Caffeinated Politics

“The point of modern propaganda isn’t only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.” ― Garry Kasparov.

It is a travesty for the Madison Independent Police Monitor to pretend now they have work to do following the arrest of Maia Pearson from the Madison School Board and Brandi Grayson-Tuck. Madison police initially reported the two were yelling and throwing things. Grayson-Tuck was outside the vehicle when officers arrived. She got into the vehicle, despite being told not to, according to police. Officers gave both women instructions to get out of the vehicle, and they refused. They were then removed from the vehicle, police said.

Police said they could smell intoxicants. Grayson-Tuck refused to cooperate with field sobriety testing and was taken to the hospital on a warrant for a blood draw. She was arrested for three counts of disorderly conduct and operating a motor vehicle while under the influence. Pearson was arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting. Both were medically cleared at the hospital before being taken to the Dane County Jail.

So, it is truly laughable that this police monitor, who has no track record for anything but taking taxpayer money for salaries, is feverishly attaching itself to a headline, hoping it can morph into legitimacy. It was only in September that the monitor was reported to have done no work, served no purpose other than collecting just under $400,000 annually from the city, and for that arduous undertaking was seeking an additional $65,600 in the 2026 budget. No, that is not a typo. Nor a joke.

I am proud of Madison’s progressive nature and applaud community engagement. However, no one can say that this agency, which was born amid strong emotions in the city, has not spiraled into a bureaucratic mess. While the agency was created to provide civilian oversight of the Madison Police Department, aiming to increase transparency and trust, what has resulted in nearly two years has been nothing more than disbursements of taxpayer money for staff.

I know there is almost a cottage industry in trying to portray the local police as bad guys. But you know as well as I do that the vast majority of the MPD are akin to Chief Patterson. Professionals whom we call upon when they are needed, and the type of people, if they were our neighbors, who would be added to a cookout. Or an indoor card game as the snow falls.

Former Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes didn’t mince words when he said this agency had become “a hammer looking for a nail.” Well, the monitor now thinks it can win points in the defense of two people who clearly were overserved with alcohol somewhere, acting in ways that ran counter to the laws of society. Drinking and driving is never acceptable. Not obeying the orders of a police officer is not something that can be allowed, either. It does not matter about gender, race, or whether you are a Packers fan or a Bears fan. If we do not have certain basic laws and rules that are followed by all, then they mean nothing at all to everyone else.

What we are about to witness is that the Madison Independent Police Monitor is trying to impress its supporters. Instead, it will look akin to the small boy dressing up in dad’s clothes. A message will be sent to the city as the weeks progress. The message will be that the Office of the Independent Police Monitor is simply serving itself at the taxpayers’ expense.