Just when I thought things couldn’t get any crazier in Wisconsin:

Abusing Open Records to Attack Academic Freedom

Any of you folks in academia, either private or public, will really want to see this. The WI Republican party is targeting Professor Bill Cronon, who wrote a NYT op-ed about WI politics that asked some uncomfortable questions. They’re requesting to see all his emails for the past few months under an open record law. This law was designed so that citizens would have transparency in government activity, but instead this law is being used to discredit and intimidate the professor.

Well worth reading. For those who don’t know, I was born and raised in Wisconsin and my parents are still there. In the past, WI has been a very progressive state (to a degree that surprises some people on the coasts), and this current nightmare leaves me heartsick.