Honor the flag by not amending the constitution

Publication:Waukesha Freeman (Conley); Date:Jul 2, 2009; Section:Opinion; Page Number:8A

Celebrate flag, freedom it represents
Liberties taken for granted shouldn’t be given up easily

(James Wigderson is a blogger publishing at http://wigdersonlibrarypub.blogspot.com and a Waukesha resident. His column runs Thursdays in The Freeman.)

I had the honor recently of attending a flag retirement ceremony.

Before the flags were destroyed, the Scout master reminded us that what was about to occur was not a protest but a dignified end to flags too worn to be flown. As taps played, a group of Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts presented flag after flag for burning.

The next day, my son and a few of the younger Scouts accompanied the Scout master into the woods to find a suitable place to bury the remains. The lesson in patriotism he learned that weekend was well worth the extra mosquito bites.

As we approach our Independence Day it’s a good time to remember the reasons our flag is so important. It’s the symbol of our country, a country founded for freedom. In honoring our flag we honor our country and we honor its freedoms.

Too often, we take those freedoms for granted, especially the freedom of speech. How often have you heard someone say, “I’m for freedom of speech, but...?” And then they offer some rationale why someone else’s freedom of speech should be curtailed.

The excuses offered often sound reasonable, pragmatic, even patriotic. Then laws get passed curtailing free speech rights in political campaigns, in peaceful protests, and even in criticizing our government.

Some would even put the American flag above the freedoms it represents. They would ban any desecration of the flag, including burning the flag in protest. When the Supreme Court ruled that laws protecting the flag from this abuse were unconstitutional, efforts began to amend the constitution. In 2006, the effort fell short in the U.S. Senate by only one vote.

Unfortunately, for many senators it was an “easy” vote. After all, who wants to be against the American flag?

But what would constitute flag desecration? Local radio personality Vicki McKenna caught some flak when her radio program first began airing on WISN. As part of the promotion for the show, she put on the Internet a picture of herself draped in the flag. Get it? She was draping herself in the flag.

The humor of the photo was lost on many who began citing chapter and verse of the U.S. Flag Code.

As we drive around town this weekend, I wonder how many giant inflatable flags will be decorating lawns. How many improperly displayed flags without the proper 24-hour lighting will there be? How many people will be unfolding flags that were not properly folded when they were put away last year?

These are not people who are intentionally disrespecting the flag, any more than McKenna. Instead they are celebrating the importance of the flag and the feelings of patriotism it inspires.

I would hardly want them locked up and the key thrown away.

In protecting the flag, the symbol of our freedoms, too many of us would give freedom away in the name of patriotism. Part of free speech is to allow others to do and say things that are really unpopular, even unpopular to the point of discrediting their cause.

I can think of no more swift refutation of someone’s argument than their own action of taking a match to the American flag. Once that occurs, it’s likely their speech will fall upon deaf ears.

But it’s their right to make such a statement about themselves, their cause and our country. In the name of patriotism we should not try to suppress their speech.

In a recent op-ed piece for The Freeman supporting the proposed constitutional amendment, state Sen. Mary Lazich wrote, “Reflect upon the enormous significance of the Stars and Stripes and the many heroic Americans that gave so much defending its honor so that we may live in the greatest, freest country in the world.”

This weekend would be a great opportunity to do so, even as we respectfully reject Lazich’s and others’ calls to amend the constitution. For if we ever reach the day that a law or a constitutional amendment is really required to compel our respect for the flag and the country it stands for, we will have much bigger problems than a protester with a match.

JAMES WIGDERSON

Time to let Brett Favre go

Publication:Waukesha Freeman (Conley); Date:Jun 25, 2009; Section:Opinion; Page Number:10A

4give Favre for turning purple
Fans need to move on as QB does

(James Wigderson is a blogger publishing at http://wigdersonlibrarypub.blogspot.com and a Waukesha resident. His column runs Thursdays in The Freeman.)

Not since pro wrestling’s Hulk Hogan turned “heel” and disappointed all the little Hulkamaniacs has a sports-entertainment figure so disappointed his fan base. Green Bay Packers fans are just not accepting the likely event of Brett Favre becoming the quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings.

Yes, it’s increasingly likely Brett Favre will be trading in his green No. 4 from last year, which was a different shade of green than the previous year, for the color purple. Who knew he was such a fan of Alice Walker?

