Charles Pierce on Wisconsin Corruption

​The sandbags were piled high and deep around Scott Walker, the goggle-eyed homunculus hired by Koch Industries to manage their midwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Wisconsin. And, on Thursday, his masters got everything they'd paid for, and more. There now is only one Republican presidential candidate under active criminal investigation — Chris Christie. Rick Perry, of course, remains under indictment.

So, not only does this decision pull Walker's cojones out of the fire, it also demolishes whatever was left of Wisconsin's campaign-finance regulations. This is particularly piquant in this case when one notes that Wisconsin also operates under the Second Worst Idea in American Politics — The Elected Judiciary.

In February, the special prosecutor asked that one or more justices drop out of the case,
presumably because they have benefitted from spending by the Wisconsin Club for
Growth and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. The Wisconsin Club for
Growth is estimated to have spent $400,000 for Ziegler in 2007; $507,000 for
Gableman in 2008; $520,000 for Prosser in 2011; and $350,000 for Roggensack in
2013. WMC spent an estimated $2.2 million for Ziegler; $1.8 million for
Gableman; $1.1 million for Prosser; and $500,000 for Roggensack. In addition,
Citizens for a Strong America — a group funded entirely by the Wisconsin Club
for Growth — spent an estimated $985,000 to help Prosser. The spending
estimates come from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which tracks political
spending. The justices did not give a reason for why they don't view that
spending as a conflict, but court rules say political spending on its own is
not enough to force a justice off a case.

If you're keeping score at home, the same organizations that were the subject of the criminal probe gave hundreds of thousands of neatly laundered dollars to the judges who ruled that those same organizations did nothing wrong on behalf of Scott Walker because fk you, that's why. If this happened in Myanmar or Kazakhstan, we'd all be laughing at it. Instead, let's once again congratulate Justice Anthony Kennedy for his immortal observation that: "...independent expenditures do not lead to, or create the appearance of, quid pro quo corruption."

more
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a36477/watching-scotty-blow-contd-you-get-what-you-pay-for/