Local and State Roundup for February 1st, 2008
My intense focus on the presidential race this early in the process has made me feel like other aspects of political media are being neglected. I live in Franklin, Wisconsin, which is a suburb of Milwaukee and there is plenty going on in the area that gets short shrift from the media. Wisconsin’s role as the fountainhead for progressivism in America seems to go unnoticed by local media which prefers to cover American Idol and the Super Bowl (which our Packers aren’t even in!).
While the Milwaukee City Attorney’s office does not carry a high profile, the spring race is developing an acidic tone. I will give credit to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel politics blog for covering this race though it is a critical position in dealing with police corruption, civil rights issues and other legal problems that deserve more attention. The reason why this race is interesting and emblematic of problems in communities across the country is that incumbent Grant Langley agreed to debate challenger Pedro Colon but refused to show up to the first debate this past week. The absence is rife with the symbolism of incumbency.
There are several issues covered by the city’s alternative newspaper, The Shepherd Express ¸ that need pressing attention on a grand scale. This paper’s reporters highlighted the obfuscation by Republican legislators of a bill approved in the State Assembly providing expedited medical assistance to rape victims. Columnist Joel McNally provided a view of the city’s reprehensible approach to corrections facilities with medium-security prisons using guard dogs to intimidate people awaiting trial. These issues show one of the failings of state government which is a consideration of demographics and broad brush strokes instead of the real applications of law.
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