Surely, No Miserable, Lowlife, Sad-Sack, Attention-Grubbing, Unpatriotic America-Hater Would Use A Memorial Day Post To Attack The Commander In Chief?

Right?

Charlie Gets Confusled

Poor Charlie. Sometimes in his rush to conflate two things he forgets what he's said before. This morning he does his normal cut-and-paste routine in a post about Hugo Chavez.

But isn't it time to start talking about preserving independent television
stations, opposition political leaders, trade unions and human rights groups --
before it is too late?

Chuck seems to forget that he's a big supporter of mega-corporate ownership of television stations and against fair access to public airwaves. He's been a big critic of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and of the Pres. The only unionists that he hasn't popped off on are the ones who keep the wick lit on the biggest schtick in the state and he's been pretty soundly against any human rights group form the ACLU to the NAACP to Los Voces de la Frontera.

Do you suppose he's getting forgetful or is just basically willing to say anything that pops into his head to get a rise from the gullible?

He Works Hard For His Money

Last week, I pointed out how the squawkers rarely take a position that is in favor of the common worker.

Owen Robinson took umbrage with my post and offered a rebuttal:

How about…. all the flippin’ time? Let’s see… opportunity, freedom, low taxes, vibrant business environment, merit pay, and on and on and on. Yes, capper, we support policies that are best for all workers. I suppose that militant union goons may benefit a few, but certainly not the working class.

Let me rebut his rebuttal:

• Opportunity, as long as your the right skin tone and don't have a record.
  
• Freedom to not be able to say what you think or offer advice, or to even be sick.
  
• Low taxes didn't benefit me, I'm not part of the uber-rich.
  
• I thought the business environment sucked. Which is it?
• Merit pay: You merit a raise if your the CEO's son-in-law, or your a crony of the elected official in office.

Let's not forget that workers' pay has stagnated over the last decade, while the CEOs' have enjoyed exponential increases in pay and bonuses. Nor does it address that the CEOs are doing everything they can to prevent workers from unionizing, as pointed out here and here.

But that is not why I'm writing this post. The thing that prompted me to write was when tag-along Preview Paddy chimed in with his, "Yeah, what he said" post, which he ironically titled:

"If I'm not working class, why am I doing so much of it?"

OK, Paddy, whatever. If you think copying and pasting from Owen, Dad29 or the National Review is hard work, you are in a world of trouble if the paper ever folds.

Most of us bloggers do what he does every day, for free, while holding down one or more jobs.

Preview Paddy Isn't Too Preview After All

Preview Paddy had a blogpost about a group home in Seattle that is taking a new approach to helping and rehabilitating people addicted to alcohol and/or drugs.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not criticizing McIlheran here. I think it is a good story.

So good that I wrote about it six weeks before he did.

And they wonder why MJS is struggling.

Right On Is Wrong Again

From Harris Kane:

Saint Pat, who makes a living at the MJS trying to jump over his own elbow, with apparently no editorial oversight, tries to defend the Bush/Cheney incompetence and "ad hoc" approach to fighting terrorism by buying and selling twisted logic

Paddy Mac wants you to believe that we shouldn't close down Gitmo, prosecute those who have "waged jihad against us", and move them to Super Max prison in the US because the Bush administration turned innocent detainees into terrorists and released them overseas

At what point is the MJS going to be embarrassed that they are employing a ἰδιώτης?

Sexism In The City, Revisited

Over a year ago, I wrote about the sexism that is prevalent amongst the right.

Zach tells us that some things, unfortunately, never do change.

Waterboarding Is Torture

Preview McIlheran and Charlie Sykes would have us believe that waterboarding is not torture, it's just having a little splashing of water on one's face.

Mancow, a radio talker from Chicago, also thought the same thing. Then this happened:



I wonder how long until those macho men of Milwaukee's squawk will stand up to show us wrong by volunteering for this?

H/T James Rowen, Zach and Harris Kane.

