Xoff's BlogCommentary on state politics by Bill Christofferson, who often uses Xofferson or Xoff to shorten his 14-letter last name.
Christofferson, a recovered journalist and ex-political reporter, has been a Democratic strategist and consultant for 20 years and is now retired. He lives in Milwaukee. Follow Uppity Wisconsin Lifecasts on Zannel - Text cruiskeen to 58888 |
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Supreme Court candidate Annette Ziegler keeps stepping in it, as the count of her undisclosed conflicts of interest continues to mount. [UPDATE: 164 more cases.]
With her candidacy foundering, her sugar daddies at Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce have come to her rescue with a big TV buy that starts on Friday. WisPolitics.com estimates WMC's buy at $400,000.
A Washington County circuit judge, Ziegler handled 46 cases involving a West Bend where her husband serves on the board of directors, without ever disclosing that, as required by Supreme Court rules. She ruled in the bank's favor more than 90% of the time. Two of the losers in those cases say they are going to file complaints with the Judicial Commission.
Wednesday, it was revealed that the Zieglers have received more than $3-million in loans from that same bank. Maybe she needed it to invest in her campaign, and didn't want to sell any of her stock holdings, which are worth at least $2.4-million and perhaps twice that much, according to her ethics report.
Her response on the bank cases has been to say that she follows her gut instinct, not the rules, in deciding what's a conflict and what's not. Yesterday, she told a Madison TV station she would like to "improve the rules" on judicial conflicts of interest -- quite a leap for someone who doesn't even follow the existing rules. Here's the link, with some video.
For Daddy Warbucks, the WMC, to show up with bundles of cash for Ziegler is not unexpected. The group, which doesn't disclose where it gets the money for its issue advertising campaigns, is flush with victory after spending $2.5-million to elect Atty. Gen. J.B. Van Hollen, and may spend as much to try to put Ziegler on the high court.
What WMC wants, of course, is a justice who will jump, roll over, or play dead when big business gives the signal. With Ziegler, it looks like a match made in heaven.
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I cannot believe that you
I cannot believe that you have the gumption to talk about Ziegler and the WMC. Werent you the one that was behind all of the 527 attack ads against Mark Green. You should not be posting about ethics, because you supported a man that is by the very defination unethical. Our unethical governor Jim Doyle. So, I would not write in a blog complaining about ethics. It is like the pot calling the kettle black.
Thanks for that irrelevant insight
Thanks for that insightful, informative and totally irrelevant comment. Nothing you say changes the facts: Ziegler repeatedly broke the rules for judicial conduct, which specifically say that if a judge's spouse is a director of a company with a case before the judge, the judge has two options: (1) Withdraw from the case, or (2) Disclose the information and see if the parties will waive the right to another judge. Ziegler did neither.
I do not think that my
I do not think that my comment was irrelevant. Maybe Ziegler should have done one of the two options. I do not have all of the facts of the case, to decide what I think she should have done. I am not going to go by what you say. However, I think that it is totally relevant that the person who is complaining about the WMC spending money on Ziegler's behalf is the same person who was behind the group that was doing the same thing to Mark Green. Don't be a hypocrate.
It appears that one of the
It appears that one of the biggest scandals in Wisconsin Circuit Court history is unfolding with Ziegler being up to 164 cases (See One Wisconsin Now for the Story) We should all be calling on the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to take action now.
Does Jdg. Ziegler's"gut tell her" how the judicial system works?
Remember what Stephen Colbert had to say about gut instincts at the White House Correspondents dinner:
it is my privilege to celebrate this president, ‘cause we're not so different, he and I. We both get it. Guys like us, we're not some brainiacs on the nerd patrol. We're not members of the factinista. We go straight from the gut. Right, sir?
That's where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up. Now, I know some of you are going to say, "I did look it up, and that's not true." That's 'cause you looked it up in a book. Next time, look it up in your gut. I did. My gut tells me that's how our nervous system works.
And here's the video:
http://politicalhumor.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=polit...
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