Back to the future and hoping for the best

While preparing to restart this blog I came across the audio of an interview that I did back in February on Madison's 92.1, The Mic.* I was the guest for the full hour with the very well-informed Lee Rayburn. The show focused on the Annette Ziegler and Michael Gableman campaigns for the state Supreme Court, both topics with which I am very familiar.

Listining nearly 10 months after the interview originally aired was actually very insightful. It was fascinating to look back on the facts at that time, and how things have transpired since. At that time, Ziegler had finally admitted to her ethical violations, while Michael Gableman was only beginning to commit his own. While it was clear at that time that Gableman was lying about specific items of fact, he had yet to commit the acts that now have him charged by the Judicial Commission. Ziegler has since both recieved and accepted the punishment of her peers while Gableman continues to cross shameful lines by fighting for his "right" to lie.

Gableman's attack on the Judicial Code will probably be the three ring circus that we fully expect it to be. While that will surely get its share of the headlines, we should also keep an eye on yet another right wing candidate running for the high court next year. After the Ziegler scandal of 2007, most of us hoped for something better in 2008. Unfortunately Gableman refused to learn from her mistakes and was intent on taking them to an entirely new level. Let's hope that Randy Koschnick departs entirely from the right wing pattern that has been set before him. Given some of the people that he has surrounded himself with so far and the playbook that he is already reusing, we have reason to worry. Even with that being said, we can still hope for the best: a civil campaign that focuses on substantive issues and real matters of law.

*If you would like to hear my February 26, 2008 interview with Lee Rayburn, you will find it available in the right column.