Joe Plouff - Have You No Sense of Decency?

On June 9th, 1954. Joe Mcarthy was asked, “Have you no sense of decency?” for his fabrications and accusations of trying to revive a failing political career and doing irreparable harm to many people's lives.  Now Wisconsin has Glenn Grothman, a Representative to Congress, who appears to have no sense of decency.   Heartland posted a podcast on June 6, 2024, where Grothman blames the breakdown of the family on feminism, Black Lives Matter, the Great Society, and anything that is not radically conservative.  Grothman claimed that “people all along wanted to destroy the family,” before pointing to “the 60s, the feminist movement, Cape Malay was anti-family, a goal of the feminist movement was to get the man out of the family. Angela Davis, you know, superstar radical during the 60s. One of her goals was to destroy the family, and of course, then you move up in time, even the Black Lives Matter movement the founders of Black Lives Matter. A goal was to destroy the family.” Grothman has a history of being anti-gay, opposed to same-sex marriage, and a 4-year-old kindergarten.

Then on May 31, 2024, another Wisconsin US representative, Derrick Van Orden, in what was described as an “unhinged” tirade on X compared the judge presiding over Trump’s hush-money fraud trial to an obscure Nazi judge, called him “Communist Scum,” posted a U.S. flag adorned with the Soviet hammer and sickle, and equated President Joe Biden to murderous dictators like Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong and Adolf Hitler.

The GOP in Wisconsin appears to have no sense of shame.  No state GOP official has even disagreed with these outrageous statements.  Joe Plouff, D-Menomonie, a former member of the WI State Assembly seeking a return to the legislature said, “It is this type of rhetoric that is creating more havoc and chaos in our political world today. Rep. Grothman has been in public office since 1993. I served with him during my time in the legislature and I am disappointed he continues to lead in this way. Representative Van Orden appears to have taken up the same type of divisive rhetoric found throughout today's MAGA influenced GOP. Even our local State Representatives stand silent as this behavior creeps into Wisconsin politics. There are other, more honorable ways of discussing public policy.”

Plouff continued, “Public policy is what it is. The policy direction for the public good. No, if there is someone that disagrees with us that doesn’t make them automatically evil.

When a politician rants about others I get to wondering why. Are they so afraid they cannot have reasonable discussions? Can they not see any sort of agreement leading to common ground? Do we just assume nothing can be worked out together? How do we operate a government with such destructive attitudes? How do we reach funding agreements for our health care, roads, schools, higher education, environment and public protection services if we start from such a negative place?”

Continuing Plouff noted, “This really is at the core of my reentering public service. I remember a time when not everything was a fight, and hurdles put up intentionally. For government to function and provide for the common good then we individuals willing to at least try need to ask voters what they want, or do they want this negative path to continue and hope for the best?”

Joe Plouff is a candidate for the 92nd Assembly District of Wisconsin.