May
2007
Biskupic’s incompetence causes mixed feelings on the McGee Indictment
I’m not a fan of Alderman Michael McGee Jr. In fact, I’ve thought he was a parasite who deserved to be tossed out of office in his next election.
Still, I can’t even be pleased with his indictment because it was brought by the overly partisan US Attorney Steven Biskupic. This is the same Biskupic who, by some miracle, succeeded in temporarily convicting state administrator Georgia Thompson of steering a contract toward a campaign contributor of Democratic Governor Jim Doyle. I say temporarily because the court of appeals tossed out the case because it was based on a horribly weak premise with no real proof.
Biskupic has shown an unyielding loyalty to his Republican cronies.
At a time when several US Attorneys were fired by the Bush Administration for not being partisan enough, Biskupic’s name was removed from the firing list after he indicted Thompson. Why? Because Biskupic showed he was willing to advance a politically motivated case which made Governor Jim Doyle look bad during an election.
So should I rejoice in the indictment of McGee? Absolutely not. Why? Because I don’t trust Biskupic. He took an oath to uphold the constitution and all it stands for and I think he violated that oath. If anything, Biskupic should have been removed.
Everyone knows that AM talk radio here is dominated by Republican ideas and the GOP agenda. Anyone who hasn’t figured that out is either brain dead or suffering from delusions. Biskupic has shown a willingness to advance that agenda.
But did McGee deserve the indictment? I don’t know but I know I still think he’s among the worst political figures that our community has ever seen. I find him to be a horrible person who I wish voters would toss out but since he won an impressive landslide election in his attempted recall, I figured we would have to deal with him for a very long time.
If convicted, and if it’s not on more of Biskupic’s trademark flimsy evidence, it’s a good thing that McGee will be removed from office. But it’s all about that big “if”.
Jim McGuigan
Jim McGuigan, Watchdogging the Judiciary
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Uh, who else is going to be handling a federal indictment of Milwaukee politicians? It’s like you’re saying you’re not pleased it’s raining. There is no choice. Or else this is a convoluted way of saying you wish Biskupic had been removed, replaced by someone you like, and maybe then you’d feel good about the indictment. Still bizarre.
Is the main problem you think McGee should be nailed with a fair and complete case and Biskupic is of dubious ability in this regard? Well it’s the FBI, not BIskupic, who has been investigating McGee for over a year. Did they have phone taps on Thompson?
There’s also non sequitur between paragraph 5 and 6, or between the comment about “Republican ideas/GOP agenda” and Biskupic’s “willingness to advance that agenda.” What does radio have to do with it? You make yourself look prejudicial when you seem to say it’s not just that he’s biased, it’s a Republican bias! Which is quite revealing. I’m sure you’d have a different interpretation if Biskupic had attachments or ideas you liked.
Keep in mind the now sealed John Doe investigation of the McGee recall. Perhaps he did not win in a landslide without cheating in some way or another. Maybe there were other incidents of threats and extortion.
Let’s keep in mind that McGee, Jr., is not necesarily a Democrat, regardless of what Charlie Sykes says about him. He’s a neocon. McGee is a political tar baby for a lot of interests. For Sykes, of course, the McGees are radio fodder.
For Biskupic, who’s tainted by Bush Department of Justice corruption, McGee is the perfect tar baby. He can throw whatever he wants at him and it will stick in this town, adding another petty alderman to Biskupic’s list of petty achievements as US Attorney here —
even as it makes McGee more popular on the North Side.
Of course McGee-Jackson is a democrat. That doesn’t make all democrtats McGee’s. Just as republicans wish Foley wasn’t a republican, so too do democrats wish to deny McGee.
As for Biskupic, there’s no reason not to place our faith in him. He did not convict Thompson, a jury did. I know that nobody wants to miss and possible angle to attack a republican, but some of us still remember the facts. The Thompson prosecution was a joint effort by agencies and personalities both republican and democrat. At no time did Lautenschlagger, for example, ever suggest that there was any political motive in the Thomspon prosecution. I know none of that will matter to some. Further, while you may delight in the phantom controversy regarding the Bush justice department because it makes you feel good, just remember that Clinton fired all 93 district attorneys and it was no big deal–even though some were in the midst of investigations that might have come out very badly for the Clintons and other democrats.
I agree with Christopher Thomas. It is easy to fault someone we feel has another agenda, but then we lose sight of the fact that even if we don’t agree with them, sometimes they ARE right.
Chris: There’s never been an indication from McGee that he’s a Democrat. In fact, Mike despises unions so much that he might as well be a Republican. Politically, his ideas don’t conform to either party and he is not a member of either, though he’s certainly a neocon in the mold of Mikel Holt or Howard Fuller.
Biskupic has a couple of cases against local labor leaders sitting around (filed six months before the 2006 election) that shed a lot of light on what the priorities of the Bush DOJ are in the Midwest. And in voting matters, we were fortunate as a community to have E. Michael McCann around to make sure Biskupic stayed on his leash.
Remember when the US Attorney here was Tom Schneider, and he actually prosecuted criminals, and even won some cases against mobsters? Imagine that.
John-David:
You seem to be changing the subject…The fact that Biskupik has “some cases against labor leaders” has nothing to do with his integrity or his ability to handle the McGee case. I imagine he has “some cases” about a wide variety of groups–maybe even mobsters. So What? Further, as details continue to emerge about the McGee case, we find that there is indeed a pattern of election-related crime going on. Recently we have seen more cases of double-voting, tire slashing, smokes for votes and now, five-spot voter campaigns. McCann encouraged the comission of this type of crime because he pardoned it all the time.
I would encourage Biskupic to vigorously prosecute any violation of election law because nothing is more sacred to the democracy. If there are republicans involved in these crimes, I’ll be the first to denounce them.
However, I admit that it may be an error to say McGee is a democrat. I’d like to see a sample of his campaign literature or look at his contributions, etc. But my comment might have been an error. My point is still that even if McGee were a democrat, I would not consider him to be a reflection of democrats or the democrat party–so no harm was intended there.
McGee is no Democrat. He’s anti-union and anti-gay. If he would be a member of a party it would be the Republican party.
Thank you Chris and Jim. McGee is no Democrat. He is my alderman, and the literature we got from him said he was doing god’s work, whatever that means.
Yes, Biskupic should uphold the sanctity of the ballot box, first and foremost, while also bearing in mind that access to the ballot box is part of that, and a big part of Wisconsin’s open voting tradition. We don’t want to become Cleveland. Double voting cases haven’t been a big issue here — what we’ve seen most is felons trying to vote, and these prosecutors can never prove intent. Probation and parole officers are not making it clear to people what the rules are, and I think that should become a priority during election season. Tell your felons that they can’t vote - simple. Tire slashing is off the point - that was just stupid shit. On the other hand, we had GOP “activists” running around Milwaukee telling everybody who had ever been convicted of anything in Milwaukee - MisD or Felony - that they better not show up at the polls. You realize that both sides do this crap on election day - hang out at nursing homes, homeless shelters, etc. You understand that the apparatus McGee used on election day was the apparatus Scott Walker used? In black political circles, Walker is considered the best customer these days, as far as election day dough being thrown around. It’s equal opportunity stuff these days. The community “activist” types will take money from either side. It’s all about the money.
I live in the 6th. McGee is my alderman. A few times above, folks have written about “feeling good” r.e. comments about Biskupic. There’s no feeling good here in the district, believe me.