I AM THE FORCE

Let me get this right. At today's sentencing, Assistant DA Feiss thanked Doug Burnett his "courage" in testifying against his old boss, Chuck Chvala, regarding their joint illegal activities? That has to be one of the most ridiculous things that I've ever heard.

Staffers, like Burnett, had very little choice in the matter. The evidence was damning, and prosecutors presented them with a choice -- testify honestly or we will crush you like a bug. Burnett, and the many other staffers who testified in the John Doe hearings against their bosses, were given the opportunity to walk away virtually unscathed if they told the truth. How was it courageous for Burnett or anyone else to do this? Every staffer that was dragged into this process had to testify, and how courageous were they? No staffer with either a brain or an attorney would choose to go to war with the district attorney's office. To do so would have been a sure ticket to the Dane County Huber facility.

So puh-lease don't tell me that Doug Burnett or any of the dozens of staffers forced to testify did anything courageous. The full power of the legal system came crashing down and the legions of little staffers did exactly what they had to do. And Burnett's culpability in much of Chvala's unethical and criminal behavior makes him more lucky today than courageous. It's also a fair guess that he and Chuck still have a few secrets that the political novices in the John Doe investigation failed to uncover.

Why can't they get a grip on reality after all this time?