"As members of the Wisconsin State Assembly, we elected officials must hold each other to the highest standards of respect and decorum. The very nature of this body is to debate opposing viewpoints. I am appalled by the actions of _______ on the floor of the Assembly Chambers."
That is how both Rep. Joan Ballweg (R) and Rep. Kelda Helen Roys (D) began letters to the leaders of the opposing party. The only difference, of course, was the name inserted in the blank.
Ballweg started it yesterday, when she wrote an open letter to Dem Leader Peter Barca, asking him to discipline Rep. Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) for shouting "You're fucking dead!" to a Republican legislator after the GOP sprung a surprise vote on the budget repair bill last week.
Roys came back with her own letter today, which accused Rep. Pat Strachota (R-West Bend) of making racially disparaging remarks to a black legislator, Rep. Tamara Grigsby.
What is hard to understand is why it took so long for that complaint to come out. It seems to be aimed more as a response to the complaint against Hintz than as a response to whatever Strachota said.
I can't get in touch with Roys right now because she is in court, apparently in relation to the suit to keep the Capitol open. Neither Grigsby or Strachota are available for comment right now.
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