Althouse: "Of course race is involved. Because people don’t generally lose their minds and start acting like idiots in this country unless race is involved somehow…"

July 6, 2010

"Of course race is involved. Because people don’t generally lose their minds and start acting like idiots in this country unless race is involved somehow…"

Elie Mystal takes on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

18 comments:

traditionalguy said...: Wisconsin should not elect Judges if they cannot use political ads in the campaign.; 7/6/10, 10:17 AM
Rick67 said...: http://abovethelaw.com/2010/06/how-to-fail-the-barbri-midterm-and-still-pass-on-the-first-try/ at the top of the page linked. Isn't that you again? unacknowledged?; 7/6/10, 10:19 AM
Known Unknown said...: Dear Internetters,

Please find a new picture of a law student cramming.

I'm being stalked by a bedheaded blonde with bad glasses!

Jeez.

WV: ingling. I had an ingling I would see that fucking picture again.; 7/6/10, 10:38 AM
Big Mike said...: Did you link to this because you're a professor at the Wisconsin Law School? Or because your iconic photo is posted in the upper left corner?; 7/6/10, 10:40 AM
Known Unknown said...: Still having comment issues. Mine only shows up on the Blogger-themed comments page, not when you click on the datestamp in the original post.

Also, it doesn't register as a comment on the original post, which still reads 0 comments.; 7/6/10, 10:41 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Thank. You.; 7/6/10, 10:44 AM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: Weird.

1. The ad accuses a lawyer of doing his job. A public defender gets an appeal all the way up to the state supreme court, and we are supposed to take that as a bad thing? Doesn't that show that he knows what he is doing?

2. The case still results in the defendant being imprisoned.

3. The ad lied, omitting the part about the defendant going to jail, but most political ads do.

4. Lying in political ads is supposed to be a bigger no-no for judges than for other officials. Why? Why are judges supposed to follow rules for elected officials that no one else does? Why have elected judges, then?; 7/6/10, 10:52 AM
Alex said...: Frist!; 7/6/10, 10:52 AM
Synova said...: Well, if I were running for the office in Wisconsin I know what MY campaign ad would say.

Egad.

And I'm the first to scoff at the notion that everything is about race and racism and manipulating racists but the description of the ad in question is beyond egregious. If the rapist had actually been released early instead of serving his full sentence I don't think that I'd put as much weight on the implication that the black guy was trying to keep black criminals on the street because it would all seem more factual. Since it was pretty clearly a carefully crafted insinuation, its very easy to see... insinuation.; 7/6/10, 11:11 AM
Synova said...: All the Obama campaign stuff I got in the mail was full of the same outright lies. McCain wants to do this! McCain will do that! And often enough it was completely contrary to what McCain's stated opinions were about anything. They were taking a Republican party plank and presenting it as McCain's personal opinion.

Liars are liars.

And the weasely twisting of what is in order to lie without actually *lying* in a way that is actionable is why people hate lawyers.; 7/6/10, 11:16 AM
Anonymous said...: "Of course race is involved. Because people don’t generally lose their minds and start acting like idiots in this country unless race is involved somehow…"

Prohibition.; 7/6/10, 11:42 AM
raf said...: Of course race is involved

More likely, power/politics is involved.

Which is why race continues to be the big issue it remains.; 7/6/10, 11:58 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Isn't that you again? unacknowledged?"

It's a running joke over there at this point. They know I don't mind.

***

The writer of the linked-to post is black, btw.

***

@John Lynch Is it really a lie? There's a missing fact that is relevant, and there's also a deliberate effort to make people feel uneasy about criminal defendants having their rights enforced and about having someone who has defended the accused making the call about what the scope of rights is. To call that kind of slanted presentation a lie... is itself a slanted presentation.

I think the best thing is to counter an ad like that with a better ad. Butler could have portrayed Gableman as unsuitable to be a judge because he presented a legal matter that way. Going after him after the election is too partisan, and the partisan split on the court looks awful.; 7/6/10, 11:58 AM
A.W. said...: Well, the two opinions are here:

http://www.wicourts.gov/sc/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=51704

(liberal bloc)

And here:

http://www.wicourts.gov/sc/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=51705

(conservative bloc); 7/6/10, 12:14 PM
A.W. said...: btw, from the facts found below in the case: "Nothing that Justice Butler did in the course of his representation of Mitchell caused, facilitated, or enabled Mitchell's release from prison in 1992."

Um, isn't that an embarrassment in and of itself? he failed to make any difference. He might as well have not been there.; 7/6/10, 12:19 PM
Unknown said...: Willie Horton, like John Henry, will never really die.

PS Some nice guy from Cincinnati should take that hard-working girl with the glasses out on a date.; 7/6/10, 1:10 PM
David said...: From the article: " . . . a potentially interesting legal issue breaks down along party lines."

An important legal issue--maybe the most important--free speech.

Just what we need--the courts deciding who is telling the truth in political ads.

That's the news media's job. (Whoops!!); 7/6/10, 1:20 PM
Lance Burri said...: "Of course race is involved. Because people don’t generally lose their minds and start acting like idiots in this country unless race is involved somehow…"

Has this guy ever watched a football game?; 7/6/10, 8:21 PM