Phillip Appleman on Death and Religion

Irene Captain - Ageless Hero (1927 - 2012)

On Gertrude Appleman, (1901-1976)


"I wish I had them gathered round, those preachers, popes, rabbis, imams, priests—every pious shill on God's payroll—and I would pull the sheets from my mother's brittle body, and they would fall on their knees at her bedside to be forgiven all their faith."
- Phillip Appleman

Irene Captain on Scott Walker

Irene Captain - Fighting against Scott Walker

Irene Captain is a typical World War II mother.

Her late husband, Wesley John Captain, came home from Normandy, liberating a concentration camp, and serving in Patton's Third Army. He said, as family lore has it: "I have seen enough death, now I want to surround myself with life."

The Captains did just that, with nine children in Wisconsin Rapids.

Now, Irene Captain who proudly notes her service as a seniors’ activist, working on the legislative committee of AARP and lobbying hard for the initial establishment of SeniorCare which began in 2002, has had enough of Scott Walker.

"We need SeniorCare, it works, so why destroy it?"

Irene fights for her 11 great grandchildren, like Lily

Irene Captain signed the petition to recall Scott Walker and Rebecca Kleefisch.

Reached this weekend in Rapids, Irene said, "You all keep up the fight. He's [Scott Walker] against everyone except the Koch brothers. He never was any good, and I don't trust a word he says. I'm going to keep voting against him."

Irene, who has lived some 64 years in Wisconsin Rapids and has friends and family members which span the political spectrum, says she has never seen anything like the dishonesty of Scott Walker.

"I can't even watch him on TV any more. If he believes something, then why doesn't he come out and say it?" said Irene. "He's a sneak thief, and a liar. Bless your heart for fighting against him"

Thank you, Irene; will keep up the fight.

Recall Opponents Shameless, Disrespectful of Wisconsin Families

Brett Davis, Scott Walker and Cullen Werwie

Ethan Schuh, a Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesperson, apparently has no shame, like his boss, Scott Walker, and too many Republicans now-a-days who seriously do not like Wisconsin families.

Tony Galli at WKOW did a piece, "Walker supporters claim host of recall errors" in which Republicans claim they have discovered recall "fraud," a contention they have repeated for months though only now are they actually examining the signatures.

An example of the fraud a Republican volunteer spotted on the petition: "A dead relative."

Made me think of my family that includes a dead relative who passed away in the last few months after signing the petition to recall Scott Walker.

My girlfriend's brother-in-law, Al Braund, signed the recall Scott Walker petition over Thanksgiving dinner, and tragically passed away from leukemia on Jan. 6, 2012.

Any Republican puke who wants to make an issue of that, I'm available; as our many good people in the Wisconsin Rapids-Port Edwards area of our state.

Al's mother-in-law, Irene Captain of Rapids [who proudly worked on the Wisconsin AARP legislative committee to help Senior Care get passed] told me, "I'm hanging on in this life long enough to see that little weasel, Scott Walker, get recalled. You bet ya."

It's not enough that Republicans want to keep legal Wisconsinites from voting like Ruthelle Frank, not enough that Republicans harassed and criminally threatened the recall circulators and signers, but now they want insult the families of Wisconsinites who passed away?

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, too often a Republican propaganda outlet has a new Republican feature out: Want to check recall petitions yourself?

"Let us know if you find signatures, names or addresses of people who signed the petitions that have issues. We will review submissions and post those that we can independently verify," says MJS calling the column a watchdog.

Well, this morning the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel watchdog has 16 entries that they have apparently "independently" verified.

A friend points out today in an e-mail that over a quick coffee within minutes, he saw the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is printing so-called "issues" that an elementary school student could knock down.

