Monday, November 30, 2009

Give Her A Scarlet Letter


Nothing like some good down home Puritan's anger.

Now McBride is really in for it. She has called down the wrath of Zeus.

Why Ask(ance) Why?

PaddyMac takes advantage of the exception to the rule by mentioning a story of a Wisconsin woman who held a knife to the throat of an anti-abortion protester who was getting in her face. He at the same time, besmirches Wisconsin:

And they do: As most Minnesotans are next to the parts of our state mainly inhabited by wildlife, lots of Minnesotans think Wisconsin is a kind of Appalachia-North (I write by personal, Minnesota-resident experience).

Then again, it could be the wild Wisconsinites. Note the Superior woman who got in trouble in Duluth for pulling a knife on a 21-year-old woman who was passing out pro-life literature outside an abortuary on the Minnesota side of the bay.

Considering that Minnesota is the home of Michele "The Mad Scientist" Bachmann, who not even the GOP can abide, I don't know if they have a reason to look down their noses at anyone.

But if they want to be that way, would someone kindly point me to the exchange window? I would more than gladly return PaddyMac for Brett Favre. Heck, I'd throw in Sykes, Wagner, Belling and McBride if the Norsemen to our west would also return Ryan Longwell.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Because The First Foot Tasted So Good

Last week, Jessica McBride wrote an ill-advised piece trying to defend her infidelity by acting offended that the media would even cover the story, trying to ignore the fact that her paramour was the Milwaukee Chief of Police.

Apparently liking the taste of her foot, this weekend McBride chose to put her second foot in her mouth as well.

She starts out complaining about the comments allowed to stand at the JSOnline blogpost about the affair, which I pointed out last week. This quickly degenerates into a rambling rant about bloggers in general. This ends up in her again playing the victim and that the whole internet is misogynistic.

To show how disjointed and ironic her ramblings are, here are a few puzzling excerpts:
The Internet is, in many ways, a sexist environment. Most of the citizen blog sites are run by older men without journalistic training or standards and, when a woman crashes into the parlor to join the political talk over the brandy, watch out – you’ll get harassed until you voluntarily leave the room. But I expect more of sites like jsonline.
Should she really be calling anyone out about journalistic training or standards?
Granted the name calling and vitriol isn’t limited to women, either. It’s part of a coarsening of discourse in general. Just ask Charlie Sykes. There are bloggers who basically spend all of their energy calling him names and attacking his personal life rather than challenging his ideas. They are small minds.

This is not a hearty, strong intellectual clash on the issues (I love those sorts of debates). These are playground antics. If people said to my face what some bloggers (or Journal Sentinel comment posters) have written about me (and others) on the Web, I’d get a temporary retraining order against them. It’s abuse.
Oh, the hypocrisy is enough to give me a headache. Was she serious when she typed that? Has she ever reviewed her own stuff, much less Sykes'. It is nothing but abuse to the subject of the post, as well as the poor souls that read the tripe.

But the most alarming thing is the last line:
Oh, one other thing: I might reactivate my blog soon. As anyone who knows me knows, I don’t silence easily, and certainly not through intimidation from Internet bullies.
Oh, the humanity!!

With a tip of the crown, go to Boots and Sabers (yeah, I know, one of the signs of the apocalypse when Owen and I agree), for more on the matter.

"Characteristically uninformed and credulous"

From Illy-T:
D'you think our local denialist will make note of that? Me neither.

Mr. McIlheran's latest missive on the subject, incidentally, is characteristically uninformed and credulous. Beneath the headline, Climate 'science' was rigged from the start, the local paper's "right-wing guy" and ace environmental reporter finds soothing words at the Wall Street Journal and endorses the red herring of a Detroit News editorialist who declares: "Science should never be settled."

Obviously, all scientists knows this, and concur. It's a question of degree: some science is "more settled" than other. Yet there are still Young Earth Creationists and people who believe diseases are caused by Hell-dwelling pixies. Likewise, there is still Patrick McIlheran.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Sykes: Let The Bastards Starve

Unbelievably, in today's economy, when so many people are out of work and in danger of losing their homes or not being able to put food on their plates, Sykes thinks it's a bad thing that people are allowed to collect unemployment.

Of course, we all know that if WTMJ decided to start acting ethically, and put Sykes out on the streets, he'd be crying at the top of his voice how he thinks his unemployment compensation is insufficient.

Fortunately for us, I don't think his voice would make it here from Mequon.

Another Reason Not To Watch Faux News

They promote child exploitation:


Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Is God Delegating His Duties?

From the inbox:
After hearing Sykes this AM telling people how Cong Kennedy should act when the Bishop told him how to live. I have this concern:

Dear God,

What are you doing with yourself these days as it sounds that you have turned over running the Church to Sykes? With Jeff Wagner passing judgment on all other wrong doings that doesn't leave much for you to do?

Monday, November 23, 2009

The Best Defense Is To Be Offended

The Jessica speaks!
However, the saga of my relationship with Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn has hit the headlines again, so I suppose it’s time I say something about it. I’m a little sick of seeing my face on the TV news, and reading stuff about matters of profound privacy from people who know so little about it. In this column, I will confine myself to commenting on the media frenzy of last June, even though I suppose what everyone wants to know now is my take on the recent coverage. I’ve never written anything about this at all beyond a statement clearing up the media’s false timeline inferences.

I acknowledge that I am an imperfect human being. After the story broke in June, some people trashed me for not apologizing. Any apologies that I made (and I did make them) were made in private. I am not a public official; thus, I don’t see why I owed the public access to my apologies. The entire story felt like an invasion of privacy, and still does, right down to the “love letters” that were stolen and mailed anonymously to a newspaper which published excerpts without ever authenticating them.
McBride goes on to question why this is even a story. She points out that she is not a public official, and even though her paramour Flynn is a public official, he should be allowed a zone of privacy.

Well, it is a story because Flynn is a public official, and that he agreed to take on a job that requires him to be a pillar of the community. Adulterous affairs don't quite qualify. Neither does dishonesty, and there are some that question whether the allegations brought forth by Paul Bucher, McBride's current husband, could affect Flynn's ability to lead and to be used as a witness.

Secondly, if one wanted to be nit-picky about it, McBride is a public employee, who is being paid with tax dollars to teach journalism. If she doesn't follow the basic principles of journalistic ethics, are the taxpayers getting their money's worth?

But I do agree with McBride that any apologies she owes are private matters. She is only in the news because of who she had the affair with. If she had an affair with the plumber or someone else of less prominence, it probably would have stayed under the radar, or at worst, be the subject of some short lived giggles among her detractors.

But considering that she has been more than willing to publish personal, and even false, information about people, should she be complaining now?

Dan Bice has his coverage of it here. What is remarkable about it are some of the comments that they are allowing to stand. I wouldn't even allow them to stay up.

But the best line of McBride's column is this (emphasis mine):
Aren’t public officials entitled to a zone of privacy, especially appointed cops who are hired solely to reduce crime? Chief Flynn wasn’t the archbishop standing on a soap box spouting off about personal morality; as for me, I wrote a column supporting gay marriage.
What does gay marriage have to do with infidelity? Or is that just more evidence of the conservative mindset that all homosexual relations are nothing more than short-lived flings?

Sykes Fails To Bridge The Gap

Chuckles thinks he is hard hitting by copy-and-pasting a release from Kanavas (R-Who?) trying to blame future Governor "Battling" Tom Barret for the problems at the zoo interchange.

What Chuckles forgets to mention is that his boy Walker is in the same boat.

Well, let me correct that, Walker's boat is going in circles as he was against it before he was for it, just like he was with stimulus dollars.

The details on yet another one in a long, long line of Walker's flip-flops can be found at Eye on Wisconsin.

Um, About Those Taxes

What! Sykes And Walker would lie to people? Color me shocked!
That last item is an important point to make, as the Charles Sykes and Scott Walkers of the world conveniently leave out that higher-income people are much more likely to itemize their taxes on their federal return, which allows them to get back some of their state and local taxes. I've never had any reason to itemize, and have taken the standard deduction in my previous tax years because it was the bigger deduction, and I bet many of you do the same. But you can bet Charlie and Scotty don't, the WMC types that back them don't, and they're counting that the dopes who listen to them don't know that. It's a lot like how national angry-man radio hosts leave out that the "overtaxed" rich pay a much lower % of their income on Social Security and Medicare taxes due to the income cap (by comparison, we pay the full 7.65%)

The state reoport also shows that from a pure % of income standpoint, it's doubly stupid for the WMC crowd to be against higher sales taxes to pay for transit and parks, as opposed to either increased property taxes or cuts that hinder people's ability to take advantage of these needed public goods. Unless you have NPD and think government exists solely for you and your needs, of course.
From Jake's Economic TA Funhouse. Read the rest.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Where's Sykes' Morality Now?

Charlie Sykes, who, despite his own checkered past, likes to fashion himself as Mr. Morality, and isn't afraid to call out a liberal for sexism, even when it isn't there.

So why hasn't Mr. Morality called out his buddy, James T. for this post?

And where was Mr. Morality when the "brilliant" Tom McMahon posted this or this?

Can you say hypocrisy?

Works For Sykes' Books, Too

Saturday, November 21, 2009

You Can Add MJS To That As Well

I know the GOP owns WTMJ and WISN, but people do get their sources from people who aren't getting paid to lie. They do know that, don't they? It must suck to live your life in a bubble like that.
The Bubble Boys of Talk Radio...it's got a ring to it.

Source: Jake's Economic TA Funhouse

Because He Makes Such Nice Hats With It

Finally, A Squawker Speaks The Truth


Unfortunately, I don't think we should expect truth telling to become a habit for Old Kevin. You know he doesn't like things that are foreign to him.

There Are Taxes, Then There Are Taxes

PaddyMac got a memo from Steve Smith that he needed to support Scott Walker from those that correctly point out that Walker isn't really the tax hawk he likes to pretend that he is. So he tried to do so.

Apparently Paddy no longer thinks that fees equate to taxes, since he doesn't mention Walker's desire to raise taxes on toddlers last summer, even though he didn't even have the authority to do so. Nor does he mention Walker's desire to have parking meters at the lakefront, which would end up double-taxing UWM students, even the ones there to learn journalistic ethics from Jessica Bucher McBride.

But the biggest thing that Paddy misses in his snide sniping at Mayor Barrett. At least Barrett was able to balance his budgets. We are still waiting for Walker to be able to balance his first one.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Equal treatment for lovebirds

Whether Jess and Eddie are still carrying on or not (and who cares, except Paul Bucher and Susan Flynn?), it's good to see that both are being treated fairly by their employers.

Ed Flynn is Milwaukee's chief of police, and his bosses, the mayor and the Fire and Police Commission, say they're sticking with him, affair or no affair, because he has been reducing crime in Milwaukee. Fair enough.

Meanwhile, Jessica McBride is a lecturer on journalism ethics and other matters at UW-Milwaukee's journalism department, whose executive committee recently voted 3-2 to give her what amounts to permanent status there. Presumably, that's because she has been reducing journalism ethics in Milwaukee. Fair's fair.

An Embarrassment To The Bradley Foundation

I must admit, I am a bit perplexed.

While reviewing the previous post, I was reading the JSOnline blog post about the subject and found this comment:
On top of everything else, Flynn has really embarrassed the Bradley Foundation.

Bad strategy.
I'm just wondering if the commenter meant Flynn, or if they really meant Charlie Sykes.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Deja Vu, All Over Again

He said, he said, and she's not saying.

Earlier: The Cookie Crumbled (although it appears that Flynn might not be the upright citizen I believed him to be then.)

Methinks that when this is said and done, they will all be covered in mud, instead of just two of them.

Monday, November 16, 2009

More Painkillers, I Presume.

Now those scamps at RDW are praying for the Pres. Of course they're doing it in their own inimitable style.

If you look up Fred's reference you get to this uplifting verse.
8 May his days be few;
may another take his place of leadership.

9 May his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow.

10 May his children be wandering beggars;
may they be driven [d] from their ruined homes.

11 May a creditor seize all he has;
may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.

12 May no one extend kindness to him
or take pity on his fatherless children.

13 May his descendants be cut off,
their names blotted out from the next generation.

It's not really one of the "feel-good" psalms.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Charlie Sykes Thinks I'm Number One!

Charlie Sykes just named me as the winner of his "Deep Tunnel" award for the week.

I give it as much credit as he gives the Shepherd Express when they name him Jerk of the Week. He is probably just upset because I called him out on being such a puppet.

But Charlie thinks I should apologize. So I will.

Charlie, I am so very sorry that you are a liar, a hypocrite and have poor reading comprehension skills.

Now I hope you feel better.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Charlie Sykes: Scott Walker's Attack Dog


Well, well, well. The day that I've been expecting for five months has finally arrived.

Charlie Sykes decided to launch a full attack on me. He's already sniped at me by using libel and untruths (which reminds me, gotta follow up with the lawyer tomorrow).

His attack was based on this post that I wrote over the weekend. Of course, he misconstrued by intent, but that is the norm for him as mentioned by a former WTMJ staffer, Dan Shelley, who had worked a lot with him, and knows of which he speaks.

But it got me wondering why Sykes waited a full 72 hours to attack me on that post. After all, it was not the first time I wrote something critical about Sarah Palin. So why this now? And Sykes isn't the master of chivalry himself.

UPDATE: Apparently, while Sykes has an issue with my Palin post, he has no problem if someone mocks the Palin family be saying they are incestuous. Can you say hypocrisy?

When I had a chance to listen to his podcast* this evening, it all became clear in five minutes.

Sykes started out his show building up the audience into a fervor. In doing so, he repeatedly emphasized that I am the Chair of Milwaukee County First, as well as that I hold a position with my union's local.

But then Sykes overplayed his hand. He also included snipes at my friend and fellow MCF board member, Keith Schmitz, and his involvement of MCF and Open Book, trying to allege some impropriety when there is none.

It was then that I realized that this had nothing to do with the Palin post I wrote. He was merely trying to discredit me and Keith in order to discredit MCF.

But why would he do that now? Simple. Yesterday, I spent the entire day and night at the courthouse, watching the County Board trying to fix Scott Walker's faulty budget. As other union members, I was wearing my "No More Cuts" shirt, but for some unknown reason, the media chose to focus on me, including an interview with Channel 12 and shots from the other stations' news shows. I was also featured, rather prominently, in this morning's edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

All of a sudden, my name was all over the place, and I was getting attention. (Although this wasn't the first time I was on TV. WTMJ - TV interviewed me on Labor Day while I was manning the MCF table at Laborfest.)

Apparently, this was seen by a threat by Team Walker.

As I pointed out last summer, some of Team Walker's key players include Michael Grebe and Steve Smith. Grebe is the chair of Walker's campaign, as well as CEO of Bradley Foundation. As the Foundation's CEO, he is the boss of Janet Riordan aka Liz Woodhouse aka Mrs. Sykes III.

On top of that, Smith is Sykes' boss. Between pressures from both his boss and his wife's boss, as well as just being the unofficial mouthpiece for Walker, it is only logical that Sykes would be Walker's attack dog, trying to discredit us.

I guess I shouldn't complain though. At least he didn't try to waterboard me.

But it does raise a couple of interesting questions. Why does Team Walker and Sykes see a small grassroots group that advocates for Milwaukee County, and has criticized various County Supervisors and Governor Doyle, as a threat? Is this there subconscious way of admitting Walker is not good for Milwaukee County?

*The podcast is fun to listen to. Two of his earlier callers actually point out that I was correct, even if I might have chosen my words more carefully. Of course, he trashed them too, as his norm, per Dan Shelley.

Cross posted at Cognitive Dissidence.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Imagine

Charlie Sykes put a post saying how rough he's got it being a talk show host.

Just imagine how rough it would be for him if he had to be honest and tell the truth while he was doing it.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Before You Complain, Paddy

Make sure the mud you're whining about isn't coming from your own hands.