Brett Favre will be joining legendary Viking quarterbacks like Fran Tarkenton and ... Fran Tarkenton.

Funny I should mention Tarkenton, because he is not looking forward to Brett Favre becoming a Minnesota Viking, either. On his blog, Tarkenton explained why:

“See, it’s about TEAM in football. It’s not about Brett Favre or Fran Tarkenton or John Elway. It’s about TEAM. Teams win – individuals lose. And so I express the opinion that Brett Favre is wrong, and I believe that right now. I think it is wrong for the Vikings and I think it is wrong for Green Bay. I think it is just wrong. But I kind of want him to go because if he goes there to Minnesota I believe he will burn every bridge he has in Green Bay. The disloyalty! Can you imagine if Ray Nitschke would have retired then gone to play for the Minnesota Vikings? Don’t we feel strongly about our teams?”

The sarcastic among you might wonder if Tarkenton is worried Favre will do something with the Vikings’ Tarkenton could not accomplish: win a Super Bowl. But, ironically, I think former Viking Tarkenton sums up what many Green Bay Packers fans are feeling.

I think they need to let it go.

I know it’s easy for me to say. After all, I’m loyal to a different NFL team, the one with the big star on the helmet and the big egos. I’m used to the drama and the tantrums, and that’s just in the front office.

But Packers fans are living a fantasy if they think that the legends will always remain with one team.

When Deion Sanders became a Dallas Cowboy, one of my friends told me he could not imagine Sanders in a Cowboy uniform after the way he helped crush the Cowboys the year before as a San Francisco 49er. Today, most Cowboys fans remember Deion Sanders as one of the best things about the Barry Switzer era.

Terrell Owens with the 49ers danced on the star in the center of Texas Stadium and was decked by former Packer George Teague. The last two seasons, he’s been a drama queen as a Dallas Cowboy.

Dallas isn’t the only team to go get hired guns. When Marcus Allen left the Raiders, he joined their division rivals the Kansas City Chiefs. That rivalry is probably more intense than the Packers-Vikings rivalry.

Closer to home, Chicago Bears great Jim McMahon finished his career as a Green Bay Packer. How many Bears fans stopped singing the “Super Bowl Shuffle” as a result?

Do you remember tight end Keith Jackson, who held out half the season because he didn’t want to play in Green Bay? Yet, the fans still cheered when he scored touchdowns.

How about Don Beebe? Do you think Buffalo Bills fans were upset that he finally played for a team that won the Super Bowl?

Why were those players brought in? Because they could help the team win. Not because they were nice. Not because they always dreamed of playing in Green Bay. Because they could win.

Why did Packers fans love Brett Favre? Because he could win. He wasn’t a loyal Wisconsinite. He even had a drug problem, and we still don’t know where he got the extra prescription drugs. But Packers fans forgave him because he was a winner.

We will never know if Brett Favre had stayed with the Packers last year how well he would have played, or if the team would have done better. I thought it was a mistake for the team to let him go.

But that was last year. Favre moved on. Time for the fans to move on, too.

JAMES WIGDERSON

Closed for the summer

Today is this blog’s fifth anniversary. Five years ago I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I decided to launch this experiment. I had no idea what I was doing when I started. I had no idea where this blog would take me.

Five years is a long time for a blog. Most blogs end after a matter of days. One ex-Waukesha blogger told me, “Blogging sucks.” Well, it depends.

If you are getting into blogging because you want to change the world, yes, it sucks. Blogging is pretty limited and requires a great deal of time and energy.

If you are getting into blogging because you love to write, that’s a different story. Blogging allows you to write what you want to write when you want to write. I still love blogging, and I have no complaints. Okay, a few, but not many.

I have never run out of things to write about. I’m lucky that way. I have avoided the burnout which is so common to bloggers. If I wasn't re-writing this post, I would be writing on any of a hundred different other topics.

I’m lucky to have built up an audience. Some blogs never gain that traction. Other blogs get huge audiences but don’t have anything meaningful to say. I have a modest audience, but I hope that I have kept you entertained and informed for these five years.

I have certainly enjoyed hearing from my readers. Not just the comments but the e-mails, phone calls and letters.

But all good things must come to an end. I’m taking some time off from blog writing to pursue other challenges. I’m also going to take some time to build a new website which will launch in September.

