Letter to the Editor: ‘A Lie That Makes You Feel Better Does Not Make It True’

The attorney hired to investigate the 2020 election in Wisconsin – former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, whose investigation turned up really nothing – has been referred to the Wisconsin State Bar’s Office of Professional Responsibility by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, the Republican lawmaker who hired him. 

This development reminds me that Gableman began his tenure on the Wisconsin Supreme Court under an ethical cloud after lying during his campaign about his African American opponent, Louis Butler. Gableman’s false ad appealed to the emotions of voters by incorrectly stating that appellate work by Justice Butler when he was a public defender, and whom the ad called “Loophole Louie,” had freed a rapist to rape again. A capable jurist was thus defeated by someone who, besides being unethical, has also been incapable of producing any provable results of election fraud. 

Because you can’t argue with how a person feels, an emotional appeal such as “Stop the steal” works to rile people up, but that is not the way our justice system works because “Truth” is not just a slogan. Feelings do not trump provable facts in a court of law, and a lie that makes you feel better does not make it true – as Speaker Vos has finally learned after spending thousands of taxpayer dollars.

David R. Clowers

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin