Halloween seems like the right time for a hike down memory lane to review the goblins and ghouls that inhabit the Republican underworld. Let us start with the main monster: Donald Trump. Beyond our wildest imagination, this Republican nominee for president is the most frightening gargoyle of all time. Almost daily we learn of new revelations that show how disturbed and dangerous he is. His latest boasts of being a sexual predator may be the wooden stake aimed at his vampire heart. With the majority of women now denouncing him it has almost certainly closed off his path to the White House. What is unknown is how society will deal with his horrendous transgressions. The many women he allegedly assaulted makes a strong case for criminal investigation, and this option has credibility given the leaders now suggesting it was a crime, including First Lady Michelle Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden.
Number two in our rogue’s gallery is slithering Governor Scott Walker,the son of a preacher, who lost interest in higher education and dropped out of college. Later, his personal bias against schooling became evident when he engineered some of the most draconian cuts in public education (K12 through college) Wisconsin had ever seen. He is the acknowledged leader of the vicious Tea Party rampage that is damaging so many of Wisconsin’s great public programs and institutions and brutalizing so many of our vulnerable citizens.
The third place goblin award goes to the Vampire Man, Senator Ron Johnson. On the surface, he seems to be a normal, Midwestern businessman. It’s not until you hear his political opinions that you notice the dragons and monsters swirling around his head. The guy is an extremeright-winger who works hard to suck the blood out of all progressive ideas and programs. He is on record claiming that global warming is caused by sunspots, not human activity. He supports the NRA’s extreme opposition to any sensible gun regulations. Possibly, the most damning position of all is his mindless support of Donald Trump for president.
The fourth place award goes to the Wicked Witch of the West, Senator Sheila Harsdorf. She has been in office for over twenty years, but unlike old wine, she has not gotten any better. On the contrary, she has morphed from a reasonable moderate into a conservative extremist, and while her grip on power has increased, so have the charges of political corruption. Just this month the Guardian US identified her as one of several politicians who had benefited from a $750,000 donation from a billionaire lead industry mogul who expected something in return. After Harsdorf’s re-election, she supported the special legislation the mogul wanted to insulate his business from lawsuits stemming from the lead poisoning of Wisconsin children. She would have gotten away with this classic example of “pay to play” if the Guardian had not blown the whistle.
While this essay has taken a facetious look at the troubling world of Donald Trump and his ilk, the serious implication is that the Republican stranglehold must be broken if we are to have any semblance of an honorable democratic government. The vulture capitalists who now run the show in Madison are dishonest and exploitive. They are not only ravaging the physical environment, but they are sowing the seeds of hatred and fear that erode our communities and push us even further into the spiritual wilderness.
Please consider voting against these Republican miscreants who have so contemptuously betrayed us.