You Can Call Me Scooter

In lieu of recent events, I have decided to undertake the legal means to rename my children. I'm certain that my wife and I do the best we can raising the three little urchins ... others have said as much, too. But a little precaution can go a long way.

So, from now on when referring to my 11 year-old son, my six year-old daughter, and my baby daughter, please call them Scooter. At least I can be assured that should any of the three become involved in some unforeseen illegal activty, their chances of avoiding jail when convicted (like Scott "Scooter" Jensen), or receiving amnesty though having lied during trial (like "Scooter" Libby) are increased.

You can never be too careful. I could take the extra step and have them join the Republican party, but that's going just a bit too far.

Proud to be Liberal

This piece by Theodore C.Sorensen is long, but I will print it in its entirety because it is that important. This is why I am proud to be a liberal, this is what America should be about. I, too, would like to hear my Democratic nominee for President read this acceptance speech.

On the 15th of July, 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy accepted his party’s presidential nomination at the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles. In his remarks, made at a moment of high tension in the cold war, Kennedy asserted that the United States was at "a turning point in history" and called on his listeners to be "pioneers" in a "New Frontier" of "uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus."

Collaborating with Kennedy on the speech was a thirty-two-year-old aide named Theodore C. Sorensen, to whom Kennedy was known to refer as his "intellectual blood bank." With Sorensen’s help, Kennedy would earn a reputation as one of American history’s great orators and provide a bold new vision for the nation.

Today, we are at another moment of high tension, the result of a disastrous war abroad and division and drift at home. Like Kennedy, the next Democratic nominee, whoever he or she might be, will have a similar opportunity to form a new vision for America and to reestablish its moral leadership in the world. To encourage such boldness of thinking, we, too, tapped Kennedy’s intellectual blood bank. We called Theodore C. Sorensen and asked him to write the speech he would most want the next Democratic nominee to give at the party convention in Denver in August 2008. We requested that he proceed with no candidate in mind and that he give no consideration to expediency or tactics—in other words, that he write the speech of his dreams. Here is the speech he sent us.

There will be more debates this fall. I hereby notify my Republican opponent that I have purchased ninety minutes of national network television time for each of the six Sunday evenings preceding the presidential election, and here and now invite and challenge him to share that time with me to debate the most serious issues facing the country, under rules to be agreed upon by our respective designees meeting this week with a neutral jointly selected statesman.

Let me assure all those who may disagree with my positions that I shall hear and respect their views, not denounce them as unpatriotic as has so often happened in recent years. I will wage a campaign that relies not on the usual fear, smear, and greed but on the hopes and pride of all our citizens in a nationwide effort to restore comity, common sense, and competence to the White House.

In this campaign, I will make no promises I cannot fulfill, pledge no spending we cannot afford, offer no posts to cronies you cannot trust, and propose no foreign commitment we should not keep. I will not shrink from opposing any party faction, any special interest group, or any major donor whose demands are contrary to the national interest. Nor will I shrink from calling myself a liberal, in the same sense that Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt, John and Robert Kennedy, and Harry Truman were liberals—liberals who proved that government is not a necessary evil, but rather the best means of creating a healthier, more educated, and more prosperous America.

They are the giants on whose shoulders I now stand, giants who made this a better, fairer, safer, stronger, more united America.

By making me your nominee, you have placed your trust in the American people to put aside irrelevant considerations and judge me solely on my qualifications to lead the nation. You have opened the stairway to what Teddy Roosevelt called the "bully pulpit." With the help of dedicated Americans from our party, every party, and no party at all, I intend to mount that stairway to preach peace for our nation and world.

My campaign will be based on my search for the perfect political consensus, not the perfect political consultant. My chief political consultant will be my conscience.

Thank you for your applause, but I need more than your applause and approval. I need your prayers, your votes, your help, your heart, and your hand. The challenge is enormous, the obstacles are many. Our nation is emerging from eight years of misrule, a dark and difficult period in which our national honor and pride have been bruised and battered. But we are neither beaten nor broken. We are not helpless or afraid; because in this country the people rule, and the people want change.

True, some of us have been sleeping for these eight long years, while our nation’s values have been traduced, our liberties reduced, and our moral authority around the world trampled and shattered by a nightmare of ideological incompetence. But now we are awakening and taking our country back. Now people all across America are starting to believe in America again. We are coming back, back to the heights of greatness, back to America’s proud role as a temple of justice and a champion of peace.

The American people are tired of politics as usual, and I intend to offer them, in this campaign, something unusual in recent American politics: the truth. Neither bureaucracies nor nations function well when their actions are hidden from public view and accountability. From now on, whatever mistakes I make, whatever dangers we face, the people shall know the truth—and the truth shall make them free. After eight years of secrecy and mendacity, here are some truths the people deserve to hear:

We remain essentially a nation under siege. The threat of another terrorist attack upon our homeland has not been reduced by all the new layers of porous bureaucracy that proved their ineptitude in New Orleans; nor by all the needless, mindless curbs on our personal liberties and privacy; nor by expensive new weaponry that is utterly useless in stopping a fanatic willing to blow himself up for his cause. Indeed, our vulnerability to another attack has only been worsened in the years since the attacks of September 11th—worsened by our government convincing more than 1 billion Muslims that we are prejudiced against their faith, dismissive of international law, and indifferent to the deaths of their innocent children; worsened by our failure to understand their culture or to provide a safe haven for the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees displaced by a war we started; worsened by our failure to continue our indispensable role in the Middle East peace process.

We have adopted some of the most indefensible tactics of our enemies, including torture and indefinite detention.

We have degraded our military.

We have treated our most serious adversaries, such as Iran and North Korea, in the most juvenile manner—by giving them the silent treatment. In so doing, we have weakened, not strengthened, our bargaining position and our leadership.

At home, as health care costs have grown and coverage disappeared, we have done nothing but coddle the insurance, pharmaceutical, and health care industries that feed the problem.
As global warming worsens, we have done nothing but deny the obvious and give regulatory favors to polluters.

As growing economic inequality tarnishes our democracy, we have done nothing but carve out more tax breaks for the rich.

During these last several years, our nation has been bitterly divided and deceived by illicit actions in high places, by violations of federal, constitutional, and international law. I do not favor further widening the nation’s wounds, now or next year, through continuous investigations, indictments, and impeachments. I am confident that history will hold these malefactors accountable for their deeds, and the country will move on.

Instead, I shall seek a renewal of unity among all Americans, an unprecedented unity we will need for years to come in order to face unprecedented danger.

We will be safer from terrorist attack only when we have earned the respect of all other nations instead of their fear, respect for our values and not merely our weapons.

If I am elected president, my vow for this country can be summarized in one short, simple word: change. This November 2008 election—the first since 1952 in which neither the incumbent president’s nor the incumbent vice president’s name will appear on the national ballot, indeed the first since 1976 in which the name of neither Bill Clinton nor George Bush will appear on the national ballot—is destined to bring about the most profound change in the direction of this country since the election of 1932.

To meet the threats we face and restore our place of leadership in the free world, I pledge to do the following:

First, working with a representative Iraqi parliament, I shall set a timetable for an orderly, systematic redeployment and withdrawal of all our troops in Iraq, including the recall of all members of the National Guard to their primary responsibility of guarding our nation and its individual states.

Second, this redeployment shall be only the first step in a comprehensive regional economic and diplomatic stabilization plan for the entire Middle East, building a just and enduring peace between Israel and Palestine, halting the killing and maiming of innocent civilians on both sides, and establishing two independent sovereign states, each behind peacefully negotiated and mutually recognized borders.

Third, I shall as soon as possible transfer all inmates out of the Guantanamo Bay prison and close down that hideous symbol of injustice.

Fourth, I shall fly to New York City to pledge in person to the United Nations, in the September 2009 General Assembly, that the United States is returning to its role as a leader in international law, as a supporter of international tribunals, and as a full-fledged member of the United Nations which will pay its dues in full, on time, and without conditions, renouncing any American empire; that we shall work more intensively with other countries to eliminate global scourges, including AIDS, malaria, and other contagious diseases, massive refugee flows, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and that we will support the early dispatch of United Nations peacekeepers to halt the atrocities in Darfur. I shall make it clear that we do not covet the land of other countries for our military bases or the control of their natural resources for our factories. I shall make it clear that our country is not bound by any policies or pronouncements of my predecessor that violate international law or threaten international peace.

