How Wisconsin Republicans Respond to Their Critics
A couple of days ago, I wrote about an op-ed William Cronon wrote in The New York Times arguing that by attempting to strip public unions of their bargaining rights, Wisconsin Republicans “are seeking to reverse civic traditions that for more than a century have been among the most celebrated achievements not just of their state, but of their own party as well.” Cronon also published a blog post suggesting that a conservative group called The American Legislative Exchange Council—which I have written about here—is behind the push to eliminate collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin.
Shortly afterward, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where Cronon is a professor of history, geography, and environmental studies, received a request under the state’s Open Records Law from the Wisconsin Republican Party for copies of any e-mails sent from Cronon’s university e-mail account which either use keywords like “AFCSME,” “collective bargaining,” “rally,” and “union,” or the names of a number of Wisconsin political figures.