October 6, 2023

He was "one of those guys who was like Eddie Haskell."

Said a woman who had worked with Joshua Pleasnick at the the Green Owl restaurant on Madison’s East Side. "When the owner was not around, he would talk all kinds of smack about her and other women in general..."

Joshua Pleasnick is the man in "Man with handgun seeking governor arrested in Wisconsin Capitol, returns with assault rifle" (Wisconsin State Journal). 

The shirtless man (shirtless men rarely make history):
Joshua Pleasnick, who was shirtless and had a holstered handgun, approached the governor’s office on the first floor of the Capitol around 2 p.m. Wednesday, state Department of Administration spokesperson Tatyana Warrick said. The 43-year-old said “he would not leave until he saw Governor Evers” so he could talk about “domestic abuse towards men,” Capitol police said in a bulletin sent to lawmakers and their staffs.... 
Pleasnick posted cellphone video of his arrest... [in which] he tells police as they speak to him outside of the governor’s office that he is armed “to defend myself” from people who he says police won’t protect him from. “I am not a threat,” he tells police. His dog is with him. When told by officers that it’s illegal for him to openly carry a firearm in the Capitol, Pleasnick says, “I will admit that I broke that law.”... 
In a podcast posted Tuesday, a man who identified himself with the same name and birthdate as Pleasnick said he was in Madison and, in speech filled with profanity, said he would burn down the system “with love” because it is corrupt....

CORRECTION: This post had — and did not deserve — the tag "Dobie Gillis." "Dobie Gillis" is my all-time favorite TV sitcom, as regular readers may know, but that doesn't mean it is a repository of all of my all-time favorite TV sitcom characters.

I must have been thinking about Chatsworth Osborne Jr., and considering that Eddie Haskell was played by Ken Osmond, I think, too, there was a collision on my brain's "Os-" channel. 

41 comments:

rehajm said...

Did he leave his number? Democrat leadership in WI would like to talk to him about running for US Senate.

Dave Begley said...

Bet he voted for Biden.

Mary Beth said...

A paywall kept me from reading the story to see if I could figure out the Dobie Gillis tag.

Rocco said...

Ann said…
“(shirtless men rarely make history)”

I guess Fabio is one of the exceptions.

tim in vermont said...

The system is utterly corrupt, but violence just plays into their hand. Just refuse to go along. #RESIST. #SHRUG. This is how the USSR fell, and will be how the corrupt USA will fall.

Rusty said...

Another well adjusted Madison citizen decides to start the revolution early.
They guy in the armored bull dozer had the right idea.

Gusty Winds said...

Just to play the modern blame game, the guy is a Bernie Sanders doner, but the local liberal press is keeping that under wraps of course. He posted bail and returned last night to the Wisconsin Capitol with an assault rifle.

Why the fuck would a judge let a guy out on bail that showed up with a loaded weapon to meet the Governor. Wisconsin liberal judges must be the dumbest people on the planet.

Gotta love Madison!! Insane town.

Aggie said...

Well, when you engage in scorched-earth veto politics like Evers does, you can expect scorched earth results. Glad there was no violence.

Darkisland said...

As a lad growing up in the 50s and 60s I was taught by the newspapers that domestic violence was a fine thing, no matter how trivial the offense. This went on into the 90s and noughties.

The use of weapons such as frying skillets, rolling pins, umbrellas, massive purse was always justified.

Not only was the augmented violence fine, it was even funny and presented to make us laugh.

I don't remember seeing any newspaper ever apologize.

Perhaps I missed it?

John Henry

Ann Althouse said...

“ I guess Fabio is one of the exceptions.”

First on my list is Jesus. But you make your own assessment.

Ann Althouse said...

Off topic posts deleted. Go to the most recent cafe post to raise a new topic

Gilbert Pinfold said...

Ken Osmond became an LAPD cop after his acting days are over. He was shot 5 times while investigating a crime, but survived.

Ann Althouse said...

Cafe = sunrise

tommyesq said...

