What a terrible week for Ashok Kumar. Batting .000 in the campus-area press upon his decision to not seek re-election.
One of the arguments used against this blog when I write about Kumar is that I am unfairly biased as that once in a while I write negatively on the kid. Last week was a bit heavy on the Kumar side, but hey, there was a lot going on with him. Exactly when is it unfair for a constituent to write about the guy? He could always get his own blog like some other student leaders. But I understand that it is tiring to constantly read about him, so after this piece I hope to find less to say on his “leadership.”
Usually when the Kumar Goon Squad – from here on out, they will be called the KGS, yes, similar to the KGB – comes on here, they attack the anti-Kumar crowd with homophobic references and accuse you of acting “obsessed” and use even stronger homophobic attacks by accusing you of being someone who masturbates to Kumar. Erik Opsal responds to these critics on Something Verbose with some effective remarks. They even accuse the facts of being skewed. Well, I can’t skew the laundry list of posts and articles that have come out against him over the last week. It’s not a Critical Badger conspiracy. It’s simply the reality of campus. He’s not popular.
So, to sum up the incredible amount of anti-Kumar pieces out in the last week, I am going to categorize them all into one nice post. For the KGS out there, don’t bother attacking me for the arguments used! I’m simply relating what others have said.
- Erik Opsal isn’t too impressed with Kumar’s record on student issues.
- Erik catches the Kumar Google alert.
- Something Verbose attacks the Kumar attendance record and lack of student leadership. Now, don’t go calling SV an anti-Kumar hack. Look at this previous pro-Kumar piece of his. And while you’re at it, notice how Kumar refused to respond to SV’s e-mail. Great constituent outreach there.
- Pretty much anything on this website from last week.
- Finally, the Granddaddy of them all to steal a line from Keith Jackson, came from the Badger Herald editorial board.
Looking at the BH piece, I found some interesting items to point out. First was this stereotypical response by the KGS machine:
Anonymous (November 19, 2007 @ 2:19am):kumar isn’t a bad guy but clearly the bh is racist. I think all of the anti kumar sentiment is just white uw racism.
Second, was the safety argument used. This is a great point. There are some other votes I’d encourage the editorial boards to note. Obviously Kumar’s attendance at the Dane Board has been subpar, as SV noted. However, I was contacted by a group that is apparently dedicated to informing the campus about Kumar and they gave me a few items he voted on over the past 1.5 years. This group apparently runs a listserv from which they pass around information about Kumar as it becomes available. One member of the organization told me this was in preparation for any re-election campaign he had and to control the propaganda war Kumar may have waged. I asked if they were a bunch of College Republicans, but to my surprise, I was told it “represents everything on the political spectrum” and that they had all sworn not to specifically acknowledge their membership to the listserv. Kind of Skull and Bones like, don’t you think?
Anyway, check out these votes and quote:
- Erik’s piece references the impeachment ordinance Kumar helped promote. From the Cap Times on July 5th, 2007, Kumar said: “There are people in the public and other realms who say, ‘Doesn’t the County Boardor the City Council have more important things to do?’ And I response, ‘Like what?’” Kumar told the crowd.”
Gee, I don’t know, public safety?
Look, I get that the Dane Board doesn’t necessarily deal with student issues all of the time, but the voting record on safety for Kumar goes beyond just dropping the ball on crowd control equipment. When you’re given a handful of chances to stand up for student safety, it seems best to capitalize, rather than oppose the interests of District 5.
- Kumar was the only person on the Public Protection/Judiciary committee to vote against Res. 50, 2007-2008, which funded an attorney position in Dane County and as Sup. Bayrd noted, “this particular money is for gang crime enforcement too.” It was over $80,000 of funding. This occurred as Madison Chief Noble Wray noted gang activity is surging in Madison.
- Kumar was one of 8 to oppose (26 supported) FREE MONEY that would fund equipment for a K-9 unit and the purchase of an AED, or an Automated External Defibrillator (Res. 219, 06-07). Think this doesn’t matter? Besides K-9 units serving as standard public safety units across the country, AED’s have saved lives in Madison before. It’s pretty irresponsible to vote against this.
- Kumar was one of 6 to oppose (24 supported) a terrorism exercise grant that would help train officials in Stoughton and at the Dane County Airport. This isn’t exclusive to just 9/11 type attacks. As Resolution 81 of 06-07 reads: “In a collaborative effort to deliver quality training and exercising to first responders within our county, Dane County Emergency Management applied and was awarded funds.” Free money to help first responders. Yet another vote against public safety.
