this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2023
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The conservative chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court told the new liberal majority in a scathing email that they had staged a “coup” when they voted recently to weaken her powers and hire a new director of state courts.

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[–] Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world 197 points 1 year ago (4 children)

The whole point of things like this is to dilute the impact of the words being used. This way, when they get caught doing the exact same thing, it won't seem "bad" in the eyes of their constituents.

It's one of the reasons the GOP are pushing so hard to impeach Biden. So when people say that Trump was impeached twice, the MAGA crowd can just say "Yeah, so was Biden. So was Clinton. Presidents get impeached all the time. They never get removed. It's all for political show anyway, it's no big deal. The next guy will probably get impeached too."

It's why GOP politicians are trying to frame even minor incidents of protest as "insurrections" or "coups". They know it sounds ridiculous. That's the whole point. If you water down words like "insurrection", "coup", "sedition", and "treason", then the MAGA crowd can just say "January 6th wasn't an insurrection. The country is still here. Quit calling every protest an insurrection. We're not in the 1780s any more."

Same thing with the RICO charges. Why do you think Miller and MTG were tweeting "RICO?". Charge everybody with RICO charges and Trump being charged no longer seems like a big deal.

It's a long term strategy. Make the idea of being charged with crimes just a normal part of the political process, and make everybody think it's not that bad. That way, when they're caught engaging in the corrupt acts they routinely accuse others of engaging in, it'll be considered "normal" and "no big deal", and make it almost impossible to remove them.

[–] VentraSqwal@links.dartboard.social 45 points 1 year ago (3 children)

It's a very insidious way to make the country more like Russia, where there's so much propaganda there is no objective truth, words have no meaning, and rule of law of even more nebulous.

[–] babyphatman@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Hypernormalization. Adam Curtis spoke about this in his documentary.

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[–] Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 year ago

Firehose of propaganda is one of the main weapons discussed in Foundation of Geopolitics.

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[–] carl_dungeon@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It was just a little “light” treason!

[–] HoustonHenry@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago

"It wasn't" -Ron Howard

[–] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I offer as proof of your claim how Nunes kept calling things "drug deals" during the first impeachment because there was testimony that John Bolton and his moustache said he wasn't going to be a part of the "drug deal" being cooked up in Ukraine (referring to the scheme to blackmail Zelenskyy).

[–] AllonzeeLV@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Boil the frog.

Just like we did with crony capitalist economy. It's ok because it's just the norm for those with capital to fuck over those without. No pitchforks required.

[–] ATQ@lemm.ee 127 points 1 year ago (6 children)

TIL: The outcome of the democratic process is a “coup”. 🙄

[–] Stovetop@lemmy.world 48 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

It seems like most conservatives in power have this cognitive dissonance where they see themselves as nobility, chosen by god to rule. So when they are voted out of office through the mere expression of democracy, they see it as some sort of peasant uprising that violates their warped understanding of what a government is supposed to be.

We're just slowly sliding back to feudalism.

[–] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Here's a good video that expands on that thought.

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[–] vlad76@lemmy.sdf.org 22 points 1 year ago

We want people to have the freedom to choose what we believe in. Anything else is clearly a mistake.

[–] DonJefe@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

That has become the Republican party line. Since Trump, they think that any democratic process outcome that is not in their favor is corrupt, and it must be undone. In short, fascism

[–] treefrog@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well of course it is. The Dems let women and dark skinned people vote. Taking power away from the white.. I mean the right!

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[–] YoBuckStopsHere@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

That's how conformist think. They want you to do as they say.

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[–] Conyak@lemmy.tf 69 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Pretty typical. If they win then it is democracy in action. If they lose it’s a coup. Republicans don’t care about democracy, they want an autocracy.

[–] gregorum@lemm.ee 22 points 1 year ago

They are fascists who want fascism

[–] newthrowaway20@lemmy.world 66 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Republicans can go fuck themselves.

[–] GhostsAreShitty@lemmy.world 30 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Imagine how much better everything would be if they just like, shut the fuck up and accepted losses.

[–] blanketswithsmallpox@kbin.social 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Graceful losses and being humble when wrong is a lost concept on them, and a lot of people besides.

An entire party of ❄️s when called out, but all they do is weaponize the hypocrisy lol. It's easier to just point it out quickly then move on. Just to prime any readers who might have a margin of sanity.

[–] don@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

With jaw-dropping force.

[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 55 points 1 year ago (4 children)

How can one stage a coup by voting?

[–] ExistentialKiwi@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't think she really believes it's an actual coup, Republicans have just been calling everything a coup since the Jan. 6th, 2021 Beer Gut Putsch, I assume to muddy the waters around that specific word and run interference for their wannabe dictator.

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[–] dhork@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago

By voting for the wrong candidate, obviously.

[–] sndmn@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 year ago

The people the judge is speaking to don't know what a coup means. They think it's a place where chickens live.

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[–] hauntology@lemm.ee 47 points 1 year ago

The Repubs are sad that their gerrymandered maps are going to be tossed in the trash can and are throwing a little temper tantrum. That's all there is to this.

