In Need of Validation

It must be posts like this one that has vaulted McBride's post to number one for the week.

To save the readers the pain of having to go to her site, Whallah will paraphrase:

Here's a link to another histrionic blogsite who is linking to my site about a non-issue that I'm in a lather about.

Whallah! #14 with a bullet

BNN's Wisconsin Blogosphere Influence Rating combines a variety of data sets to determine which blogs are most powerfully influencing the direction of the Wisconsin political blogosphere. The exact method BNN uses to calculate influence scores must remain proprietary in order to prevent attempts to game the system. BNN's methodology takes into account the fact that all Internet data is profoundly limited in its reliability by using multiple data sets that, when combined, reveal a fair picture of activity in the blogosphere.

"Profoundly limited in its reliability?" They got that right.

Their system is so slick and sophisticated they have to keep it a secret. Maybe John McAdams did the study.

This week's rankings of Wisconsin's most influential political blogs, by Blog Net News:

1 McBride's Media Matters
2 Dad29
3 Texas Hold 'Em Blogger
4 Badger Blogger
5 FREEDOM EDEN
6 Boots and Sabers
7 Real Debate Wisconsin
8 Spring City Chronicle
9 The Right Side of Wisconsin
10 The Political Environment
11 The (Somewhat) Daily RAG
12 Shark and Shepherd
13 An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
14 Whallah!
15 The Critical Badger
16 Playground Politics
17 Paul Soglin: Waxing America
18 From Where I Sit
19 Fraley's Daily Takes
20 Stepping Right Up!

Nice as it is to see Rowen, Soglin and Whallah! ranked, it's a little hard to believe that only three liberal blogs make the top 20. Of course, Charlie Sykes doesn't make the list at all and McBride is #1, so she no doubt thinks this is very scientific.

And I thought the Badger football team was overrated.

That'll Teach Them A Lesson

As pointed out two days ago, McBride and her conservative cohorts were in a righteous outrage that Miller would sponsor an event for gays. The focus of their indignation was a poster advertising the event, using a group of leather-clad people in a parody of DaVinci's Last Supper.

Now, we find that her husband, Paul Bucher, the trial lawyer is so outraged that he replaced all of the Miller Lite cans with Bud Light cans. On a side note, Lady McBride notes that her darling hubby won't drink French wine, just because they wouldn't support an unjust and needless war. Miller Brewing Company and all of France must be so horrified at the loss of these valuable customers.

For more insight on the conservatives' lack of insight, Pundit Nation and Illusory Tenant are fine places to look.

A shoppe by any other name ...

Yes, I said I was giving up this hobby, but a recent McBride post reminded me how I chose my blogonym. She hasn't used the term as much recently as she did awhile ago, when it seemed to be a daily feature, but perhaps she will revive it in memory of me:

Nelson's comments fit neatly into the media template, so it's no wonder we're not hearing a lot about them outside of the Freeman.

The post was about Waukesha Mayor Larry Nelson taking a little shot at Brookfield and Delafield for being snobbily pretentious:

At the end of a very long special meeting Tuesday night with developers of two large projects – a Wal-Mart Supercenter and “The Shoppes at Fox River” – Nelson asked those proposing the latter to drop the extra “p” and “e” from the word “Shoppes” in the center’s name. “It reeks of ostentation and pretentiousness like Delafield and Brookfield, and that’s not Waukesha,” he said.

Perhaps Waukesha should welcome a Wal-Marte Supercentre, too.

Making it perfectly clear

This from the "Yes, we have no bananas" school of writing, via You know who, the journalism teacher:

Yep. Conservatives aren't winning out here.

The converse of that would be: "Nope. Liberals are winning out here."

Miller's secret agenda

Boy, the conservatives are onto the big issues now, like Miller Brewing's sponsorship of a gay event which is using a photo that's a takeoff of The Last Supper. Charlie Sykes is fully engaged, with breathless updates, even down to policing the website.

Jessica McBride spins a theory that this is all part of Miller's liberal social agenda, and is shocked to find some underage people drink at this gayfest (unlike the Miller Pavilion at Summerfest.)

Now it can be told. Miller's secret agenda: Sell more beer to gays.

If you find that shocking, you can always join the Catholics and boycott Miller. If only the church had been as zealous about purging the priesthood of pedophiles.

McBride's Gotcha

Playing on the theme of the great liberal conspiracy theory, McBride lays out the nefarious schemes of the left to portray a conservative celebrity, Bill O'Really?, as a victim of a smear attack. But the posting in itself isn't the highlight. The real fun starts in the comment thread.