- Finally, let’s not forget the favorite talking point of the Lapidus campaign. On December 2nd 2005, Kumar supported a racial quota on police in a Badger Herald interview, where he called on cops who arrest too many people of one race to undergo a “review.” This is regardless of how many years they’ve served, what color of skin they may have, how many awards they’ve received, or if they were simply doing their job.
Now, as they told us during pre-school disputes, “say something nice about them,” I do want to commend Kumar’s upcoming December ordinance on equal partner benefits. It’s not that people such as myself and others oppose everything he does. It’s that we can do better. We can get a progressive Dane County Board Supervisor with the intensity of Kumar, who supports the same county-wide policies as him, yet remains more committed to public safety, student issues, and outreach to District 5 and the UW campus. That doesn’t seem to be an unreasonable request and in my eyes, it’s the best of both worlds.
Edit: check out the recent pay raise Ashok also voted for. Smooth move.
36 Comments
November 20, 2007 at 9:21 pm
I’m shocked by the lack of comments on this.
November 20, 2007 at 10:28 pm
LOOK AT THIS COLUNM KUMAR RECENTLY WROTE FOR THE WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL CRITICIZING EFFORTS AT THE CITY TO HAVE MORE POLICE OFFICERS!!
http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/column/254199
Column: City’s priorities on justice at odds with county’s
Dane County Supervisors, guest columnists — 10/31/2007 10:22 am
It’s budget time for both the city of Madison and Dane County. As most people know, it’s a very difficult time for local governments to fund our basic needs in order to move forward in a positive direction. One key budget area that both the city and county are addressing in putting together our respective budgets is in the area of our justice systems: the Madison Police Department and the Sheriff’s Office. You would think that we’d see similar themes, but there is one striking conflict in budget priorities.
The city is proposing a great increase in the number of new police officers. The Police Department requested an additional 18, and shortly thereafter Mayor Dave Cieslewicz bumped the number up to 30 following two or three neighborhood meetings during which crime was raised as a concern. Of course, there are substantial fiscal ramifications.
At the same time, Madison Police Chief Noble Wray has acknowledged that serious crime — murder, armed robbery, arson and similar violent crimes — is down 4.5 percent during the first half of 2007. Yet there’s a perception that crime is increasing. The chief attributed that to several unrelated incidents that occurred this past year as well as to changes in the geographical areas where crimes are happening. In actuality, there was an increase in the number of police calls this past year on the west side as well as a slight increase on the east side. Everywhere else, they remained stable or decreased.
In contrast, when looking at what Dane County is proposing, we see that the two entities are moving in opposite directions. A few months ago, the County Board received the final version of a criminal justice assessment report developed by an independent think tank. One of the most significant themes running throughout the report is how the county can do more for public safety using fewer tax dollars.
How could that be possible? Actually it’s not so difficult. The report identified inefficiencies that have led to higher costs without increased public safety.
In the budget we’re currently working on for 2008, the Sheriff’s Office has requested electronic monitoring for up to 200 more inmates who have been involved in minor, nonviolent crimes and needn’t be in the Dane County Jail. They are Huber inmates out in the community on work release programs. With the cost savings, we’ll bring back inmates who had been sent out of the county due to overcrowding.
Thanks to the recommendations made by the report, the county is working toward better and smarter solutions — the reduction of unnecessary workload, jail bed demand, escalating costs — all aimed at improving public safety. At the same time, the county executive has restored much of what had been reduced in the Human Services Department, and the board is looking at numerous additional amendments emphasizing prevention efforts for our social network.
It would be in everyone’s interests to have greater collaboration between the city and the county, especially when it comes to social services. As that develops, there will be inevitable changes in how we deal with our communities and the interface between the two regarding prevention, treatment and intervention services. Together we can increase public safety while saving money.
A final theme throughout the criminal justice report is that these types of changes will be difficult undertakings. The time has come to put much greater emphasis on prevention efforts by building stronger infrastructure and social needs systems within our communities. In this way, we’re building stronger neighborhoods leading to more harmonious interactions among neighbors. This certainly won’t end all of our problems, but isn’t it a better alternative than having underserved populations with unmet needs and overcrowding in our jail?