Fifth, I shall personally sign the Kyoto Protocol, and seek its ratification by the United States Senate, in order to stop global warming before it endangers all species on earth, including our own; and I shall call upon the Congress to take action dramatically reducing our nation’s reliance on the carbon fuels that are steadily contributing to the degradation of our environment.

Sixth, I shall demonstrate sufficient confidence in the strength of our values and the wisdom and skill of our diplomats to favor communications, negotiations, and full relations with every country on earth, including Cuba, North Korea, Palestine, and Iran.

Finally, I shall restore the constitutional right of habeas corpus, abolish the unconstitutional tapping of private phones, and once again show the world the traditional American values that distinguish us from those who attacked us on 9/11.

We need not renounce the use of conventional force. We will be ready to repel any clear and present danger that poses a genuine threat to our national security and survival. But it will be as a last resort, never a first; in cooperation with our allies, never alone; out of necessity, never by choice; proportionate, never heedless of civilian lives or international law; as the best alternative considered, never the only. We will always apply the same principles of collective security, prudent caution, and superior weaponry that enabled us to peacefully prevail in the long cold war against the Soviet Union. Above all, we shall wage no more unilateral, ill-planned, ill-considered, and ill-prepared invasions of foreign countries that pose no actual threat to our security. No more wars in which the American Congress is not told in advance and throughout their duration the true cost, consequences, and terms of commitment. No more wars waged by leaders blinded by ideology who have no legal basis to start them and no plan to end them. We shall oppose no peaceful religion or culture, insult or demonize no peace-minded foreign leader, and spare no effort in meeting those obligations of leadership and assistance that our comparative economic strength has thrust upon us. We shall listen, not lecture; learn, not threaten. We will enhance our safety by earning the respect of others and showing respect for them. In short, our foreign policy will rest on the traditional American values of restraint and empathy, not on military might.

In the final analysis, our nation cannot be secure around the world unless our citizens are secure at home—secure not only from external attack, but secure as well from the rising tide of national debt, secure from the financial and physical ravages of uninsured disease, secure from discrimination in our schools and neighborhoods, secure from the bitter unrest generated by a widening gap between our richest and poorest citizens. They are not secure in a country lacking reasonable limitations on the sale of handguns to criminals, the mentally disturbed, and prospective terrorists. And our citizens are not secure when some of their fellow citizens, loyal Islamic Americans, are made to feel they are the targets of hysteria or bigotry.

I believe in an America in which the fruits of productivity and prosperity are shared by all, by workers as well as owners, by those at the bottom as well as those at the top; an America in which the sacrifices required by national security are shared by all, by profiteers in the back offices as well as volunteers on the front lines.

In my administration, I shall restore balance and fairness to the national tax system. I shall level the playing field for organized labor. I shall end the unseemly favors to corporations that allow them to profit without competing, for it is through competition that we innovate, and it is through innovation that we raise the wages of our workers. It shames our nation that profits for corporations have soared even as wages for average Americans have fallen. It shames us still more that so many African American men must struggle to find jobs.

We will make sure that no American citizen, from the youngest child to the oldest retiree, and especially no returning serviceman or military veteran, will be denied fully funded medical care of the highest quality.

To pay for these domestic programs, my administration will make sure that subsidies and tax breaks go only to those who need them most, not those who need them least, and that we fund only those weapons systems we need to meet the threats of today and tomorrow, not those of yesterday.

The purpose of public office is to do good, not harm; to change lives, help lives, and save lives, not destroy them. I look upon the presidency not as an opportunity to rule, but as an opportunity to serve. I intend to serve all the people, regardless of party, race, region, or religion.

Let us all, here assembled in this hall, or watching at home, constitute ourselves, rededicate ourselves, as soldiers in a new army. Not an army of death and destruction, but a new army of voters and volunteers, in a new wave of workers for peace and justice at home and abroad, new missionaries for the moral rebirth of our country. I ask for every citizen’s help, not merely those who live in the red states or those who live in the blue states, but every citizen in every state. Although we may be called fools and dreamers, although we will find the going uphill, in the words of the poet: "Say not the struggle naught availeth." We will change our country’s direction, and hand to the generation that follows a nation that is safer, cleaner, less divided, and less fearful than the nation we will inherit next January.

I’m told that John F. Kennedy was fond of quoting Archimedes, who explained the principle of the lever by declaring: "Give me a place to stand, and I can move the world." My fellow Americans—here I stand. Come join me, and together we will move the world to a new era of a just and lasting peace.

Puff the Magic Commenter

This post is in response to comments made by that master debater, Fred Dooley, author of the hilariously named Real Debate blog. Fred responded first to my post titled "Wrong Again", in which I chastised local former radio host, Jessica McBride, for comparing herself to that tub of malprofundity, Rush Limbaugh, and to man puppet, Ann Coulter. Fred took issue first with my comments that Limbaugh's inelegant spoof of David Ehrenstein's "Obama the Magic Negro" op ed was inherently racist. He asked why I did not condemn Ehrenstein's piece in the same manner as I condemned Limbaugh, reminding me that Ehrenstein is black.

Hmmm. Let me type this slowly for Fred and his friends so they can understand (mind you I type slowly anyway). Ehrenstein's piece was indeed provacative. He spoke of white liberal guilt and its need to replace the "highly sexualized black man" with a benign figure, someone like Scatman Crothers or Will Smith.

But for goodness sake, it was an opinion piece ... and fyi, well written. Make up your own mind, but don't dance around and tell me that Ehrenstein and Limbaugh are somehow related in matters racial.

Limbaugh and his parody ... it had nothing to do with opinion. It had everything to do with satisfying that little itch that can't be scratched publicly, so distract the viewers with a little song and dance. Digby said it best back in April 2007.

He [Limbaugh] knows his audience and what they are thinking. And that little ditty "Barack the Magic Negro" will stick --- not in the minds of the liberals whom Ehrenstein claims see him as the great assuager of liberal guilt, but by racist creeps who just love to snigger and snort over the word "negro." Dittoheads know exactly what Rush is about here no matter what kind of patently absurd nonsense he spews about liberals putting African Americans up on auction blocks. Everybody's in on the joke.

And that's exactly what it was ... a sordid, awful and petty little joke by a petty (in stature, not girth) little man. It did not contribute anything to society. Racists never do.

I'll let another, the Illusory Tenant (who is fast becoming a fan favorite), tackle the McBride issue (which I thought I did well, but you know the old saying about short people, Fred). He lays bare McBride's silliness and abject inability to make a coherent point because she fails to do the leg work.

Regardng my other post, titled "Oh, the Injustice" ... Fred accused me of being silly for searching for a gotcha moment. The moment, in his mind, the juxtaposition of Oshkosh gun shots and Juneteenth violence. They're not the same he roars.

Again, his argument, while welcomed because blogs are for the most part compiled of opinion pieces with invitations to comment, missed the point. Hmmm. Follow the keystrokes again. I was not comparing the degree of violence, I was comparing the coverage. The post had nothing to do with the amount of violence that occurs in the respective counties, it had everything to do with white conservative bloggers spending an incredibly inordinate amount of time on black issues. I understand why ... it plays to the dittoheads among you.

Wow, Limbaugh really was a trailblazer. Even as far back as the 1970s when he once told a black caller: 'Take that bone out of your nose and call me back."

Fred, if the shoe fits ....

Helen Thomas: American Hero

Here is a link to an interview of veteran White House correspondent, Helen Thomas, by Glenn Greenwald, author of the blog Unclaimed Territory. Thomas is one of the few, if not the only reporter, who stands up to this administration. She refuses to ask the easy questions and does not let the administration off the hook when it tries to provide the pat answers. At the end of the interview, she had this to say about her relationship with the administration

I always say to them -- who are you? We pay you. You are working for the American people. It doesn't mean we're antagonistic. It means we care about this country, and care about truth. And I honestly believe we will be better off when we face the reality of what we've done.

