The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.
On February 10, I posted a column on WisOpinion: “Crawford for Wisconsin Supreme Court, not Musk”, predicting that Musk would be a big factor in the April 1 Supreme Court election. The signs were there. It was moderate liberal Susan Crawford vs. ultraconservative Brad Schimel. Moreover, Schimel declared that to win the race he would “nationalize” the election (NYT). Musk quickly intervened.
Musk said: “Very important to vote Republican for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to prevent voting fraud!” Then the world’s richest person opened his money spigot to help fund Schimel’s flagging fundraising. So far Musk has spent well over $6 million on TV ads, text messages, deceptive social media ads and paid canvassers.
Crawford responded: “When I was a little girl growing up in Chippewa Falls, I never could have imagined that I’d be fighting the world’s richest man.” She also said: “Musk seems to be in the process of dismantling the federal government right now and is Donald Trump’s right-hand person. I think the fact that he is so closely tied to the … president’s agenda should be really concerning.” But Schimel was ecstatic: “Schimel has said he’s pleased to have Musk’s backing, decried the slew of lawsuits filed against the Trump administration and told supporters he hoped Trump would hold a rally for him soon” (Washington Post).
What is Musk’s view of the judiciary? In response to the successful lawsuits by Wisconsin Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul against Trump’s unlawful, unconstitutional actions Musk said: “The only way to restore rule of the people in America is to impeach judges.” The American Bar Association rebuked Musk: “We may disagree with interpretation of case law, but it is unacceptable to personally target judges just because we disagree with their rulings. We cannot have a judicial system where the government seeks to remove judges simply because they do not rule as the government desires.”
However, Wisconsin GOP Senator Ron Johnson, one of the richest members of Congress, thinks the world of billionaire Musk: “I think everybody has to admit that Elon Musk is probably one of the most brilliant, accomplished, effective human beings on planet earth.” Nonsense. The NYT reported that Musk has “deleted hundreds more claims from its mistake plagued ‘wall of receipts’, erasing $4 billion in additional savings … the list has been full of errors … .” Then there are the conflicts of interest.
The Washington Post reported: “Musk and his cost-cutting … team have been on a mission to trim government largesse. Yet Musk is one of the greatest beneficiaries of the taxpayers’ coffers ($38 billion).” But Musk is giddy with delight and cruelty that he terminated thousands of veterans, including Wisconsinites, who worked for the federal government. Likewise, he is pleased to blow up the National Weather Service. What will Wisconsin farmers do?
Musk is Schimel’s benefactor. Musk’s millions threaten the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s independence and integrity. Don’t let Musk wreck the court like he is wrecking the federal government. Elect Crawford, not Musk (Schimel).
– Kaplan wrote a guest column from Washington, D.C., for the Wisconsin State Journal from 1995 – 2009.