November 20, 2007 at 10:39 pm
CB… Don’t mind criticism, but this looks a bit too harsh (very similar to other posts of Kumar). Not to defend Kumar or anything, but just to play devil’s advocate for a minute, it kind of looks like you are doing a classic political character association of Ashok. It just seems a bit too extreme a criticism. Also, on your point about a pay raise that Kumar voted for, it doesn’t go into effect until after the April elections, so I don’t think Kumar voted for a pay raise for himself but for his colleagues. I’m a Democrat, but I’ve always been proud of the way we don’t use Republican “swift boat” tactics, but it seems that you are somewhat guilty of that. Would you say the same things that you did to Kumar if he were a Democrat? I don’t think so.
November 20, 2007 at 11:36 pm
It seems ridiculous to say that no one knows who Kumar is. How do you quantify how many students know or don’t know him. This is just a cheap political point, with no evidence to back it up!
November 21, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Totally agree with 10:28! Ashok Kumar has consistently hated on America and everything we stand for. He changed Columbus Day to Indeginious People Day! He calls the Europe migration to the US in 1492 an “invasion and occupation by Europeans” ( http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=110520).
He has said that “Israel is an occupying force” (in other words “Israel shouldn’t exist”). He has called himself an “anti-zionist” try “anti-semite”. Worst of all this guy loves, I mean LOVES, illegal aliens. Check out all this stuff: http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=110520
http://www.scfl.org/?ulnid=1403
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-10-03-Immigrant_N.htm
I am a huge fan of the Critical Badger! This fool needs to get the hell out of here. Go back to wherever he came from!
November 21, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Did the last post just say that “ashok should go back to wherever he came from!” WTF!?!? These are the people that support CB’s insane ideology. We all know that Dan S. and Steven L. have started and are perpetuating each others’ lies about Kumar, but this is just too much!
November 21, 2007 at 6:14 pm
So, CB, you use anonymous quotes as evidence? You constantly show us how stupid you truly are. I think it is sad that you perpetuate a lie that Ashok missed meetings. This is patently false. Disagree with his votes, but don’t make things up to suite you. You know and many other people know that Ashok has done a lot for this City and County. You are still pissed that he beat your friend Adam Korn (by seven times as many votes). You constantly rant about Kumar not being a Democrat, but he was endorsed by nearly every major “Democrat” in the County, he was endorsed by the college democrats 40-2 (and no I wouldn’t define that as “packing” since the e-board of the college dems had also endorsed him). He was also endorsed by Howard Dean, who gave him a statement of support, and money for his campaign. When you talk about “being disconnected from campus” please talk to the immigrants at Eagle Heights, or the Graduate Students in the TAA, or the Co-ops that pepper his district. We know Ashok well, work with him, and continue to support him the way we did when he first ran for office. It seems like jealousy or plain spite at this point of your so-called “critique” of Kumar. Don’t justify your bitterness under the guise of Kumar’s affiliations whether is be Progressive Dane, the Green Party, Student Labor Action Coalition, or the Socialists/Anarchists on campus. He has always been accessible to his constituents, student and non-student (there are plenty of those in his district too, you know) regardless of how you and your two friends want to perpetuate the fiction that Kumar hasn’t been. Get a life.
November 21, 2007 at 9:06 pm
How would you work on student issues at the county, Danny? I know you think you know a lot, but given the county’s limited homerule, what policies could you put into place that would expand to students? You have never had one policy recommendation, because you know nothing about what the county board has the authority to do. Since you have shown, and your clan have shown, how much they love cops, you know if the county increased its Sheriff’s Dpt. it wouldn’t affect the campus at all, its a jurisdictional issue, the City Police have the authority. I applaud Kumar for seeing the criminal justice system as a vicious cycle that targets low-income people, and people of color. He has effectively pushed major policy to reduce recidivism, end profiteering in the jails, and increase rehabilitation rather then prison sentences for people. THOSE ARE REAL SOLUTIONS to issues of “public safety”!!
November 22, 2007 at 2:10 am
Omg…Did you just say “…This group apparently runs a listserve from which they pass around information about Kumar as it becomes available.”?
November 22, 2007 at 2:18 am
edit by the CB: says the kid anon. attacking them at 2AM… don’t bother writing those comments on my blog, dude. PS, according to them, they are made of both males and females.
November 22, 2007 at 2:31 am
Going to respond to the necessary comments in some type of order. First is Jack D, who has a perfectly valid opinion. It’s cool to play devil’s advocate, but you can’t deny the votes I posted. This isn’t swiftboating. I’m sure he reads it. His friends read it. He’s not running again. These are *real* votes. Also, notice how many links I provide from other sources. To argue the critique is just coming from me denies the reality which was the point of my post. If you missed the first half of my piece, re-read it.
November 22, 2007 at 2:32 am
The illegal alien bs is obviously an ironic pro-Ashok piece, so I will not touch that.