[–] DocMcStuffin@lemmy.world 44 points 1 year ago

The simple fact that she's hasn't filed a lawsuit and instead has been sending out emails leads me to believe she is full of hot air. Amongst other things she is probably full of.

[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 39 points 1 year ago (1 children)

As always the GOP accuses the democrats of things the GOP is guilty of.

[–] Copernican@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago

Yeah. Didn't the republicans change rules to oust the former liberal chief supreme Court justice that the rules stated would be the longest tenured or oldest member of the court? Now the liberal members take it back.

[–] Fades@lemmy.world 37 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It’s not a fucking coup IF IT WAS VOTED FOR BY A MAJORITY you fuckwit

[–] Leviathan@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Dude, she's a conservative. We're lucky she could write an email.

[–] Adalast@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You're assuming she didn't have her underpaid assistant write it for her.

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[–] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 30 points 1 year ago (1 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accusation_in_a_mirror

Accusation in a mirror (AiM) (also called mirror politics, mirror propaganda, mirror image propaganda, or a mirror argument) is a hate-speech incitement technique where one falsely attributes to one's adversaries the intentions that one has for oneself and/or the actions that one is in the process of enacting.

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[–] ArtVandelay@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm convinced the Republicans are trying to water down the definition of coup, so that way when they are convicted of it, as they rightly should be, it already has a much less severe definition in the common lexicon.

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[–] Ertebolle@kbin.social 24 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

She was elected by the conservative majority to a second two-year term as chief justice in May.

This seems like a pretty stupid system, honestly - when the composition of the court changes there should be a new election, fixed terms for chief justices that overlap an election for another seat make no sense.

EDIT: apparently this was a recent change, in a referendum, replacing a previous system where they conservatives were stuck with a liberal chief they didn't like; from Wikipedia:

After passage of a referendum on April 7, 2015, the chief justice of the court is elected for a term of 2 years by the vote of a majority of the justices then serving on the court, although the justice so elected may decline the appointment. Previous to the change, the justice with the longest continuous service on the court served as the chief justice. Opponents of the referendum called it an attempt to remove longtime Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, a member of the court's liberal minority, while supporters called it an effort to promote democracy on the court.

So they literally passed a referendum to fix the problem of the chief justice not matching the politics of the majority, and now they're mad that the liberal justices are trying to fix the same problem again.

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[–] cultsuperstar@lemmy.ml 21 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Hahaha cry me a fucking river. Tell that the North Carolina's governor when state Republicans tried to strip away powers after he beat the Republican nominee. She can eat a dick.

[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The problem is the GOP has the moral compass of a toddler.

The suspicion that their enemies cheated is more important than the reality of their own cheating.

[–] Not_Alec_Baldwin@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They don't care about cheating, they only care about being on the winning side.

[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago

Pretty much

It is the main reason why the Obama strategy of, "When they go low we go high." Is a complete failure, you simply cannot shame a republican into following decorum, because they, just like the American people, do not give a shit about decorum, because they're too concerned with results.

The Republican Strategy is actually admirable simply because they said "You go high, we'll stay low, and our constituents will thank us for it."

It's just a shame that this results driven motivation, this understanding that means are entirely irrelevant as long as you get the ends you're after, could do much good for america. Instead it's being used to make sure that a law that says we will stone a woman in the town square for having a miscarriage it's simply more realistic to imagine passing in this day and age, rather than ensuring that Americans have access to housing and Medicine.

[–] Adalast@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Toss on metropolitan areas in Texas that are having their entire municipal legislative power ham stringed.

[–] RegularGoose@sh.itjust.works 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Wisconsin's conservative extremists justices have taken a leading role in destroying our state's democracy and intentionally destroying and ending people's lives for years. This sack of shit should be overjoyed that she not only still hold her position, but also that she and her lackeys haven't been dragged out of their homes by a mob and put down like the rabid dogs they are.

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[–] Khalic@kbin.social 15 points 1 year ago

Here’s a transcript of the email:

REEEEEEEEEEEEE

[–] spider@lemmy.nz 13 points 1 year ago
[–] AceFuzzLord@lemm.ee 9 points 1 year ago

Ah yes, the strategy of saying "you used your legal right to vote, therefore you are a terrorist" to voters.

[–] mo_ztt@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Just like in a video game: If you go in a direction and start meeting lots of opponents, you're probably making progress.

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 3 points 1 year ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


“You are making a mess of the judiciary, the court and the institution for years to come,” Ziegler wrote to her fellow justices and Skwierawski.

Liberals gained a 4-3 majority on Aug. 1 when Justice Janet Protasiewicz began her 10-year term after winning election in April.

She also defended her action signing orders assigning reserve judges, saying state law clearly gives her that authority.

“I had the legal authority and responsibility as well as the moral obligation to sign the orders for reserve judges,” she told Ziegler.

Ziegler sent a scathing email to all of the justices once again accusing liberals of acting illegally, causing harm to the court’s internal operations and public perception.

Ziegler refused to schedule weekly meetings with what she called the unconstitutional “invented committee” created by the liberal justices.


The original article contains 717 words, the summary contains 133 words. Saved 81%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

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