To those on the right who say those who question policy are traitors, that those who refuse to accept the lies spread by this administration are in league with the enemy ... shame on you. You are the ones who care only about yourselves and not one wit for your country. But then, isn't that the conservative agenda anyway (paraphrasing JFK) ... "Ask not what I can do for my country, ask what is best for me."

Don't Spare the Bombs

Jessica McBride and Ann Coulter have much in common. Both are women. Both conservative. And both wish the war in Iraq to continue, damn the consequences to the people of Iraq. More here from Coulter (from Tuesday "Hardball" edition), whom McBride has been defending of late.

"We need to be less concerned about civilian casualties...we bombed more people in Hamburg in two days ... I'd rather have their civilians die than our civilians... we should kill their people."

Cluck Cluck

Elizabeth Edwards called into MSNBC's "Hardball" on Tuesday to speak with Ann Coulter and ask her to discontinue her personal attacks on her husband, John Edwards ... and discontinue her personal attacks in general. Coulter's response was to belittle Edwards for calling and accused her of stopping her from speaking.

Typical of Coulter and conservatives in general. Asking for civility from them is akin, in their minds, to shutting them up. Following is an interesting part of the exchange between the two, with Chris Matthews moderating:

Edwards: I'm making this call as a mother. I'm the mother of that boy who died. My children participate -- these young people behind you are the age of my children. You're asking them to participate in a dialogue that's based on hatefulness and ugliness instead of on the issues and I don't think that's serving them or this country very well.

[Applause from the crowd]

Matthews: Thank you very much Elizabeth Edwards. (Turning to Coulter) Do you want to -- you have all the time in the world to respond.

Coulter: I think we heard all we need to hear. The wife of a presidential candidate is asking me to stop speaking. No.

That's the best Coulter could do. When confronted by someone, rather than enjoying the security of long distance attacks, Coulter is like our local former radio host, Jessica McBride ... a clucking chicken.

Boy Genius

Again, apologies to Tom Tomorrow. Click on image to enlarge.

Wrong Again

Still smarting from her ouster at WTMJ for being a really bad on-air personality, Jessica McBride cannot resist comparing herself to Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter in an effort to lend some sort of weird legitimacy to her blogging efforts. She says this about recent comments by Coulter:

She was clearly making a satirical commentary on the double standard that exists when it comes to the media's reaction over perceived liberal and conservative "offensiveness." She was clearly pointing out that since Bill Maher received far less criticism than she did for his comments on Cheney, joking about assassinations by terrorists has apparently been declared fair game by the MSM (her implicit point, which the AP just proved, is that she could never get away with saying what Bill Maher and liberals get away with saying).

But the MSM either don't get it or choose not to get it, just like they chose not to get Rush Limbaugh's "Barack the Magic Negro" parody or why I asked Eugene Kane if it was a crisis and mocked him for not being willing to come on my show to answer tough questions (if I'd only played crickets instead of a chicken...). Mark Belling had it right when he said that the liberals and media go after conservative humor first because it's harder to defend and easier to misconstrue. They misconstrue it by reporting the humor without the humor or the underlying political/social point.

Leaving aside the fact she has a real problem if she cannot see the inherent racism in Limbaugh's inelegant spoof, and she really, really has a problem if she continues to think her final episode on radio had anything to do with serious journalism, McBride inadvertently (and humorously) makes the point for liberals about conservative humor. She's right: Conservative humor is harder to defend.

Answer: Perhaps it's because conservative humor that relies on making threats, relies on racism, relies on the death of a little 4-year old to score political points is just not funny.

As much as this pains me to write: McBride, you are no Limbaugh or Coulter. While both share the same egomania with you, they actually have talent, even if it is used for vile purposes.

Oh, the Injustice

I swear they get together and have posting parties. How droll.

Patrick McIlheran and Jessica McBride unite to provide more evidence they just don't get it. They take turns pounding the keyboard to provide statistical evidence that Mike Plaisted was wrong and there really is more violent crime in Milwaukee than in Oshkosh. Problem is, the piece that Mike Plaisted wrote about the "Guns of Oshkosh" had nothing to do with the amount of violence that occurs, but rather with the perception that conservatives are really interested only in all things "black people." Look at McBride's site and over 50% of the last 20 posts have to do with either African-Americans or Hispanics. I suspect some of her outrage is because so few live in the Town of Merton, her home residence. Heck, they get escorted out by gunpoint and with the help of a snarling dog just for fishing.

As for Paddy Mac, let me say this even more slowly so he can understand: Plaisted was making a point about the lack of coverage by conservative bloggers, he was not playing a numbers game.

Fair is Fair

Just got back from camping (well, yesterday afternoon). Didn't have to defeat the hungry bears, as dad29 suggested in the previous post. They have all successfully pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, completed their internships and now have productive jobs ... won't have to ply them with money to keep them happy, ala liberal policy-making, right daddio?

Still, the four days of camping were a blast. This is an event that has been going on for nie 30 years ... a group of friends from before high school. We don't so much camp, we bring our electrical equipment to the woods. I brought a blender for margueritas ... you get the picture. However, my kids and I did sleep in a tent that I put up all by myself. We even survived a rain storm successfully. Ooooh.

Anyway, back in town and I see the Fairness Doctrine argument has been going all ga-ga in my absence (see this from Jay Bullock not only for his excellent comments but as an easy means to see all the other arguments flowing from the blogsphere ... so I don't have to). As I rocked my baby daughter to sleep this morning, I started scooting around the Internet and found this piece by the Anonymous Liberal. It exactly says what has been rocking about in my thick skull for the past week ... the irony that the free market skreed by conservatives somehow doesn't apply to the supposedly "liberal" media. Somehow, free market forces are the entire reason for conservative talk radio dominance, yet the free market argument doesn't apply to the other media. Rather, because of their "obvious liberal bias" (lol) they are viciously handing it to conservatives. Read the article below ... it's good.


This week the Center for American Progress issued a report documenting the severe imbalance between conservative and liberal political talk radio (over 90% of programming is conservative) and postulating that structural factors such as consolidation of ownership and syndication practices are at least partly responsible for this imbalance.

The reaction from the right was swift and dismissive. Among right-wing bloggers and pundits, the suggestion that anything other than normal market forces explains the dominance of conservative talk radio is greeted with instant mockery and scorn. As Ed Morrissey put it:

Rather than run crying to the federal government, progressives may want to find out why their shows don’t attract listeners. It’s a market, just like any other in broadcasting. If liberal talk shows attracted listeners, then advertisers would line up to sponsor them.

Now putting aside the question of whether Morrissey is right about the radio market, can anyone spot the astounding bit of cognitive dissonance embedded in this claim? If the phrase "liberal bias" popped into your head, then congratulations, you're smarter than the average conservative blogger.

Yes, the people who insist that conservative dominance of talk radio is purely a product of the market and mock any suggestion of structural imbalance are the very same people who complain endlessly that every other form of news media is plagued by "liberal bias." According to conservative gospel, the "mainstream media" is dominated by liberals who continually foist their liberal views upon the public.

But, you ask, why doesn't the magic of the market work in the television and print industries? By Captain Ed's logic, shouldn't conservatives stop "crying" about liberal bias and just come up with better ideas? After, it is a market. If conservatives would just come up with material that people liked, the advertisers would flock to them, right?

It really is amazing. A central tenet of the modern conservative worldview is that all sorts of structural imbalances in the news media unfairly disadvantage conservatives. This is supposedly why they had to go and create Fox News, because everything else was dominated by liberals. But when it comes to talk radio, they insist that only market forces can possibly explain the situation, that any suggestion of structural imbalance is crazy talk. Is a little bit of intellectual consistency too much to ask?

Diversity 101

The Republicans' idea of diversity means giving the people a choice between a rich old white guy, a richer old white guy and a richer, older, whiter guy.

-- Will Durst

A Bad Day

One of our local conservative bloggers was having a bad day a little while ago. Nothing compared to this bad day, me thinks.

Frankovis for Dogcatcher

Another comment from rejected wannabe police chief, Glenn D. Frankovis. Yes, he would have been a fine police chief for the wingnut/bigoted citizens of Milwaukee (sarcasm intended).

Owen, it’s all about “Diversity uber alles” and the liberal racist feeling good about him/herself for helping the poor “oppressed” minority (or other protected class member) because it’s very apparent (to the lib) that without the lib’s help, this person couldn’t do it by him/herself. Equal Opportunity just isn’t enough for these people.

What a pathetic statement. His proof is some obsure comment by Hubert Humphrey back in 1964. Fact is Humphrey was a hack. He was willing to say anything to ensure a chance at the Presidency (kind of like Liberman today). To use him as an example of liberal policies is, to say the least, bizarre.

Frankovis, you are a twisted putz and the city of Milwaukee is light years better off that you are not being considered for police chief.

Glad He Won't Be Chief

I read recently that former city of Milwaukee police officer, Glenn D. Frankovis, the originator of the "thug" memo a few years ago, was recently told he was no longer being considered for the position of Police Chief of the city of Milwaukee. I read his resume cover letter (posted at Real Debate) ... it would make an excellent example of how not to write a resume cover letter.

Copied below are a couple comments by Mr. Frankovis at Real Debate. I for one am thankful this fruitloop was not considered. I have a tough time thinking he would be able to show any form of objectivity.

What we need are more Bookmobiles and church meetings to discuss Anger Management. Anybody up for a chorus of "We are the world?"Glenn D. Frankovis 06.11.07 - 4:44 pm #

These clowns derive their power from the real thugs in this country - the mainstream media and its ultra left wing puppeteers. The fact that Republicans don't seem to have the balls to stand up to them doesn't help either.Glenn D. Frankovis 06.09.07 - 10:36 am #


UPDATE: Saint Fred at Real Debate caught that I inaccurately referred to Frankovis' resume, when it should have been his cover letter. Unlike wingnuts, I admit and correct my errors.

We Agreed to Disagree and Had Fun Doing It

It was a perfect day for sitting outside on the patio, munching on yummy appetizers, eating lemon and barbecue chicken, failing to resist dessert and hoisting a few with friends.

James Wigderson and Doreen Wigderson of Wigderson Library and Pub infamy (kidding); his father Bill and mom, Molly; Aaron Kreel of Subject to Change and the wonderful Kelly; Michael Mathias and Anne Quimby-Mathias of Pundit Nation fame, and family and friends got together Sunday for ... fun. It was a blast ... conversations were lively, kids ran wild and we hope to do it again real soon. Below is a picture of the lesser half of the Rock family with daughter Quin, and Aaron and Kelly's son Cole.

She's a Serious Pundit

Apologies to Tom Tomorrow.

I Hate Politicians

From Tom Tomorrow and I couldn't agree more.


Brownback, during the audience Q&A portion of the debate, to a woman whose younger brother died in Iraq eight days before he was due to rotate home:

"Thank you for your family’s service, and what your brother did, that’s incredible, an incredible gift that he and your family have given us."

Well, no, see, actually this man’s death was not an "incredible gift" to us, it was a tragic loss to his family, and the appropriate response is "I’m very sorry for your loss." But to say that would be to acknowledge that there’s something to be sorry for when someone dies in Iraq, and no one on that stage can acknowledge that. So the deaths of our troops are now "incredible gifts." And it’s Christmastime, every fucking day.

Friday Thoughts

My five-month old daughter, Quin, has been taking up most of my time at late ... and gardening.

I have two older children, but I was not as involved, nor interested really, in their early baby years. I fed them their bubbas (baby bottles), changed their often stinky diapers and tossed them around a bit (the kids, not the diapers). Taking care of a baby full-time is quite a bit more. Consequently, less time for other activities ... a sacrifice I am glad to make (and I am sure many in the blogging world are glad of too).

Quin is an awful lot of fun. She rolls over onto her tummy now. The other day I set her down on the rug by her toys and turned away to do something for no more than a minute and she had rolled half-way across the rug ... she looked up at me with a huge toothless grin as though to say, "Look what I did, Daddy."

We read together. We watch Law and Order and Star Trek together. We even sing together. She makes a humming sound occassionally. When I join in we can actually harmonize. I have a song made for her (similar to one I made up for my other kids).

I know this little girl

Her name is Quin

Her favorite thing is to ride on her Schwin

Yes it is ... yeah yeah yeah

Yes it is.

I love my little baby

I love her so

I love very much

To nibble on the toes

of baby Quin.

And on and on ... she also likes it when I make clucking sounds. None of which the general public will ever hear ... Probably for the best (regarding their ear drums).

No where in any of the time we spend together do I talk politics. But I do have to say this ... I hope she never has to live in a world in which the distasteful affirmative action policy recommendations of Glenn Grothman are enacted. In Grothman's world, song and dance is something minorities should be good at (It's in their genes, right?). And, regarding his recommendation that affirmative action applicants be able to speak the language of the heritage they claim ... raise your hands if any of you can remember how to speak the language of your African ancestors, 300 years removed?

Rick Esenberg was right that no one is planning to do a Kristallnacht anytime soon ... regarding the smashing of windows and shops and such. I suppose I can agree that some sort of verification might be required. However, not in the abominable ways that Grothman proposed. You see, I do believe it's a spiritual Kristallnacht that Grothmanand his kind are planning. One in which the American traditions of fair play and decency are thrown out to accomodate the wishes of a few angry white men.

By the way, the garden is coming along nicely, considering the reduced amount of time I have to work on it. As I write I'm thinking of the thistles that must be removed, and some new plants that must be planted in the front before Sunday (we're having a big barbecue ... more on that later).

UPDATE: More today from Michael Mathias on the onerous tactics of Grothman.

Won't Be Cowed Under Again

h/t Whallah!

Jessica McBride continues her quest to re-write the dictionary, or at least the rules of grammar. This post commented about a quip by Tommy Thompson ....

Leave it to Tommy Thompson. He's certainly come up with a memorable line during each GOP presidential debate. Too bad they all seem off key. The latest:

Asked at Tuesday's Republican presidential debate how he would use President Bush after Bush leaves office, Tommy Thompson said, "I certainly would not send him to the United Nations."

Actually, at least on terrorism, Bush is exactly the kind of person we need at the UN, not someone who will be cowed under by scandal-ridden bureaucrats and European nations with vested interests that undermine our national security. Give me a John Bolton type over a John Kerry type any day. Some media types say Tommy performed better overall in this debate. I wasn't able to watch this one, so I can't vouch for that or debunk it.

Cowed under? Feels something like this, I suspect.

Will Colson Come To Her Rescue?

I wonder if she will see the light, or will it be former Richard Nixon chief counsel, Chuck Colson, who will come to minister to the poor lamb, Paris Hilton?

Hilton is about to embark on her 45 day adventure in the penal system. She may have the sentence reduced to 23 days for good behavior, but that seems rather extreme considering her behavior to date.

This could be just the challenge for Colson. It would be interesting to see if the former hatchet man could make an impression on Paris. However, tt has been said that Colson is a believer in intelligent design (ok, ok ... it was a Wiki source). Considering his past, and Paris' life to date, this reader sees nothing intelligent about either of them.

Bill Clement (aka Billiam)

Preferring smaller, more intimate get togethers, today was another effort by The Other Side to bring some sort of peace to the blogosphere. Not that any effort really was needed between Bill Clement (author of View from the Cheap Seats) and myself. Bill has always been respectful and his comments always fun to read.

Anyway, today Bill, my wife, our youngest daughter and I got together for breakfast at the Machine Shed this morning at ten. What a pleasure it was to meet and chat with Bill! While we come from mostly different aspects of the national debate on everything, Bill and I agree that what is most important is we are human and we can get together and be friendly.

I would say more than just friendly, because after just one meeting (though countless blog meetings), I am happy to consider Bill a friend. Now if only dad29 can make it. Daddio, I was going to ask Bill if he had met you (while retaining your anonymity). But since Bill mentioned you by name right off the bat, you became a topic of conversation. Bill confirmed that we would probably enjoy a get together.

