Besides the all important race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, a second important race is for the 8th District of the State Senate. The Republicans are desperate to win this race because it would give them a gerrymandered supermajority in the state senate. Not only would the senate be veto-proof, but it would also allow them to impeach any state official, including and up to Governor Tony Evers.
The Republican candidate for the senate seat, State Representative Dan Knodl, showed the world his brown shirt when he went on a Milwaukee-based political TV show and said that he would consider impeaching the progressive Janet Protasiewicz if she were to win a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
In an appearance on WISN-TV's political talk show "UpFront," Knodl said the "Milwaukee County justice system is failing" and said he believes its prosecutors and circuit court judges "need to be looked at" including Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and Protasiewicz.
"She has failed," Knodl said. When asked directly if he would support impeaching Protasiewicz, Knodl said "I certainly would consider it."
Knodl did not immediately say whether his comments meant he would consider voting in favor of impeaching Protasiewicz if she is elected to the state Supreme Court on Tuesday.
"It simply gives us some more authority in the areas of oversight and accountability of elected officials or appointed officials," Knodl told WISN-TV. "If there are some out there who are corrupt, who are failing at their tasks, we have an opportunity to hold them accountable."
"I feel the Milwaukee County justice system is failing and that includes prosecution, so DA Chisholm I think should be looked at," he said. "The circuit court judges I think have failed the community by releasing or not having high enough bail on these criminals, the perpetrators. And so, they need be looked at — Janet Protasiewicz is a circuit court judge right now in Milwaukee and she has failed."
Knodl might find that is promise to overturn an election might be easier said than done. The state law only allows impeachment for corrupt conduct in office or for crimes and misdemeanors.
Furthermore, if she wins the April election, Protasiewicz wouldn't be on the bench until August 1st. That's some mighty power of clairvoyance to say that she would commit a crime so far into the future.
Lastly, it doesn't matter if he thinks she did a terrible job as a Milwaukee prosecutor or judge. That would have been her old job, not the one he would want to impeach her from. "Well, Bob, even though your a senior vice-president at our company, we need to let you go. You were a bad burger flipper when you were a teenager working at McDonald's. Go box up your corner office."
Of course, following the law or respecting the voice of the voters aren't really Knodl's strong suits. We learned that when he was one of the lawmakers to ask Pence to not follow the law and not certify the 2020 election because of The Big Lie.
Come to think of it, I don't like the job that Knodl did as a state representative. Maybe, if he wins, we should recall him.