That means, sadly, the Wigderson Library & Pub is closing.

This weekend will be the first weekend in a long time I won’t be thinking about what I want to write next week in the blog. I’ll be camping with my son, far away from a computer. I’ll be reading the news with the rest of you instead of chasing it.

It will be weird.

I am still going to write my column for the Waukesha Freeman. I have not planned on taking any time away from that. For those of you that don't subscribe to the Waukesha Freeman, I still be posting my column here.

I will also continue on Twitter and Facebook, so please do feel free to follow me there. If and when other things pop up I promise to announce them here, as well.

I can't wait for my new website in September. I hope you can't wait either.

Thank you again for all of your support and encouragement. We will be together again soon. I promise.

Yo Babsie!

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) is just a little bit full of herself.

"Ma'am" is not only a polite and respectful manner of address but it also happens to be the way female superior officers are addressed in the military. Heck, upon meeting the queen would someone say "ma'am" or would they say "queen?"

Maybe he should have pulled a Letterman and said, "Yes, Senator, and by the way that is a nice slutty stewardess look you have going today."

Is that smell of garbage or hypocrisy?

D'oh! To quote the philosopher Colonel Potter, "Some men are born to garbage, some men have it thrust upon them." Here's a case where one state representative voted for the new garbage tipping fee increase (255%) forgetting he was opposed to it.

Always rough when your next opponent can just run your commercials against you.

Update! It looks like Hintz removed the video. Coward.

State budget won't be good for Democrats regardless if Doyle is running

Is the state budget a suicide pact between the governor and the legislature? That's the question I asked in this week's column for the Waukesha Freeman.

Despite claims, state budget hurts middle class, increases spending

(James Wigderson is a blogger publishing at http://wigdersonlibrarypub.blogspot.com and a Waukesha resident. His column runs Thursdays in The Freeman.)

Is the state budget a suicide pact? This last weekend found Democrats in the Green Bay area holding their state convention and defending their state budget from Republican criticism. The Democrats are telling two lies about the budget. They claim it will not affect the middle class. The MacIver Institute and blogger Steve Eggleston concede that’s true if:

None of your earnings will be from capital gains. You will not drive. You will not smoke (unless you shop at an Indian reservation tobacco store). You will not drink. You will not get sick enough to enter a hospital or urgent care center. You will not purchase over-the-counter drugs. You will not buy downloaded software, songs or videos. You will not shop in Milwaukee County, Calumet County, Winnebago County, Outagamie County, Eau Claire County, Chippewa County or the urbanized portion of Dane County. You will not shop at a business or buy from a business that has operations both within and outside of Wisconsin. You will not own a business. You will not rent a vehicle in Milwaukee County, Racine County or Kenosha County. You will not own any real estate. You will not own a phone. You will not rent any real estate. You will not operate a power boat. You will not operate any small engines requiring gas for operation.

The second lie is that the budget spends less money. It does not. It only spends less in general purpose revenue but actually spends more total money thanks to misspending the stimulus funds and raiding segregated fees. When that money is gone, Democrats will be forced again to either raise taxes or make spending cuts.

Since they had no problem with raising taxes during a recession, what do you think the likely outcome will be in the next budget cycle? The Democrats control the budget process, and the Republicans will bear zero responsibility for the final product.

Not by choice, of course. The Republicans in the state Assembly offered over 100 amendments to the budget only to see them rejected. Democrats, on the other hand, wrote changes into the budget in their caucus sessions and then presented them to the legislative chambers fait accompli.

We might forgive Republicans then for washing their hands of the most radical budget in state history, as it was certainly not of their making.

No, the fault lies with the Democrats, and the burden is heavy upon them. Most heavily does the burden fall upon Governor Doyle, who proposed most of what remains in the state budget and who will shape the final version with his veto power.

A new poll by a Democratic pollster, Public Policy Polling, shows the governor now trailing his two possible Republican rivals in popularity. Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker now leads Governor Doyle 48 percent to 40 percent, and former Congressman Mark Neumann leads Doyle 42 percent to 41 percent.

The pollster is careful to point out that it’s not Walker’s or Neumann’s popularity driving the poll numbers, but rather the governor’s unpopularity. Governor Doyle has an unfavorable rating of 60 percent. Among independents the number is 69 percent.

There is speculation that the governor will not seek another term next year. This budget is too radical and the governor will be too unpopular to stand for re-election.

