Althouse: "Other columnists have argued that the conservatives' quick action to replace Abrahamson is overplaying their hand."

May 7, 2015

"Other columnists have argued that the conservatives' quick action to replace Abrahamson is overplaying their hand."

"But it is no such thing; the chief's chair is rightfully Roggensack's, and delaying her ascension to the seat simply would be giving oxygen to Abrahamson's charade."

Writes Christian Scheider in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (about the lawsuit Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson brought to keep her position as chief after Wisconsin voters amended the state constitution to change the selection process from seniority to a vote of the 7 justices).

By the way, I wouldn't have used the word "ascension." When you're elected to a position, do you ascend? Funny that bothered me. It was just yesterday that I finished reading the book "Means of Ascent (The Years of Lyndon Johnson)," by Robert A. Caro. It's the story of how Lyndon Johnson first got his senate seat in 1948. It wasn't by winning an election. It was by stealing an election... most outrageously.

31 comments:

Bobber Fleck said...: Christian Schneider's column correctly points out that much of the dysfunction of the Wisconsin Supreme Court lies with Abrahamson and her abrasive style.; 5/7/15, 6:15 AM
RMc said...: Lyndon Johnson first got his senate seat...by stealing an election...most outrageously.

It's OK when Dems do it, because reasons.; 5/7/15, 6:16 AM
Charlie Eklund said...: Hey, hey LBJ, how many elections did you steal today?; 5/7/15, 6:23 AM
PB said...: The liberal mind thinks politicians a demigods only surpassed by community organizers. To them ascend seems proper.; 5/7/15, 6:24 AM
Bob R said...: There's an old LBJ joke that ends with him saying,"This man's got as much right to vote as anyone in this cemetery."; 5/7/15, 6:27 AM
damikesc said...: He's right. Not moving indicates that they agree with Shirley, which nobody sane should do.; 5/7/15, 6:49 AM
virgil xenophon said...: Caro became a social Lion in the salons of the upper west side after his ground-breaking work The Power Broker and its highly critical take on conservative builder/bureaucrat Robert Moses, but quickly became a non-person to the same crowd after his expose of lefty icon LBJ..

(BTW, Caro is a rare, down-to-earth guy who answers his own phone at home--or did some 30 years ago when I called him to talk about The Power Broker); 5/7/15, 6:57 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: MJS: Surely, your lawsuit to upend the will of the people of Wisconsin has been perceived as a desperate attempt to cling to power that further diminishes the reputation of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, doesn't it?

SA: No, it doesn't - and don't call me Shirley.; 5/7/15, 7:01 AM
Jaq said...: It was by stealing an election... most outrageously

Nixon had an election clearly stolen from him in 1960, then he had the White House stolen from him for his tactics in defending himself from a corrupt political party.

Politics ain't beanbag, I know, but I have a lot of sympathy for Nixon. I didn't at the time, being a young fool I believed everything the newspapers said.; 5/7/15, 7:02 AM
donald said...: It was by stealing an election... most outrageously

Nixon had an election clearly stolen from him in 1960, then he had the White House stolen from him for his tactics in defending himself from a corrupt political party.

Politics ain't beanbag, I know, but I have a lot of sympathy for Nixon. I didn't at the time, being a young fool I believed everything the newspapers said.

It's like you reached into my brain and pulled this out.; 5/7/15, 7:06 AM
JSD said...: The 1948 election still resonates in South Texas. I’ve previously mentioned the Dukes of Duval County and their fixing of that election. The Parr family ran Duval County from before the depression until 1971. Their rein was more befitting of the 1850’s Wild West. I’m only aware of only two books written about them. I’ve read “The Fall of the Duke of Duval” which is a detailed account of the 1970 grand jury indictment. The other book, “The Duke of Duval, Life and Life and Times of George Parr” is a rare book with copies selling for thousands of dollars. I’m a little surprised that an academic historian hasn’t taken a crack at writing a definitive volume. It’s probably because everybody is dead and the documents are up in smoke.

BTW, political machines still rule in South Texas.; 5/7/15, 7:26 AM
Balfegor said...: I think the writer has confused accession and ascension. When elected to a position one can accede, even if one does not ascend.; 5/7/15, 7:34 AM
virgil xenophon said...: @JSD/

"...everybody is dead.."

This is why Caro will never do a definitive analysis/expose of the 1960 election stolen by the Dems & Daley in Chicago--most of the principals are long gone and buried.

(but of course if the dead can be brought alive to vote cannot they also be revived to be interviewed? :) ); 5/7/15, 7:35 AM
Rob said...: In "Becket" Henry II, proclaiming one of his sons his successor, tells the boy, "Stop dribbling while I raise you to glory."; 5/7/15, 7:35 AM
Curious George said...: But garage voted for Abrahamson to be the Chief.

I mean he even went to liberal blogs and found links to ads that mention she was chief for lame "proof" and everything. His vote must not be disenfranchised!; 5/7/15, 7:49 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Other columnists have argued that the conservatives' quick action to replace Abrahamson is overplaying their hand. But it is no such thing; the chief's chair is rightfully Roggensack's, and delaying her ascension to the seat simply would be giving oxygen to Abrahamson's charade.

