Weeks after the Charlottesville political violence, the Dane County board decided it's time to pass a virtue signalling resolution bashing Trump in the name of rejecting racism.
Supervisors Mike Willett , Ronn Ferrell, Dave Ripp and Bill Clausius realized that this act was not about violence, or hate or racism...but about using the Dane Co. board as a political platform. Of COURSE they refused to condemn ALL violence. Of course there's no mention of the ANTIFA thugs who attacked police and citizens at the same event. Of COURSE this is not a condemnation of POLITICAL violence itself. Because to quote an old SDS radical: the issue is never the issue. This was about politics and Trump, as Supervisor Sheila Stubbs makes abundantly clear here: http://www.wkow.com/story/36489962/2017/09/30/controversy-swirls-around-resolution-passed-by-dane-county-board.
Willett et al. is now being ASSAILED, along with the small number of other board members who abstained from this highly political vote. For refusing to be hoodwinked into voting for a resolution that condemned Trump, and anyone who disagrees w/the political left in Dane County, he is accused of being a Nazi apologist. Here is a flyer taped up at the City County Building in Madison:
Never mind that no one has a SHRED of evidence to even suggest that Mike Willett , Ronn Ferrell, Dave Ripp or Bill Clausius are Nazi sympathizers. Never mind that it is entirely offensive and inappropriate to abuse the horror and history of the Holocaust to score cheap political points. This is the modern left. It's just WHAT THEY DO. Remember, the issue is never the issue. The issue is the revolution.
For his part, Willett put out an extensive statement on this decision via Facebook. Here is it:
"It seems that last nights board meeting has generated some interest in what the county board does. Here is an explanation of why I chose to not vote on the resolution last night.
I did leave the room for the vote on res-195, a resolution that was, on the face of it, intended to deal with white supremacy and Neo- Nazis.First let me clearly state that I am against all kinds of racism and violence, including the KKK and Neo-Nazis. That includes violence on the streets in Dane county as well as at any rally, permitted or not. This resolution dealt ONLY with condemning the violence in Charlottesville. If we are going to spend time on a resolution about violence we need to start with Dane County, and then perhaps we could include all violence. Furthermore, the resolution goes on to state that “the County Board stands in unity with all of its fellow constituents against racism, anti-Semitism, bigotry and hate,…” I believe that the board is not king and queen of the County and that we may state what we think as a board, but have NO RIGHT to make a statement of that kind for ALL of our fellow constituents. As stated by Supervisor Ripp “people in this country have a right to think and say what they want. Even if that includes people I consider nut cases whether they are liberal or conservative, Black or White. ”Now, let’s get to the rest of the story. Why was this even brought up? The resolution does nothing. It creates no ordinances, nor even asks for any kind of action. I have left the room before when I felt that a resolution was a waste of taxpayer’s time. I believe that the Dane County Board needs to spend their time on the immediate issues facing Dane County, not making political statements to help the sponsors in future elections."