Posted on Tuesday, 6th October 2009 by Roland_Melnick
In a spectacle that drew condemnation from parties on all sides of the County budget debate, a physical confrontation erupted between two men near the front entrance to Milwaukee’s Serb Hall this past Sunday. Wanting to re-focus the dialogue on Milwaukee County’s fiscal situation, Badger Blogger brought the two men at the fringe of the controversy to the table to air out their grievances regarding this overhyped scuffle. We contacted the two scufflers:
…AFSCME union member and shovee, Bill Mollenhauer, and
…the shover.
Badger Blogger: Who are you and where do you stand on the County budget?
The shover: This economy has my family budget strained…we’re having to do more with less…my attorney has advised me not to make my name public, but you may call me “John.”
Bill the shovee: I’m Bill Mollenhauer, card carrying AFSCME member. This budget is bad for me, for my union, my county and my country…why does Scott Walker want my country to fail?
.
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Badger Blogger: So, this budget will impact you directly?
“John” the shover: You bet it will…I mean, assuming I live in Milwaukee County…which I can neither confirm nor deny, but my attorney advised that I can say that is a definite probability…if Scott Walker doesn’t hold the line on taxes, I won’t be able to afford to live here anymore…again, assuming I do live here.
Bill the shovee: You bet it will…I mean, it’s a little recognized fact that we AFSCME employees pay taxes too. The more you pay us, the more we pay in taxes…eh…you meanies at the CRG ever stop to consider that? Eh…didya?
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Badger Blogger: What did you hope to accomplish at Serb Hall?
“John” the shover: I was hoping to promote my side’s message.
Bill the shovee: I was hoping to disrupt their side’s message.
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Badger Blogger: Did you achieve your goals for this event?
Bill the shovee: Absolutely…the media focused on me going face first into a bush…which kinda hurt, but, you know…I’m down for the cause…my personal safety is a distant second to our cause. We’re even planning a sit-in/sleepover in a vacant Lee Holloway rental property to raise awareness in Milwaukee.
“John” the shover: Absolutely not…the media focused on me throwing him face first into a bush. Any money I would potentially save if Scott Walker’s budget were to pass will now go toward paying my citations.
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Badger Blogger: What led to the much-hyped scuffle between you two? Was it when you (“John”) shoved the woman, or was it when you (Bill) called “John” a “fat pig?”
“John” the shover: They shoved me first.
Bill the shovee: I didn’t call him a “fat pig.”
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Badger Blogger: You guys know the incident was caught on video, right?
Bill the shovee: I called him a “fat pig.”
“John” the shover: On advice of counsel, I’d like to exercise my rights under the Fifth Amendment. Knock, knock.
Badger Blogger: Who’s there?
“John” the shover: Fifth!
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So ends our attempt to bring scuffling scufflers to the table. In related news, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and several other speakers made their case for fiscal responsibility in Milwaukee County in front of an audience of about 800 peacebly assembled citizens.
Posted in Home, Labor Unions, Onionish, Scott Walker | Comments (2) |
2 Responses to “Badger Blogger Calls For Mediation”
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October 6th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
From the video I saw, it could be argued that Bill was going to attack the pusher when Bill went nose to nose with the pusher thereby causing the pusher to fear an imminent attack by Bill and responding by pushing Bill away from him. Whether or not that argument would alter the City Attorney’s or the Court’s decision is anybody’s guess. In any case, citations were adopted many years ago to take the place of what we used to refer to as an “Order-In” to the City Attorney’s Office for review and possible prosecution. The citations have a “review date” and a “court date”. At the “review date” a reviewing City Attorney reviews the citation to determine, among other things, if the elements of the offense are present to proceed with prosecution. If so, the reviewing City Attorney approves the case for trial and authorizes the people necessary for the prosecution of his/her case to be subpoenaed. The “offender”/defendant has the option to appear at the City Attorney’s Office (prosecution section) on the review date and present any witnesses/evidence in his defense or just do so in court on the trial date. The initial appearance in court is for the purpose of making a plea - guilty; not guilty; or no contest. A plea of “not guilty” results in another trial date and all parties return at a later date to try the case. Often times the City Attorney, in order to expedite two or more companion cases and avoid trials, will offer the defendant a deal to plead guilty/no contest to one charge in exchange for dropping the other charge. That’s the part of the system we used to call the old Monte Hall “Let’s make a deal” program (for those of you old enough to remember that program).
October 7th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Hilarious!!!