There are many crazy people out there (think Kevin Barrett). Then there are some even crazier people (Tom Cruise comes to mind). Then there are the bat-shit insane, which is where state Rep. Frank Lasee, R-Green Bay, falls on the spectrum.
Problems arise when someone like Lasee, an elected official, pays attention to the crazies too often, effectively giving power to the insane. That was the case when Lasee received a letter from a constituent supposedly describing what happens in the Brown Deer school district. As reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, here is an excerpt from the letter:
There is a hallway that is off limits to white kids, where the black kids have sex. When the teachers leave the class rooms, the same thing happens. Also on the school buses. The kid's parents can't complain to the school board for fear of retribution on their children. ... I wonder if the Brown Deer school counts a pregnant girl as two students to get more taxpayer money.""
If you are a lawmaker in Wisconsin, you're bound to get some interesting letters from constituents. However, usually you take those letters for what they are - pure, unsubstantiated speculation and rumor. If you're Lasee, you write to Dennis Griffin, president of the Brown Deer School District, and ask him to look into the situation.
First, Brown Deer isn't even in Lasee's district, so aside from its inherent craziness, he really had no reason to take this seriously and waste his time. Second, asking Griffin to look into this is a waste of his time as well. Tax dollars provide these men's salaries, and for a lawmaker from the Republican party - the party that's supposed to cut wasteful spending - to request this makes very little sense.
As expected, the investigation into the charges was proved groundless, and when students read the allegations Friday, responses varied from one's of outrage to confusion.
""They're offensive, they're just offensive,"" said Brown Deer senior Ian Paul Ruta in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. ""He really needs to come here,"" added Brown Deer senior Amanda Saffold. ""It's funny to see that people think this about our school.""
This is just a long line of craziness from Lasee. Last fall, in response to a string of deadly school shootings, he proposed giving teachers guns to avert these disasters.
""Israel and Thailand have well-trained teachers carrying weapons and keeping their children safe from harm,"" Lasee said then. ""It can work in Wisconsin.""
If the idea of putting more guns into schools seems stupid to you, you're not alone. Lasee's proposal actually managed to bring Gov. Jim Doyle and his opponent Mark Green together in opposition last fall. The Capital Times editorial called it ""Fighting fires with gasoline.""
This summer Lasee was at it again, this time calling for the state to cut all funding for the UW Law School.
""We don't need more ambulance chasers,"" Lasee said. ""We don't need frivolous lawsuits. And we don't need attorneys making people's lives miserable when they go to family court for divorces. And I think that having too many attorneys leads to all those bad results.""
Apparently, Lasee believes attorneys are the reason we have such a high divorce rate in this country. If we did away with the attorneys, then no one would ever get divorced. It makes perfect sense!
Never mind that cutting funding would increase tuition by $5,000 per year - leaving many less-advantaged students out to dry and decreasing the competitiveness of our law school - Lasee's misinterpretation of the simple correlation/causation dynamic is supposed to trump logic apparently.
With a long history of crazy ideas and misplaced priorities, Lasee's response to this constituent letter is not that hard to believe. And if the rumors circulating that he might challenge Steve Kagen in the 8th congressional district prove to be true, we can look forward to even more insanity.
But hey, if he's elected and it turns out students are really having sex in hallways, then teachers can really put those guns to use. It's not like any lawyers will be around to prosecute the case.
Erik Opsal is a senior majoring in political science and journalism. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