McIlheran: The Vandal's Human Spellcheck

The other day, the local paper ran a story about a woman who got tired of the vandalism in her neighborhood and took the devastating action of putting up her own vandalism, correcting their spelling.

This morning, said paper ran a letter to the editor pointing out how language is important to cultures and subcultures.

Preview Paddy couldn't help himself but had to get snarky and petty about this guy which spoke a simple fact of life. Besides showing himself to be someone that has no clue of any subculture outside of the chubby, white conservative clique, and making vague racist comments, he ends up with this condescending tone:

Yeah. Where da love, after all, at least for women-seeking vandals with foul mouths? “Someone’s language,” Lipschutz writes, “is intrinsically linked to identity and therefore self-esteem.” Wouldn’t want to trample on that. All right, loutish potential employers or irritated neighbors might get all pedagogically normal about using the B-word, but just who are they to trample on anyone’s self-esteem?

Couldn’t tolerate that, could we?

Perhaps Preview Paddy would rather we just waterboard them instead? After all, they are different from him, which is the only justification he needs.

Then again, perhaps the whole snarky post is just jealousy because the vandals have more readers than he does.

Sound Advice For Scott Walker From A Reliable Supporter

I'm hoping Walker jumps on this bandwagon.

Kill every last one the damn things and you will never have to worry about how the population is growing.

Scott Walker you want votes in the Northern half of the state start saying you will help get rid of the damn wolves the DNR reintroduced, even though no one outside of Madison every wanted them back.

Even If Irony Isn't Dead It's Certainly Limping

How do you suppose a man who makes his living at an organization funded by donations and grants can look himself in the mirror after decrying spending other people's money.

It's not like he has his hands on the controls of the engines of production or anything. He's just suckling at a different public teat.

Since When?

A thought that struck me yesterday, as I was listening to Sykes once again show his opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act supposedly is for the working men and women of this county.

But before you take what Sykes, PaddyMac or the rest of the squawkers as gospel truth, think about this:

When was the last time any of them cared about what was the best for the working class?

In related news, Karl Rove is in town today to tell you how bad EFCA is supposed to be. That should help drive the masses to demand this law be passed.

Right Wing Anti-Transit Positions Harmful To Tax Payers

We all know how Charlie Sykes nearly pops a vein in his forehead when it comes to transit issues. Likewise, the paper version of Sykes, Preview McIlheran, also will try anything to spin things in an anti-transit way.

Greg Kowalski, of Metro Milwaukee Today fame, points out the fallacy of their position of looking out for the tax payer as he points out the flawed reasoning in a post written by Kevin Fischer State Senator Mary Lazich:

It goes to show that if there is a will, there certainly can be a way. State Senator Lazich refuses to acknowledge the will, and automatically goes to the claim that there will never be a way due to “few riders” and the “failure to reduce congestion and pollution”. Indeed, senator. So in the meantime, Lazich and her pals in the legislature enjoyed spending $1.9 billion of your tax dollars to reconstruct and add two additional lanes on I-94 from the I-894 interchange to the Illinois State Line. Furthermore, the state plans to spend upwards of $1.1 billion of your tax dollars on highway improvements in the Fox Cities, as well as upwards of $1 billion of your tax dollars to reconstruct the Zoo Interchange. Also, don’t forget the $810 million of your tax dollars already spent on reconstructing the Marquette Interchange downtown.

Add those numbers up, folks. $4.81 BILLION of your tax dollars spent on freeways, $3 BILLION of which is in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. In the meantime, Lazich is having a hoot over a regional transit authority collecting funds to construct a $300 million commuter rail line, and conservative talk radio hosts have a bird over a $50 million downtown streetcar system and $100 million in bus rapid transit ideas. If you put the KRM, the streetcar, and BOTH Walker’s and Barrett’s bus rapid transit ideas in action, it would be roughly $550 million - which would only be a little over 1/4 what the total cost is for the I-94 project currently underway.

