Know your neighbor: Rick Graber, Republican fixer

It was Rick Graber's cheapshot, chickenshit press release Wednesday, attacking Russ Feingold -- . . . Feingold continues to undermine the milestones that have been made in Iraq by offering nothing more than a cowardly cut and run strategy" -- that made me a little curious about just who this tough talker is.

We know he's the chair of the state Republican party, and in that capacity he spews venom with the best of 'em. That goes with the territory to some degree, although Graber has overstepped, and stepped into some shit, with stunts like holding a news conference on voter fraud in front of the home of a Milwaukee family that was innocent of any fraud. It turned out Rick Graber was the fraud.

But, truth be told, I was looking into his bio to see if I could find a little military background to back up his fighting words. I didn't find any evidence that Graber has served in the military. Maybe he's too modest to mention it, although I highly doubt it.

But far be it from me to question his courage. I mean, maybe he has flat feet, ya know? So I'll give him a pass and not even call him a chickenhawk. And, yes, it's fine to have an opinion on the war whether you've ever experienced war or not. That's what our young men and women are fighting for -- the right of non-combatants to declare that we will keep sending them off to be killed until we achieve total victory. So all opinions are welcome.

I'd just be a little careful about using "coward" quite so freely. A good rule of thumb is to only call someone a coward if you think you can whip him, because you just might have to. It's the kind of thing that used to get a person challenged to a shootout. Even now, it could lead to fisticuffs, I suspect. And if concealed carry passes, we could be back to the shootouts. Would you call someone a coward if you knew he was armed? Maybe concealed carry will produce civility.

But I digress.

What I did find in Graber's law firm bio is pretty interesting:

Richard Graber is a director and President and Chief Executive Officer of the firm and a member of the Business Law and Government Relations Departments. Rick draws his clients from a variety of industries, including paper manufacturing, automotive, lighting, transportation, media, publishing, petroleum, moving and storage, financial institutions and higher education. Rick provides creative counsel and strategic help to his business clients on matters including mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, corporate governance and reorganization, executive compensation and corporate succession. He uses his knowledge and experience of government to help clients negotiate government contracts and to provide legislative solutions which stimulate the economy and help businesses to thrive.

Oh, really! What does that involve? Negotiating government contracts? Providing "legislative solutions"? Here are some of Graber's recent success stories the firm highlights:

Representing a transportation client which had lost a government contract it had maintained for 40 years. Rick was able to ensure that the contract was rebid and, as a result, his client was awarded the government work.

Got a contract re-bid and his client got it? Wouldn't you like to know a little more? Was this a firm that needed help with a state contract when Tommy Thompson or Scott McCallum were driving the bus? Or was it a Milwaukee County client who needed a little help with Scott Walker's government? Or something entirely different? Let's not jump to conclusions -- but do let's ask some questions. I somehow doubt this happened in Mississippi; I suspect it was close to home.

Enabling the state's two medical colleges to receive extensive funding from Blue Cross/Blue Shield by strategizing with the colleges and state officials to broker a fertile organizational environment for the funds.

Wouldn't you like to know just a little more, especially about who the "state officials" were?

Acting as a lead lawyer on the State of Wisconsin redistricting legislation.

Graber was hired, of course, by the Republican leadership in the legislature to draw the lines to benefit them, while the taxpayers foot the bill.

I don't know what this looks like to the average person. I think I may have a tad of anti-Graber bias. But it smells to me like a high-priced lawyer who's selling his access and power, at hundreds of dollars an hour, to make deals with his fellow Republicans. No, he's not a registered lobbyist. He's what you call a deal-maker. A fixer. He's the guy -- the non-lobbyist, mind you -- who went into the Republican caucus when there was a budget deadlock and brokered the deal.

Back to the bio:

When not practicing law or working on state politics, Rick enjoys perfecting his golf swing and coaching little league.

And setting cats on fire.