Waukesha Freeman January 14, 2016 Page A6 Opinion
Barca’s search for civility
Gannon’s finger wave hardly only incident
I must have missed something. When state Rep. Bob Gannon, a Republican, made an obscene gesture to Democratic Minority Leader Peter Barca, the fake outrage was just silly. Reporters took to Twitter and Facebook to report the press releases of every Democrat that dared to comment on the issue of the middle finger.
Where did this sudden love for virtue and civility come from?
I don’t want to excuse Gannon’s behavior. I don’t want state representatives flipping the bird at each other when they get ticked off. In a perfect world, when Barca was attacking Gannon’s statement about crime in Milwaukee and calling Gannon a racist, Gannon should have walked up to Barca and hugged him. He could’ve whispered in Barca’s ear, “I know how hard it is to hear how liberalism has failed African-Americans. I’m sorry I’m causing you pain.”
But Gannon reacted in a human way and left his professionalism in the locker room. Later, Gannon apologized and shook Barca’s hand, momentarily ending the controversy until the next time Democrats try to get under Gannon’s skin.
Of course, unavailable for comment was Democratic state Rep. Gordon Hintz, who during the debate over Act 10 yelled at former state Rep. Michelle Litjens, “You’re (obscenity) dead!” I’m sure Hintz has some interesting thoughts on civility on the floor of the Assembly. Hintz would probably comment, “Bring an umbrella,” in case Democratic state Rep. Chris Danou gets frustrated and throws a cup of water at his colleagues, as several legislators saw him do during the same Act 10 debate.
Now that Barca has a newfound love for order and respect for his colleagues, maybe he’ll tell his colleagues on the Democratic side of the aisle to stop calling Republicans racists and tools of the Koch brothers every time there’s a difference of opinion. The obnoxious name-calling by Barca and his colleagues is even more offensive than Gannon telling the Democratic leader he’s No. 1 with the wrong finger.
Perhaps Barca himself might actually read the memo on campaign finance from the Legislative Reference Bureau before he accuses his Republican colleagues of trying to get undisclosed corporate donations for their campaign committees. He might learn that the Government Accountability Board’s Executive Director Kevin Kennedy is not telling the truth about the law, and Barca could thank his Republican colleagues for getting rid of the GAB. Maybe these steps might encourage Barca’s newfound love of civility.
While Barca is at it, he could encourage Democratic members of the Legislature like Rep. Christine Sinicki and Sen. Dave Hansen to not use obscenities on social media when describing the governor. He could even suggest to Sinicki that to improve the reputation of the Legislature she might want to stay out of legal trouble.
Then Barca could walk out into the Capitol Rotunda and speak to the protesters. He could tell them that stalking legislative staff and Republican legislators around the Capitol is not encouraging civility. He could tell them that screaming protest songs, including new twists on Christmas carols that personally attack members of the Republican Party, at the top of their lungs every day at noon is not conducive to the professional environment he would like to see in the Capitol.
Photo: MacIver Institute
Barca might even comment on how, the same day he’s complaining about Gannon’s behavior, protesters are in the Capitol carrying signs with swastikas and calling Republican legislators Nazis. He might suggest to the protesters that it’s not very polite.
While we’re at it, perhaps Barca and his colleagues could apologize for publicly supporting the Government Accountability Board’s illegal spying on conservative organizations and activists. One local activist and political commentator, Brian Fraley, recently discovered that the GAB has been snooping in his email for four years without his knowledge. The only reason he was told was that the courts made special prosecutor Francis Schmitz tell everyone who was being spied upon. They have Fraley’s every movement, his tax records, and all of his personal contacts, even though he wasn’t the target of any criminal investigation.
So here is my advice to Barca who suddenly has found a love of civility and collegiality. If you really want to lower the tensions and increase the mutual respect on the legislative floor, you first.
(James Wigderson is a blogger publishing at http://www.wigderson.com and a Waukesha resident. His column runs Thursdays in The Freeman.)