The other thing to note is that Abrahamson held the chief justice position based on the old version of the state constitution. The instant the amendment was certified her claim to the position ended. If they had waited to elect Roggensack then Abrahamson would not have continued as chief justice. The position would have been empty.; 5/7/15, 7:53 AM
MadisonMan said...: It seems to me that a similar argument could have been made when Prohibition occurred.

I took on this inventory when it was legal to sell it, so I can sell it 'til I run out. (I know, I know, implementation was delayed and all, but still...); 5/7/15, 8:03 AM
Jaq said...: I took on this inventory when it was legal to sell it, so I can sell it 'til I run out.

Maybe Shirly should cite the Dred Scott decision in support of her position.

The Court also held that the Fifth Amendment barred any law that would deprive a slaveholder of his property, such as his slaves, upon the incidence of migration into free territory.

How can a law that deprives Abrahamson of her rightful property, the position of Chief Justice, be constitutional under the fifth amendment?; 5/7/15, 8:21 AM
kcom said...: "the position of Chief Justice"

I thought her rightful property was the citizens of Wisconsin.; 5/7/15, 8:33 AM
Jaq said...: @kcom, Good one, that joke was there and I missed it.; 5/7/15, 8:54 AM
Mike Sylwester said...: Nixon had an election clearly stolen from him in 1960, then he had the White House stolen from him for his tactics in defending himself from a corrupt political party.

Nixon wrote in his book Six Crises that opinion polls showed him to be losing from the beginning to the end of the campaign.

He pointed out that two years previously, in the 1958 mid-term elections, the Republican Party had lost 48 seats in the House and 16 seats in the Senate.

Nixon wrote in his book that the election was not "stolen" from him. Rather, the election simply turned out to be much closer than he or anyone else expected.; 5/7/15, 9:01 AM
Jaq said...: Nixon wrote in his book that the election was not "stolen" from him. Rather, the election simply turned out to be much closer than he or anyone else expected.

Well if that is his public statement, we all know that it must be true. Voting irregularities in Chicago and Texas notwithstanding.; 5/7/15, 9:03 AM
Big Mike said...: I say again, if Abrahamson had treated her colleagues with dignity and respect then she wouldn't be in this position. Even under the new rules she'd have found 3 allies to vote with her if she wasn't such a pain to deal with.; 5/7/15, 9:17 AM
lemondog said...: Were there other 2015 amendments to the Wisconsin Constitution?; 5/7/15, 9:24 AM
Michael K said...: "Nixon had an election clearly stolen from him in 1960, then he had the White House stolen from him for his tactics in defending himself from a corrupt political party."

I don't think many people realize what a coup d'etat the Watergate scandal was. Even the NY Times finally acknowledged nobody remembers.

The FBI overthrew the president and we are living with the consequences, that began with the fall of South Vietnam 40 years ago.; 5/7/15, 9:29 AM
paminwi said...: Lemon dog: what the hell would that have to do with the new amendment and its' result? Do you have to have more than one vote on a ballot to make them any of the valid?

Maybe, you just didn't say what you mean- to cut you some slack.; 5/7/15, 9:44 AM
Quaestor said...: Ann Althouse wrote: When you're elected to a position, do you ascend?

The correct words are accede or succeed in a republic, depending on the office or the circumstances. Ascend and its derivative noun applies to gods and occasionally monarchs. A monarch succeeds (or accedes, the words are virtually interchangeable) to the throne when the crown passes through the lawful line of succession, hence the verb. For example the regnant Prince of Wales, Charles, by law the Heir Apparent, shall succeed to the throne of the United Kingdom upon the demise or abdication of the sovereign, Elizabeth II. Occasionally monarchs are deposed and the line of succession is interrupted. In those cases ascend is appropriate. For example in 1688 Parliament deposed James II, and proclaimed his sister Princess Mary and her husband William of Orange jointly. Consequently William and Mary ascended the throne. James Stuart, being a divine right asshole objected to being deposed, and kicked off about a century of Jacobite mischief.

That an allegedly educated person like Christian Schneider used the word "ascension" in the context of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin makes his whole argument suspect. We all read between the lines of any thesis to get an intuitive sense of the whole thought process of the person making the argument, that's basic psychology. Unless "ascension" was used accidentally or in ignorance, it argues that Schneider has a fundamentally distorted concept of judgeship in a republic, as does Ms. Abrahamson, apparently.; 5/7/15, 2:03 PM
kcom said...: "I say again, if Abrahamson had treated her colleagues with dignity and respect then she wouldn't be in this position. Even under the new rules she'd have found 3 allies to vote with her if she wasn't such a pain to deal with."

Seconded. She made her own bed.; 5/7/15, 2:23 PM
n.n said...: Abrahamson is, ironically, ultra-conservative, who will fight to the bitter end to preserve her station, status, and money. I suppose we could judge her motives based on general principles. She opposes democratic reform. She opposes equal opportunity. She opposes redistributive change. She's bitterly pro-choice on principle (or lack thereof). She's walking in Obama's shadow.; 5/7/15, 2:28 PM
ken in tx said...: Read "A Texan looks at Lyndon", a book I read in 1964. That's when I started supporting Goldwater.; 5/7/15, 9:32 PM
Fred Drinkwater said...: All this convo somewhat about a stolen Senatorial election, and nary a word about another (state) senatorial election in IL?
The one that launched a certain president's political career?
The anti-Obama sentiment in this commentariat is obviously slipping.; 5/7/15, 10:10 PM