Curious to see how the usual suspects will justify their outrage at this while largely ignoring the guy with a gun at Kavanaugh's house.

Cappy said...

What a lovely dress you have on today, Mrs Cleaver.

Buckwheathikes said...

Muhammed Ali, towering over George Foreman. History!

Patrick Swayze, holding Baby over his head in the lake!

Bruce Lee, entering the Dragon!

And for some real history, you have this stud, standing with his stud:

https://pyxis.nymag.com/v1/imgs/659/2ce/a2faed11e061c284918f6470d3de596a86-27-shirtless-men-3207443-10.rdeep-vertical.w450.jpg

Wince said...

Althouse said...
...I think, too, there was a collision on my brain's "Os-" channel.

"If things go well, I might be shown' her my 'Oh-face'."

Buckwheathikes said...

Is it constitutional to deprive people of their Constitutional rights to protect themselves just because they happen to be in the Capitol building?

Of course it's not. Didn't this used to be a law blog?

Buckwheathikes said...

"It is illegal to open carry ..."

Is it illegal to concealed carry in the Capitol? Doesn't this make it easier for people to get away with shooting up the Capitol?

MadTownGuy said...

The shirtless man (shirtless men rarely make history..."

Rambo? Putin? Bernie?

James K said...

"shirtless men rarely make history"

But was he wearing shorts?

Obama always reminded me of Eddie Haskell, so smooth in public while routinely undermining the rule of law behind the scenes. Somewhat ironic that Ken Osmond ended up being a cop with the LAPD, and was shot three times during an arrest. Not seriously injured thanks to a bullet-proof vest and a belt buckle.

Haskell inspired one of my favorite June Cleaver lines: "I just don't trust a 13-year-old boy that's that polite."

Saint Croix said...

that's a sweet link to a Rush transcript

I just bought a complete set of Dobie Gillis DVDs

I've seen clips but I've never really sat down and watched it

will it still work on a new audience in the 21st century?

It's impossible to rank all cinema!

Levi Starks said...

What caught my ear was the description of a speech “filled with profanity” as though that’s supposed to mean a bad thing.

Oligonicella said...

Said a woman who had worked with Joshua Pleasnick at the the Green Owl restaurant on Madison’s East Side. "When the owner was not around, he would talk all kinds of smack about her and other women in general..."

I don't recall Haskell ever doing that.

mikee said...

I point out an annoying erroneous detail in the story. The second firearm in the story was at most an "assault weapon," i.e., merely a very common semiautomatic rifle.

The story notes near its end that the rifle was an "assault-style rifle" which further indicates a design likely of military origin but popular with civilians, such as an AR-15 or AK style semiautomatic rifle. These are the most popular styles of rifles sold in the US, with an estimated 25+ million owned by over 5 percent of the population. The title, which is the most anyone reads, shouts ASSAULT RIFLE, which indicates a fully automatic rifle, a submachine gun, a military weapon.

This is equivalent to saying in the title that the poor deluded person drove to see the governor in a Somali-style Tactical Truck when the vehicle was a rusty old Ford F-150.

If it weren't a day ending in a "Y" this sort of media error - whether purposeful to sensationalize, or done through mere ignorance of the subject matter, would result in firings for malfeasance, or incompetence, or both.

Kate said...

"His dog is with him" is the sentence that broke me. I'm imagining one of those woeful faces that apologizes for their human.

The Elder said...

Thanks to Rush for posting for reference the pictures of Chatsworth Osborne, Jr. and Tucker Carlson (at that time).

Now I know why I disliked Tucker back then. NEVER TRUST A MAN WHO WEARS A BOW TIE!

who-knew said...

Pretty weird story. I wouldn't bring my dog along on an assassination attempt, but there's no accounting for taste. Other reports note that he was a Bernie-bro (what else? he's from Madison) yet the WSJ leaves that out while noting that Evers name was on a piece of paper in a completely unrelated case where the apparent political motive is more right-wing. Now, why would they do that?

Mr. Forward said...