First McBride fan(atic) and/or possible student, i jeff, writes:

Jessica explains this very well. I will only add that conservative leaning pundits could never pull off this scam on a liberal. MSM media outlets and all their liberal allies should be ashamed of themselves. Unfortunately, it takes some semblance of honesty and integrity to do that. Not sure if anyone has ever asked this question, but what happens when the media goes a step beyond bias? I believe it would be called corruption. A free press that becomes a corrupt media no longer serves any useful purpose.

To this, McBride witfully rejoins with:

I Jeff, You are so right. If conservatives tried this on liberals, the MSM would write scathing pieces about the dishonest smear tactics of the conservatives.

Apparently, neither of them have ever watched Fox News.

Good News For Democrats

Katie Couric was giving a speech at the National Press Club and this was reported about said speech:

Everyone in this room would agree that people in this country were misled in terms of the rationale of this war,” said Couric, adding that it is “pretty
much accepted” that the war in Iraq was a mistake.

This was enough to send McBride in a tizzy. She claims that this is merely another liberal talking point. This is good news for Democrats, as that would mean approximately 70% of the country is now liberal.

But then she does get one partially correct with this:

Out here in fly-over country, many of us believe that the people of this country were misled about the rationale for war. By Saddam.

Unless Saddam is the Iraqi word for Bush. Then she is right on the money.

Wanted: Activist AG with old-time religion

Jessica McBride and the right wing posse continue to pursue J. B. Van Hollen, the Republican attorney general, who is not enough of an activist to suit them. (They used to rail about the old "activist" AG, but that was then, when a Democrat held the office.)

Details: In God and Krispy Kreme We Trust."

All things in moderation

Brew City Brawler, long mystified by McBride, offers an example of what types of comments McBride considers appropriate on her blog. She moderates the comments, which means they need her approval before they appear on the site. In the past, some of mine apparently have been too offensive to pass.

From the Brawler, just a small sample of what passes muster with McBride:

Johnny Williams has no clue what enemies of America would and will do to him, if given the oppurtunity.
Johnny Williams lives in a FREEDOM VACCUM, in which he is a spoiled PRICK, because SOMEONE ELSE made the ULTIMATE SACRIFICE, AND, Little Johnny DimWad, USES the FREEDOMS afforded him AND HIS 2 DADDIES BY OTHERS, to SPOUT ABOUT America being FREE, and HIS OWN FREEDOM to be a COMPLETE FUKJOB and LOSER.

Now we can see why she needed to moderate comments, so she can screen out the offensive stuff and approve analysis like that.

If you must, read the rest of that thoughtful comment here.

Oh, There's No Bitterness Here

McBride is now after a different columnist at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Apparently, not satisfied with her dominance over WTMJ radio, she is also giving advice to MSJ on who their columnists should be:

When is the JS going to give Jeff Wagner a column already?

Answer: Never. They will continue to foist the liberal Laurel Walker on the
poor Waukesha County saps who still subscribe to the paper.

McBride must have never taught public relations either. In one fell swoop, she not only alientated the readers of MSJ (apparently only Waukesha County readers count in her world), but also Patrick McIlheran, the residential conservative blogger at MSJ. Perhaps even he isn't conservative enough for her.

In reality, the only people who are being taken advantage of are the the subscribers to the Waukesha Freeman, who have to be exposed to McBride's screeds.

McBride Admits Her Views Are "Over The Line"

In yet another post about Iranian president Ahmedinijad's appearance at Columbia University, McBride gives the following quote:

There is no value in it. Some repugnant viewpoints don't deserve the legitimacy
accorded by such a forum. I acknowledge that defining viewpoints as "repugnant"
can be a slippery slope. But virulent anti-Semitism and homophobia of the sort
spouted by AhMADinejad should be obviously over the line. A society that has
lost the ability to recognize that fact is a society without an internal
compass.

By McBride distorting Ahmedinijad's name into a schoolyard taunt, she is practicing anti-Semitism, as all Arabs are also Semites. And McBride's homophobic tendencies are evidenced in her posts about Sen. Larry Craig.

Whallah recognizes the truth in that these types of views are over the line, and will continue to point them out until McBride finds her internal compass.

She Might Teach French

An observant reader pointed out the title from a recent posting at the conservative blogsite, No Runny Eggs. The title reads:

Legislative Audit Bureau investigates Indian gaming, finds boku holes

As the reader points out in his missive, the author was probably looking for the word beaucoup.

On the other hand, maybe he just learned his French from McBride.

Shouldn't Journalists Be Able To Do Basic Research?

