(Permanent Musical Accompaniment To This Post)

Being our semi-regular weekly survey of what's goin' down in the several states where, as we know, the real work of government' gets done, and where you can see the painted wagon and smell the tail of the dragon.

We begin in Wisconsin, where another business-friendly environment has sprung a leak. From The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

The analysis shows perfluorinated chemicals — pollutants that are under growing scrutiny nationally — have been found in numerous locations in Marinette in groundwater, soil and five free-flowing ditches where water directly enters the bay. In some cases, test results of both groundwater and water in the ditches for one key compound greatly exceed a federal health advisory for drinking water over a lifetime.

In one example, groundwater contamination was found to be more than 47,000 percent higher than the federal advisory. The results prompted Tyco Fire Products last month to propose a plan to install treatment systems in two ditches to keep more chemicals from entering the bay. That work has not yet started, but the company says it plans to conduct cleanup efforts, including this winter. In addition to the treatment systems, a Department of Natural Resources official said this week the agency hasn’t settled on a long-term strategy with Tyco to clean up the contamination. “That is the million-dollar question,” said Steve Ales, the DNR’s field operations manager for remediation and redevelopment. “I don’t have an answer for that.”

What the hell. No rush, I guess. Besides, if the bay goes rainbow, they can always rename the team the Toxic Soup Packers.

We move out to Montana, where the president* is going to drop by this week, and a prominent state Republican is arranging a greeting of the highest caliber. From the Missoulian:

In a short telephone interview, Deschamps, who led the Montana GOP from 2009 to 2015, said his post wasn’t any kind of veiled threat, but he is concerned about the far-left antifa, also known as anti-fascists. Last weekend, melees broke out in New York and Portland between members of the antifa and the far-right Proud Boys nationalist men’s club. Both groups condone political violence.

NICHOLAS KAMM Getty Images

According to the Washington Post, cell phone videos in New York showed a person “writhing on the sidewalk while several men take turns kicking him” during a confrontation between the two groups. It noted that officers spotted pepper spray, hard-knuckled gloves, firearms, batons, and knives at the Portland fight between the two groups, but didn’t specify which group had which weapons.“My concern is with the antifa,” Deschamps said moments before hanging up on a reporter. “Someone is going to get hurt at those protests.”

In his first Facebook post, Deschamps wrote: “For all the prospective attendees to the Trump event. Come early. Also all you protesters, show up as well. This is a concealed and open carry state and we know how to use em. USMC trained.”

The whole civility thing is off to a rather slow start.

We move on down to Georgia, where a sequel to Wednesday's installment of our continuing series, Election 2018: What's This Shit Anyway?, is playing itself out. Remember that busload of African-American seniors that got stopped in Georgia? Well, the mayor of the town where the bus got stopped is fed up with this whole democracy business. From Kira Lerner at ThinkProgress:

Barstow, Georgia Mayor Robert Morris, whose Facebook includes a number of racist posts, shared a status on Facebook two days after the county decided to prevent Black Voters Matter from bringing seniors to the polls. “It is utterly reprehensible that your group maintains that all black voters should vote for a black candidate just because they are the same color as you,” he wrote. “A man named Jim Jones once ran an organization like that. Better check that Koolaid you are serving up.”

Fake news! For the last time, it was Flavor-Aid.

Black Voters Matter

And we conclude, as is our custom, in the great state of Oklahoma, where Blog Official Bronco and Paradigm Buster Friedman of the Plains brings us the sad tale of how the Sooner State is opting out of herd immunity. From The Enid News and Eagle:

More than 90 percent of Oklahoma public school students start class with all their shots current, according to the findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Kindergarten Survey, which reviews millions of youth across the nation, including 48,000 in Oklahoma. Less than 85 percent of Oklahoma’s private school students reported having all their vaccinations, according to the survey. About 93 percent of Oklahoma students are current on their measles, mumps and rubella shots.

Interesting that it's the private-schools who are not holding up their end of things. I wonder how many of them are Christian academies, which are chockfull of chewy wingnut goodies.

“When you look at the schools that have the highest opt-out rates, you will find that they are the schools with the higher socioeconomic rates,” she said. Greve said some parents in particular school districts are more likely to do additional research prior to agreeing to vaccinations.

Coincidence is a helluva drug,

This is your democracy, America. Cherish it.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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