Covid Cases in Wisconsin

Republicans are literally killing us in Wisconsin by making us vote today. They had a choice and they chose death for those of us who value our ballot — the only time we can touch our democracy. They chose it to keep their absolute power in the Legislature and State Supreme Court. Let none of us ever forget this day.

x Wisconsin Primary Voters Receive Ã¢ÂÂI VotedÃ¢ÂÂ Gravestones https://t.co/9oy10KTQo1 pic.twitter.com/Ke76tDjlXo Ã¢ÂÂ The Onion (@TheOnion) April 7, 2020

H/T DRo in the comments.

No, I didn’t get excited and diary every time there was a new Wisconsin development over our primary, state and local elections scheduled (and happening) today. I didn’t, despite being asked to, because I knew one thing: Wisconsin Republicans are thugs and they’ll get their way no matter how ugly and ruthless they have to be.

I had no hope of any negotiation with Republicans. Nor did I have hope that when the Governor called a special session to postpone the election. That special session of the State Legislature, dominated by Republicans thanks to relentless gerrymandering, was gaveled into session and a second later, gaveled out of session this past Saturday.

This was, after all, the State Legislature that, following the ouster of former Republican Governor Scott Walker, called itself into special session (with zero power to do so) and passed a series of laws that moved most of the Governors’ power to the Legislature itself. It was a power grab so blatant that even our GOP loving corporate media gasped and speculated that it was so terrible that Governor Walker might veto it. Nope. He didn’t. He signed it in secret during the holidays when people weren’t paying attention.

I did have a bit of hope when Democratic Governor Tony Evers kept his powder dry and waited until the last possible moment to use his executive order power to postpone the election for 2 months. There was not way, I thought, that Republicans could overcome that along with the measly court order requiring absentee ballot receipt be extended to April 13.

They did. With a RW Supreme Court seat on the ballot held by a Scott Walker appointee so corrupt that he not only sides with his wealthy donors in decisions before him, but votes against measures that would only slightly remove some of the smell of rot from our state’s highest court, they moved with the speed of lightening in a vacuum.

They went to their own cultivated 5-2 majority State Supreme Court that overturned the executive order and also to their buddies at the US Supreme Court to overturn the court ruling that absentee ballots can be counted even if received after election day. This, in a single day. Wow.

No wonder they work so hard to cultivate those judicial fields when the harvest comes whenever you want it as fast as you want it.