That alone places doubt in Lazich’s anger and points, and raises questions as to the true motives of why other means of transportation aren’t wanted by some conservative leaders and talkers.

Remember this whenever the right wing says that they are looking for the tax payer, because they're not.

Four Words That Should Never Be Seen Together

Smoking!Nudity! Kevin Fischer!

From the Chief, who notes Fischer's hypocrisy and misogyny:

Just to recap:

Smoking in a private establishments = valiant defense of personal liberty.

Toplessness in equally private establishments = an affront to American Decency.

(And while we're equivocating, here's another slice of Fischerian wisdom:

1 pair of bare breasts behind the blackened windows of a private establishment = an affront to American Decency

281 pairs of barely covered breasts on parade = Awesome!

Moving on ...)

Thankfully, Fischer's credibility as a public health expert is about as air tight as his ideological consistency in this matter and no one takes him very seriously except for like-minds he presumably whips up into a berserker rampage, but the next time Fischer brings out the old "defense of property rights" hobby horse, kindly remind him that he's full of shit.

Alcohol And Poor Social Skills Don't Mix

Good old Kevin Fischer, the church-going, moral compass of Franklin shows us what he is all about.

In one of his posts tonight, he is all excited because one of his alleged readers told him of some misogynist event happening in Las Vegas.

Not only is he acting like Rush Limbaugh after the arrival of a whole new shipment of Viagra, he goes on to insult the women of the Midwest because they don't meet his ideals of beauty.

But then he displays why all of his old friends, even the conservative ones, have gotten sick of his attitude:

NOTE: Prudes and downright Kevin Fischer haters can e-mail their complaints to Mark Maley at Journal Communications. My guess is that these days, he'd love to hear a protest that's actually interesting rather than , WAHHHH, I HATE THE NEW BLOGGING SYSTEM, I QUIT!

The only problem is, his rudeness is not because he is better than those that have graduated on to bigger and better things, while he stagnates at a site run by someone else.

Nope, what Fischer's real problem is is that he is trying to hide his envy of competent bloggers, like Janet Evans, Cindy Kilkenny and Greg Kowalski. Fischer must subconsciously be aware that if he went out on his own, he would get lost in a heartbeat. He would lose his readership (all four of them if you include his wife), and we all know how desperate he is for any kind of attention.

Let us just hope that someday, Fischer will be able to pull up his big boy pants and start acting like a man.

McSykes: 23% Support Our Candidates

Citizen Kane explains.

Hypocrisy, Thy Name is James T.

"Why do liberals hate women?" asked the man who thinks he owns his daughter.

See also: Hypocrisy AKA Daddio

Here's A Big Word For PaddyMac: Cementencephalous

Cementencphalous: meaning is mind is all mixed up and firmly set, like cement.

Example:

Funny how the same people appalled at suburban spread now seem eager that vacanat[sic] land by a freeway in Wauwatosa not be used for a college. Others now want to leave undeveloped a former dump in St. Francis. You’d think using such urban in-fill sites already surrounded by plentiful parkland would be preferable to making colleges go hunt campus space out past the urban fringe, but I’m not a green, so I’m not up on all the dogma.

Of course, to believe Preview Paddy, one would have to ignore what Dave Reid, The River Otter, and yours truly have been writing for weeks, in which we offer viable and more rewarding sites such as the Park East Corridor, St. Columbia's Hospital, and downtown Milwaukee (multiple sites), to name just a few.

But then again, he's not intellectually honest, so he's not up on all that dogma.

Perhaps if the National Review, the Washington Post and/or Dad29 would link to us, he might have been aware that he was a mistake. Then again, since that appears to be where he does get his information, he probably wouldn't catch on anyway.

No Amoking Zone

If it weren't for emotions, would anyone be going amok? And just how are they ban someone from going amok, anyway?

No Comment Necessary

'Nuff said.

I Knew This Would Happen...

Exploding egos:

Sykes Still Pushing His Book

It's hard to get rid of all those copies that no one wants.