Bill says he will be available again sometime in July (or so). I'm already beginning preliminary plans for another barbecue. See you, and Bill then (I hope).

Wild Turkey

I love our yard. I've written previously of the deer that have passed through our backyard. I've seen cardinals, finches, a coyote, etc. ... and today, three wild turkeys (from a distance I believe two were male) were seen, first by my wife. They are really magnificent creatures and were apparently simpy foraging.

Ben Franklin wrote to his daughter that he would have preferred the wild turkey have been named the national bird. Here is the text of his letter.

For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him.

With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District. He is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country...

I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America... He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.

Liar, Liar

For someone who protests quite a lot that the left uses the word racist to shut down the speech of conservatives, Jessica McBride surely seems obsessed with people whose skin is a darker hue. Six of her last seven posts either had to do with immigration issues (you know, brown people coming to America), or Michael McGee (you know, that black guy in Milwaukee). Considering that the brouhaha that got her fired, at its core, had to do with an unfunny and sophomoric practical joke she attempted to pull on Eugene Kane (you know, the black columnist for the Journal Sentinel), and one cannot help but wonder why she is so obsessed.

Plus, she lives in the town of Merton, where black people have not been welcomed, of late, by some of its residents.

Is she a racist? I really don't know. I do know that her continued obsession with non-whites (let's not forget the Muslims in our midst) is suspicious.

Oh, btw, in my opinion she's lying when she says she moved her WTMJ comments to one spot for easy reading. The only reason she did so was because she wasn't aware that Google caching enabled people to find those posts and re-publish them for all to see her lunacy. Kind of an "oops" on her part, don'tcha think?

She Just Said Something Even Dumber

What a war-monger. For someone who claims to be a "professional" journalist, thereby implying a modicum of intelligence and the ability to think, Jessica McBride continues to bewilder. She posted this on Thursday:

(The Politico) President Bush said today if the Iraqi government were to ask the United States to leave Iraq, he would grant the request."We are there at the invitation of the Iraqi government. This is a sovereign nation. Twelve million people went to the polls to approve a constitution. It's their government's choice,’’ the president said during a Rose Garden news conference. "If they were to say leave, we would leave."

We should leave Iraq when doing so will not harm OUR national security. Period.

If Iraq becomes a haven for Al-Qaida or Iran, we'll be back there anyway. Finish the job.


So, now, the wishes of the government of a sovereign nation, one elected in a democratic election, one which we backed, do not count. Her lack of depth and her shallowness of character is astounding. No wonder WTMJ canned her. Not even lying Charlie Sykes or the bland blow-up buddy, mushroom eating Jeff Wagner, would say anything as stupid as what she did. Belling might ... but they're made for each other anyway.

What He Really Meant ...

Stalwart Republican and humble guy, Owen Robinson, has published his "Pledge for the Taxpayers." He sent the pledge to Assembly Republicans in an effort to publicize their position on tax increases, etc. Other Side, in a breaking news story (if the incredibly self important Saint Fred Dooley of RealDebate can do it, why can't we) has been provided with the first, unedited copy of Robinson's pledge (spelling and grammatical errors left intact). If it is true that the first thoughts written are often the truest, this version of the pledge tells quite a different story.


Dear Fellow Rebiblicans,

As nyou are all painful, the budget season is on us. To date the Republicans on the Joint Finace committee is a goal of mine have been unsuccessful in the massive spenfing and rax increases that my Govenor Doyle want to foist on ME.

I the taxpayers have a single hope ... ME. It is with each of you that the responsibility fior proitecting my assets rests. At convention last week, Speaker Huebsch said, "we will stand in the way of Jim Doyle and his tax increases, you can count on that." Well, I am counting on that. Indeed, i am inisistubng on it. It is all about me!!

Therefore, I am asking everyone to pledge that you woll not vote for a budget that includes any increase of my taxes or any fee increases that aren't directly related to delivering more services to me. If this leads to no budget being passed anytime soon, and all services are shut down and helpless old ladies in their homes are denied 911 service when they clap on clap off and potholes are not filled (except on the street directly in front of my home), t5hen so be it ... I'm a heartless fart. The Republican party should be p[roud of being obstructionist to be the party that obstructs my tax and fee increses - especilly because I am so overwhelmed by tax increases that I could't get my threee SUVs washed last week pay for that nice by the cost of their government.

I intend to publish the names of each of you who wil not pledge to hold down my taxes. The grassroots of the Republican Party, including, duh, myself, and the vast majority of like-minded sheep taxpayers will stand in unity with arms outstretched with those of you who stand up for me.

please reply to this e-mail (ht the Reply button, dummy) if I can count on you to be my advocate in the State Capitol.

I am humbler than most,

Owen Robinson

Kane Putdown of McBride

Eugene Kane has a new post up at JSOnline. This will get all the wing-nuts who follow Kane like stalkers at night in a tizzy. I think it's pretty funny and right on. Here's the link. I especially like this line:

Actually, I'm here to say I had nothing to do with Jessica Mcbride taking a blow-torch to her career with an un-funny and insensitive comedy sketch that mentioned the sad death of a four-year old girl in Milwaukee.

Kane is right. He had nothing to do with McBride self-destructing, nor did the legion of liberal bloggers who found her rants sophomoric at best. It was all her own fault. She can point the finger all she wants, we know where it really should be pointed.

Sykes Hearts Jenna Jameson

Now we know what Charlie does when the wife and kids are not home, and it's dark and he's lonely. He reaches out to Jenna Jameson, porn star.

McBride Admits Wing-Nut Radio is Offensive

In a surprising twist, former WTMJ talk hack, Jessica McBride, admits that right-wing talk radio is offensive. She says this at her old blog:

I am disappointed because I fear that WTMJ has set a new standard for "offensiveness" on the radio that all conservative hosts in this town are now going to be judged by. I think that's a very dangerous precedent that should concern anyone who cares about a thriving conservative media.

Leaving aside the fact she was probably the most offensive of them all, it's amusing that she would admit that a thriving conservative media requires a certain level of offensiveness.

Thoughts on McBride Firing

Before I leave for a weekend of debauchery, helping a very old friend celebrate his 51st birthday (all right, maybe no debauch will occur, I am happily married ... and we are in our 50s, hard to move too fast), I did want to address my other reader and say that I feel no glee at the firing of Jessica McBride, former 620 WTMJ talk hack. I did not like the woman. It's probably not fair, because I've never met her personally. However, I did see and listen to her at the recent Blogger-o-rama and came away from the long distance encounter feeling as though I had been in the presence of one of Satan's minions (yes, I am not a believer, but Satan is also a literary figure).

Satan really is a cool name. Here, say it with me ... SATAN. Oooooh!

I'm going to admit something that I know will get a lot of nods of approval from my other reader (I think there is more than one) ... I can push the envelope at times. In that regard, I suppose it could be asked, why McBride? I think it's because she juxtaposed the death of a four-year old innocent with an attempt to garner some political points, and because deep down she comes across as a petty and mean person.

So, while I don't fully agree with her firing ... an apology to the general audience would have been sufficient ... she did bring this on herself and as she grew more and more shrill, the chances of her going bye bye grew and grew, IMHO.

Anyway, bye bye and don't let the door hit you on the way out.

She Stayed at Holiday Inn Express

New commercial starring Jessica McBride:

"I'm incapable of coherent thought and I have no moral or ethical standing, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night."

McBride, Again

Even when she tries to act journalistic, she still gets the facts wrong. The first part of the post is incoherent, then this:

I have no idea the immigration status of Lopez. Because of the fact he had several aliases and social security numbers, I called Kenosha SD today to ask if he is in this country legally. They referred me to DCI. I will try them tomorrow.

But I will say this: There is a reason for cops to ask people they pull over in traffic stops or their social security numbers.

Uh, not sure what the point of this post is because no one is required to carry a social security card. In fact, it is strongly recommended that social security cards not be carried to reduce the chances they will become lost, and consequently, reduce the risk of identity theft. Therefore, Lopez was under no obligation to show one.

McBride's obsession with illegal aliens makes me thankful I was not a Jew born in Nazi Germany and hiding from the Gestapo. With my luck, McBride would have been the German neighbor who blew the whistle.

Bush on Global Warming

This is too funny. Click here.

Revenge of the Telly Tubby

h/t The Liberal Avenger

No Tears for His Passing

Jerry Falwell is dead at the age of 73. While I am saddened for his family, I have no tears to shed for this person. Here are some choice Falwell quotes.


If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being.
-- Rev Jerry Falwell (attributed: source unknown)

God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve.

The ACLU's got to take a lot of blame for this.

And, I know that I'll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say, "You helped this happen."

I sincerely believe that the collective efforts of many secularists during the past generation, resulting in the expulsion from our schools and from the public square, has left us vulnerable.

I put all the blame legally and morally on the actions of the terrorist, [but America's] secular and anti-Christian environment left us open to our Lord's [decision] not to protect. When a nation deserts God and expels God from the culture ... the result is not good.

Pat, did you notice yesterday the ACLU, and all the Christ-haters, People For the American Way, NOW, etc. were totally disregarded by the Democrats and the Republicans in both houses of Congress as they went out on the steps and called out on to God in prayer and sang "God Bless America" and said "let the ACLU be hanged"? In other words, when the nation is on its knees, the only normal and natural and spiritual thing to do is what we ought to be doing all the time -- calling upon God.

I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won't have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them. What a happy day that will be!

AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.

The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country.

If we are going to save America and evangelize the world, we cannot accommodate secular philosophies that are diametrically opposed to Christian truth ... We need to pull out all the stops to recruit and train 25 million Americans to become informed pro-moral activists whose voices can be heard in the halls of Congress.I am convinced that America can be turned around if we will all get serious about the Master's business. It may be late, but it is never too late to do what is right. We need an old-fashioned, God-honoring, Christ-exalting revival to turn American back to God. America can be saved!

It appears that America's anti-Biblical feminist movement is at last dying, thank God, and is possibly being replaced by a Christ-centered men's movement which may become the foundation for a desperately needed national spiritual awakening.

There is no separation of church and state. Modern US Supreme Courts have raped the Constitution and raped the Christian faith and raped the churches by misinterpreting what the Founders had in mind in the First Amendment to the Constitution.

The Bible is the inerrant ... word of the living God. It is absolutely infallible,without error in all matters pertaining to faith and practice, as well as in areas such as geography, science, history, etc.

But these things speak evil of those things, verse 10 [reading from Jude] which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Look at the Metropolitan Community Church today, the gay church, almost accepted into the World Council of Churches. Almost, the vote was against them. But they will try again and again until they get in, and the tragedy is that they would get one vote. Because they are spoken of here in Jude as being brute beasts, that is going to the baser lust of the flesh to live immorally, and so Jude describes this as apostasy. But thank God this vile and satanic system will one day be utterly annihilated and there'll be a celebration in heaven.

The Jews are returning to their land of unbelief. They are spiritually blind and desperately in need of their Messiah and Savior.

Grown men should not be having sex with prostitutes unless they are married to them.

I do not believe the homosexual community deserves minority status. One's misbehavior does not qualify him or her for minority status. Blacks, Hispanics, women, etc., are God-ordained minorities who do indeed deserve minority status.

We're fighting against humanism, we're fighting against liberalism ... we are fighting against all the systems of Satan that are destroying our nation today ... our battle is with Satan himself.

Billy Graham is the chief servant of Satan.

The ACLU is to Christians what the American Nazi party is to Jews.

AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals. To oppose it would be like an Israelite jumping in the Red Sea to save one of Pharoah's chariotters.

You'll be riding along in an automobile. You'll be the driver perhaps. You're a Christian. There'll be several people in the automobile with you, maybe someone who is not a Christian. When the trumpet sounds you and the other born-again believers in that automobile will be instantly caught away -- you will disappear, leaving behind only your clothes and physical things that cannot inherit eternal life. That unsaved person or persons in the automobile will suddenly be startled to find the car suddenly somewhere crashes.... Other cars on the highway driven by believers will suddenly be out of control and stark pandemonium will occur on ... every highway in the world where Christians are caught away from the drivers wheel.

Guam Reparations

As always, an issue being trumpeted by the simpletons that make up a large portion of the right side of the cheddarsphere isn’t as simple as they claim. This time, Fred at Real Debate, Wiggy (though his post is more funny) and I’m sure there are others, are up in arms over legislation before Congress to pay reparations of "... about $200 million in compensation and grant programs for Guam residents, including $25,000 payments on behalf of residents who died during the Japanese occupation and smaller payments for injury and forced labor." How dare we pay for atrocities committed by the Japanese occupations forces, they chorus. Oddly enough, according to Fred and Wiggy, our very own one-man travel agency, F. James Sensenbrenner has signed onto this bill.

Sensenbrenner’s support caused me to dig just a little deeper (this is where most of the right-wingers always fall just a bit short) and I found a few additional items.

The reason Guam is seeking these reparations is because the United States unilaterally forgave Japan’s war debt when they signed the official peace reaty in 1951, which precludes any chance of Guam approaching Japan for reparations.

A similar bill made it out of committee during the 109th Congress, a Congress then dominated by Republicans. It never made it to vote because the 109th Congress was adjourned.

The bill apparently has bi-partisan support.

There has been bluster on the right that the only people that should be recognized are the troops that liberated Guam from Japanese occupation. What these simpletons ignore is the Chamarros, the indigenous people of Guam, protected American serviceman after the island was conquered, many forfeiting their lives to keep the location of the hidden troops secret. Additionally, Japanese treatment of the Chamarros was especially brutal, with public executions not unusual.

To argue this bill is just another Democtratic gifting of taxpayer money is a lie … something the right-wing of the cheddarsphere has become all to expert at ... Republicans support this too.

Jessica's Hissy Fit

I can't help myself. Jessica McBride is at it again. This was a recent post of hers:

Noticed this name on the guest house for the dinner at the White House with the Queen:

David Gregory, NBC News correspondent, and Beth Wilkinson (wife). Reminds me of the media chowing down at the governor's mansion with Doyle and then freaking out when Scott Walker gives reporters a couple of press passes to tourist attractions.

Did NBC pay the White House back for the chow?

While the post is beyond sophomoric, I couldn't resist answering her question. NBC White House correspondent, David Gregory, was probably invited to the White House dinner for the Queen because he has written favorably about the Bush administration. So favorably, in fact, that he was awarded Best White House Correspondent for coverage of President Bush’s first 100 days in office by the conservative Media Research Center. You know, the group headed by chief wing-nut hack, L. Brent Bozell III.

Regardless, you know what the real issue is here, don’t you? The real issue is that Jessica didn’t receive the invitation.

From a source deep within WTMJ, here is what Jessica really wrote (heavily edited before it hit her blog ... sentence fragments have been filled in for easier readability):

Noticed this name on the guest house for the dinner at the White House with the Queen:

David Gregory, NBC News correspondent, and Beth Wilkinson (wife). Why was he and that little hussy of a wife invited (yeah, she works for Fannie Mae … you know, that group that provides help to those minority folks to buy homes, as though their tenements weren’t good enough for them ... they're probably a gay or Muslim front group anyway).

I can’t believe I wasn’t invited. My husband, Paul, has been the top conservative in Wisconsin and would have been Attorney General if not for Xoff, Owen Robinson’s wife and you-know- who’s money. He and I are doing all we can for the war effort at home, giving our brave troops the encouragement they need to die for their country. And besides, haven’t I always said that the President is my hero. I’m his … what’s the word … oh yeah, bestest supporter.

And, I’m on the radio almost every day taking on any liberal my producer thinks I might be able to handle, and I am working hard to indoctrinate the young journalists at the UWM in the ways of journalism … no objectivity needed, just the conservative facts.

This entire thing reminds me of the media chowing down at the governor's mansion with Doyle (again, I wasn’t invited) and then freaking out when Scott Walker gives reporters a couple of press passes to tourist attractions (hey, I didn’t get any of those either).

Did NBC pay the White House back for the chow? I bet WTMJ would. Hint, hint.

Why is She Teaching?