November 22, 2007 at 2:37 am
The post by whoa is also silly. My readers are not dumb enough to link what I write, or SV’s posts, to anon comments. I have provided serious policy disagreements and all you can do is call it “insane ideology”? Come on. The DC, BH, and entire student blogosphere must have some big ideological conspiracy against you guys then.
November 22, 2007 at 2:42 am
Btw, may I note to my readers that some of these posts come from the same IPs yet different names. It makes the Orwellian arguments they use like “get lives” quite funny.
“You’re an Idiot” had a nice rambling post with of course, the Kumar Goon Squad lines of “get a life” and other non-responsive comments.
So, a few comments from that.
1. I am not friends with Adam Korn and did not vote for him.
2. The Howard Dean quote apparently pissed off people at the DNC. And whoop-de-doo, they got an email together with a “I’m glad Ashok is running” type quote. That doesn’t give me much.
3. Yep, Ashok was endorsed by the Democrats. So what, he gets a membership for life? He’d never pass any CDem or DPDC meeting anymore. Frankly, I don’t care as much if he is a Democrat or not — that argument is being used in a technicality debate against another political party — his voting record and “off the field” problems make him a terrible elected official.
4. As for his attendence record, you need to click on the Something Verbose blog post.
People, if you’re going to write on my comments, at least take the time to read the piece.
November 22, 2007 at 2:50 am
Finally, to Anon:
1. “You have never had one policy recommendation, because you know nothing about what the county board has the authority to do.” Oh, right, I have only attended, watched, and read through the minutes of meetings, especially when verifying the parts of this post I was given by other sources.
2. Voting against gang-prevention, cops, training, and FREE money is not improving safety. In my opinion, I would like to see a “dual track” model as shown by some campus-area alders. First, vote for pro-safety initiatives. Free money for training and AED’s should never be opposed. Obviously this is a different side of the debate from Kumar’s, but I think constantly defunding the enforcement mechanisms of the law is doing nothing for short-term effectiveness, whereby we need people on the street to stop people from being thrown into vans and raped, as happened twice last year on campus. Second, as a UW student/elected member of gov’t, use this prestige and power to work with campus groups on safety. The best example of this is Alder Judge’s work with ASM to create more watch programs on campus. Even if the Dane Board has limited safety related votes, the campus Sup. is not totally restricted in their policy options.
November 22, 2007 at 9:45 am
You never responded to whether or not you’re a giant creep?
November 22, 2007 at 10:26 am
Why do you refuse to answer the question? One more; Why do you have such a strong resemblance to a dog-faced gremlin?
November 22, 2007 at 3:45 pm
you are ugly. go away.
November 22, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Oh, I must have missed the direct question, in that case: I’m not a creep. And, RE: “dog-faced gremlin” I think you guys are confusing me with another less Ashok happy blogger. Do your research.
November 22, 2007 at 5:04 pm
This is so sad… you attribute random anonymous quotes to Kumar’s supporters, and respond to these quotes that clearly you wrote or you blogger buddies wrote.
November 22, 2007 at 5:17 pm
False. In fact, there are allegations from other posters that Kumar and King continue to troll through the comment section.
For example, I keep getting posts from an IP address in New Orleans… and it’s not Brad from http://www.lettersinbottles.blogspot.com (UW undergrad, Tulane Law).
November 22, 2007 at 5:30 pm
shut up. you in the Kumar and King goon squad think you’re so effective but everyone sees through your fucking bullshit. you have fallen so far that all you can do is snipe and bitch anonymously on blogs and pretend that you have a ton of support.
except that everyone knows its just a few people. austin, give it up! we see through your bullshit!
still haven’t moved on from getting your ass kicked, eh?
November 23, 2007 at 1:32 am
edited by the CB: I checked your IP homie, feel free to email me and I’ll let you know what it says. But the rest of this comment is crap and a lie. Damn, there truly is a Kumar Goon Squad. Dare to speak ill on the kid and his buddies come out to play!
November 23, 2007 at 3:23 pm
hahaha… to critical badger: please continue to edit out anything critical of you.
November 23, 2007 at 3:30 pm
To the Kumar Goon Squad member who posts baseless accusations about people who disagree with Kumar:
If you continue to write blatantly false statements in my comment section about me and others who have opposed Ashok, it will go down. I’m sorry to say it, but the days of Ashok-Austin King dominance over campus media are over.
