The Capital Times, Madison, March 4
Talking-point thoughts and poll-tested prayers won’t end gun violence
There were many poignant and profound responses to the horrific gun violence that took the lives of five workers at Milwaukee’s Molson Coors brewery last Wednesday in an shooting incident that ended when the gunman - another worker - took his own life. But we thought that Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes said it best.
Barnes described what happened at an iconic workplace in his hometown as “another avoidable uniquely American tragedy.”
Then he added, “It’s not normal, we should never accept it, and we should never relent when ‘leaders’ offer hollow thoughts and prayers but choose inaction.”
It was important for Barnes to add that last part because there is nothing more unsettling than politicians who mouth empty platitudes at a time when they should be acting to end the gun violence that plagues this state and nation.
It does no honor to the dead when elected officials mouth scripted talking points that are “poll-tested” and “focus-grouped” to cover for inaction.
The thoughts of everyone in Wisconsin were with the slain workers - Jesus Valle Jr., Gennady Levshetz, Trevor Wetselaar, Dana Walk and Dale Hudson - on Wednesday. And believers gathered to pray for the dead, and for the survivors who will have to live with the awful memory that Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett summed up when he recalled Wednesday: “There were five individuals who went to work today, just like everybody goes to work, and they thought they were going to go to work, would finish their day and go home to their families. They didn’t and tragically never will.”
But those in positions of leadership, those who have the power to address gun violence, owe the dead and the living something more.
They owe us a commitment to change the circumstances of a state that Barnes reminds us has experienced 11 mass shooting since 2004.
“We shouldn’t accept this,” said the lieutenant governor. “This is not the way things should be. We should never grow comfortable in the face of these repeated tragedies all across America and especially here at home.”
That is a view shared by Gov. Tony Evers, who called last fall for the enactment of modest gun-control measures. Evers called a special session of the Legislature to consider proposals to expand background checks for gun purchases and to adopt a “red flag” proposal that would permit judges to take guns from individuals who have been determined to pose a risk to themselves or others. The governor focused on these bills because they were demonstrably popular with Democratic and Republican voters. At a time when Wisconsin has divided governance - with a Democratic governor and Republican-controlled legislative chambers - Evers sought common ground in order to achieve progress.
Unfortunately, his responsible approach was rejected by Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester. The Republicans refused to even consider the bill. It was a shameful response.
Now that Wisconsin has experienced another mass shooting, there are more calls for the enactment of sensible gun-control measures.
But few expect action.
Why? Because Fitzgerald and Vos practice precisely the politics that Barnes was talking about when he referred after the Molson Coors shootings to “leaders” who “offer hollow thoughts and prayers but choose inaction.”
These Republicans do not represent the voters of Wisconsin. They represent the gun industry that buys itself protection from legislative limits on profiteering by corporations that could care less about the chaos and misery they create. Instead of doing right by the great mass of Wisconsinites, including responsible gun owners who would in no way be harmed by background checks or “red flag” laws, Vos and Fitzgerald refuse to do anything that might offend their political paymasters.
How do they get away with rejecting the actual work of legislating? By rejecting the actual work of electioneering. For most of the past decade, the legislative authority that Fitzgerald and Vos wield has extended not from the voters but from the gaming of the redistricting process that they warped after the 2010 census.
The Senate majority leader and the Assembly speaker have enjoyed the benefits of the extreme gerrymandering that was put in place when they and their allies drew legislative district lines that were so uncompetitive that the will of the people is no longer reflected in election results.
In 2018, when Democrats won every statewide contest, Republicans actually picked up a state Senate seat. That year, Republican candidates attracted a few more votes than Democratic candidates. But Republicans also got the most seats in years when Democratic candidates got the most votes. In 2016, for instance, Democratic candidates won a majority of the vote cast by Wisconsinites for state Senate seats, as Republican candidates took just 48% of the total. Yet Republicans won 56% of the seats up for election, while Democrats took just 44%.
In the Assembly, the anti-democratic calculus is even worse.
In November of 2018, Wisconsinites gave 53% of their votes to Democrats seeking Assembly seats. Because the Assembly is gerrymandered, however, Vos’s Republicans occupy 63 of 99 seats in the chamber.