"Pleasnick is a well-known chef who has been profiled by The Wisconsin State Journal and twice by Madison Magazine, most recently in 2019. According to Federal Election Commission records, he donated small amounts of money to Democratic Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders' presidential campaigns in both 2016 and 2020."
NewsTalk 1130/WISN

"... this is not the first time an alleged Bernie Sanders supporter tried to take his frustrations out on an elected official, with the attempted assassinations of GOP members of Congress in 2017 during a summer baseball practice coming to mind..."
X

CJinPA said...

That's a correction you won't ready anywhere but here.

Rusty said...

To be fair Jesus' bare chest was involuntary. But I digress. Has the preemptive savior of our democracy made a statement yet?
Have the gentle and peace loving people of Madison embraced their wayward son and blamed Trump?
Which reinds me. I have two very expensive shotguns in need of cleaning.

Bob Boyd said...

Sounds like Pleasnick's apple cart is at death's door. What kind of dog does he have? It'll probably need a new home soon.

traditionalguy said...

Those yankee red necks are crazier than most.

Maybe the Cali Senate seat is open for a clown show.

traditionalguy said...

How Jesus got into this is strange. But FTR he was lifted up totally naked the better to shame and ridicule Him.

wendybar said...

First James Hodgekinson (a Bernie Bro) shoots up a Congressional baseball game injuring Congressman Scalise and 3 others, and now THIS Bernie Bro wanted to shoot up Evers?? Maybe take guns away from Bernie Bros...They seem to be the missing white supremacists we keep hearing about...but they keep shooting at white men!!

Robert Marshall said...

A bail system that lets this guy go free is nuts.

What do you have to do, in Madison, WI, to convince the law enforcement system that you're a danger to the community? Openly packing heat at the Capitol building in violation of the law, and openly seeking out the Governor, that's not enough? Just let 'em go, so they can re-arm themselves, more robustly, and return to finish the job!

PS - I loved the tummy-tats shown on his topless mug-shot, a pair of old-fashioned six-shooters, aimed down into his pants, as if he's considering going tranny the difficult way. Oh, sure, this guy's no problem, let him loose!

PPS - Don't try this in a small town.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Curious to see how the usual suspects will justify their outrage at this while largely ignoring the guy with a gun at Kavanaugh's house.

Nope. Like the would-be Kavanaugh assassin and the would-be Scalise (and more) assassin this one is already being memory-holed and isn't even being reported on cable news, not even Fox. And all for the exact same reason: this guy is another Bernie Bro turned violent actor. He doesn't fit the narrative. The FBI is only interested in Trump supporters, whom they have formally labelled domestic terrorists. Word is they are recruiting Antifa members as confidential informants since the fascist leftist group seems to keep track of Trump supporters already. This guy in Madison is simply "protesting" man.

Earnest Prole said...

Firearm rules for the Wisconsin Capitol:

Building Firearms and Weapon Policy

Open carry is not allowed inside of the Wisconsin State Capitol. 

Concealed Carry

The Wisconsin State Capitol houses all three branches of state government and each has its own policy on firearms. Firearms are not allowed in the offices of the Wisconsin State Capitol Police or in the Supreme Court. Legislative offices throughout the Capitol can choose whether to post a sign on their door to signify that firearms are not allowed in their offices.  

Assembly Policy

Except as provided below, an individual may carry a concealed weapon in any space within the State Capitol that is assigned to the State Assembly or the State Assembly’s members or officers, unless the individual is prohibited by law or Assembly policy from carrying the concealed weapon.

Assembly Representative Offices

An Assembly representative may post a sign in a prominent place near the public entrance to the office, stating a weapon restriction for that office. The Assemly shall provide uniform signage for use by Assembly Representatives under this policy.

Scott Patton said...

Could have kept the tag - it's fair to say that ole Eddie was a pleasnic.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"First on my list is Jesus. But you make your own assessment."

I immediately thought of Tupac.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

""Dobie Gillis" is my all-time favorite TV sitcom, as regular readers may know"

Tuesday Weld. That is all.