For those of you keeping score in the battle for the state of Wisconsin's reputation, alcoholism increased its commanding lead over responsibility last week.
This past Wednesday, the Wisconsin State Assembly voted to censure Rep. Jeff Wood, I-Chippewa Falls, in the wake of his third OWI conviction. They did not vote to expel, as Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, had proposed. They did not vote for any legitimate punishment at all. Instead, Assembly Democrats defeated the proposal to throw Wood out of the Capitol by one vote and secured him nothing more than a censure, a punishment equivalent to a mommy telling her son that he's been a very bad boy.
Clearly Wood has a severe problem with alcoholism and needs professional help for his condition. Alcoholism is a disease requiring treatment like any other. But it is different than other diseases in that it still requires some level of personal responsibility. In making the choice to drive under the influence, Wood put peoples' lives at risk. Those lives were not put at risk solely because of Wood's addiction, they were put at risk because Wood also ignored his societal obligations—something he has now done on three different occasions.
It would be nice to say that the worst consequence of Wood's actions was forcing me to agree with Steve Nass, but his problems go far beyond this. A moral lapse like this is bad enough from a regular citizen, and Wood was punished as such with his 45-day work release jail term and a fine. However, Wood is not a regular citizen. As a state assemblyman, Wood should be held to a higher standard, and this is where the state assembly failed. As a man who has committed multiple OWIs, allowing Wood to continue to serve as a leader of the people of Wisconsin is irresponsible. What the Assembly has effectively said is that the state of Wisconsin doesn't just tolerate drunk driving, we allow drunk drivers to be the key decision makers in our government. Drunk driving isn't shameful here, it's prestigious.
Assembly Democrats have argued that it is not their place to decide whether Wood should be expelled or not. The citizens of Wood's district had the chance to recall him and chose not to, and what right does the Assembly have to go against the wills of the people? After all, the legislature hasn't expelled a member from its ranks since 1917, why should they now?
But these questions are nothing but excuses for Assembly Democrats to avoid throwing out their own caucus associate. The Assembly has every right to expel one of its own members. Wisconsin is not a direct democracy, we elect legislators to serve as our representatives and make these decisions. The state legislature has been vested with the legal right and responsibility to expel members if they are deemed unfit to serve, and hiding behind the excuse of ""the will of the people"" just shows that the Assembly lacks any sense of courage to do what is right. It isn't just Wood who has fallen down on his duty as a leader of this state, the 49 representatives who voted to table the proposal for Wood's expulsion have as well.
The state Assembly and the entire state of Wisconsin need to step up and look the problem of drunk driving in the eye, and it should have started with Wood. We should not punish anybody with a mere slap on the wrist for their third OWI offense, let alone an elected official. Elected officials should be the best of us—they rarely are, but in an ideal world, they should be. They certainly should not be people like Wood who have proven themselves incapable of operating by society's basic rules. Wood needs to stop making excuses. It doesn't matter if his constituents support him if he knows his actions were wrong. While we should be sympathetic to his struggles with alcoholism, we should also expect him to take responsibility for his condition.
What we absolutely should not do it give Wood a pass. The state of Wisconsin has a problem with drunk driving, that is inarguable. But how can we begin to change the behavior of an average lay citizen if we let those we entrust with the most responsibility get away with such actions? As clichéd as it may sound, responsibility begins at the top. Sadly, when the top is made up of people like Jeff Wood and the Assembly Democrats, it appears that responsibility is stillborn.
Todd Stevens is a junior majoring in history and psychology. We welcome all feedback. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