The ignorance and stupidity of this woman is astounding. Jessica McBride links to the story of a young girl stoned to death for falling in love with a boy outside her religious faith. McBride titles the post “The Religion of Peace,” which she and others on the right use as code for Islam.

Of course, if she had read just a bit further, she would have discovered that the young girl belonged to a minority Kurdish religious group called Yezidi, not Islam. The boy she loved is a Sunni Muslim.

Of course, in the pea brain that is McBride’s, any group not Christian or Jewish is probably Muslim and not worthy of respect ... just a tinge of racism, don't you think?

Why is this woman teaching journalism? She can’t even get her facts straight.

Hilton to Attend Jail

In a nod to my friend, James … all I can say is ... there might be a God.

LOS ANGELES -- A judge sentenced Paris Hilton to 45 days in jail Friday for violating her probation, putting the brakes on the hotel heiress' famous high life.

Hilton, who parlayed her name and relentless partying into worldwide notoriety, must go to jail on June 5 and she will not be allowed any work release, no furloughs, no use of an alternative jail and no electronic monitoring in lieu of jail, Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer ruled after a hearing.

Thugs, Again?

I’m not defending Michael McGee’s comments regarding Charlie Sykes and the death of his mother. Her death was a tragedy and though I have a low regard for the man, he and his family did not deserve what McGee dished out and I do believe condolences should be offered to him and his family.

However, I could not help but continue to be bemused by local conservative bloggers. If they only spent half the time they do following the exploits of Eugene Kane and Michael McGee, there might indeed be world peace and everyone might just get along. Seriously though, the preoccupation shown does cause this blogger to wonder what else is on their agenda. This blogger does know what’s on the agenda of the person who wrote the following comment regarding the McGee flack:

that is the problem the people of that district ie the people who have supported that family all these years are most likely saying "Right on Mr McGee" "Isn't it great how mad he makes those white folks"I am willing to bet in the long run nothing will come from this just due to the fact the people of that district have such low standards when it comes to the people they choose to represent them

Keep fighting the good fight but I have a feeling your are trying to sweep back the ocean.

Shades of Jessica McBride’s “thugs” comment. Judging by the grammar used and the low regard he shows for the voters in the 6th District, Chris (of the former Spotted Horse 2) embraces standards similar to McGee’s and McBride’s.

Lizard Brains

This story about clown-evangelist, Kent Hovind (Dr. Dino), reminded me of Scott Jensen, disgraced former Assembly Speaker, who was convicted of three felonies back in March 2006. Hovind pleaded that the judge’s decision could ruin his life (though earlier in his trial he said he needn’t answer to anyone but God), just as Jensen did. The difference is that in a travesty of justice, Jensen remains free. What is fair about this, especially considering the carnival conviction of Georgia Thompson, who was sent straight away to prison and who was later acquitted of all charges because they were found to be completely without merit?

Hovind (and Jensen) are caricatures for what is conservatism in this country. The ideas of conservatism are but magical mystery tours designed to avert the American public eye from conservative corruption and conservative lust for power. The list of crimes includes illegal wiretapping, removal of habeus corpus, torture, the loss of innocent Iraqi lives, the loss of the lives of 3500+ brave American soldiers, etc. Conservatism's nonsense is further spewed by Goebbels-like talk show hosts that nightly fill the meager minds of the sheep (read conservative knot-heads like Jessica McBride) with gibberish, comfortable in the knowledge that they will blindly continue grazing on their leaves of lies.

Ah, then there is Jessica McBride ... Our very own Eva Braun, a half-wit follower of Bush who spouts childish platitudes in similar fashion to the former German dictator’s luscious dimwit. When she is not race-baiting (did you know that 40% of her most recent posts had to do with minorities ... almost always in a negative light), she's vomiting up crazy ideas like launching a preemptive strike on Iran. Brave talk for someone who won’t have to fight. Let’s inflame the region even more than it is already and likely cause the deaths of countless innocent Iranians (Would they be classified as thugs, I wonder?) in addition to the lost lives of our helpless troops. Helpless, because they only go where ordered, they can’t help that their commander-in-chief is the village idiot.

I’ve tried to avoid saying this previously, but Jessica, please enlist. I’m sure Stars and Stripes could find a position for you.

Anyway, here’s what I found about Hovind. There is yet justice in this country.

Kent Hovind, the evangelist who styles himself "Dr. Dino" and runs the Creation Science Evangelism ministry as well as Dinosaur Adventure Land, a small creationist theme park in Pensacola, Florida, was sentenced to ten years in federal prison on January 19, 2007. In November 2006, a federal jury found Hovind guilty of fifty-eight charges, including failing to pay payroll taxes for his employees, structuring financial transactions to avoid reporting requirements, and "corruptly endeavor[ing] to obstruct and impede the due administration of the internal revenue laws" in a number of ways. He was detained in jail until his sentencing, although his wife Jo Hovind, who was found guilty of forty-four charges, was allowed to remain free.

At the sentencing, the Pensacola News-Journal (January 20, 2007) reported, Hovind adopted a meek demeanor, telling the judge, "I stand here in great fear of the power of this court. Your decision can destroy my life, my ministry and my grandchildren." But recordings of his telephone conversations from the jail, played in court, told a different story: Hovind accused the Internal Revenue Service, the judge, and the prosecutor of violating the law in prosecuting him, and referred to unspecified things he could do "to make their lives miserable." In handing down the sentence, the judge explained that Hovind's troubles were due to his "refusing to accept what the law is." In addition to ten years in prison and three years of probation, Hovind's sentence also included paying over $600,000 in restitution to the IRS.


Who was the last evolutionist arrested for bilking people of their money? Hmmm.

Sorry, They Weren't Heroes

It’s been a couple weeks since the Virginia Tech massacre. I had this thought some time back, but resisted putting it down into words until tonight. No reason, just finally got to it.

Why were the flags at half mast for the victims of this shooting? I’m not insensitive to what happened, it was an awful tragedy. But if we are going to fly flags at half mast for these “heroes,” then using that rationale, why are we not flying flags at half mast for each and every one of those soldiers slain overseas in that lie called the war in Iraq. In fact, why haven’t we been flying flags at half mast for the duration of this god-damned tragedy?

I’m saddened by the loss of life at Virginia Tech. But let’s get real here. Bush ignores the realities of war overseas so as to deflect attention, but recognizes tragedy in our midst because it can be used as ammunition by scumbags like Newt Gingrich to blame liberals.

Another Not So Very Christian Christian

Working for Change

Blog Summit 2007

I met Mike Mathias (Pundit Nation), James Wigderson (Wigderson Library and Pub) at the Starbucks on 16th and Wisconsin. James got his exercise in early by walking to the wrong Starbucks at 6th and Wisconsin, and then bravely hiking back up Wisconsin to our location. That he made it unscathed says something about goings on east of 124th Street.

Seriously, it was good to see Mike (only the second time in 19 some years) and James (first time in 19 some years). Mike, James and I were contemporaries at UWM. Mike and I wrote together for the UWM Post, while James was involved with the UWM Times, which I think is now defunct, not sure. Though tensions often were high between the opposing political camps at UWM, I’d like to think that Mike, James and I kept it a little more real than some of the others.

Anyway, we made our way to the event and following are some thoughts:

James made it walking up three flights of stairs to the event. Way to go!

I enjoyed meeting Owen Robinson (Boots and Sabers). Owen is a current West Bend resident, which happens to be where I grew up, went to high school, etc. I listened to Owen and was impressed by his speaking ability, and that though he is as partisan as they come, he came down squarely on the side of all bloggers, defending their rights to have a voice. However, his analysis of Eugene Kane was waaaay off. I liked Kane. The first time I ever met him, though I did not have an opportunity to talk with him. I liked him because he was unapologetic and spoke his mind. Apparently speaking ones mind is only relegated to conservative speech according to some conservatives.

I met Dave Casper (Ask Me Later) and Aaron Kreel (Subject To Change), two other conservative bloggers, and liked them immediately. I didn’t get much chance to speak with Dave, but our shared thoughts about Ms McBride are enough to acknowledge him as a kindred spirit, if not ideologically. Aaron is a nice guy. He showed me pictures of his newborn. Very cute kiddo. I wish him the best.

