Another two-faced suburban Republican

This is where we came in.

September 2005: Michael Rosen of the Milwaukee Area Technical College faculty (and union president) was nominated by Gov. Jim Doyle for a spot on the state's Techncal College Board.

State Sen. Alberta Darling, a Whitefish Bay River Hills Repub, praised Rosen -- and then voted against him as the Senate rejected his nomination.

Fast-forward to this month. The governor nominates Rosen again.

State Rep. Sue Jeskewitz, a Menomonee Falls Repub, had this to say in a September 2005 e-mail when Rosen's first appointment was announced:

Dear Mike,

Congratulations! I just read about your appointment to the WTCS Board. I know you'll get a lot of good work done in your new role, and I look forward to continuing to work with you.

Sue

Office of Rep. Sue Jeskewitz
608-266-3796
1-888-529-0024 toll free in Wisconsin only
314N, State Capitol
Madison WI 53708

Wednesday, she issued a press release with a different tune:

..."Senate confirmation of Rosen's appointment would have been tantamount to asking the fox to guard the chicken coop." Rosen is AFT local 212 president, the largest union representing Milwaukee Area Technical College faculty where Rosen is employed as a professor of economics. Jeskewitz believes this is a blatant conflict of interest...

"I have met with Michael Rosen on many occasions and he is a perfectly nice man and a very knowledgeable one as well," explained Jeskewitz. "However, I do not believe that someone who is a union president at any technical college in the system belongs on the Wisconsin Technical College System board."

Who did she think she was sending that e-mail to, some other nice man named Michael Rosen?

Is there one suburban Republican with a mind of her own? Or do they all just fall into line when leadership says jump? I suspect that's a rhetorical question. As John Prine says, "A question ain't really a question if you know the answer, too."