Let all the poisons...
There has not been any allegation Vrakas has avoided responsibility for this arrest. There has not been any allegation Vrakas has repeated his crime, or has broken any law since the arrest occurred. In the 14 years he has been in the state legislature, there have not been any allegations regarding his conduct in office. And far from hiding from the issue, Vrakas has been honest and direct with his constituents regarding the arrest.
...in the muck...
Bruce Murphy tries to justify digging in the mire by asserting this story would have become an issue in the campaign eventually. However, he doesn't say who would've made it an issue. Vrakas' opponent? Were there plans by Dwyer to use this? Why doesn't Murphy say so? Because Murphy knows he already did the dirty work.
Grasping that his say-so isn't enough justification to roll in the slime Murphy tries to justify his article by alleging that if this happened to former Milwaukee acting mayor Marvin Pratt it would be an issue, even as it is unlikely to be an issue in the Vrakas/Dwyer race. Neat trick. In two sentences Murphy manages to make morally equivalent the ethically challenged Pratt (whose sins took place during his campaign) and the relatively squeeky clean Vrakas, stating the only difference between the two is their race. Pratt owes Murphy for this - big time.
Sensing that still isn't enough, Murphy makes the charge that Vrakas will be punished in this race for his 20 year old cocaine possession arrest because he doesn't allow cancer patients to ingest "medical marijuana." For Murphy to make any logical sense, Vrakas would have had to assert cocaine possession is okay but a cancer-plagued grandma can be busted for her brownie mix. Memo to Murphy: What are you smoking?
...hatch out!
Unfortunately, this is only the beginning of the smear job. Right now in Madison people are looking for any business deal, any personal conflict, any budget vote that could possibly make Vrakas look bad. For the rest of the campaign, we should keep in mind this excerpt from the editorial that appeared in the Lake County Reporter:
The point here is that Vrakas is a legislator, not a Saint. And he is one of the most conscientious legislators we have ever ran into. He listens, is responsive, is hard working, and seems to be generally in tune with his constituency. In our experience, Vrakas is a man of good character too. Part of gaining maturity for all of us is making mistakes. Human beings learn best when they make mistakes and we think Vrakas learned from his; you need only get to know him to tell that. There are lawmakers who have cavalierly broken the law and again and again and again and who seem to think they are above it. Those are the people who should be held up to public ridicule, not this man. Somewhere along the way, we have to realize that little soundbites and specks from someone's long ago past do not make up character. The media are great at picking out the small thread and by human nature we infer that they have defined the whole cloth. It feeds the suspicions that we all harbor about politicians but to draw on an isolated incident of this good man's past is unfair.
