I AM THE FORCE

Bob Jauch is the poster child for everything wrong with the Wisconsin Legislature. Not a single knowledgeable person respects this guy. He's been there too long. He's not smart. His constituents aren't paying attention. And he rants and raves like an unhinged lunatic. He's lazy. He always blames the other party, and never does anything meaningful for his "extremely poor" constitutents. He screams about, "Charlie Sykes and his fearmongering associates!", and just commented that, "the will of the people recognize this for what it is, and that is a proposal being pushed by extreme zealots who neither like taxes, spending, nor government." Why do worthless bums like Bob Jauch survive in the endlessly drunken world of Wisconsin politics?

I will never understand why the people that elect Bob Jauch and Frank Boyle seem to expect so little from their representatives.

He is like a junior Dave Obey without the brains. Both of these guys have spent their careers bemoaning how bad things are in their districts and pointing their fingers of blame at everyone but themselves. It used to be Ronald Reagan and Tommy Thompson's fault that Superior sucks, and now GW Bush and John Gard are labeled the bad guys. Jauch consistently argues that the successful part of the state should send our money up to save his region. What about accepting personal responsibility, improving the business climate, and lowering taxes to improve the prospects of the far Northwest?

And, of course, I would be remiss if I failed to mention that he utilized state employees to run campaigns during his failed tenure as the Senate Democratic Leader. I may have missed it, but have Jay Heck or Mike McCabe called for Jauch's prosecution or censure?

Now people are welcome to do whatever they want in their private lives, but Jauch is one of the over-the-top legends at the Inn on the Park bar and the rooms above. And falling down the steps at Genna's Bar tangled up with the also legendary Jolene Plautz has to be one of the defining moments of the modern political era. One has to wonder if this lifestyle is the reason this blowhard is still here. Party time in Madison must be a lot more fun for him than watching satellite television from his home in Poplar. The brain cells killed, however, might have something to do with the undistinguished nature of Jauch's long tenure in public service.

As a good lobbyist friend of mine says repeatedly, "Bob Jauch is a fraud in the first degree." He poses for political holy pictures and blames the opposition and blows smoke every day to obscure the reality of his nothingness. He's a joke to colleagues and lobbyists alike, and only the "he's in office" code of silence allows him to fly under the radar. He always scores near the bottom in insider rankings of state legislators. If you've worked with him or seen him in backroom negotiations then you will inevitably discover that he's not someone that can be relied upon to keep his word or solve a problem. And he's taken angry and insecure immaturity to new heights.

In a healthy democracy with engaged voters, a guy like Bob Jauch would be shown the door at the first available opportunity. It's not hard to understand his contempt for talk radio and citizen action, since he seems untouched by responsible voters in his own district. He's left alone to do as he pleases, untroubled by informed public opinion or any sense of accountability. Perhaps Sykes could expand his conspiracy of zealots by getting on the radio Up North.

One thing is absolutely certain -- until voters do something about the Bob Jauchs of the world, the Wisconsin State Legislature will remain a very sick and disappointing place, indeed.