However, the governor was thought to be vulnerable in the last election cycle. That is when Doyle’s supporters muddied then-Congressman Mark Green’s reputation so badly Doyle coasted to an easy victory.

The other problem with believing the governor will not seek re-election is that it does not explain why so many of his fellow Democrats are willing to go along with this budget. They, too, will have to stand for election after this debacle.

Sometimes Democrats just have to be Democrats. When the opportunity came to write the budget without any Republican interference, the Democrats took full advantage. Now it’s just a matter of whether their political fortunes will survive the coming fallout.

JAMES WIGDERSON

Hint

West Bend library board goes completely 'round the bend

The West Bend library board is meeting tomorrow night to decide whether to hire their own attorney to fight open records requests.

The extremely short notice is troubling. On the agenda is to hire an outside attorney - someone other than the city attorney - to represent the Library Board. The reason is because some of the Library Board members were not happy with Mary Schanning’s advice (West Bend’s City Attorney) that they must disclose their emails regarding the public library’s business.

Owen Robinson has the details on why this will just lead to an ugly mess.

All this because the board wouldn't agree to merely move some books from the youth section of the library to the adult section, even though they were clearly inappropriate for children. Now the library board finally found something they don't want people to read - their e-mails.

Some possible Sullivan irony

State Senator Jim Sullivan was the lone State Senate Democrat to vote against the state budget. The budget passed anyway. If there wasn't already pressure on him because of the recall effort, would he have voted for the budget? And would that have made him easier to defeat next year?

We may never know.

I want to take a moment to respond to Bill Savage's complaints about my blog post and my newspaper column opposing the Sullivan recall.

I have no idea whether Savage “insisted” on getting a rebuttal published in the Waukesha Freeman as he said he would. Usually easier to just ask nicely.

I have since learned from Chris Kliesmet the reason given on the petitions is “Failing to protect Freedom, Liberties and Property Rights”. The phrase surely lacks both any sense of perspective as well as any specificity. I’m sure similar charges were used to send men to the guillotine during The Terror. The next time I’m in Savage’s drinking establishment I shall remember to raise a glass in a toast, “To liberty and totality!”

As I said before, too bad the recall petitioner is not required to state an actual reason for recall. It would be interesting to see with what Savage and CRG come up.

But let’s deal with his other criticisms. Savage says the smoking ban in Wauwatosa does not apply to taverns. The smoking ban does not exclude drinking establishments that earn more than 50% of their income from food purchases. That is why Hector’s, Biggs Roadhouse and Open Hearth had to apply for exemptions from the policy.

That said, was Savage only upset when his ox got gored? Because to most rational observers the difference of above and below the exemption line was hardly a matter of principle. The time for this lesson in freedom was when the aldermen (including Sullivan) passed this law locally if it is meant sincerely.

As for not listening to his constituents, since Sullivan was in favor of the ban as an alderman, and in favor of the ban when he was elected to the state senate, it hardly follows that he was not listening to his constituents since they knowingly voted for him anyway, both in spite of and because of his stand on smoking in public establishments. If Savage has a reasonable complaint it’s with his fellow citizens who elected Sullivan in the first place, not with the elected official that followed through on his stated beliefs.

(Note: Savage can correct me on this point but I do not believe he is actually a resident of the district, which means only that his representation failed to persuade Sullivan. If that is the case, the “failure to defend” would surely mean that representative or state senator’s recall.)

Whether or not so many of his constituents see this as a matter of freedom is debateable, and certainly the electoral evidence so far would convince even “deep thinkers” such as myself otherwise.

I would also doubt that there are truly “thousands” within his district that do not care about Sullivan’s party identification that have an opinion on the recall, either for or against. Savage’s assertion is either disingenuous or delusional.

My suggestion to Savage is to drop the recall. If he insists on going forward, I would suggest he manage his legislative time card well. He might be careful, too, not to issue his rebuttal on the legislative clock. After all, he’s already under one investigation.

Quote of the day

"In other eras, a disgraced Benedictine monk would disappear into obscure days of prayer and penitential labor; these days he publishes a tribute to homosexuality and anxiously awaits a booking to appear on Charlie Rose and Oprah."

George Neumayr, The Catholic World Report, "Pilgrim's Regress"

Bill Kramer claims Democrats are hostile to taxpayers

This is an excerpt from the latest e-newsletter from State Representative Bill Kramer. I'm reprinting it here because I think it of interest to my readers, especially those from Waukesha.