Republican Businessmen Don't Like Doyle

The Brawler has returned from his undisclosed location to tell us this not so breaking news: Republican business men don't like Doyle:

Patrick McIlheran prints, and Charlie Sykes, as ever, retreads, an email from businessman John Radke warning how the Doyleone budget will kill teh jobs in Wisconsin.

Unmentioned: Radke is active in an anti-Doyle Republican front group.

And while Radke hails Indiana's budget surplus, he fails to note that Mitch Daniels has raised sales taxes, cigarette taxes and other taxes have gone up as well.

Read the rest here.

Belling's Welching Goes National

Olbermann v. Belling

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Advantage: Olbermann

Missing The Point

A couple of weeks ago, during the Miss U.S.A. pageant, Miss California stated that she was against gays being allowed equal rights and being allowed to marry.

One of the judges, Perez Hilton, went overboard and got carried away in attacking her.

Since then, a lot of garbage has turned up on Miss California, and she may lose her crown for violating her contract with the Miss California pageant.

Predictably, the right wing has gone absolutely nutty about the issue. Sykes has been talking about it almost every day as well as posting gratuitous pictures of her. James Harris has been clamoring for attention with his martyr role while posting more gratuitous pictures of her.

But the thing that the Posse Comatose and the hysteric Hilton are all guilty of is continuing the sexist behavior of objectifying women and demeaning them by having the pageant in the first place.

In case you missed it...

...here's the call.

"Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people."
- W C Fields

Belling The Welcher

As is his wont, Mark Belling shot off his mouth again last week. It's compulsive with him. It's like he can't help himself, but feels an uncontrollable urge to make an ass out of himself whenever possible, and sometimes when it's impossible.

While handicapping the Kentucky Derby, Belling wrote this comment about one of the horses, Mine That Bird:

#8 MINE THAT BIRD---If this horse wins, I’ll never bet on another race
and will vote for Jim Doyle for reelection.

Well, as you can guess, Mine That Bird won the race.

Joe Wineke, head of the DPW, decided to have some fun at Belling's expense and sent out a release announcing Belling would be supporting Governor Doyle for reelection and even sent him a membership card to fill out.

True to form, Belling backpedaled and tried to put additional conditions on the statement. This, of course, makes Belling a loud-mouthed, hypocritical snake that should not be trusted.

In other words, just a normal day for him.

Tim Cuprisin has more.

Bellowing Wrong Again

Bellowing gave us a big "scoop" the other day regarding the GOP race to lose to Doyle (emphasis mine):

That’s why many who respect Neumann are going to urge him to drop out. When the Republicans hold their state convention this weekend, Walker will unveil an endorsement list that looks like a Republican Hall of Fame. His campaign is planning an overwhelming presence at the convention. It’s their hope Neumann will recognize what he’s up against and bow out. Scoop: former Gov. Tommy Thompson is very likely to endorse Walker this summer, a move that will more than neutralize the backing Neumann is getting from Thompson’s former top aide, Jim Klauser.

What does TOMMY!!! say? Stick it to 'em:

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson is considering a run for Wisconsin governor.

Thompson told 12 News that he’s currently looking for other candidates to step up before he throws his hat in the ring.

The revelation comes one day after Scott Walker announced his intention to run for the seat.

Thompson offered Walker his best wishes -- but stopped short of endorsing him. He said he looks forward to other Republicans entering the race.

PaddyMac Is Wrong On Rights

IllyT explains.

I Think He Was Guessing Low

James Rowen notes that the right wing media is alarmed because the government is listening to us and doing what we ask of them.

How does he know they are upset?

I'll let him explain:

In response, conservative talk radio this morning sounded the Sky Is Falling alarm.

Since Bill Clinton's election, and with the minute-by-minute on-air catastrophizing since the emergence of Barack Obama as a political force, today's Sky Is Falling alerts put the number of alerts at 17,328.

Really.

See the whole thing here.