(Permanent Musical Accompaniment To This Post)

Being our (belated) semi-regular weekly survey of what’s goin’ down in the several states where, as we know, the real work of governmentin’ gets done, and where goodness hides behind its gates.

We begin in my alternative hometown of Milwaukee, where neo-Nazism has proven to be bad for business, from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via Raw Story.

As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, American Sewer Services was denied two contracts worth $800,000 after the Milwaukee Common Council passed a resolution against them. They are also prohibited from re-bidding on either contract. In December, controversy roiled after a photo of a Ku Klux Klan sticker on an American Sewer Services employees’ cooler went viral. In addition to the bigoted sticker, a photo of the company’s employees holding guns on a work site also circulated, compounding the backlash against the company.

Klan paraphernalia at American Sewer Services. This, of course, is perfect.



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Ran into this about 2pm today at 25th & Wells. They work for a contractor but wouldn't say which one. Black contractors and workers should get these jobs, not Klan supporters. @milwaukeedpw @Khalif_Rainey @jecausey @MayorOfMKE pic.twitter.com/gRj9c1CdPw — Sam Singleton-Freeman (@_sam_sf) December 8, 2017

It was only a matter of time before the #metoo moment reached the various state houses around the country. This week, it was Michigan’s turn. From WNEM:

After a request by the Associated Press, the Michigan Senate released numbers showing it had spent $269,000 to investigate and or settle sexual harassment complaints against senators more than 10 years ago. That is raising questions over whether the State Senate has kept a slush fund of sorts to handle these kinds of situations. "I think that it is kind of an unfortunate question all together that we would have to consider," said Laura Wagoner. The senators are unnamed, but TV5 was told they are no longer in office due to term limits. There is no disputing the fact their misconduct was paid for by taxpayers. "Think of what you could do with $269,000 for the homeless people in our community or people who are struggling," Wagoner said.

Get used to these stories because, in my experience, state houses are real snake pits in this regard.

We move along to New Mexico. You may recall that Susana Martinez, the former governor of New Mexico, was quite the rising star in Republican circles, especially during the 2012 campaign. As she left office, we learn that she has re-entered the atmosphere in a rather spectacular ball of flame. From the Los Alamos Monitor:

In her speech, Martinez, who leaves office at the end of this year, focused on issues she has been working on since she was first elected governor in 2010. These included longer criminal sentences and mandatory retention of hundreds or even thousands of third-graders who are not proficient on standardized reading tests. But Democrats indicated they were ready to move on. “I’m confident that there’s a brighter future for the people of our state, and change is just around the corner,” said Morales, who was flanked by Democratic leaders, including newly elected Senate Majority Whip Mimi Stewart of Albuquerque. “But the secret to change is to focus all of our energy not on fighting the old but on creating the new.”

That is the political equivalent of an eviction notice.

Getty Images

From there, we sail on down to Alabama, where some retired solons have found a new way to prompt the question, “Who the hell are you when you’re at home.” From our old friends at AL.com.

Members of the Alabama House and the Alabama Senate have each introduced bills to create the "Association of Former Members of the Alabama Legislature."

Oh, come on.

The Association of Former Members of the Alabama Legislature would come complete with paid administrators, state retirement benefits for association employees, state-sanctioned sanctimony and the same travel expenses and per diem as state employees.

No, really. Pull the other one.

The bills - HB93 sponsored by Rep. Jack Williams and SB110 by Sens. Greg Reed, Jabo Waggoner, Del Marsh and Bobby Singleton - sets up the association that ostensibly would "work in cooperation with incumbent members of the Alabama Legislature, through the offices of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, to create a better understanding of the legislative process throughout the state."

Again, in my experience, there always are former state legislators who hang around the capitol buildings because they’ve never found anything else to do with their lives. I didn’t realize they could unionize. Of course, nobody else in Alabama can.

And we conclude, as is our custom, in the great state of Oklahoma, where Blog Official Boot Scooter Friedman of the Plains checked in with a late breaking bulletin. A rising Republican star—Yes, there still are some of those—named Nathan Dahm, who is running to replace the equally wingy wingnut Jim Bridenstine in the Congress, has filed Senate Bill 1457. What does this bill do? I am glad you asked. It makes all wildlife in Oklahoma “the property of Almighty God.” Things are not getting better, people.

Oklahoma State

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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