This is not representative democracy. This is a travesty. It is why, when Wisconsinites demand action to address gun violence, we get nothing but the talking-point thoughts and poll-tested prayers of political charlatans like Robin Vos and Scott Fitzgerald.
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The Journal Times of Racine, March 8
Keep perspective on coronavirus
There’s nothing like a little pandemic to scare the bejeezus out of people.
That’s what we’ve gotten with the outbreak of the coronavirus strain COVID-19 that spread rapidly from China to South Korea, Italy, Iran and other countries and has thus far infected more than 90,000 people worldwide and caused more than 3,000 deaths - including 11 Americans by midweek.
The spread of the virus has roiled Wall Street, cratering stocks two weeks ago and now flip-flopping with volatility every other day, it seems. Schools have been temporarily closed around the world disrupting education for 290 million students, including a dozen schools near Seattle. Emergency orders have been issued in California, cruise ships and airlines have curtailed voyages and flights and there has been some panic buying in spots of the U.S. with hoarders snapping up supplies of largely ineffective surgical masks, bottled water, bleach, sanitary wipes and even emptying the shelves of toilet paper in some cities. And, in a little bit of irony, the release of the new James Bond film, “No Time To Die,” has been pushed back until November over coronavirus worries.
Slow your roll, America. Yes, the coronavirus is cause for concern, even a bit of alarm, but it’s best dealt with by preparation, medical responses and commonsense hygiene precautions and not panic.
A little perspective goes a long way, too. Yes, there have been 3,000 deaths across the globe, but the bulk of them have been in China where the outbreak first occurred. Yes, the death toll will probably rise, but to put it in perspective, the common flu virus caused 16,000 flu-related deaths last year and 61,000 deaths the year before right here in the United States.
If you want a pandemic, we give you the Spanish flu. No, you don’t remember it, nor do we. It swept across the world 102 years ago in 1918 and at first it was largely hushed up because there was a war on, the First World War. Britain, France, Germany, the U.S. and other European governments largely censored reports of the outbreak for military reasons. Spain, however, was neutral and the government and newspapers reported on it - so when it spread elsewhere it was misnamed the “Spanish flu.”
And it was a killer. Before it was done, the Spanish flu had infected 500 million people around the world – more than a quarter of the world population at the time - and killed an estimated 50 million. Unlike other flus, it attacked healthy young people and that made the soldiers in crowded trenches and staging areas particularly susceptible and contagious.
It likely made its way to Boston on a troop carrier in the early fall of 1918, A recent Washington Post story on the Spanish flu related how Philadelphia had planned the largest parade in the city’s history and just before the scheduled event 300 returning soldiers began spreading the virus. Doctors were telling reporters the parade shouldn’t happen - but because of the war and the self-censorship by papers nothing was printed. The parade went on and two days later, Spanish flu slammed the city - closing schools and resulting in a ban on public gatherings. More than 12,500 Philadelphians died in the outbreak.
The wartime news control was felt here in Wisconsin as well, according to the Post report. When the Jefferson County Union warned about the seriousness of Spanish flu on Sept. 27, 1918, a U.S. Army general quickly began prosecution against the paper under a wartime sedition act, claiming it had “depressed morale,” the Post story said.
By then the cat was out of the bag. Wisconsin was fortunate to have the infrastructure for a modern public health system and had created a State Board of Health with powers to issue quarantine orders and backed it up further when the Legislature required all municipalities to appoint local health boards and health officers, according to “The Great War Comes to Wisconsin” by Richard L. Pifer and Marjorie Hannon Pifer, that was recently excerpted by Wiscontext, a service of Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Television.
Within a month of the Jefferson Times Union news report, the state took action.
The Pifers wrote: “Without knowing how to stop the epidemic, Wisconsin took one of the few effective steps to curb transmission: It limited the places people congregated. On October 10, 1918, Cornelius Harper, the state health officers, consulted with Governor (Emanuel) Philipp and then issued an order instructing all local boards of health ‘to immediately close all schools, theaters, moving picture houses, other places of public amusement and public gatherings for an indefinite period of time.’ The order effectively closed every public establishment and gathering place, including churches, except for places of regular employment. In many communities, schools and theaters closed for four weeks and churches locked their doors for three weeks.”
