Every time I read one of Kane's columns, I see a lot of good stuff in there, but then he always has a way to screw it up just enough...

I have previously suggested the feds must view McGee as Milwaukee's own Tony Soprano. But when the federal government prosecuted local crime boss Frank Balistrieri and his two sons in 1984 on conspiracy and extortion charges, the defendants remained free on bail despite government concerns that they could intimidate witnesses.

Political kingpin Chuck Chvala, the former Senate majority leader who was convicted of felony corruption charges, wasn't imprisoned after being charged with extortion even though prosecutors expressed fears that if he were free he could intimidate witnesses.

He brings up McGee's charges.  He brings up the witness intimidation.  He makes apt comparisons to other cases in the past.  OK.  Fine.  But what are we supposed to do about it?  Kane would have us believe that the right solution here is to let McGee out on bail so he can freely intimidate witnesses, and possibly cause physical harm to them.  Why?  Because we've let others do it in the past.

So if we made mistakes in the past, that's justification to continue to make mistakes in the future, just to be fair.  And you wonder why things never improve for some people?  Some of us actually try to look to the past in order to learn from it, so as not to make those same mistakes again.  The philosopher George Santayana famously wrote that "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."  That is a warning to all that ignorance has consequences.  But what does one say about someone who is not ignorant of the past, but still doesn't learn the lessons?