Biennial State Budget Update

During the early morning hours on Saturday (just as most people had begun brewing their coffee), the Wisconsin State Assembly had just finished a long night of debate and passed its version of the 2009-2011 biennial budget.

This budget, that was crafted beyond the prying eyes of the press and public by just a handful of key, Madison-area legislators, was simply an irresponsible document that pitted taxpayers against state government. You lost.

Despite the rhetoric of shared sacrifice coming from the budget's authors, the fact is that this budget -- despite the current recession -- will increase state government spending by 6.3% and increase taxes by $2.25 billion. In just five short months, the liberal majority in the State Assembly has proposed raising taxes by nearly $5 billion. Sacrifice is voluntary -- this budget was downright extortion.

The budget that passed the Assembly will increase property taxes on average by over $300 and still cuts aid to our local schools and repeals a key mechanism for controlling local school costs, the Qualified Economic Offer, or QEO.

Moreover, despite claims from supporters of this budget, the state is still left with a $2.3 billion structural deficit because of accounting gimmicks and the irresponsible use of one-time money.

Dick Butkus, the famed Chicago Bear, once said, "If I was smart enough to be a doctor, I'd be a doctor. I ain't, so I'm a football player."

Similarly situated, that seems to explain the downright hostility the Democrat majority has exhibited towards Wisconsin taxpayers and job creators. Their intellectual vacuity and failure to understand economic relationships has undermined job creators, working families, budget stability and the overall competitiveness of the state.

If you own a home, use a phone, buy gas, have a child at the UW, download music, have car insurance, or even take your garbage to the curb, you will end up paying more in taxes and fees and just the cost of eveyday living for your family will increase. And this certainly says nothing of the increase in taxes on job creators which will reduce Wisconsin's global competitiveness and hurt our working families with the prospect of yet even more job losses.

The process now moves to the State Senate where they are expected to act as soon as today, more likely tomorrow, on their version of the biennial budget.

When the going gets tough, the tough go golfing

Well, yeah, when it starts costing them money...

Late night talk show host David Letterman apologized again on Monday to the Palin family for his "joke" regarding Willow Palin:

On Monday's edition of "Late Show," Letterman explained that the risque joke thought by some to have targeted Palin's underage daughter, Willow, was actually referring to 18-year-old daughter Bristol. The name of the daughter wasn't mentioned in the joke, which was part of Letterman's monologue on last Monday's show.

It was "a coarse joke," "a bad joke," Letterman told viewers. "But I never thought it was (about) anybody other than the older daughter, and before the show, I checked to make sure, in fact, that she is of legal age, 18."

"The joke, really, in and of itself, can't be defended," he declared.

The apology follows news that CBS has lost an advertiser on its website:

Embassy Suites, part of the Hilton Hotels Corp., pulled advertising on CBS' site because of complaints, company spokeswoman Kendra Walker told TVGuide.com. The company was not an advertiser on Late Night with David Letterman.

"We received lots of e-mails from concerned guests and we assessed that the statement that he made was offensive enough to our guests and prospective guests that we elected to take the ads down," Walker said.

CBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Letterman's apology was less defensive than his previous "apology" and seemed to understand the uproar:

On Monday's show, Letterman said, "I'm wondering, 'Well, what can I do to help people understand that I would never make a joke like this?' I've never made jokes like this, as long as we've been on the air, 30 long years."

If that's the misconception — that the joke was aimed at a 14-year-old — he understands why people are upset, he said. "I would be upset myself." Letterman has said from the beginning that he thought the Palin daughter who attended the Yankee game was Bristol.

"I feel that I need to do the right thing here and apologize for having told that joke," he said. "It's not your fault that it was misunderstood, it's my fault that it was misunderstood."

He apologized to both daughters, "and also to the Governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke," he said as the studio audience applauded. "I'm sorry about it, and I'll try to do better in the future."

He's still not funny. However, I'm hoping the Palins at this point consider the matter closed since the apology is probably the most they can reasonably expect.

Walker's Point fundraiser for two wounded police officers

Members of the Walker's Point business community are hosting a fundraiser event this Saturday from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM to benefit police officers officers Bryan Norberg and Graham Kunisch who were shot multiple times on June 9th in the Walker's Point area.