302 River Vew Drive; Winneconne, WI 54986

• One checker claims "obvious false or out-state addresses" for lines 7 and 8 on page 998. But 302 River View Drive is a real address in Winneconne, Wisconsin. I even saw a picture of the house there on Google maps.
•  Another claims "obvious false names." But the name "Hietpas" is a real name. As a matter of fact there's a "Hietpas Realty" in Little Chute, Wisconsin and I bet Brooke and Britney Hietpas are twins, which is why their signatures are similar but not identical, as the MJS checker claims (and Vicki Hietpas is their mother, but the checker doesn't question the veracity of her surname - duh). Hietpas is a Dutch name, and many readers here know their family members as wonderful people. Perhaps the MJS checkers know better? I only checked a few of the complaints but each one was bs. Not sure who the MJS is appealing to with this feature, but evidently it's primarily morons, so far at least.

• "All addresses on page 15 and 16 are the same and belong to the Milwaukee Housing Authority. Many illegible," reads another MJS-verified "issue." - Uh, yeah. It's an assisted living shelter; many otherwise homeless people. Maybe they should not be allowed to vote or sign recall petitions if Wisconsin citizens are older, or disabled, homeless or of course: Black. Here we go again. These are people! Somebody notify the John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy.
• "Same person signed all of them," claims MJS checker of lines 1-4 on page GOV 000179. Nonsense. But facts are not the point for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and other GOP allies.

The purpose of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel [and the Republican Party with its out-of-state $millions] is to sow confusion and generate as much noise and unverified speculation as they can about any signature that any two GOP hacks think is fishy. And as we have pointed out here use this out-of-state money to fight off Wisconsin citizens deciding what type of government we want.

As the Scott Walker scandal continues to unfold as more of Walker's top aides either are criminally charged or like Walker press secretary, Cullen Werwie, have been granted immunity in the John Doe investigation, look for the shameless attacks on Wisconsin families to blow back on this very worst of Wisconsin's governors.

By the way, there is another petition going around calling for the resignation of more of Scott Walker's cronies.

Subject: Davis and Werwie Must Go!

Dear Gov. Scott Walker:

You and your cronies are already burdening taxpayers with your campaign costs to try and thwart the will of more than 1 million Wisconsinites who signed recall petitions.

Now, the state has learned that two of your top staff -- Brett Davis and Cullen Werwie -- have been implicated in one of the biggest political corruption scandals in our state's history, involving the alleged illegal use of taxpayer dollars to operate a political campaign.

We think it's simple: "Davis and Werwie Must Go!"
---

Tell Scott Walker: "Davis and Werwie must go!"

Good idea. And Scott Walker you do know you're next.

Memorial Day, Herb Kohl and SeniorCare

As we continue to salute our fallen veterans and those currently serving, and let’s honor the spirit of Memorial Day and Armed Forces Day not just in May but 365 days a year, I wish to note on another matter that last week, the Wisconsin Democratic congressional delegation came through and saved the popular SeniorCare drug program from the Bush administration’s determination to dismantle it.

Senator Herb Kohl had been pushing for an amendment to save SeniorCare for months and he made sure that SeniorCare was part of the emergency spending bill to continue funding the Iraq war, so today we salute Herb Kohl (also a reliable veterans’ advocate) for his resolve and success in saving this vital program for Wisconsin seniors until 2009, when George Bush will be gone.

“I think we ought to thank Herb Kohl, and Dave Obey and Russ Feingold too. I never approved of adding to a (war-spending) bill like this, but this time I do,” said Irene Captain of Wisconsin Rapids, a seniors’ activist with SeniorCare, who was on the legislative committee of AARP and lobbied hard for the initial establishment of SeniorCare. “We need SeniorCare, it works, so why destroy it?”

Irene, whose late husband, Wesley Captain, was a World War II veteran who stormed the beaches at Normandy; knows the benefits of this program personally.

That's the American thing to do: Protect our seniors, honor our fallen, act for others' pursuit of happiness, and live free or die.

"The drug coverage that seniors in Wisconsin have come to know and depend on is going to stay in place," Kohl said in a statement. "The delegation stuck with it, and we got the job done."

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