gender, or their age. Only one of them will win in November. The USA will survive also. Try keeping this larger picture in mind. -- Sevelis lives in Germantown. |
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