McBride, quoting a blurb from wispolitics.com, claims Scott Walker to be a crimefighter. Even though this can give one a terrifying image of Walker in a spandex costume, she was referring to Walker funding the Lakefront park patrol of the Sheriff's Office.

Now, if only she would have done the minimum of research, she would have found the MSJ article reporting that this crime fighting initiative is nothing more but the partial restoration of the patrols that Walker and Sheriff Clarke eliminated a few years ago. She may have also noticed, in the same article, that Walker, Tosa Ranger, is actually shorting the Sheriff's Department by $1 million dollars, compared to this year.

How can he do this, one may ask? Well, more basic research would have shown that Walker wants to let a private agency transport inmates all over, and to close the Community Correction Center, letting some 350 criminals hit the street.

It is hard to imagine which is more terrifying, McBride thinking this is courageous crime fighting, or that she teaches journalism.

Respect My Authoritah!

On July 13th, McBride went on a tirade about being disrespected by her archenemy, Eugene Kane, in an article in the August 2007 edition of Milwaukee Magazine. Now, we find McBride is channelling her inner Cartman with a letter to the Magazine, which reads:

I was surprised Milwaukee Magazine did not call me for comment after quoting Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Eugene Kane calling me a "female robot" under the intellectual control of a more powerful man [The Mil, August]. I am a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a master's degree, 11 years of journalism experience, and numerous state and national journalism awards. I think for myself.

I never joked about a drive-by shooting on my radio show, as the item falsely stated. I poked fun at Mr. Kane for refusing to come on my show to debate. The audio clearly reveals I consider the drive-by shooting to mean the city is in a crisis state and was questioning why Mr. Kane downplayed the crisis. I had previously done a radio segment and blog commentary expressing outrage over the death of Jasmine Owens, which the media has not reported.

Whallah does believe McBride when she claims that she thinks for herself, as it is hard to imagine anyone else wanting to take credit for some of the things she says and writes.

Indeed, Why Is It Relevant?

McBride goes after one of her favorite targets in her latest posting about Michael McGee, Jr. She notes in her writings:

The site has a hint of racism, when it notes:

Alderman Michael McGee Jr. is currently being held on Federal charges based on information supplied by an Arab businessman in his district, who is also an FBI informant.

Why is it relevant that McGee's alleged victim is Arab?

Indeed, that is the same question Whallah asks every time she mentions that an alleged criminal may be an illegal alien. Of course, then again, her postings often do more than hint at racism.

Telling it like it is

And the reviews are in. Illusory Tenant on McBride's latest efforts to bring religion into government-sponsored events:

This morning reveals a post called “Madison Atheists reach a new low,” typically content-free and revealing the analytical skill and temperament of a colicky adolescent.

She Doesn't Teach History Either

McBride, in yet another poorly written rant, discusses the issue of Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, being invited to Columbia University to speak. She blasts the university and brings up that they would invite Adolph Hitler, then adds an update at the end of her rant stating that Hitler actually did appear at Columbia U., which is an allegation Other Side points out as being completely false:

Jessica McBride really should be sure of what she is posting before doing so. In this case McBride, as an update at the end of a rant about Columbia University inviting the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to speak, informs us that Hitler once did visit Columbia University. She gives a hat tip to that intellectual, Michelle Malkin (though no link) for leading her to that fount of accurate info, Little Green Footballs. It is there, she says, where the truth of the University's dalliance with the enemy is revealed.

Well, not exactly. Little Green Footballs reveals that it was the German ambassador to the United States, Hans Luther, who was invited to speak, not Hitler. In fact, the closest Hitler ever came to the United States was probably in some trench during WWI. Something the eternally clueless McBride could have discovered if she had checked. Something, you know, a lecturer in journalism at a major university might have done.What gets me the most, though, is not this yet-another-example of McBride's sloppy writing, it's the fact that she really does not understand how a free society operates ... you know, that marketplace of ideas thing that she should be promoting as (I shudder to write this again) a lecturer of journalism at a major university. ...

McBride is not a person who should be complaining about who universities allow to speak, else she finds herself out of another job.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

Story: Its strategies shattered, a desperate Washington is reaching out to the late dictator's henchmen.

Here's a sample:

When Gen. David Pet­raeus, commander of the multinational force in Iraq, appeared before Congress with Ambassador Crocker to testify about the results of President Bush’s “surge” strategy, he talked a lot about these tribal militias and the success of Anbar. It is the only progress the U.S. has made in Iraq for years. It’s unclear whether the additional 30,000 troops that make up the surge have had much effect on the Anbar Awakening. But watching Gen. Petraeus, I was struck by how familiar his words sounded. The general talked like every Sunni I’ve ever met in Iraq—hell, he sounded a bit like Saddam. The old tyrant would have had one of his characteristic chest-heaving guffaws watching Petraeus as he intoned the old Baathist mantra about the dangers to Iraq: Iran, Iran, Iran. Bush took up Gen. Petraeus’s views a few days later in a nationally televised speech about Iraq, in which he talked about the threat Tehran posed. It seems that Petraeus and Bush have come to the same conclusion as Saddam: the main enemy is Iran, and you can’t govern Iraq without the Sunni Arab tribes, even as you encourage anti-Iranian nationalism among the Shia. This is what Saddam did during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, and what Washington is trying to do now. One of the main problems with this strategy is that both the Sunni tribes and Shia nationalists are profoundly anti-American and don’t trust each other—a potential recipe for further disaster.

Hat tip: McBride's Media Matters. (She just wanted you to look at the picture, not read the article.)

Standing up for the troops when it counts

McBride's frothing over her coffee again, or maybe just foaming at the mouth:

Feingold voted NO for a resolution that read:

To express the sense of the Senate that General David H. Petraeus, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, deserves the full support of the Senate and strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces.

Russ Feingold is a disgrace. Let it be known. He's on record. He doesn't support the troops.

Oh contrary, as McBride would say in French.

Feingold not only supports the troops but did something meaningful to demonstrate it in the last two days. First, he voted for a reasonable bill from Sen. James Webb, a former Navy secretary and Vietnam hero, to give our troops some respite between repeat tours of Iraq. Republicans, who say they're for the troops, killed the bill.

Feingold also introduced an amendment to start bring the troops home soon, but it got only 28 votes. Sen. Herb Kohl voted with him on both of those bills.

McBride's outrage that anyone would question a member of the military rings more than a little hollow. As I suggested in a comment on her blog, which may or may not see the light of day, Republicans should have passed an amendment to "condemn personal attacks on the military except for John Kerry and Max Cleland, two decorated Vietnam heroes, who may be slandered at will." They should be comfortable with that.

For much more on MoveOn and the events of the last few days in the Senate, I've written a longer post on Uppity Wisconsin.

UPDATE: The Senate deadlocked 47-47 Friday on another Democratic proposal, from Sens. Carl Levin and Jack Reed, to begin bringing troops home within 120 days, remove most troops within nine months, and shift those remaining from combat to support roles. Kohl and Feingold both voted yes. Because of the threat of a GOP filibuster, the amendment needed 60 votes.

Too much fun; enough is enough

Fun's fun, but it's time for us to move on -- us as in Template, the original member of what has become a group blog.

They say it's unsportsmanlike to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed person. We've spent too much time doing that.

Jessica McBride, our inspiration for Whallah!, continues to provide easy targets on a daily basis. A number of people, on this blog and elsewhere, regularly shoot down her sophomoric musings. That's a worthwhile effort; the public and the media need to be reminded continually that she is not to be taken seriously. There seem to be enough others who will do that, perhaps not with the zeal or frequency with which we have taken her on, but enough to maintain a check on at least the most incredible things she spouts.

We want to turn our attention elsewhere. Perhaps some more serious writing, perhaps more time and energy toward stopping the war in Iraq.

If there are others who would like to join the Whallah! family of contributors and keep the heat on Ms. McBride, just email us at Whallah@gmail.com and we'll tell you how to participate.

As McBride would say, oh reservoir.

WWBD?

Jessica McBride asks:

Why are we getting involved in this?

Violent crime in Milwaukee, illegal immigration, so many issues....

Is this worth spending time on?

NEW YORK (Associated Press) -
Wisconsin's attorney general asked the federal government Tuesday to block the
combination of the nation's only two satellite radio companies.

Am I missing something here? Is this a big deal to Wisconsin? I know some prominent conservatives have supported the merger. Among them: Ronald Reagan's AG Ed Meese, "Economist Thomas Hazlett, Christian conservative Gary Bauer, and tax cut crusader Grover Norquist."

Is this helping the consumer or interfering in the marketplace?

Merits of the case aside, among other questions her post brings to mind:

How could anyone question the Holy Trinity of Meese, Bauer and Norquist?

WWBD? What would Bucher do? (Oh, never mind, he lost to Van Hollen, didn't he? And the Buchers are all over that, right?)

UPDATE: Deposed talker McBride stands up for the wingnut right (maybe that should be her slogan) on talk radio. Yawn.

What would Mother say?

Jessica McBride "always get(s) really annoyed" about a lot of things, including:

when liberal women presume to speak for all "women" or "mothers" (for example, assuming that abortion is a "woman's right").

She had Sally Field in mind this time, but JMcB is always either getting really annoyed or choking on her coffee about something.

But while we're on the subject of who speaks for America's mothers, here is the commander in chief's take on it, via DailyKos:

George Bush held a pep-rally at the White House today and made what was perhaps the most idiotic remark in a long line of idiocies from his misbegotten presidency:

Gold Star Mothers, got you, okay, thank you -- Blue Star Mothers, Gold Star Mothers, all the mothers, yes. (Applause.) Every day is Mother's Day as far as your concerned, isn't it?

Yes, George, every day is a holiday when you have a child who is either fighting in a war or was killed in it.

We'd say that's far from his most idiotic remark, but it probably made ms. McBride "really annoyed," we expect.

McBride's presidential prediction

She predicts the general election debates will be between Rudy and Hillary, and the candidates will wear protective face masks.

McBride actually running WTMJ Radio

Focusing on the big issues, like the station's "Standing up for what's right" slogan,the delusional McBride reveals her continuing influence at the radio station that canned her:

Do they still use that slogan? When I was there, the new program director, Tom Parker, said he didn't like it. Now, I've noticed they use "Depend on it" - which doesn't have the same ideological hint to it - on their home page. I can't find "Standing up for what's right" on the site at all, unless it's buried somewhere that I'm overlooking. It's also not on Charlie's page. Do they ever use it on the air anymore? I'm going to have to start listening to see. I know when I was there, they started changing some of our "opens" (like mine), which used to have it.

(Watch: Within a week of this post, the old slogan will be on the web page, just like a few days after I mentioned they were downplaying James Harris on their site, he suddenly appeared on the home page. Coincidence? Hmmm.)

She's calling the shots there. Who knew?

How soon they forget

Brew City Brawler observes that Jessica McBride's "Never forget" video on Sept. 11 was forgotten by Sept. 13 and replaced with Fred Thompson hitting on Roseanne Barr.

Easy come, easy go.

Living up to low expectations

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen is the guy responsible for my new friendship with Jessica McBride (who says that "the enemy of an enemy is a friend"). We both tried to defeat JBVH last year, and aren't happy he's there. Small world, huh?

But I digress.

JBVH gets a rave editorial review this week from the Wisconsin State Journal, which says he's the best thing to come along since pockets on shirts.

And what's he done to deserve it? Why, nothing less than to schedule some seminars around the state about open meetings and public records -- the same thing Jim Doyle did in his three terms as AG, and which was continued by Peg Lautenschlager when she held the office.

The State Journal's expectations of JBVH must be pretty low if that's all it takes to merit a laudatory editorial. My expectations were very low, and he's lived up to them.

One Wisconsin Now's Cory Liebmann points out that JBVH hasn't exactly set the world on fire with his public records decisions.

Show Off

McBride again shows us her masterful skill of the written word, her fine analytical reasoning, and her skill at in depth reporting. Don't believe me? Then take a gander at this:

WARNING: Reading the following while sober may cause intense headaches and upset stomachs.

Er, maybe not. He's just your garden variety accused drug dealer.Someone has egg on his face, and it's not the reporters in this story.Or is something else going on?Note: The AP story leaves out the suspect's name. WEAU TV has it: Hassan Mohammed Abdiaziz.
Update! I just realized. The AP didn't leave out the suspect's name because this version of the same AP story had it. So it appears that WTMJ left out the suspect's name. Often, news organizations will omit a suspect's name until they are charged. I think that is often a fair thing to do. But that's not the case here because WTMJ does run the suspect's mug shot - also without his name. Channel 4 ran the name. So did Minnesota TV. I can't find the story on JSonline. So, why did WTMJ delete his name?
Hassan Mohammed Abdiaziz. Hmmmm.

You were warned. Whallah takes no responsibility for your migraine.

Will Miracles Never Cease?

In her post about whether or not State Senator Lena Taylor is going to run for against Milwaukee County Scott Walker (who still hasn't formally announced that he would run again), McBride doesn't get one thing right...she actually gets two.

McBride says that she would bet that there will be a conservative candidate in the race for the State Supreme Court. There already is one. The question would be can the conservatives put up a viable candidate. This is doubtful, as that they have already stooped low enough to ask Mr. McBride.

The other point that McBride hits on the head is when she says:

But we'll be treated to months of histrionic, nonsensical quotes.

And here at Whallah, we know that she will be a wealthy source of them.

Iraq Moratorium begins on Sept. 21

Don't just sit there -- do something.

UPDATE: Guess who doesn't like the idea? Now we know it's a good one.

MILWAUKEE ACTION: The Milwaukee Coalition for a Just Peace will hold a vigil on Friday, Sept. 21, at 5 p.m., at Wisconsin Ave. and Water St. in downtown Milwaukee.

If Osama says it, it must be true

Ben Brothers of Badger Blues on McBride's equating Bin Laden's positions with the Democrats:

Only someone who’s not very bright would be inclined to take bin Laden’s pronouncements at face value. They’re transparently ridiculous propaganda. Can’t you imagine these same people 65 years ago, listening intently to radio broadcasts from Tokyo Rose, cheering gleefully if Franklin Roosevelt was praised as a Communist, as if that settled the matter (”Stalin has pretty much adopted the Democratic Party’s rhetoric and platform”)? They would rightly be dismissed as lunatics.

The unasked question

Jessica McBride thinks this should be the dominant media theme on Iraq:

Brit Hume tonight to General David Petraeus:

Would you say that we wouldn't be in the situation we are in today in terms of sectarian violence in Iraq generally had not Al-Qaida been present and active there?

Petraeus: That's correct. That is correct.

Hume: Has this in an ultimate sense turned out to be more than anything else, a war with Al-Qaida?

Petraeus: Well, it is Al-Qaida and associated uh movements I think or affiliates if you will because again the insurgents, until they started flipping more and more certainly throughout the Euphrates river valley and now other areas, certainly were associated with Al-Qaida, at the very least turning a blind eye to them, and at the most in many cases aiding and abetting them.

The unasked question:

General, would Al-Qaida even be in Iraq if US troops had not invaded and occupied the country?

UPDATE: Russ Feingold asks some tough questions about US priorities in fighting terrorism, and gets no answers. Video link here.

McBride chokes, Soglin chokes up

Paul Soglin's entry in the Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest.

Darn! No Paul Bucher to kick around

WisPolitics:

Bucher opts against Supreme Court bid

Former Waukesha County DA Paul Bucher has decided not to run for the state Supreme Court, citing personal, professional and financial reasons.

Bucher ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination in last fall’s attorney general race. He told WisPolitics this morning he did not want to take time away from his family and his position at the Gatzke & Ruppelt law firm in New Berlin to meet the demands of a statewide campaign.

He also said the expected expense of taking on Justice Louis Butler and the difficulty of raising “millions of dollars” for the race were factors as well.

Not to mention the prospect of getting his ass kicked twice in a 19-month period.

Paul Bucher. Still never a judge. Not one day, ever.

Praise the Lord.

Variation on a theme

McBride's not the only one whose spelling is challenged when it comes to "Voila!"

Says The Critical Badger:

Open up the rolodex and call up Mike Verveer, or some UW professor, and viola! A story.

We prefer Jessica's spelling, so will leave the name of the blog as is.

Whose side are they on?

One more reason to be thankful that Glenn Frankovis did not make the cut as a finalist for Milwaukee police chief:

A Sunday Journal Sentinel story told of a Milwaukee cop who "was accused in a three-year span at least 10 times of beating suspects, planting drugs or both," yet has been promoted to sergeant.

Frankovis, a former Milwaukee police captain who had major attitude problems and run-ins with the current chief before retiring (and suing the city) had this reaction to the JS article, in a post entitled "Whose side are they on":

... What I do know is that these so-called investigative reporters, liberal judges and defense attorneys never seem to be able to find the real victims of crime who are being held hostage in their own neighborhoods by the very thugs these guardians of the public give so much credibility to. As a result, they choose to malign law enforcement officers who are trying to make neighborhoods safe from the likes of those who would shoot guns indiscriminately and kill innocent people merely because they want to settle a score or maintain their drug territory...

... A young, energetic Police Officer (now Sergeant) takes his job seriously and does what I have heard demanded of the Police Department numerous times at various neighbohood (sic) meetings (attended by black, white and Asian people and their aldermen in most cases) and he ends up on the FRONT PAGE of the Journal Sentinel with an article which questions his credibility but seemingly gives all credibility to the thugs.

Apparently, Frankovis -- who was the "energetic" officer's supervisor at the time of some of the incidents -- thinks the public is demanding that police officers beat suspects, and this young, energetic cop is just doing what they want.

That, of course, flies in the face of what the public is demanding from its police officers in the wake of the Frank Jude case and others that have come to light.

The citizens of Milwaukee want a crackdown on crime. But they also want accountability from the police officers who are supposed to protect them.

Small wonder that Frankovis was a bad fit. He's old school in the worst possible way, as in Harold Breier School.

Who else, do you suppose, came to the defense of the "young, energetic" officer and criticized the newspaper for its coverage?

If you said ex-police reporter, ex-prosecutor's wife Jessica McBride, you win the jackpot.

UPDATE: Illusory Tenant on Frankovis v. Frankovis.

And this from Pundit Nation's Michael Mathias.

Osama bin Laden, Republican?

Have you read the transcript of Osama's latest video?

We're guessing no, because you have a life.

Not to worry. Jessica McBride has read it for you, and reached the inescapable conclusion that Osama is a Democrat. Or maybe it's that Democrats are terrorists. Something like that.

Or perhaps it was a typo, and she meant to write that Obama is a Democrat.

We've just scanned the transcript, but a couple of things jumped out at us:

"There are no taxes in Islam."

And Osama hates Hollywood.

Mr. Bin Laden sounds like a Republican.

As we learned in "Farenheit 911," he and his family have certainly been chummy with the GOP and the Bushes.

We don't recall them hanging out with Dave Obey.

UPDATE: Mike Plaisted says McBride has resorted to bomb-throwing to try to attract some attention because she still misses the high profile she had as a radio host before her career went into eclipse -- and points out that what she wrote has little or nothing to do with what Bin Laden actually said.

AND ANOTHER:Jay Bullock says that calling Osama a Dem is like calling an earthquake a terrorist.

'Help! I'm being forced to watch television!'

Michael Mathias, in a post about right wing response to the Sen. Larry Craig "situation":

Demonstrating her usual even-handed and thoughtful tone, Jessica McBride offered that Craig was "scum." (And since her blog is about “media matters,” she asked, "Why am I turning on cable news every night to wall-to-wall Larry Craig coverage?" to which the only real response is, “Um, I don’t know, but if this is a problem all you have to do is turn off the television and go back to plotting the overthrow of J.B Van Hollen.”)

'Bucher bends the truth'

A Capital Times editorial on Mr. McBride leaves nothing to add:

Bucher bends the truth

Fresh from his defeat in the Republican primary for state attorney general last year, former Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher says he is contemplating running for the state Supreme Court next April.

Bucher's bitter concession statement after losing last year's primary to J.B. Van Hollen was one of the more remarkable political swan songs in a career that has not been lacking in bizarre behavior.

Bucher says he is thinking about running because he believes incumbent Justice Louis Butler is "an activist."

That's an amusing statement coming from Bucher, who has made no secret of his ideological and personal passions and who has never hesitated to allow them to guide his legal determinations.

Yet the man who mounted a comically inept prosecution of troubled Green Bay Packer Mark Chmura says with a straight face, "There's only one item that's worth focusing on in this race, and that is judicial philosophy. (Butler's) an activist, and he's proud of it."

Bucher is, as usual, bending the truth to the breaking point.

Butler, who has gotten high marks for working across political and ideological lines on the court, is not generally seen as a judicial activist. And he certainly has not gone around declaring that he is proud of putting ideology ahead of the law.

If Butler was the sort of "activist" Bucher describes, it is unlikely that he would have gained the strong endorsement this week of the association representing city of Milwaukee police officers as "a strong leader (who) understands the needs of our citizens and the needs of our law enforcement officers."

The group says, "Wisconsin is safer with Justice Louis Butler on our Supreme Court."

The police union's sentiments have been echoed by an astounding array of community and legal groups that have honored and endorsed Justice Butler as an outstanding jurist. It raises the question: What is Paul Bucher thinking?

Then again, no one has ever accused Bucher of thinking very hard about anything but his own political advancement.

McBriditis Must Be Contagious

Eugene Kane, longtime favorite target of McBride, posts about an editorial cartoon in a Cleveland newspaper that drew the ire of the community for its insensitivity towards the tragic shooting death of a 12 year-old girl.

Mr. Kane says it best with this:

When will some folks learn it's not right to make fun of the death of a precious black child just to make a political point?

.

The answer is: We're still waiting.

Huebschian logic

Jessica McBride, last Friday, derided Gov. Jim Doyle for warning that property taxes will go up if a state budget isn't agreed upon soon by state legislators. Sayeth McBride, in a post titled "Doylian logic:"

Is he kidding me? How can he say this stuff with a straight face?

We'll be anxiously awaiting her attack on the Republican Speaker of the Assembly, after this statement on Wednesday, just five days later:

"Property taxes will go up soon, if we don't act soon," said Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem). "We know there are deadlines that are looming."

Would that be Huebschian logic?

McBride: New voice of the left

The crusade continues, as Jessica McBride tries to convince us that there is an illegal immigrant crime wave sweeping the nation (or at least Sheboygan). McBride:

Another illegal immigrant arrested for molesting Sheboygan child

And I'm not talking about the vigilante case.

Story here from the Sheboygan Press.

And the response from the left? Not a problem...No big deal... not worth talking about... Tell that to the mother of the kid.

We at Whallah! don't claim to speak for the left. Apparently the left's spokeswoman is Jessica McBride. People in her house are used to talking out of both sides of their mouths, so she probably doesn't see a contradiction.

For the record, we don't condone child molestation (Ridiculous to say that, but otherwise she'll probably claim we do.) But there is no reason to comment on every arrest -- unless you have another agenda.

The Sheboygan Press apparently is on the McBride program: Every time an illegal immigrant is charged with a crime, let's do a story and a wrapup that includes every other illegal immigrant who's been charged with anything.

What, exactly, is the point?

She writes about one Sheboygan case, but not about the hundreds of arrests every day in Wisconsin of non-immigrants charged with crimes as bad or worse. [UPDATE: Here's one involving a home-grown Waukesha County youth.]

There is too much crime in Wisconsin, in Milwaukee, in Sheboygan, and even in Waukesha County. But trying to pin the blame on illegal immigrants does nothing to solve the problem.

Why are we not surprised?

She Doesn't Teach Psychology Either

McBride has already proven herself many times in the fields of journalism and in logic. Now she proves that she unable to understand basic psychology (or at least the ability to use Google). In a minimal effort of a post (five words), she manages to show how little she understands of the world and how it works.

She links to an article in the La Crosse Tribune, which covers a story about a jail in Minnesota, where they only feed the prisoners turkey bologna sandwiches. McBride thinks that's "Not a bad idea".

However, if she used some common knowledge, she would realize that was a bad idea. A few seconds with Google, and one can find this article, in which a prisoner can point out what McBride cannot fathom (and does it in a much more articulate way):

Food dissatisfaction is among the principal complaints voiced after prison riots. Hungry people focus on their hunger as nature's survival mechanism kicks in. Hunger always creates an explosive situation and is never a wise way to save money.

The Rest Of The Story

McBride, ever desperate to make a point, is trying to argue that the reason for racial disparity in the corrections system is not due to racism, but due to the quality of the people of a minority race. She quotes part of a story from The Wausau Daily Herald in which a minority leader says that it is not just about race, but the people of that race, which alone is contradictory.

But the observant reader who goes to read the actual story she is citing, and read the whole article would see this:

People of all ethnic backgrounds have perceptions and expectations about other ethnic groups, and not all of them are accurate, Lee said.

"I have talked to people of different ethnicities in this city. African-Americans often say they don't want to drive around town at night because they will probably be stopped," he said. "Latino people say they have been singled out and asked questions about their immigration status simply because they are Latino."

Whether perception matches reality isn't the issue, Lee said, because people act and behave based on their perceptions.

Maybe McBride got tired and didn't read all of the article, but basically, Mr. Lee, another minority leader, is pointing out that there is a high amount of racism going on, even in Wausau.

One would think that a person who prides themselves on teaching journalism would recognize the importance of covering the whole story.

Dead horse rides again

Apologies for beating a dead horse, but McBride has just tried to resuscitate this one. She says:

Craig resigns

Good.

Ted Kennedy, you're next.

Hmm, remind me. What exactly did Ted Kennedy plead guilty to? What was he convicted of?

As Blueblogger has already pointed out, just two days ago she seemed to grasp the distinction, when she wrote:

Enough with the "he's innocent until proven guilty" stuff and "if he did it" stuff that I've been hearing on some conservative shows. Regardless of what he says now, Larry Craig PLEADED GUILTY in a court of law and was convicted. That should mean something. He's not innocent until proven guilty. He's guilty...

Bill Clinton was accused of raping a woman. Ted Kennedy was accused of leaving a woman to die. They enjoy respect from the Democratic party and the media. Larry Craig was accused of nudging the foot of an undercover cop, and the Democrats want to put him in a stockade in the public square.

Actually, Craig wasn't just accused. He pleaded guilty -- as McBride seemed to know just a paragraph or two earlier.

This from a college journalism instructor who's married to a longtime prosecutor -- a prosecutor who is thinking about running for the state Supreme Court?

Perhaps said prosecutor should do a little remedial instruction with his spouse on the criminal justice system and how it works.