by Kerry
Thomas
July 4, 2011
(This letter is in response to a letter
to the editor of the Lakeland
Times, written by Jeff Biertzer of Arbor Vitae on July 1, 2011.)
To the Editor;
I want to thank Jeff Biertzer of Arbor Vitae for not
buying any of the facts and figures I include in my opinion pieces.
(You know, the ones I spew out as if they’re gospel.)
Contrary
to Mr. Biertzer’s assertions, I don’t expect anyone to believe anything I write
just because I claim it to be so. I
expect people to do their own homework, research the facts and figures, and, on
those rare occasions where I am actually wrong, to correct me.
Mr.
Biertzer indicates he never agrees with anything I have to say, and usually
never finishes reading anything I write.
His loss. I’m guessing he might
even agree with a few of my columns.
Like the one about the Founding
Fathers pledging their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honour to the
cause of Liberty. Or a few of my
editorials about my disagreements with the Republican Party. Or about the need for transparency in
government, at all levels. Or about
the need for organ
donation. Or even ways to save 30% on a Disney
vacation. Or any number of other
things I have written about in the last 25 years.
Now I’d like to take this opportunity to correct
a couple of Mr. Biertzer’s claims.
Mr.
Biertzer seems to think I am a Republican.
While I have been a member of the Vilas County Republicans, they left me
years ago. My politics are much more
libertarian, and have been so as far back as 1986.
Mr. Biertzer insinuates that I am somehow a “lover”
of Governor Walker. I’ve never met the
man, nor was he my choice for governor last Fall.
In
Mr. Biertzer’s opinion, Jim Holperin didn’t walk off the job. As an elected Senator, his job is to
physically be present in the Wisconsin Senate whenever it is in session, unless
he has requested and been granted a leave of absence. No such request was made; yet Senator Holperin was, in fact,
absent from the Wisconsin Senate for three weeks earlier this year.
Senator
Holperin’s job is to be the voice of the People of Wisconsin’s 12th
District in the Wisconsin Senate. His
job is to be there to debate and vote on legislation. Yet for three weeks, there is no record of him offering his
opinion, nor voting on legislation in the Wisconsin Senate.
The
voice of the People of the 12th Senate District was silenced for
those three weeks. Neither Mr. Biertzer’s
view, nor mine, nor the views of anyone in the 12th District, were
heard where it counted, on the floor of the Wisconsin Senate.
Politicians
can say whatever they feel like saying in media interviews and press
releases. But when it comes time to stand
and be counted, the only thing that matters is their official vote, on the
record.
While
protesters ranted and raved, the official record, the only one that counts,
shows absolutely no input from the 12th District. No support for or opposition against any
legislation.
Mr.
Biertzer’s voice, as well as my own, was silenced by Senator Holperin’s
absence.
Perhaps
as a public employee, there is some obscure provision in Mr. Biertzer’s
contract that allows him to be absent from work for three weeks without being
sick, without taking personal time off, or without requesting a short leave of
absence.
But
I doubt it.
No,
I think if Mr. Biertzer refused to report for work for three weeks while he
went to another state, I believe most of us would say he walked off the job.
Jim
Holperin walked off the job for three weeks.
The People of the 12th District, ALL of us, had NO
representation in the Wisconsin Senate for those three weeks.
That’s
neither brave, nor heroic. It’s an
abdication of responsibility by an elected official.
And
that’s the reason Jim Holperin now faces a recall election.