The Milwaukee Post

8 • Milwaukee County Post • August 24, 2018 So, the Democrats are putting up for gov- ernor an uninspired tired old hack that wants to let dangerous criminals out of prison, raise our taxes, chase all of our new jobs away, keep black and Latino kids out of good schools, keep perverts teaching in school classrooms and force Common Core into every school in the state. Are they trying to lose? It boggles the mind, mine at least, that even in the remarkably uninspired field of has-been and never-weres that made up the Democrat field for governor, that someone as comically awful a candidate as Evers could win. He is straight out of central casting — a lefty with no ideas, no drive and a mindset permanently stuck in 1976. Tony Evers = Doug LaFollette. At least the goofy old secretary of state knew enough to stay in the nothing job he already has rather than run for something that actually mat- ters. Like LaFollette, Evers runs over and over for the same nondescript job with no duties anybody in the public is aware of. He gets re-elected because nobody can think of a reason to put him on the street with the pan- handlers. That's been Evers as well. Except somehow Evers is now the potential gover- nor. Tony Evers = Tom Barrett. When technol- ogy is bringing us autonomous and electric vehicles and personal mobility devices are all the rage, Old Man Barrett has ripped up all of Milwaukee's streets to put in a ram- shackle 1930s-style trolley. Even the liberals are making fun of it. In the meantime, there's about a murder a day in Milwaukee and the public schools are a disgrace. Really now ... what is the difference between Evers and Barrett? You know Tony probably thinks the trolley is as great as Tom does. In a way it's not surprising Evers is the candidate for governor since the Democrats put Barrett up for the job. Twice. To understand what a zero Evers is, two examples perfectly define his career of do- nothing lack of vision and initiative. The first example is in Milwaukee. Several wildly successful private religious schools have long waiting lists of kids who can't get in because there isn't enough space. In the meantime, the awful Milwaukee Public Schools system is sitting on empty buildings all over town. There's a state law that forces them to sell those buildings to the private schools that could use them to accommodate the huge backlog of kids that currently can't get into these great schools. But MPS is ignoring the law and Evers refuses to enforce it. MPS knows that every building it sells will immediately be filled with kids who leave the lousy public school system to attend one of the thriving private schools. This is bad for highly paid MPS administrators and union- ized teachers. Evers is siding with his fellow overpaid bureaucrats and his supporters in the union. The kids? Evers is abandoning them. This isn't just a case of a political slug covering for his bodies. It is a case of a gov- ernment official making a crisis worse. The children who get into good schools are the ones who have futures. They are the ones who avoid the violent crime wave in the city. Evers' refusal to enforce the law is causing truly horrible pain in Milwaukee and the vast majority of his victims are racial minorities. The second defining Evers example is from the liberal Madison suburb of Middleton. The school district there wanted to fire a teacher caught viewing porn at school and showing it to other teachers. But Evers refused to do anything. His defenders say court rulings indicate he would have lost. But that's the point. Evers didn't even try. What a perfect snapshot of the guy's lacklus- ter life in government. He didn't even try. Imagine if Scott Walker hadn't tried to get Foxconn, or hadn't tried to balance state budgets by implementing Act 10 or didn't try to make health insurance more affordable despite the Obamacare mess. Whether one agrees with Walker or not, he is tenacious and always fighting to make Wisconsin bet- ter. Evers? He's the quitter sitting in the cor- ner throwing his hands up in the air. "What am I supposed to do?" "It's not my job." "I can't help it." "Let somebody else do it." These are the refrains to every Evers song. There may well be a "blue wave" in 2018. Walker may be in trouble. It is truly terrify- ing to think that a state as great as ours that has made such an incredible turnaround could be turned over to a lazy and myopic stiff. The rhetoric may seem harsh but it is backed by the reality of Evers' own record, or, better put, lack of record. And, if Walker wins, the Democrats will have nobody but themselves to blame. Walker has had the good fortune of running for governor against: Barrett, Barrett again and Mary Burke. Somehow, the Democrats now find somebody even worse than them. I was prepared to write this week that Walker is a likely loser this fall. I think Kelda Roys, Mahlon Mitchell and Matt Flynn all might have beaten him. But getting to run against a D-lister like Evers has Walker back in the game. Evers' handlers are trying to polish Tony up for the general election. Those goofy bangs are gone and the wire glasses are replaced by stylish black frames. He even wore a nice suit on primary night. Under- neath all of it is the same human coat rack. (Mark Belling is the host of a daily WISN radio talk show. His column appears weekly in the Milwaukee Post. Send your personal correspondences to Mark Belling at Clear Channel Communications, c/o WISN, 12100 W. Howard Ave., Greenfield, WI 53228). MARK BELLING STANDING UP for MILWAUKEE Democrats couldn't do worse than Tony Evers OPINION Last week's question What do you think of the August primary results for senator, governor or sheriff? Were you surprised? I'm glad the election is over. Finally we get a good choice for governor — Tony Evers. Earnell Lucas is going to replace that Sheriff David Clarke Jr., who thought he was John Wayne, and his choice to suc- ceed him.We need a quieter sheriff. — Tommy Sukkert South Milwaukee *** In discussing the election with vari- ous groups over the past week, most of us had the conclusion.You had a choice of the Milwaukee County sheriff in the Democratic primary or go to the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate race, and most of us went with the U.S. Senate race. The results pretty much confirm that.The only real surprise was how many Democrats went with Tony Evers as governor, considering his past record as state superintendent of pub- lic instruction. — Thomas Reed West Allis Aug. 10 question When you hear the term "fake news," what crosses your mind? "Fake news" is a term coined by our current president to disparage news outlets and any story that portrays him in a negative light or one he simply doesn't like.The term is his bucket and mop to deal with his endless contradic- tions and lies. We should all recognize that and what it may be doing to the free press — one of the pillars of our democracy. — Sandy Sue Szanderek Bay View This week's question President Trump recently canceled former CIA Director John Brennan's security clearance and is considering revoking it for other former employees.Was the action warranted or an abuse of power? For example, do you think it's a security concern or a free speech issue? Or, what is your biggest buga- boo and why? We've all got pet peeves. Editor's note: When responding to the Question of the Week, please include your full name with spelling, phone number and city where you live. Phone numbers will not be published. Anonymous responses are no longer accepted by the publication. Call 744- 6370, Ext. 15 and leave a brief answer. Readers may also send an email with a brief answer to: dmuck@conleynet.com. Question of the week Send your letters to: The Milwaukee Post, c/o Dan Muckelbauer, 3397 S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53207, or by email to: dmuck@conleynet.com. We reserve the right to edit letters for style, length and clarity. Letters should be typewritten or printed and include full name, phone number and address. Please keep your letters to no more than 400 words. Letters policy

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