Just so people understand what you’re talking about, this guy argues that one person is responsible for all of the anti-Ashok comments. This is bullshit and anyone who wants to meet up with me is free to browse the IP addresses. The strategy taken by the pro-Ashok crowd is intended to make people uninterested in the substance of the post and focus on the trolling. It’s a deliberate, pro-Kumar PR strategy straight out of a Republican media book: turn the debate into hackery and away from issues. Kumar Goon Squad, that ain’t going to work here.
November 23, 2007 at 4:39 pm
hack hack hack hack hack all day long
November 23, 2007 at 8:56 pm
ok.. if that’s the case then please respond to the earlier point that asks why you put that Kumar voted FOR a payraise for himself, when in fact, it takes affect after his term. So, it actually benefits other supervisors and Kumar’s successor. Thanks! – Kumar Goon Squad
November 23, 2007 at 10:29 pm
The nuance of public policy is NOT tantamount to posting clearly unresearched crap, which is what was spewing from your mouth in that comment. You’re *still* switching names as you write.
You broght up that in fact, he voted to give all of his buddies a raise on the Board and yes: not deleted. That was a terrible argument to make, heh.
November 30, 2007 at 7:40 am
Thank you! I delighted!
http://srubibablo.com
Many thanks!
January 3, 2008 at 12:21 pm
[...] – Remember those K-9 Units Ashok didn’t want to fund? [...]
January 20, 2008 at 3:49 am
[...] I pissed off Ashok Kumar. [...]
January 23, 2008 at 1:16 am
[...] not both? As I reported on this blog, Kumar’s vote against the money came as the police noted a substantial …. I don’t think after school basketball and community programs will solve the short-term problems [...]
January 25, 2008 at 11:34 am
[...] some evidence, I recommend checking out my blog post here, and Something Verbose’s post. There was an entire stretch of committee meetings where Kumar was [...]
March 23, 2008 at 12:42 am
[...] My second thought takes me back to a post on the voting record of Sup. Kumar from a few months ago. … These news articles posted above cite a “countywide response” to crime and coordination between the city of Madison and Dane County Sherrif’s Office. Unfortunately, Kumar’s votes and positions will be in no way a helping hand to improve the resources Dane County needs to make this countywide response effective — his positions only serve to hinder the necessary anti-crime measures. With evidence that gang crime is up 30-40% in Dane County and the rise of other crimes in the Madison area, even around campus, where is the leadership? Alder Judge has done good work with ASM and the neighborhood watch programs along with work to support measures to fund more police officers, the Rape Crisis Center, and fighting the silly police policy that prefers to spend resources raiding bars rather than patrolling the street. What about other campus leaders? Of course, I critique Ashok for his inability to support enforcement mechanisms as strongly, and I think it goes down as one of his biggest public policy mistakes. But, perhaps this is a topic those running for his District 5 seat on the Dane County Board would be wise to address in greater detail. They both speak about new directions and bringing a student voice. Well, we’re listening. Whaddya got? [...]
March 23, 2008 at 12:45 am
[...] My second thought takes me back to a post on the voting record of Sup. Kumar from a few months ago. …These news articles posted above cite a “countywide response” to crime and coordination between the city of Madison and Dane County Sherrif’s Office. Unfortunately, Kumar’s votes and positions will be in no way a helping hand to improve the resources Dane County needs to make this countywide response effective — his positions only serve to hinder the necessary anti-crime measures. With evidence that gang crime is “surging” in Dane County and the rise of other crimes in the Madison area, even around campus, where is the leadership? Alder Judge has done good work with ASM and the neighborhood watch programs along with work to support measures to fund more police officers, the Rape Crisis Center, and fighting the silly police policy that prefers to spend resources raiding bars rather than patrolling the street. What about other campus leaders? Of course, I critique Ashok for his inability to support enforcement mechanisms as strongly, and I think it goes down as one of his biggest public policy mistakes. But, perhaps this is a topic those running for his District 5 seat on the Dane County Board would be wise to address in greater detail. They both speak about new directions and bringing a student voice. Well, we’re listening. Whaddya got? [...]
March 29, 2008 at 2:24 am
Приветствую всех!
У меня такой вопрос,кто что интересное подскажет буду признателен.
Мы с друзьями собираемся поехать в круиз по просторам России и ближнего зарубежья месяца на два на своих машинах,но не как не можем согласовать маршрут,если у кого уже был опыт такого путешествия,может,что посоветуете.Девчонок с собой не берем,думаем,что во все городах России с этим не будет проблем,если у кого будут рекомендации и в вопросе отдыха с девушками тоже буду признателен.
С уважением Сеньчик