I also saw Phelony Jones (The Confidentials) from a distance. She looked, as she is wont to say, very sassy. Unfortunately for us (or wisely) she left the proceedings early.

I also had brief conversations with Patrick of Badger Blogger, Tom McMahon and Dean Mundy. All pretty decent people … for conservatives (just kidding, guys). I have to agree with Owen on this, I find myself liking a number of conservative bloggers (though I suspect if I had met Fred Dooley, my opinion of him would not change).

Oh, and Brian Fraley (Daily Takes) had nothing to say but tired clichés. He is a wiener.

And Jessica McBride is as annoying in person as she is in print and/or on the radio. She attempted to make a point about blogger diversity by pointing out conservatives were bloggers and … could you believe it, conservative women. Now, this is true, but she followed that up by stressing it this way (paraphrasing) … “can you believe it, a conservative woman” (referring to herself and just herself). Mike Plaisted came over later and said he liked the t-shirts I had made for Ms McBride’s benefit. He then pointed out her silliness (kind way to say she’s an obnoxious b—tch). I agreed, and said I had almost raised my hand to ask her if it was always about her … but in the interest of decorum had decided not to.

Anyway, she’s a wiener, too.

I also was glad to meet the aforementioned Plaisted, Sean Hackbarth (American Mind) and Cory Liebman, whose blog I have admired. I also spoke at length with Bert, a contributor at folkbum. He was ten years a reporter. I didn’t ask where. I should have. And, I got to share a moment with Renee Crawford. I liked her.

All in all, it was a pretty good time and I have to admit, I agreed with Charlie Sykes (just a couple times.)

Lastly, where was dad29? I would really like to have met him. And where was my erstwhile buddy, Chris of Spotted Horse fame? Oh well, one can’t have everything all the time.

McBride, Again

Jessica McBride wants us to look at this paragraph.

MADISON, Wis. Republican legislative leaders asked Attorney General J-B Van Hollen today for his opinion on how a U-S Supreme Court decision might affect the state's ban on a procedure critics call partial-birth abortion.

She has this to say about that paragraph.

Let's see. Babies are partially born before they are killed in the procedure. Sounds like a factually-based description to me.

For our factually challenged quasi-journalist let’s clear this up: The actual name for the procedure is “intact dilation and evacuation.” The paragraph clearly states that critics, that is anti-abortion supporters, call the procedure partial birth abortion. News organizations are under no obligation to use the intentionally-created term designed to fool the foolish into voting against this medically sound and rarely used procedure, regardless of how the Supreme Court ruled.


Also posted at Whallah!

Go get a doggy bag and pick up your crap, Ms McBride.

McIlheran: Favors White Supremacists?

This is just a quick note about a blog post by Patrick McIlheran (already well-covered by Bert at folkbum). David Gaubatz, the fellow that Melanie Phillips and McIlheran rely on for the breaking news on WMDs is a member of a fascinating group that believes in wonderful, pro-American ideals like this (by way of Glenn Greenwald, h/t Bert):

White Christians were at the founding of this nation a distinct people and privileged as such. Men of means among this people were given the opportunity for representative government. This is, for those of you flinching, not a thesis or “viewpoint”; this is historical fact.

After the Civil War, this changed; with the move into the 20th century this change became a wholesale reformation. Today, you cannot speak of Christianity in the public sphere and if you mention “white” and “Christians” in the same sentence you will be set upon as a despicable racist by every “fair-minded” public person. And, this phenomenon extends far beyond race.

Then this:

It was of course the beloved Ronald Reagan, the David of conservatism against the Goliath of Liberalism, who was the first president in the history of the US to actually grant amnesty to 3 million illegal immigrants with his support of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. And before that, it was the Great Society’s Lyndon B. Johnson who passed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which eliminated nation-specific quotas, replacing them with just one overall quota. This meant of course that we had as a country effectively determined that we were not a white Christian nation, but would become a brownish-black nation of third world types who could barely speak our language, knew nothing of our culture and civilization, and indeed desired to be one of “us” predominantly for economic reasons.

And this:

Immigration is now at the front lines in the battle for America's national existence. Under assault by the Left, including the Libertarians, the fact that America was founded and made strong by immigrants from western European countries with Judeo-Christian roots is no longer part of the modern immigration "debate." The only question now is how do you secure your borders and establish the necessary factors for "assimilation." This "debate" of course ignores the most fundamental fact: is there not something unique about American national existence that is directly related to the fact that it was founded by white, mostly anglo-saxon, believing Christians? Does the modern charge of "racism" now preclude the observation and analysis of this fact?

McIlheran's friend Gaubatz is currently engaged in mapping every mosque and Islamic day school in America, attempting to come up with a “threat” picture.

I knew McIlheran was whacky. Who would have thought he had such weird fellow-travelers … well, easy to believe actually.

Back At It Again

Patrick McIlheran is at it again. At least he is consistent. Now he’s got a piece claiming the environment is not as bad as those nasty scientists say it is. Everyone has an opinion on this and that’s okay. It’s just that McIlheran keeps trotting out these conservative think tank groups that have a vested interest in saying everything is peachy keen, to back up his assertions, rather than use real science. For example:

American Enterprise Institute: The American Enterprise Institute is a neoconservative think tank, AEI has emerged as one of the leading architects of the second Bush administration's public policy. (Wikipedia)

Pacific Research Institute: Another think tank, which has been closely associated with the American Enterprise Institute. (SourceWatch)

Steven Hayward: Hayward studies the environment, law, political economy, and the presidency. He is author of the annual Index of Leading Environmental Indicators, published jointly by the American Enterprise Institute and the Pacific Research Institute. Hayward writes AEI's Environmental Policy Outlook and also recently authored The Age of Reagan: The Fall of the Old Liberal Order, 1964-1980 (American Enterprise Institute).

Ah, a scientist devoted to the environment, NOT!

Look, McIlheran does point out that this is a different point of view. But, why oh why does he continue to abuse the intelligence of those who read his tripe. Just come out and admit it, Paddy, you don’t have a clue what you are writing about … you just do it to piss off the other half of the people who read your columns and blog entries, the ones who don’t take your writings at face value.

McBride Fails Again

I stopped today at the gas station around the corner to pick up some ice for the celebration of spring barbeque we were having. A young friend of mine was working. He is in his senior year at UWM, is an honor student and will be moving onto law school next year where, I am sure, he will succeed. Anyway, he told me that I would be amused by this story.

He said he was driving home one night and happened to be listening to Jessica McBride's show. She was talking about the Virginia Tech murder spree and apparently was chastising the school for not having closed the campus the next few days after. My friend decided to call in. The screener/producer answered the phone and asked what topic he wanted to talk to Jessica about. My friend said he wanted to discuss the school closing issue because he disagreed with Ms McBride. The screen said thank you and hung up.

It’s typical of wing-nut talk show hosts; especially McBride. She won't take on anyone who can match or exceed her intelligence (nearly everyone), but will wait for that stray idiot just so she can claim later how she was able to "smack" down another liberal.

McBride, Again

Another example of why Jessica McBride is the fruitiest of the fruit loops in the wing-nut world. On her blog Thursday, she tried to say that Joe Biden was inarticulate. Here is what she had to say.

"Guess he's an inarticulate as Obama.

By the way, only Democrats could get away with blaming a non-conservative talk show host's problems on conservatives. And exploiting Virginia Tech."

What a clueless wonkette!

ADDENDUM
A friend of mine pointed out that this post was a wee bit ambiguous. Looking back at it, I had to agree. I have not been applying much energy into blogging with the arrival of my daughter, but that is not an excuse for putting out sloppy efforts.

I was trying to point out McBride’s hypocrisy in pointing out that Joe Biden seemed to have an inarticulate moment during a speech (leaving aside that a written report cannot possibly duplicate how a speech sounds). Considering she is an ardent defender of Mr. Language-Mangler himself, her response, which I highlighted above, was hilarious.

Remember, she is a “professional” journalist. Why does UWM continue to provide a position for this woman? She embodies everything that is wrong with journalism today, and I am not just focusing on Faux News.