Meanwhile, Back in the Land of Cheeseheads

I hope the cops that interview him accidentally kick him to death.

Now: was this a dive by Bradley, or a real foul?

(Forgive the futbol reference. Still pissed from U.S. soccerball team forgetting to play defense and blowing a 2:0 lead to El Tri in the Gold Cup tonight. To be clear: Prosser can consume a bag of shit.)

Actually, I might not be too far gone with the “dive” comment. Althouse (yeah, I know) reports that the Journal-Sentinel might be doing the mother of all walkbacks, as another source says that Bradley charged at Prosser, with fists up.

Still doesn’t excuse hands-around-neck from Prosser, but it might be matching minors, with both of them in the box for two minutes to feel shame, and then get free. (Now we’re on hockey references. From the movie “Slap Shot,” specifically.)

To follow up, the Journal Sentinel is now throwing buckets of cold water on the original storyline:

An argument between state Supreme Court Justices David Prosser and Ann Walsh Bradley became physical this month, according to sources who told the Journal Sentinel two very different stories Saturday about what occurred.

According to some sources, Prosser wrapped his hands around Bradley’s neck. According to others, Bradley charged Prosser, who raised his hands to defend himself and made contact with her neck.

The sources, both ways, are unnamed. So the pro-Prosser source might be attempting to save his boy’s hide. The bottom line, though, is we haven’t heard the last of this — it’s got juice for everybody involved.

@chicago bureau: So, to invoke yet another reference, Prosser kicked some ass tonight?

I’m not afraid to go old school on this: Gentlemen don’t strangle ladies, whatever the provocation.

@nojo: Agreed. And yet that old warhorse named “reasonable doubt” comes into the picture, to save Prosser’s sorry ass.

@chicago bureau: The JS is being too cute. The reporter knows who the sources are and their relation to the principals — it’s not just weighing claims, but weighing credibility. Reporters can’t burn their sources, of course, but there should be more than he-said/she-said here.

Of course, for all we know, both sources are excitable.

What happens if a justice presses charges against another justice, with a room full of justices as witnesses? Does the justice system eat its tail?

@nojo: Judicial Codes of Conduct vary from state to state, but I think judges engaging in fisticuffs and battery is illegal in 49 states. (Sorry, Tennessee!)

Has Lat weighed in? The clerks will spill.

Much as I hate lawyers and think a la Shakespeare that we should first kill them all, I’m impressed by the dispassion shown by Stinquers, and that’s why I keep reading.

The law should rule. It’s just what I think is the mis-interpretation of it by the right-wing cabal on the court that I disagree with, by taking rights from the people and giving them to the oligarchs, that I think is wrong.

And Clarence Thomas as the most blatant of all must be the first to go, followed by those liars Scalia, Roberts, and Alito.

As usual, no one I know listens to me. I’m 70, so good luck to you poor bastards in the future.

@chicago bureau: What America needs is a good Cane Fight.

@RevZafod: Bleak House

I think the answer here is that, if Bradley egged Prosser on at all, Prosser gets off. Not that it should be so, but it’s my best guess.

Of course, the first source to spill his/her guts publicly about this will win the perception war for his/her backers. And perception is 90% of anything that happens in Wisconsin nowadays.

@RevZafod: I’d call you Gramps, but my dad’s 78, so that doesn’t quite work.

For that matter, I’ll be taking my leave before the shit really hits the fan. I’m just glad I could enjoy all the cool toys while we still had the energy to power them.

ADD: And Mom’s 77. Can I still rebel after 50?

I don’t know how you begin to justify “hands around neck” with “she charged at me.”

@karen marie has her eyes tight shut: It’s called the “chickenshit reflex”. Probably learned it on the playground.

@nojo: 80 and 79 here. I keep trying to find music that upsets them, but I think they grew callouses on their eardrums in the 1970s.

@nojo: Of course we know who the sources are – the other members of the supreme court. JNOV is right – were any clerks in the room?

@RevZafod: Justice Thomas should be impeached.

@FlyingChainSaw: I second the motion.

@SanFranLefty: @RevZafod: What we need is a Citizens’ Black Ops to take out the four fascists (and maybe that waffler Kennedy, too) while we have a “Democratic” President.

Let’s see a show of hands from those who haven’t wanted to strangle a supreme court “justice.”

(crickets chirping)

@lynnlightfoot: You see guys like this with this kind of responsibility and its is just crushing to find out what utter children they are. I know people who work for like local chambers of commerce, trade associations, etc. and they worry about the politics of things like meeting locations – so they don’t step on any toes and show favoritism. Oooo! Gotta be *careful*. Guys like this, with real authority. Ffft! Not a care in the world.

Bradley goes on the record:

“The facts are that I was demanding that he get out of my office and he put his hands around my neck in anger in a chokehold,” Bradley told the Journal Sentinel.

@nojo: I heard that on WABC while driving (traffic updates on the 8s).

@Benedick HRH KFC: Yor! How long have you had this US America affect? It took me three years after my return to the Homeland ™ before I understood what “traffic on the 2s” stood for.

I thought it meant only roadways that had a “2” in their names.

@Nabisco: Darling. When it’s AM everything is meant literally. Twos = two past the hour. Eights -= every eight minutes. News = a fantasy concocted by jaded ex-rockers looking to buy their next fix.