Members of the Walker's Point businesses community are organizing TYMPD (Thank You, Milwaukee Police Department), a one-day block party on Saturday, June 20 outside of Steny's Tavern, 800 S. 2nd St.

The family-friendly event is free to attend an features live music from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. There will be food and drinks available for purchase, with all proceeds going to the police officers and their families.

Vukmir statement on the state budget

State Representative Leah Vukmir reacted to the Assembly's passage of the state budget in her e-mail newsletter. Here is an excerpt:

The Spin vs. Reality
Some of the early budget spin coming out of the capitol in defense of the budget includes claims that this budget has real spending cuts. That's simply not true. The budget increases overall spending by 6.3%, which is $3.7 billion more than the previous budget. Reducing the amount of a spending increase is not the same as a spending cut!

They are also claiming they are cutting the state payroll by over 1,300 government positions. The fact is that these are vacant positions and they have agreed to leave them unfilled during the two-year budget cycle.

The Democrats are also critical of Republicans for not offering an alternative. We did offer suggestions and our members on the Joint Finance Committee were outspoken in their criticism of a budget they knew would take our state in the wrong direction.

Further, we pushed for building our state budget on a process called "zero-based budgeting." The process requires every agency to justify each expense, including employees, and how it relates to their statutory mission or to the effective delivery of a particular service. Instead, they chose to go with the existing "cost-to-continue" budgeting, which simply builds the new budget from the existing base.

In addition to all of the new taxes and fees, this budget also backfills spending for ongoing programs like education and Medicaid with one-time federal stimulus money. This decision will create an even bigger shortfall in the next budget.

In the end, this budget is well beyond repair. The State Senate should go back to the drawing board and start from scratch! That is the only responsible thing to do.

Open the school house doors

Milwaukee State Representative Fred Kessler's attack on school choice has not gone unnoticed. Ricky on State of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel opines:

Milwaukee State Representative Fred Kessler's Kessler would take it back to 19,500, down from the 22,500 negotiated three years ago by choice advocates and the governor. The problem: Choice schools have acted as if the governor's commitment meant something. As of November 2008, choice students numbered 20,244. And a couple of schools, again counting on that raised cap, have expansion plans that have already involved enrolling students. So, it's plain, that some students will have to be kicked out and others denied their choices. This is simply unfair.

To be fair, this is a matter of Assembly Democrats messing with the governor's commitment. But, if this amendment survives floor debate today or if the state Senate doesn't excise it in deliberations next week, the governor should stand by his commitment and veto the measure.

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker isn't happy either:

Fred Kessler and anyone in the State Assembly who votes for his motion to cut 3,000 students out of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program should be ashamed of themselves. This is an all out assault on kids and their families. It is pathetic when someone uses these young people purely as political pawns.

Maybe now people will see that white liberals like Rep. Kessler care more about flexing their political power than about the kids in these schools.

Will the legislature and the governor live up to the commitment made to school choice parents in 2006? Or will they tell (mostly minority) families that the path to a quality education is barred to them?

Will Democrats, once again, stand in the school house doors?

Jeff Wood, man of principle

The Democrats managed to find 50 votes in the Assembly to pass their budget at 5:20 AM yesterday morning. Among the 50, State Representative Jeff Wood (I-Bloomer).

Wood is a former libertarian. Later, as a Republican member of the legislature, Wood was co-author of TABOR, the proposed Taxpayer Bill of Rights. He quit the Republican Party after a clash with party leadership and became an independent.

He also became a three-time drunk driver caught with marijuana in his car and has lied to his constituents ever since.

His constituents might want to ask the former libertarian how he could vote for the most radical, anti-business, tax-raising budget in state history. They might want to ask what deal was cut in the dark night behind closed doors.

Then they might remember Wood's statement that he culd not resign from the Assembly because he needed to represent them during the budget process. Some representation they received.

Wood, of course, could prove to his constituents he did not cut a deal with the Democrats just to protect his own seat. He could promise to resign after the budget passes.

It's not going to happen.

Update! Just reading through the Budget Blog by Greg Bump at WisPolitics. If you want a measure of Jeff Wood's quality representation, his changed votes are a good start. How convenient to change his vote on Amendment 4 after the roll call so it would not be decisive, but if he had voted correctly at the time of the roll call it would have made the difference.