Republicans salivate over Lautenschlager affair By Curt Andersen News-Chronicle Grab a partner and join me in the hottest new dance craze in Wisconsin…the Knee-Jerk. The reaction to the flap over the OWI arrest of Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager has gone from mundane to mad hatter. From the hype you hear, you would think she was the first person in Wisconsin to be arrested for it. Alas, the papers are full of such arrest records, some for state or county workers, some for elected officials, and some for everyday citizens. We cannot make light of this problem in Wisconsin, but there must be a level playing field. One cannot change the rules in the middle of the game. Lautenschlager is being singled-out for attack by conservatives because she’s had the temerity to prosecute polluting corporations who have been flipping the bird at regulations that protect public health. This is part of a much bigger picture of smarmy attacks by the women-hating, radical conservative body politic. We have seen it in personal attacks on Hillary Clinton and on judges selected by the Clinton Administration. We have seen it in attacks on Lt. Governor, Barb Lawton. We have also seen sneering attacks on female workers, both white and blue collar. Much of this is jealousy by inferior males, but some of it is just plain disrespect for others and a lack of good manners. If we are going to levy huge penalties for such crimes, then we should take a good look at some sterling examples of malfeasant leadership. Should we prosecute former Wisconsin Governor, Tommy Thompson for his OWS (Orating While Sloshed) at Lambeau Field a few years ago? The crowd booed him, but perhaps not so much for being sloshed as for showing it. It’s not manly to show you’re skunked, you know. Will we go after Assembly Speaker John Gard for fishing without a license? Not only did Gard fish without a license, he told the DNR warden he had a license when he didn’t. Is this another reason why Gard wants to gut the DNR? (And I mean besides his lickspittle relationship with polluters.) We barely heard a word about the arrest of State Representative Lorraine Seratti, R-Spread Eagle, in June of 2000, for running a stop sign. Her breath test showed a .21 alcohol level, almost twice what Lautenschlager had. George W. Bush sealed his driving records so that sort of information could not be used against him, but when the Peg Lautenschlager admitted her mistake, she was flayed by the conservative media. They should go after some big game instead. A story by Knut Royce, of The Center for Public Integrity said: “It has been widely reported that Texas Gov. George W. Bush made money over the years with a little help from his friends. New details show that he served on an energy corporation’s board and was able to realize a huge profit by selling his stock in the corporation because an accounting sleight-of-hand concealed it was losing large sums of money. Shortly after he sold, the stock price plummeted. That profit helped make him a multi-millionaire.” Will we take G. W. Bush to court for his alleged “irregularities” regarding his sale of Harken Energy stock? Why is it that the government is going after little fish Martha Stewart when Bush made money hand over fist? Is this just another example of radical conservative misogyny while letting the Golden Boy off the hook? If the allegations are true, George Bush's profit was due to shaky accounting practices that inflated the value of the stock, allowing him to sell at a tremendous profit. Where’s the outrage? Wisconsin politicians continue to take bribes disguised as campaign donations while the public howls. They fiddle while Rome burns. Yes, grab a partner and let’s do the Knee-Jerk for a too common Wisconsin malady. Republicans should be more careful about charges like these against the Attorney General. When they pilloried Clinton for sexual indiscretions, the next thing you knew, several Republicans were exposed for carrying on in the same manner. They should learn to shut their traps before they’re trapped themselves. Curt Andersen is a Green Bay native. He is a 4-year Navy veteran (Communications Technician, CTO2), owns a small business, is vice president of Clean Water Action Council, and is an adjunct instructor at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. You may contact Mr. Andersen at [email protected]