With its rapid response, Wisconsin fared better than eastern states, but even then the Spanish flu hit an estimated 103,000 state residents and flu-related casualties here in the Badger State reached 8,459 dead - more than four times the number of Wisconsinites who died in World War I. Nationwide, the Spanish flu killed 675,000 Americans.
There’s your historical perspective on pandemics.
We’re not saying the coronavirus - with its 3,000 deaths - is nothing to be alarmed about. But we should remember that we have made great medical progress over the years and that U.S. health officials are working hard to blunt the spread of the virus by expediting the shipment of testing kits, preparing for possible quarantines and isolation if the disease becomes more widespread, and working on a vaccine. This week, Wisconsin received $1 million from the Centers for Disease Control to help address the virus. In Congress, the House and Senate passed an $8.3 billion measure to battle coronavirus and sent it on to President Donald Trump, who signed it Friday. At a briefing on COVID-19 in Madison this week, state health officials said there is not a need here in Wisconsin at this time to declare a public health emergency, but they’re taking preparations to make sure the state is ready.
Preparation, not panic. And if you have a cough or the sniffles - even if it’s the regular flu - do us all a favor and stay at home. Stop shaking hands for a while. Use a handkerchief or tissue if you sneeze.
Now go wash your hands.
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La Crosse Tribune, March 8
Bipartisan support helps those who fight substance-use disorder
The photo atop Page 1 of Wednesday’s La Crosse Tribune truly said it all.
There’s Gov. Tony Evers at La Crosse’s Coulee Recovery Center, and he’s hugging Cheryl Hancock, executive director of the Coulee Council on Addictions.
You know Cheryl. She’s a respected community servant who led development of the new recovery center with her dedicated board and staff. She’s a longtime Holmen School Board member. You may not know that she’s a recent inductee to the state’s Gymnastics Hall of Fame.
She’s also a mother who lost her daughter to substance-abuse disorder.
So when the governor came to La Crosse to sign legislation to help people recover from substance-abuse disorder, he signed it at the Coulee Recovery Center in the room named for Cheryl’s daughter, Jess Lichtie.
The new center is a sign of hope in our community.
Community leaders and health care officials rallied to support development of the new center at 933 Ferry St. after some neighbors objected.
Just like recovery, it hasn’t been perfect.
But the new, larger facility has a spirit of hope. It accommodates far more people and groups, and it provides far more services to people in need.
In the first year, visits to the drop-in center doubled. And the number of support group meetings that are held regularly each month went from 52 at the other building to 120 at the new location.
More people are being helped. More services - meditation, yoga, refuge recovery - are being offered.
More community members are offering to conduct craft and other programs at the new center who weren’t comfortable assisting at the former, cramped location on West Avenue.
Evers signed four bills designed to help those with addictions - bills backed by Democrats (Jill Billings of La Crosse) and Republicans (John Nygren of Marinette) and started with listening sessions under previous Gov. Scott Walker.
The problem of addiction isn’t partisan. It affects all professions, income levels, genders.
That’s why the legislation and places like Coulee Recovery Center are so important.
“It’s so wonderful that the governor came here to our corner of Wisconsin, because so much good work has been done here locally by the Alliance to Heal, by the Coulee Recovery Center, by our hospitals, by Gundersen and Mayo,” Billings said.
Simply put, the legislation will save lives by making it easier for officials to more quickly help and support people who are in desperate need.
For instance, Hancock says the early-intervention peer-recovery coaches, who have been through the struggles of addiction themselves, “make a difference in this community each and every day.”
The new center provides hope for people who are struggling. The Good Bean Café will open there soon, thanks to a $70,000 grant from the La Crosse Community Foundation to the Coulee Council on Addictions and the Vernon Area Rehabilitation Center. The coffee shop will provide an opportunity for people recovering from substance-use disorder to work and build job skills (and grab a mug of coffee).
And the new legislation provides hope that the political parties of our state - who have struggled with too much gridlock - can set aside ego and ideology long enough to do the right thing for the people of Wisconsin.
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